need some advice regarding eyesight.........

[graham]

Basically I have really bad shortsightedness. My focal distance is now around a foot (from having 20/20 vision up until 18). At the moment I wear soft contacts as I really HATE glasses. My eyesight in them is terrible as they rob me of depth perception. Laser surgey is not an option as my prescription keeps getting worse each year and i'm concerned about the 'flap' problems associated with Lasik, so i'm in a bit of a quandry as to what to do for the future. I could stock up about 5 years worth of contacts but then what? Any advice would be great.

[dolanbaker]

As your eyes are changing there is nothing you can do except have regular eye tests and buy contact lenses with the correct prescription. Bulk buying would be pointless as the lenses will be wrong in a couple of years time.

[SeaGypsy]

You are getting older. Normal.
Wearing glasses is not a good idea if you are a doomer. Contacts or not, they are addictive, make your eyes lazy and continuously have to get thicker until the good old bottle bottom effect kicks in. Being unnecessarily addicted to a very sophisticated technology is not good philosophy just to maintain 20/20.
Optometrists will not tell you this.

[TreeFarmer]

You might do what I did. Wait until your eyesight has stabilized then evaluate the current technologies for correction. I had the precursor to LASIK, something called PRK. I did one eye, waited a year and then did the other eye.

In case you are wondering I just wore one contact lens for that year and for those times I could not wear a contact lens I just relied on my "good eye."

TF

[pup55]

I agree with SeaGypsy... Welcome to middle age. Don't spend a lot of time worrying about it....

I also observe that for whatever reason, probably related to the conditions of the muscles in your head that focus your eyes by changing the shape of your eyeball slightly, your eyes do get adapted to wearing either glasses or contact lenses. Both pup83 and pup86 have worn either glasses or contacts since they were in middle school and both bump into large objects whenever their contact lens prescriptions run out..

My prescription has not changed in about 15 years despite spending a lot of time looking at a computer screen... I have a pair of reading glasses that I put on occasionally if I am feeling some eyestrain, or need to read some fine print, and I have some bifocals that are lost in my house someplace, I have not had them on in so long.... Other than that, I just figure it out....

Maybe like all muscles, those muscles in your eyes can be re-strengthened to maintain their tone.... if you choose to endure the bumps and bruises caused by tripping over things while they get back in shape. Try it. You might like it. Note: I am not an expert in that subject, so consult one before doing anything dangerous.... Perhaps there are some eye muscle exercises that you can do....

Also, like all muscles, they are probably sensitive to a lot of the other things going on in your body... such as getting enough sleep and good nutrition....

BTW on a partly related subject: I don't know if you have Panera where you are but I have to say that around here, there must be some correlation between poppy seed bagel eating and eyesight because an unusually high percentage of the customers in Panera wear glasses for some reason.... Go to one if you do not think I am right...

[graham]

I should add- i'm only 32, and the optician says my shortsightedness is due to the shape of my eyeball changing with age. I'm hoping it'll stabilise in the next few years as the deterioration has slowed somewhat from my late twenties.

Yes I think glasses make your eyes a bit lazy as I stopped wearing them for a bit recently and my eyesight improved- but only slightly. I put off getting glasses for the first three years however when I first noticed the change and it still got worse, I doubt my shortsightedness is due to wearing glasses/contacts. My eyes have to work MUCH harder when wearing contacts anyway.

[PrestonSturges]

Also, use the dim laptop less and switch to nice big bright flat screen. I found myself reading a label with tiny print late last night because my eyes weren't tired.

[Expatriot]

Lots of bad info in this thread - readers use caution.

Not sure about "short" sightedness, which implies lack of providence, but "near" sightedness is almost always caused by your eyeball being too long relative to your focal length.

With regard to your eyes "working hard" with contacts on, this makes no sense for distance vision, for sure, and probably makes not much sense for short vision. All contacts do is bend the light coming in to your cornea slightly. If anything, contacts should make it easier for your eyes, because your iris isn't straining to try to bend your lens to focus on the retina.

Of course, if you do a lot of up close reading, then the dynamics may be different.

In any event, at 32 your eyeball length should be normalizing - that is, not changing, and you're probably a very good candidate for eye surgery.

Regarding Lasik, the "flap" issues are rare, but if you don't like the idea of having the flap cut and reattached and the risk associated with that, there's a procedure that you can get that actually sculpts the outside of your cornea - same net effect - change refraction through cornea - but no flap, no chance of flap side effects and no flap weakness - that is, flaps that heal are not a strong as normal cornea. Some say it's like a tupperware bowl - strong bond on outside, inside of flap prone to re-tear if mechanical injury occurs.

Knew a guy who had the contouring done - said it was brutal for a couple days, then perfect vision thereafter.

Regarding LASIK - greatest thing I ever had done, physically. My vision is better than it was when I was 12, which was the last year I wasn't myopic.

I too despised glasses - contacts were doable, but a pain.

In a post peak world, severe myopia is reaeaaaaallly bad. I tried to get my SO to get lasik done, but no. So she'll be blind when she steps on her glasses and no optician is operating in our neck of the woods.

Like I said - lots of bad info in this thread. Read, read, learn, ask lots of questions. I did a bunch of research before getting mine done.

Good luck.

If you go with surgery, go with somebody who has done a lot of them. Folks offering discounts for eye surgery should be avoided.

[graham]

Sorry for the confusion as i'm using British terms- Myopia/near-sightedness in the US is commonly called short-sightedness in the UK. Long-sighted is the opposite (hyperopia/far-sighted.)

[Pops]

My son and SIL, both in the service, have been happy with their eye surgery.

I have been using the same brand/model eyeglass frames for 10 or 12 years, maybe more. I have 5 or 6 pairs in various stages of disintegration. It always surprises me when I ask if they are still available and they say yes.

The kind I wear have a solid nose-piece and spring-action "legs" that can really take a beating. But if they do break I have several pair I can scavenge parts from, a regular little pick-n-pull! I've never asked but I would assume there are patterns/dimensions the optician builds lenses from and could simply make new lenses for the old frames.

There are things I think will be around for a long time and glasses are one - that is if you can afford them, or unless the guy that makes the lenses falls into the grinder and makes a spectacle of himself...

[anador]

The problem on relying on lens grinders to exist after peak is that you'd be hard pressed to find a place that does it now.

Ever since they came out with computerized grinders opticians shops have replaced their highly skilled lens grinders almost wholesale.

Theres probably only a fraction of the hand grinders around now that there were ten years ago, I wouldn't rely on a lenscrafter being particularly easy to find post-peak.

All we have now are secretaries that punch a code into a machine loaded with industrial milled blanks.... really sad.

[TreeFarmer]

Regarding Lasik, the "flap" issues are rare, but if you don't like the idea of having the flap cut and reattached and the risk associated with that, there's a procedure that you can get that actually sculpts the outside of your cornea - same net effect - change refraction through cornea - but no flap, no chance of flap side effects and no flap weakness - that is, flaps that heal are not a strong as normal cornea. Some say it's like a tupperware bowl - strong bond on outside, inside of flap prone to re-tear if mechanical injury occurs.

Knew a guy who had the contouring done - said it was brutal for a couple days, then perfect vision thereafter.

I believe that the contouring you describe is the PRK that I had. It was not "brutal" afterward, just uncomfortable in that your eye feels like it has sand in it for 3 days. After that time the protective coating has grown back and everything is good.

TF

[Keith_McClary]

Basically I have really bad shortsightedness. My focal distance is now around a foot (from having 20/20 vision up until 18). At the moment I wear soft contacts as I really HATE glasses. My eyesight in them is terrible as they rob me of depth perception.

Mine's about 4 and 6 inches. My hobby is spotting high flying birds for a migratory raptor count.

I don't understand your statement about depth perception. Of course we have much better binocular depth perception at close distances.

I recently bought $10 prescription glasses online. They were shipped from Pakistan. EyeglassRetailerReviews.com has good info. Do we have a thread on online shopping?

[Keith_McClary]

All we have now are secretaries that punch a code into a machine loaded with industrial milled blanks.... really sad.

When I ordered online I entered the prescription myself.

Industrial milled blanks are an example of products that are much cheaper than custom made, but this only works if you have a large market and a postal system.

[graham]

Basically I have really bad shortsightedness. My focal distance is now around a foot (from having 20/20 vision up until 18). At the moment I wear soft contacts as I really HATE glasses. My eyesight in them is terrible as they rob me of depth perception.

Mine's about 4 and 6 inches. My hobby is spotting high flying birds for a migratory raptor count.

I don't understand your statement about depth perception. Of course we have much better binocular depth perception at close distances.

I recently bought $10 prescription glasses online. They were shipped from Pakistan. EyeglassRetailerReviews.com has good info. Do we have a thread on online shopping?

Well, when wearing glasses the lens is further away from your eye so it pushes the image back making it appear 'flatter'. Alot of people don't seem to notice this, but I do. When wearing contacts I have effectively normal eyesight, except my focusing muscles have to work harder (particuarly close up i've noticed- maybe I should have the power reduced slightly?)

Anyway I am now considering lazer surgery- either LASEK or C-Ten if I can find it. I'll have to wait a year though just to see if my prescription changes.

[steam_cannon]

My eyesight in them is terrible as they rob me of depth perception.

Yeah, strong perscriptions can be like that. I've found that thinner closer fitting lenses help, but only so much. Contacts are better.

Regarding stocking up on contact lenses:
I would warn against stocking up on contact lenses.

* In my experience, "Sealed" contacts seem to go bad overtime such that contacts that are several years old have a high risk of causing immediate eye irritation and infection. It's possible the materials degrade over time or harbor slow growing organisms. Whatever the cause, I recommend following the packages expiration date, which is usually only a year or two.

* Lens solutions may get iffy over time as well (either due to the container degrading or slow growing organisms).

With regard to your eyes "working hard" with contacts on, this makes no sense for distance vision, for sure, and probably makes not much sense for short vision. All contacts do is bend the light coming in to your cornea slightly. If anything, contacts should make it easier for your eyes, because your iris isn't straining to try to bend your lens to focus on the retina.

Usually people say what Gramme said because contact lenses don't help with astigmatism as well as eyeglasses due to the lenses being soft. Feeling like their eyes are "working harder" is a common complaint.

Regarding Lasik, the "flap" issues are rare, but if you don't like the idea of having the flap cut and reattached and the risk associated with that, there's a procedure that you can get that actually sculpts the outside of your cornea - same net effect - change refraction through cornea - but no flap, no chance of flap side effects and no flap weakness - that is, flaps that heal are not a strong as normal cornea. Some say it's like a tupperware bowl - strong bond on outside, inside of flap prone to re-tear if mechanical injury occurs.

Regarding Lasik, many people who are myopic or with strong astigmatisms are poor candidates. Though there are new more expensive procedures that involve inserting a lens into the eye. So if Gramme can't get lasik, then he might be able to get something like an Implantable Contact Lens.

Implantable Contact Lenses: ICLs
http://www.docshop.com/education/vision/refractive/icl
http://www.singereye.com/pages/verisyse.php

Like I said - lots of bad info in this thread. Read, read, learn, ask lots of questions. I did a bunch of research before getting mine done.

This thread isn't so bad. I think as gramee mentioned, a lot of what you are calling "bad info" is simply due to language differences.

Side note on eyeglass repair:
I sometimes help people by fixing their eyeglasses. There are many ways to polish lenses and fix broken frames. Here's a link worth saving on that.
http://www.instructables.com/id/Super-E ... es-Repair/
http://www.instructables.com/id/Eyeglas ... -retainer/
http://www.ehow.com/how_4843938_rid-scr ... asses.html
http://www.ehow.com/how_2077107_polish- ... asses.html

How to make pinhole eyeglasses
http://www.paddling.net/guidelines/showArticle.html?269
http://www.instructables.com/id/Pinhole-Eyeglasses/

Note, pinhole Glasses do not correct long term vision problems
http://www.casewatch.org/ftc/news/1993/ ... sion.shtml

Final thoughts, don't worry so much. If the economy crashes or ww3 hits, you can survive looking though a bottle-cap monocle with a pinhole in it. So you'll still get to see whatever comes next, just remember to bring popcorn so you can enjoy the show!

[nocar]

The advantage of being near-sighed is that the normal aging forcing you to have reading glasses will not affect you - you can still read (and sew and pick out bones in your fish for example) without glasses.

[Expatriot]

The advantage of being near-sighed is that the normal aging forcing you to have reading glasses will not affect you - you can still read (and sew and pick out bones in your fish for example) without glasses.

Not true, but perfectly in tune with much of this thread.

Near sightedness is caused by an elongated eye - the focal point of the light entering the eye is not on the retina.

The reading glasses condition that hits around age 40 to which you refer is when your lens becomes less flexible, and you can't focus on close up items because your lens won't compress enough.

[dionisio]

I've been nearsighted all my life(I'm 68). I have always been able to read and "pick bones
from fish" without glasses.

[KingM]

I wouldn't worry about it too much. Hundreds of millions of people wear glasses and it's a technology that's not going anywhere, even in a collapse. People have been making glasses for centuries and it can be done with relatively simple equipment (even if it's not at the moment)