Question for the specys...

[shootemindehead]

Hi all, Last week, I got an eyetest. The first in decades. My sight has always been ok for me, but recently I have felt that focusing on small text when reading was becoming difficult. Basically, after a while the text started to "jump" and become out of focus. I also have an addiction to making 1/72 scale aircraft and amour and the details of the smallest objects was becoming harder and harder to make out. Reading the smallest text in a newspaper is also kind of difficult now. My left eye has always been the stronger of the two and has always done the bulk of the work. My right eye has always been somewhat fuzzy. Combined, they've been fine, but age is taking its inevitable toll on the old Mark 1 eyeballs, resulting in tiredness and a lack of ability to focus on small items close up. Distance is still fine. I am longsighted. Recently, my brother in law gave me a pair of over the counter readers he had. They were +1's (I'm pretty sure) and I noticed an immediate improvement when reading. It was a much more comfortable experience. So, I have been using them on the occasions when I needed them, which was fairly limited to very small text and my nerdy hobby. Biting the bullet, I went into Specsavers and got my eyes tested. My perscription came out as R +3.75 and L +2.00, with a very slight astigmatism. When I tried on the glasses, I noticed that my vision had become significantly worse and was very surprised. The left lens was helpful, but the right lens was completely blurry and together it was just awful. I mentioned this to the (very) young lad at the counter, who went into the back to check. I don't know what he checked exactly, but he basically came back to me and said that I should "...wear them for a while until I get used to them". I went away thinking that I should have been able to see a marked improvement straight away (ahem "corrective" lenses?), but I certainly did not. In fact, my sight was better without the glasses! So, I've been wearing them and trying to "get used" to them, but I cannot do it any more. I cannot read with them and working on the PC gives me a headache and eye strain. Also, I can feel my right eye pulling inwards, if that makes sense. It's a very uncomfortable sensation. With the store bought glasses my BiL gave me, it seems much better. Reading is much easier and I don't have that pulling sensation from the right eye. So...should I give it more time? Or am I correct in thinking that my right eye has been over/under perscribed?

[Neil]

Hmmm... Sounds familiar in some ways... My eyes have generally always been very good, with my right eye being the better/stronger - But then as a rule if you're right handed then your right eye will be the better/lead etc. Anyway, a few months ago I noticed my right eye was aching and a bit blurred at times, so had my first ever full eye test. Seems my right eye had suddenly deteriorated and I'm now long sighted so things close up are blurred. When bringing fine text towards me, it gets blurred about a 8-12inches away. When they drop in the corrective lenses - ping! - crystal clear! Basically in your 40s its very common for your lenses to start hardening up, so the muscles can't pull them to focus so easily. So this is the average age for sight problems to appear. My aching was my muscles trying too much! I'm not wearing glasses yet, as I don't find it a problem, but suspect in a few years I may need them for reading or monitor work. As for your prescription, if you work with screens in your day job, your should be able to get an eye test each year paid by your company? So maybe contact HR and see if the company will pay for another eye test to compare against your current one? BTW. Pulled out my test results for comparison:- RIGHT EYE: Sphere +1.00 / Cyl -0.25 / Axis 90 LEFT EYE: Sphere +1.00 / Cyl -1.00 / Axis 90 Are your +3.75 and +2.00 the Sphere value?

[shootemindehead]

I believe so. SPH is written beside the figures. To be honest, I think that +3.75 for my right eye is over the top. I cannot see anything out of that lens. Whereas the +2.00 for the left seems a little over-powered too, but not by much. I don't need the glasses for anything but reading and they help a little with the work monitor I'm using at the moment, which is tiny. At home, I use a 19in 16x9 and I find that I don't really need the specs for that. BTW, I am only contracting at present, so the company is not required to do shit for me.

[Neil]

BTW, I am only contracting at present, so the company is not required to do shit for me. Well, if you think the prescription is wrong, ask them if they can re-do part of the test to verify it? Or worse case I guess it's £50 to get a second opinion.... and if that shows a different prescription then take it up with the original folks?

[MinionZombie]

I got my first pair of specs in 2003 for distance, but I only used them occasionally until 2010 when I had to start using them to watch the TV across the room - I noticed that high definition blu-ray looked like SD without my specs on. Anyway, I got an eyetest t'other week and fortunately my eyes haven't changed much since 2003, but I did get new specs - I still only need specs for distance, but these new ones definitely feel weirder than the previous set. There's almost a slight sense of disorientation initially, and if I was to say look down at the remote control nearby and then back to the telly, my eyes briefly struggle to focus/feel weird (but then they probably would, looking at something close-up with distance specs) ... occasionally it can feel like my eyes are fighting the lenses a bit, but then once I've had them on for a spell they feel natural. I'm going to see how they feel over a couple of weeks - when I put them on for the first time they did feel quite weird, but with successive nights wearing them for watching telly they've got more comfortable ... I'll keep an eye on the situation though. Like with you chaps, I too have one eye weaker than the other (my left eye) with my right eye compensating for it a fair bit. I'm also being for vigilant about taking breaks from the computer screen and such, as you do get a bit weary if you forget to look away.

[Neil]

^^ So you're short sighted then. You could have laser treatment if you wish... Which I cannot, being long sighted.

[MinionZombie]

^^ So you're short sighted then. You could have laser treatment if you wish... Which I cannot, being long sighted. Good to know ... but I can't afford it ... and I'd only consider it if my distance vision got properly bad. Right now it's like the difference between SD and HD ... if it got to the point where it was like watching a Real Media clip on the internet circa 2000, but blown up to full screen, then I'd seriously think about doing it. I recall it being said that if you stretched your eyes with your fingers (a bit like when kids do that 'Chinese/Japanese' eye thing ... for lack of a better description), and you saw an improvement, then laser treatment would work for you, and that is definitely the case with me as stretching them does change the clarity. Although hearing about Ewan McGregor getting it done before they did Long Way Round, it sounded a bit wince-inducing. And do they cut a flap in your eyeball to let the laser in? I seem to remember hearing that elsewhere. Oh - I just remembered something - during my eye test, the lady put this disc thing in the testing frames that was like looking through a pinhole/peephole for my left eye (my weak eye), and the clarity greatly improved - does anyone know why/how that is?

[shootemindehead]

^^ So you're short sighted then. You could have laser treatment if you wish... Which I cannot, being long sighted. Ah crap, really? I was hoping to get the bad one zapped.

[Neil]

^^ Nope us long sighted folks can't I believe...

[AcesandEights]

Shootem, sounds like the prescription is slightly off, I agree with Neil that you should press for a re-do. I've never met an eye professional who didn't claim you could come back without charge if there was a problem with the prescription. The key is timeliness of action and the professionalism of the outfit in question. Now I have an image of a bespectacled Joe Pilato (bifocals, no less) painting Warhammer minis stuck in my head

[Mike70]

Ah crap, really? I was hoping to get the bad one zapped. Neil speaks truth. I'm Farsighted as all hell. I can see like a damn eagle at distance but up close shit literally disappears. Laser surgery usually doesn't work on folks like us. another thing to keep in mind is that if a doctor cannot get your eyesight to 20/20 with glasses, surgery usually won't work either. that was the info i got from my eye doctor a few years ago. maybe tech advances have changed that but, for the most part, farsighted folks are stuck with glasses or contacts. i'm a glasses person. i've been wearing them since i was 5 or 6. can't do contacts. i tried them when i was about 27 or so and gave up after a few days. i felt like i was walking around with my cock out. i guess glasses are one of my security blankets. - - - Updated - - - Oh - I just remembered something - during my eye test, the lady put this disc thing in the testing frames that was like looking through a pinhole/peephole for my left eye (my weak eye), and the clarity greatly improved - does anyone know why/how that is? you mean the part where they are asking you if #1 looks better than #2? that's usually part of getting the power levels right - esp. if you have astigmatism.

[shootemindehead]

According to these guys there's treatment for long sighted saps like us... http://www.opticalexpress.co.uk/eyecare/long-sight.html http://www.londonvisionclinic.com/archives/3598

[MinionZombie]

@Mike - no, this was something else during the #1 or #2 testing of lenses to get the right strength. It was only done for my left eye (the weak one) and it was like a black disc with a little hole in the middle of it (as opposed to the different strength lenses that were, obviously, clear) ... when that slotted in at one point my vision in my weak left eye greatly improved, and I was wondering why-so (didn't have the time to ask when I got the test).

[shootemindehead]

I think I read somewhere that it helps the retina focus with less effort?

[triste realtà]

I took the cheap route this past summer and ordered online from one of two sites that circumvent the law and don't ask for a valid prescription. I got the same strength for both eyes according to my last vial (-3.25). My left eye is just a little better than the right so that was a little too strong. It gave me a little bit of a headache for a couple months, and I can't use my enhanced near sighted vision with them in, but the headache eventually went away. It wasn't too bad in the first place. I do notice that each individual eye focuses better when covering the other with my hand so I still say the left is too strong but I got 6 lenses for $26 and didn't want to order 2 boxes with 2 different strengths. If it's so painful you can't stand it I'd say it's too strong but my headache did go away after awhile.