I wear mine daily, have done for like 14 years and couldn't be without them, can't see well otherwise. At the laser eye guy, my dad had it done 10 years ago when it was still pretty new and said it was the best thing he's ever done and would recommend it to anyone. Never had any problems.
Im in my last year in optometry and should be an optometrist in a few months :nerd: i'll correct some nonsence and half truths ( ignore my spelling, im sleepy) i know its a long post but its worth the read if you want the info Best advise, go for a new eye test. Take the opticians advice, they get the same money whether you need the glasses or not. If you need them only thing i recommend when it comes to choosing extra's is the anti glare coating, makes a world of difference. Ive got it on mine The problem isn't your brain or muscles. You eye is either to long or to short so optically its not aligned. thats what the glasses fix either diverging or converging the light to focus correctly at the macula. Don't jump straight into eye surgery. It comes with its own problems some listed below. And no your eye lids will be fine. What the teacher might be refering to is to removing the flap made during surgery of the cornea. This would cause problems but if stiched again should be ok. worst case is that a corneal transplant would need to be done, and thats very end game stuff. Almost, you do get used to the blur, but your eyes will possibly grow to try correct this, which most likely make things worse. First get a pair of glasses. If you get an infection your screwed and will need a pair. Even if its an old pair with a prescription thats a bit off. Always have a backup the lazy eye (amblyopia) will only happen up till ~6 years old. The lazy eye is optically fine or might need glasses, but the main difference is that it cannot achieve good vision even with specs. This is because it was deprived of signal while developing, the good eye got all the connections to the brain and the 'lazy' eye got few. Now you have no binocular vision and inaccurate depth perception. If you ever notice a squint in a kid, make sure its corrected, don't pussyfoot about because the patch they need to wear is annoying or they get picked on, get it sorted fast else they will live to regret it, esp with all the 3D stuff they won't get to enjoy its worse as your no longer adapted to the blur. Leave them off for a while you will feel your vision is the same, If your vision is worse with your glasses on, then go for a check. both is the way forward esp if you do sport. glasses for work (air con is not great for lenses, although silicon hydrogels fair well) and contacts for sports and social events not correct. you eye sight will get worse with or without specs. I suspect your a latent hypermetrope (hidden far sighted person) . Your accommodation (lens adding extra plus) got you through till your late teens/early 20's where it weakens with age. Then its downhill you need glasses to see close up and all the time. When up close your lens is already pushing extra plus to fix your normal lack of, and the extra plus your lens normally gives for short distances is already used up/ an example would be if your actually +2.00 spec prescription R+L and have a +4.00 accommodative reserve so your needing an extra 2 dioptres from your lens. its still quite flexable so it can manage a few hours- it cant keep this up, so you get tired eyes or headaches near the end of the day. when you go to read someting at 40cm your lens need to exert an extra +2.50 D (1/0.40m). you only have 2.00 left so your lacking by +0.50D hence the blur. in conclusion, get some glasses, and contacts if your want, get a proper eye test others glasses aren't your prescription, would you take someone elses tablets if you didn't know what was wrong with you? your accommodative reserves will get smaller as you age, this is why everyone need reading specs when they get old. if your short sighted it will get worse. and may increase more or quicker with long periods of close work with little distance viewing as a break, squinting is so that the apature you look out of is smaller, theres a long explination, but the short one is it makes things clearer if your needing specs and arnt wearing them. floaters are debris in your vitrous (fluid in the eye), they move around an only really get noticed when looking at a plain background (wall sky etc) the rest i answered above your likely a hypermetrope (far sighted) but only slightly. so you only need them for close work or long periods of close work. see my answer to Altazimuth, most applys to you, except you will get away with it longer the minification of the screen is true. but is only really a problem for higher myopes (short sighted people), and yes you dont get this effect with contact lense yes and no. They were promoted as good to fool the Germans in WW2 into thinking that how we were so good at seeing at night. But in truth we had some infrared sonar thing. they are a soarce of a vitamin needed to convert light to electical impluses, but this is found in many green leafy veg and fruits. lacking in WW2 times due to shortages. All correct most people are fine, (although dry eye symptoms and extra glare are pretty common), only a very small number get major problems. Anyone got questions, give me a shout im gonna subscribe to this thread best advice get your eyes checked, it can save your life. Even if you don't need specs. brain tumours, diabetes, high bp, mini strokes can been seen from a general eye exam. every 2 years is the recommended interval. Don't spend extended periods of time looking at close objects. This is what makes your eyes worse. The tv is not close work! less than a metre is close. The closer the work the more it can cause your eye to grow (short sighted). Take breaks, look at something far away for a few minutes. you'll see it reduces any headaches. Glasses should be worn as prescribed. If the optician say general wear it means pretty much all the time. Lastly people who get laser young will still need reading specs when their older. There are surgeries to correct this but you'll need to keep going back to get more untill your 50-60. If you need reading specs, as in your over 45ish and need them only for reading and computer, you can get contacts for this. its called monovision. one eye is the distance prescription one is reading, its surprising how well this works. Varifocals are a compramise, but work well If your in Scotland its free every 2 years! so you don't really have an excuse (untill the ConDem's decide to try scrap it) LAST thing for people to try. this is in relation to the squinting. If you make a really small hole with your index finger bent round. look through. You have basicly created a pinhole. if things are clearer now in the distance (use a sign) then you might be short sighted. (doesn't really work for hidden far sighted people tho)
Great post, thanks for the information, having good sight is a life changing thing, so more people probably should get checked out. I had a new test in November, and a new stronger prescription, unfortunately i really only wear the contacts from that prescription, i prefer my old glasses that didn't have the astigmatism correcting lens in the right eye, which for some reason seems to make the world feel like its on a slant. Is this normal, and are there any issues with wearing glasses/lenses from two different prescriptions.
Wore glasses from ages 3 to 13 then been wearing contacts from 13 till now (38). It wasn't until 2007 that an optometrist at Walmart finally got me dialed perfectly in for the first time with astigmatism correcting toric lenses. I went pretty much my whole life with not too good of focus, to being able to see actual pinpoints of light instead of blurs of varying degree. Still shot "Expert" in the Army. However, the strabismus that corrective lenses were originally intended for hasn't been able to have been permanently corrected.
i had Lasik, got fed up with contact lenses, the good news it all went well without any problem, the difference is huge, the bad news, i lost a little peripheral vision which i was told may bee common with lasik. never had dry eye or any other issue, every patient is different, there's no such thing as lasik give you dry eye or poor night vision 100%, your eyes are your eyes. only advice is that if you do opt for Lasik, find an expert doc, not just anyone, this is very important, your eyes are like a diamond make sure you safekeep them.
It's interesting that you say the problem isn't the muscles as it's the ciliary muscles that control the lengthening and shortening of the lens, unless you're specifically referring to the one individual I have a friend who was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder and he was told to get glasses for reading close up after an eye test (he was struggling to read books and computer screens), he refused, after recovering from his anxiety he went for another eye exam and his vision was reported to be 20/20, confused, he asked how this was possible, the optometrist explained to him that his anxiety had been affecting his eyesight In his case it doesn't seem implausable that constant use of his prescribed glasses may well have interfered with his eyesights return to normal function, if he'd chosen to wear them Stress and mental illness can have a hugely negative effect on eyesight and it's something that is rarely mentioned Interestingly there's a number of people who consider the prescription of glasses for myopia to be hugely damaging but I can understand why any self-respecting Optometrist would refuse to accept such statements Strange that I've never read the same about prescriptions for far/long sighted people
New prescriptions sometimes feel strange especially to a new astigmatism. Try the new glasses for a week, avoid the old specs that week. If you don't notice any improvement then speak with your optometrist, he may have got it wrong, you will need to try them otherwise he/she will just send you away to try them. Wearing two different prescriptions isn't bad for your eyes, but using an older one while trying a new one will make it harder to get used to. Also generally your glasses and contacts prescriptions are separate, To answer why the world feels like its on a slant. Thats the cylindrical component in the lenses, its to correct the astigmatism the optom found. Try the specs if you haven't then go back Chances are the astigmatism was seen, but not incorporated in the contacts. It is gentry seen that soft contact lenses mask small amountss of astigmatism. Toric lenses cost more, but you should have been given the option, if you had glasses you would notice an improvement over your lenses, as the glasses can have the astigmatism corrected to half a degree , where as soft contacts are usually 10/15 degrees. Rigid gas permeable lenses are best lenses for an astigmatism, but are initially less comfortable but give the best vision Not heard of peripheral vision loss with laser surgery, distortion yes sometimes as the cornea has had an incision and this may catch the light. I'll read up a bit more, I agree, you only get one pair look after them, get a quality surgeon. Not sure about the other countries, but most of the surgeons that do laser surgery here have jobs with the nhs in hospitals also. They know their stuff
Thanks for the reply. I do wear the new ones, just only when sitting still watching TV etc, outside its either been the old ones, or the contact lenses. Will try the new ones out for a week or so, usually don't wear glasses outside so shouldn't be too hard to avoid the old ones when im indoors.
My vision has been bothering me lately must have gotten worse as I did get glasses when 17 but never wore them. I'm now 27. I strain my eyes reading the screen, especially in the evening when tired so had to pull the screen up a bit closes to reduce the strain. I'm fine with things up close it is just long distance stuff that gets blurry and it seems one eye is worse than the other. I went and got a test done a few weeks back and think it was -0.20 one eye and -0.75 right eye IIRC which confirmed my suspicions And the optician recommended that I wear glasses for Computer work, tv and driving. I was then shown around the shop by the opticians assistant who would help me find glasses that would fit my face? of course all the stuff she was picking were really expensive designer glasses. Felt like a sales con so made my excuses and walked out. Just cant bring my self to spend so much on glasses, and the optician refuses contact lenses untill I've worn glasses for a few months. Fuuuuu Think I will go down to Tesco next week for another tests and get some cheapo NHS glasses sorted just for the computer. I did manage to pass the motorcycle distance reading test 2 years ago.. only just.
The ciliary muscle is indeed responsible for the power changing of the lens. But this is not where the refractive error comes from. Else all elderly people, whose muscle is no longer working to change focus, would need distance glasses aswell as reading, The lens does the focusing, but the length and power of the cornea determines if the light is in focused when the lens is in its flattest and normal state. Light comes in at infinity (parallel) and if it does not focus on the macula, you get blur. your friends anxiety may have been causing ciliary spasms. This affects his close work as the lens doesn't focus correctly. Glasses may have been to relieve this demand (essentially reading glasses) once the spasms stop, the lens no longer needs the glasses for assistance. They would not prolong this process, one the spasms stop no need for the specs this is only me guessing, the optician who tested would know best. For the myopic correction being damaging, it depends on the age they are used. If some argue that it disrupts emmetropisation (eyes growing to become corrected) but sometimes it needs to done if the chance of connections to the brain not forming because of the blur more in one eye than the other. Latest research points to peripheral blur being responsible for myopia developing. If we could fix it we would. its an really big problem for some countries, singapore had something like 80% of the population myopic! (short sighted) hyperopic (far sighted) people trend to accommodated to correct themselves. this is ok for low levels and when they are young as the have the reserves. This only becomes a problem when it breaks down into a squint where the power needed is greater . The eye converges to gain extra plus from the accommodation/convergence relationship, but this misaligns the eyes and if young (generally under 6) could lead to amblyopia i.e. lazy eye Hope that helped. I'm still learning, but its an interesting career. And theres usually a job at the end
yeaeh, no need to spend money on designer frames, especially if your not used to having glasses, as your likely to break them lol. My last pair only cost £90, but the frames were only £35, the rest was on the lenses and the dispensing fee of the optician.
From what your saying, you may have been slightly short sighted and have become more so recently. goes with the bringing things closer. it would probably be -0.25 or -2.00 as its written in 0.25 steps Depends on your head size (lol sorry) the assistent may have deemed you to have a bigger head designers have wider sizes. But she might have been trying to sell you an expensive pair UK But yeh take your prescription anywhere. if you get help (tax credit, income support, job seekers) then you get a voucher make sure you get this if your going else where, they need to legally give you a the voucher (yellow form) and prescription (pink form) If you dont mind me asking where did you go? prices vary massively. I work at specsavers at the weekends. our cheapest ones inc lenses are £25 quid If you have a voucher you get the glasses up to £45 free and the designers start at £30 with the voucher. It will be a A voucher which is worth £36.20, you can use it as cost towards a different offer or if the opticains runs an offer like we do in specsavers you will get the specs discounted. You wont normally get lenses till you've tried the specs Dont get another test done, if the NHS get charged twice then they will send you the invoice for the second (£36) take your current prescription to the other opticians, if you cant find it they can sometimes phone across or you can get them to rewrite it. Only extra I would say is worth the extra is anti glare, the specs look better and there is a noticable drop in the reflections. I had to pay for mine (tight manager lol), but its worth it. You dont need thin lenses and most will inc scratch resistance in the price (at least we do) hope that helps. Get the specs even if its a cheap pair, they all have the same lenses (prescription wise) so you can at least see if they help. I'm sure they will make a big difference. They will feel strange (clear, but strange) but give them time and you will like the extra detail (im a -2.00 myope)
Yeah your right I think it was -0.25 and -0.75. But I only got that by having a glance and the papers. I'm pretty sure it was Specsavers I went to and they were cagey and didn't want to give me the prescription. Said they needed to input the data on the system. Add with the expensive £200+ designed frames they were trying to shove down my throat never mind the cost of the actual glass lenses I got pissed off and walked out as it just felt like one big con. On the other hand my GF who went to Tesco with her NHS tax credit card got frames, lenses all for free! Nothing fancy and I don't think they have anti glare coating but they do her fine for the TV... I admit I have been using them when she leaves them around lol. I get tax credits too so I should have one of those cards somewhere. But I really don't feel like going back to Specsavers after they had me for a mug.
yeh sound like their being a bit odd. If you were near me i'd sort you out, but i'm in Livingston. Best thing to do is first try get someone else in the store. If your in specsavers there one of the cheapest about. tescos are another cheaper one and asda also. Ask them you want the better choice offer, i.e. not the 2-4-1 offer and chose a pair best range is the £85 (spring loaded side stop the legs getting slack), which with the voucher you should get for £20. theres loads of frames.
I've been wearing glasses/contacts for 10 years now. I really wish I could get laser surgery but I'm not sure you can, considering both my eyes have astigmatism.
yee, distortion is possible too, but as i said it really depends on the patient, in my case the peripheral vision was slightly narrowed (made 0 difference really), the surgeon told me about this (before) the surgery so i knew exactly what i was getting. he also told me about all the possible cons of Lasik such as dry eye, night vision etc, a good doc will tell you all the pro and cons and answer ANY question without being in a hurry, if he's in a hurry, i'd leave because a good doctor should listen to the patient, the ones in a hurry often do a poor job.
@Namsu2403 So you're a soon-to-be Optometrist eh? I will take your advice, but I will add/clarify some points to my post: 1) One of my eyes is completely and utterly lazy* (optician said: "it doesn't want to know"). 2) I never, ever get tired eyes or headaches (Computer is my TV substitute [it's pure garbage nowadays], so I spend quite a while on it overall) 3) I know all that stuff about not using other peoples glasses (I just couldn't be bothered to explain) but does it really matter with reading glasses? People buy reading glasses anywhere; I thought they were all the same lens-wise? * I can see out of it, but it's all blurry. .
Many dramas I have had with finding the right/affordable pair of glasses. That's untill I ran into a sight/blog, that spared me a lot of money, glassyeyes Now, I can afford a pair or two of glasses with less hassle:nerd:
there is a chance you could get it. Depends on how much it is and whether your far or short sighted. short sighted is easier to correct . they can flatten the part of the cornea that is the cause of the astigmatism. If the part of the cornea that is more curved can be flattened so that the astigmatism is neutralised. Don't bother with any expensive abberation correction surgery, we got told its not proven to do anything as your brain ignores them anyway. If your eye is 'lazy' and your over 8 years old. (lol) not much can be done. the connections have not been made. you won't get good vision from that eye. some vision (blurred) but not good vision off the shelf ready readers are straight spherical lenses. They dont correct astigmatism, so the distortion may still be their. they are ok if your normal lens power is within the range they come in, but best to go for a test. if you know what power you need you can just pick a pair from thier. Unless you have a accommodation problem or are quite old (45+) then you should be able to make out close work without glasses. Glasses are sometimes prescribed even if theres low amounts of hyperopia. best to get a more upto date eye test done. Without doing a check I can't really say 100% whats up. If you have your old eye test results i might get a better clue
I got my glasses today but I'm not keen on using them. I think their too strong? On the computer letters and stuff look a bit small and I don't like it, think I can see better without. They feel dazzling. The clarity, sharpness and colour is amazing on long distance stuff but it feel a bit too much like binoculars lol. Also when I look sideways I get image bending which is annoying. Did the optician give me a too strong prescription?
