If you spend most of your workday looking at a computer, you probably know the feeling. Your eyes feel tired, your neck starts to complain and by the end of the day, you are more than ready to close the laptop.

Whether you work from home, sit in an office, teach in a classroom or spend your day moving between a computer, tablet and phone, the right eyeglasses can make your workday more comfortable.

At Matador Eyeworks in Milton, we help a lot of people find eyewear that works specifically for their day-to-day visual needs. And for many people, that means looking beyond a standard pair of everyday glasses.

Your Regular Glasses May Not Be the Best Glasses for Your Computer

Your everyday prescription glasses are designed to give you clear vision for a range of distances. But your computer screen usually sits somewhere between your normal reading distance and your distance vision.

That intermediate distance can be surprisingly demanding on your eyes, particularly when you are spending six, eight or more hours looking at a screen.

This is where computer glasses and occupational lenses can make sense.

Instead of designing the lens primarily around distance or close-up reading, computer lenses can be designed around the distances you use throughout your working day.

The result can be a more natural and comfortable visual experience when you are working at your desk.

What Are Computer Glasses?

Computer glasses are prescription lenses designed specifically for the way you work.

The right design depends on your prescription, your working distance and what you need to see during the day.

For example, a teacher may need to see a computer screen, look across a classroom, read something on a desk and interact with students. Someone working at home might spend most of the day looking at a monitor, with occasional phone and reading use.

Those are very different visual requirements.

That is why we don’t believe there is one “best computer lens” for everyone.

Computer Lenses for Teachers

We have quite a few teachers as customers at Matador Eyeworks, and computer or occupational lenses can be particularly useful for them.

A teacher’s visual demands can change constantly throughout the day.

You might be looking at a laptop or smartboard one moment, reading something close up the next, and then looking across the classroom.

A properly designed occupational lens can help provide clear vision across the distances you actually use at work.

It’s not about simply making everything closer. It’s about designing the lens around how you use your eyes.

ZEISS Lenses for Digital Work

At Matador Eyeworks, we offer a variety of ZEISS lens designs, including options that can be considered for people who spend significant amounts of time working at computers and other digital devices.

ZEISS lens technology allows us to look at your prescription and visual requirements more specifically, rather than simply putting the same lens design in everyone’s glasses.

We can talk about your work, the distances you use most often and what you are currently finding difficult. From there, we can help determine which lens design makes the most sense.

The Frame Matters Too

Of course, the lenses are only half of the equation.

If you are wearing your computer glasses for most of your working day, you want a frame that is comfortable enough to forget you are wearing it.

This is where choosing the right eyewear becomes personal.

The frame needs to fit properly, sit correctly on your face and work well with your prescription and lens choice.

And fortunately, “computer glasses” don’t have to look like computer glasses.

You can choose something that reflects your style, whether that means a classic frame, something colourful, or a more distinctive independent eyewear design.

How Do You Know If You Need Computer Glasses?

You may want to consider computer or occupational lenses if you regularly experience:

• Tired eyes after working at a computer
• Difficulty switching focus between your screen and something farther away
• Neck or shoulder discomfort while trying to see your screen clearly
• Having to move your head or adjust your posture to find a comfortable viewing position
• Needing to take your glasses off or move your screen closer to read comfortably
• Spending a large part of your working day on a computer or other digital device

These symptoms can have many possible causes, so they shouldn’t automatically be blamed on your glasses. But if your current eyewear isn’t keeping up with the way you work, it is worth talking to an optical professional about your options.

The Best Computer Glasses Are the Ones Designed for You

There really isn’t one pair of glasses that is “best” for everyone who uses a computer.

A graphic designer, teacher, accountant, gamer and someone who works from home can all have very different visual needs.

At Matador Eyeworks in Milton, we take the time to understand what you actually do during the day. We can then recommend lens designs and eyewear that fit your prescription, your working distances and your lifestyle.

If you spend most of your day working on a computer, your glasses should work as hard as you do.

And ideally, you shouldn’t have to think about them at all.