Pinhole glasses may help improve vision by forcing the eyes to contend with a reduced depth of field, making wearers exercise their eyes in the natural course of looking. Pinhole glasses use an opaque lens with tiny holes punched in it, which restricts the light entering the eye to very narrow beams. The reduced depth of field makes the lens put all of its effort into focusing the single point. Normal prescription glasses are designed to make up the difference between the eye’s capacity and a crisp, clear image. Pinhole glasses are meant to reduce the number of objects being focused on at a time, forcing the eyes to concentrate their efforts on a single depth.

People might also benefit from doing eye exercises that are very akin to a series of stretches, such as looking out of the extremities of peripheral vision and forcing the eyes to focus while pulling to the side. Just like in the muscles of the leg, heat can increase the pliability and flexibility of ocular muscle tissue. This can be done by using grain filled heat packs, like those recommended for a sore neck. Alternatively, an individual can just use the heat generated from rubbing their hands together, and then cupping their palms over their eyes.

Also much like typical exercise for the whole body, it is important to remember that it is of more value to do a greater number of less forceful repetitions, rather than a fewer number with more strain.

Prescription eyeglasses use a corrective concave or ‘minus’ glass lens in front of the eye to diffract the light rays so they once again focus directly onto the retina. In fact, the lens makes the object in view appear closer than it is, causing the ciliary muscle to work even harder in order to focus, therefore accelerating the increase of pressure in the vitreous chamber!

Pinhole glasses on the other hand have the opposite effect, as the image through a pinhole has a greater depth of focus. When you wear pinhole glasses the ciliary muscle does not have to work as hard, and so the pressure build up in the vitreous chamber is slower.

They are suitable for people of all ages – from young children through to the elderly – and, unlike eyeglasses, pinhole glasses do not need to be changed whenever your eye prescription changes. One pair of pinhole glasses will quite literally last you a lifetime! You do not even have to have more than one pair for different tasks as the same pair of pinhole glasses are just as suitable for close-up work such as reading and computer work, as they are for middle and long distance activities, such as when watching the TV or admiring the landscape around you. Gone are the days when you need to worry about finding those ‘reading glasses’ that have mysteriously vanished off your sideboard, and gone are the times when you anxiously try and prevent your prescription eyeglass lenses from being scratched, marked or broken.

Pinhole glasses really are a hidden treasure with life-changing abilities – especially when you consider the mounting physical and scientific evidence suggesting that chronic use of normal prescription eyeglasses can actually accelerate the deterioration of your vision!

Computer Vision Syndrome is attributed to the often harsh light of the computer screen, the need of the user to constantly focus on the screen, and the glare of office lighting or lighting in the surrounding environment. Anti-radiation screens, prescription ‘computer glasses’ and ergonomically designed work environments are all solutions to the problem, with varying cost implications and results.

Pinhole glasses offer an alternative solution that is extremely affordable by comparison. The pinholes reduce glare by blocking out extraneous light rays, and reduce the incidence of eye strain by increasing the depth of field without the need for stressful focusing accommodation. At just $18.75 pair they are an incredibly inexpensive solution.

Pinhole glasses help to reduce light scatter by stopping down the pupil to the size of the pinhole. Less light scatter occurs, and vision is improved.

Pinhole glasses reduce the blur of astigmatism by limiting the distance between the two points of light on the retina, thus helping sufferers to see more clearly.

Pinhole glasses offer relief in the short-term, as the ‘stopped down’ aperture produces a greater focal range. Combined with the ‘narrower than normal’ beam of light entering the eye, the blur circle on the retina is decreased, so enabling the eyes to see more clearly. It is recommended however, that pinhole glasses should be used in conjunction with eye muscle strengthening exercises, so the eye muscles themselves are better equipped to keep the eye lenses more flexible.

Young people with this condition can naturally improve their vision by working the focusing accommodation of their eyes. By continuously trying to focus in the short-distance their eye muscles will become stronger, enabling the eye lens to shorten the focal length of the light rays, and therefore decrease the blur circle on the retina.

Pinhole glasses, whilst not suitable for the hyperopic young, can be used for far sightedness in later life when the eye muscles weaken with ageing. They offer instant relief as the ‘stopped down’ aperture produces a greater focal range. Combined with the ‘narrower than normal’ beam of light entering the eye, the blur circle on the retina is decreased, so enabling the eyes to see more clearly.

The major cause of myopia is an abnormal elongation of the eyeball, where it becomes stretched from front to back, or the curvature of the cornea is greater than usual. The distance between the retina – the light sensitive part of the eye on the back wall of the eyeball – and the cornea at the front of the eye increases, and so light rays entering the eye come to focus in front of the retina. This leaves a ‘blur circle’ on the retina itself as the light rays cross paths and begin to diverge beyond the focal point.

Recent studies have revealed that although myopia can be hereditary, it is also accentuated by chronic use of the eyes for short-distance focusing, such as when working at a computer screen. Evolution has programmed our eyes to naturally focus in the middle to long-distance when our eyes are at rest. To focus on close-up work our eye muscles must tense, thickening the eye lens, in order to focus the light rays upon the retina. Persistent or prolonged short-distance focusing causes pressure to increase in the vitreous chamber of the eye, thus elongating the eyeball.

Pinhole glasses offer instant relief as the ‘stopped down’ aperture produces a greater focal range. Combined with the ‘narrower than normal’ beam of light entering the eye, pinhole glasses reduce the the blur circle on the retina, so enabling the eyes to see more clearly.

Near sightedness almost always develops during childhood. It is caused by the growth of a more spherical cornea, or an elongation of the eye through a build up of pressure in the vitreous chamber of the eye. Either way, light rays entering the eye come to focus at a point in front of the light sensitive retina. The light rays cross paths and begin to diverge before striking the retina, casting a blur circle on the retina itself. In the young, all elements that make up the eye are in a constant state of growth. These mechanisms are naturally more susceptible to ‘external’ influences that might cause an element of the eye to grow more slowly or more rapidly than would normally be the case.

Now, every child needs to learn to read and write. This often requires a child’s eyes to focus on work close-up, such as when reading a textbook, writing or using a computer screen. For an unaided eye to focus in the short-distance, the ciliary eye muscle tenses in order to thicken the eye lens. The thicker lens focuses light rays into a single point on the retina at the back of the eyeball, so the eye can see clearly. Constant close-up focusing causes the eye muscle to spasm, the sclera membrane surrounding the eyeball to weaken, and a related increase in pressure in the vitreous chamber which stretches the sclera and elongates the eyeball further. It is easy to see then, how basic environmental factors, such as schooling, can create a worsening of a myopes condition.

Step in the traditional prescription eyeglasses. On the surface, they appear as the only real remedy to the situation, as a child cannot and must not forfeit their schooling. Unlike pinhole glasses that let only direct light rays through to the eye, concave or ‘minus’ lenses work by diffracting light rays entering the eye so they converge as a single point on the retina, enabling clear vision. The minus lens, by diffracting the light rays, actually makes the object being viewed appear closer than it really is. This begins a vicious circle in which the closer the object appears, the more stressed the eye lens becomes, and the greater the build up of pressure in the vitreous chamber. This is easily demonstrated when reading a book. When the wearer of the prescription eyeglasses reads a book, the words on the page appear closer than they really are. This means that the eyes must accommodate their focus more, leading to further stressing of the eye lens.

Pinhole glasses on the otherhand, do not make objects appear closer than they really are. By allowing only direct light rays to pass through the small aperture of the pinhole, pinhole glasses offer the wearer a greater depth of focus. Combined with the ‘narrower than normal’ beam of light entering the eye through the stopped down aperture, pinhole glasses reduce the blur circle on the retina, so enabling the eyes to see more clearly.