Thanks to the magic of flat screen plasma televisions, Sony Playstations, and the internet, more in America have become dependent on corrective lenses for good vision.
- There is an entire field dedicated to vision therapy (physical therapy for the eyes) -- orthoptics. However, studies with regards to effectiveness are vague, and encourage regular exercise to maintain the results. A quick exercise for eye strain are "pencil pushups." However, orthoptics are the mainstay of treatment for convergence insufficiency (cross eyedness, or wandering eye) not nearsightedness.
- Discourage unneccesary short-range "screen-time" in your family's lifestyle. Such activities may be the video games, or social networking websites.
- Eat healthy vitamin rich meals, especially to obtain the necessary antioxidants for optimal eye health.
- Look into your health insurance's vision plan and see if refractory surgery is right for you.
The best way to buy eyeglasses has been to get measured by an optician (they measure specific numbers needed such as pupillary distance, temple length, and bridge size). First get the measurements, try on pairs you like and write down the specific colors and model numbers. Then, go onto the internet vendor sites such as Amazon.com or Framesdirect.com and buy them for 60% below cost and save hundreds of dollars on designer frames. You can always get the lenses made and fitted to that frame by your local brick and mortar optician shop for the convenience and returns.
