Glasses

[angie26]

I've been wearing glasses since I was about 11, (shortsighted). I am now..............a bit older. Why the hell do I have to take them off to see anything close up. It is so anoying me.

[dot.hawkes]

Our eyes deteriorate as we get older, what happened at your last sight test? You should make an appointment, if this is a sudden deterioration it needs checking out.

[angie26]

It's not really so sudden Dot, just bloomin annoying. It was suggested I try bifocals......shiver.........

[dot.hawkes]

what about varifocals, they do not have an obvious line and it takes more time getting used to them apparently but they are supposed to really be an option.

[Ethmer]

Although it wouldn't hurt to visit an eye specialist, i would suggest that you consider bifocals. If you need to take your glasses off to view things that are close, then bifocals would simply have a "clear" section on the part of the lens where the eye focuses for closeup objects.

i, myself, wear trifocals. i have different vision needs for reading, viewing normal distances and viewing far distances. i have no problems with them and they aren't noticeable to others.

Again, i would recommend that you invest in an eye examination by a competent person. You have only the two eyes you were born with and sometimes an ounce of prevention is worth more than a pound of cure.

[jas1002]

I personaly like it that I can see so well close up with my classes off. It's great for plucking the eyebrows which I can't do if I have my contacts in.

I thought that my eyes were getting worse but the optitions said that it was just my age, the muscles don't move as fast as they used to and it take longer to focus when, as he put it. you look at the TV, move to reading a paper,

[jno]

I was recommended varifocals for driving... hopeless, it's like looking through a letter box because the sides as well as the lower bit were on a different focal length so I had to keep turning my whole head to see traffic in the mirrors. Went back to the opticians and told him they were going to get me killed because I couldn't watch the road in front and just turn my eyes to the mirrors; and demanded bifocals instead, which I got. NOT recommended.

[parkesquay]

I was shortsighted since I was at junior school. I knew I had a problem when I used to get chalk on my nose through standing too close to the blackboard. Anyway some 40+ years later I had laser eye surgery and it is the best money that I ever spent. The cost was about �1800(it is even less now) and over a few years of buying contact lens/varifocal glasses is soon recovered. It is not only the wellbeing and vanity benefits that laser surgery brings but the practical benefits of being able to do sport for example and see the opposition or see the golf ball without having to wipe ones glasses. For a better quality of life I highly recommend it and only wish it was around when I was young.

[angie26]

Thanks all.

Parkesquay I have actually considered surgery, I think It's about �400 per eye now. As you said over the years it would pay for itself (present glasses �150). My only problem is I've always had a bit of a phobia when it comes to anything to do with the eyes.

What exactly is the procedure, can you feel anything?

[parkesquay]

Angie, sorry for late reply but I have been out all day. There are different types of eye correction surgery and I think you will find that the �400 mark is not for laser treatment. You need to look at one of the companies that do laser eye surgery and this is the one that I used some 3 years ago: www.ultralase.co.uk/ - hopefully this will explain all.

I think everybody has a phobia about eye surgery for the obvious reasons but not for one moment do I regret having my eyes done. Preparation beforehand is just a series of tests to determine how much correction is needed. Now if you wear contact lens then they will need to be left out for a few weeks to allow the eye to settle. I only felt a little uncomfortable, and that only with one eye, when the surgeion was positioning the equipment. Surgery time was about 10/15 minutes and then recovery in a darkened room afterwards was about 30 minutes.

Noiceable results are almost intantaneous and you go home with some eye protection to wear at night for about 10 days just to let it all settle and then follow up checks.

It is going to cost a couple of grand but I guess if you don't go out with the girls for a couple of Fridays that will cover it(just joking). If you look at the web site you will see that they even do easy stage payments. A real bonus is that astygmatism is automatically corrected also. I was quite short sighted and am now 20/20 in one eye but not quite as good in the other. If it doesn't sound like a contradiction I do use a low opter lens for prolonged reading but it is normal to become a little long-sighted when one gets older.

Hope all this helps.. My advice is to go for it.

[angie26]

Thankyou parkesquay, very informative, and thanks for the link.