I’m a glasses/ contact lenses wearer, I have astigmatism in both eyes and am farsighted (I think that’s the one- I can never keep far- and near-sighted straight). My vision is so bad that, without any vision correction, I have to hold a book in front of my face, almost touching my nose, to be able to read it.
I wear my contact lenses most of the time, and only wear my glasses around the house and in the evening. My glasses are at least 10 years old, and my contact lenses are a couple years old. I know that I need to get both prescriptions updated, and when we get our check from Dubya later this month, husband and I are both going to the eye dr. and get new eyewear.
Here’s the thing- I have noticed a change in my vision recently (within the past few months). I got a splinter in my finger at work, and when I got home, I had to take out my contacts in order to be able to focus clearly on the splinter- it was a small one, but I felt like my contacts were preventing me from focusing really close. I make jewelry, and some of the beads I use are pretty small, and I have noticed more recently, that when I am working on my jewelry, when I glance up (if I happen to have the tv on, say) after having been concentrating on the beads, I notice a distinct shift in my vision. I think it happens more when I’m wearing my contacts, too.
Does this sound like I need bifocals? I’m hoping it just means that I need to update my prescriptions, because I’m only in my early 30s, and having bifocals will make me feel like even MORE of an old lady! (I’m partly joking- I say that because I started getting gray hair in high school)
Thanks!
Dear Moggy–
I don’t think you need bifocals yet. I think you would need them if your vision DIDN’T shift after looking up from a close task. Unless the shift is particularly annoying, I would say just get your prescriptions updated. But definitely ask your eye doctor about it, since you’ll be seeing him/her anyway.
–Paks
Hullo! <waving wildly and jumping up and down to be seen> OVER HERE!
OK, first of all, you are nearsighted. You can remember the difference because you can see without your glasses/contacts near, but not far away, (i.e. you are far-blinded, therefore near-sighted).
Second, welcome to old age! As we age we become progressively more farsighted (whether we have “normal” vision before or not). People who are normally nearsighted tend to get less so, and people with normal vision tend to find out their arms are too short to read the paper. The part that sucks is that while you may indeed become less able to see things close up with your glasses ON, you’re still not going to be able to see shit with them OFF. Hence, bifocals. You look through the bottom normally, and thru the top for close-up stuff (or it may be the other way 'round). In the case of contacts, I believe a far vision lens is in one eye, and a near vision lens in the other, and you walk around feeling pukey for a few days then you adjust.
Me? I’m getting the LASIK.
Signed, Also Blind As A Bat and Getting Shorter Arms
Ya know, one of the eye drs. I saw when I was younger told me that my vision would improve when I got older because people get more farsighted as they get older, just because their eyes change. I’m thinking now that that’s a crock.
LifeOnWry (love the name BTW), I have considered the LASIK thing too, but I read somewhere that it works better for people whose vision wasn’t that bad to begin with. So I think in my case (severe astigmatism in both eyes), the surgery wouldn’t work. I’ll just wait a few years and see if they come up with something different. And yes, I’ll be your beadin’ buddy! What kind of jewelry do you make? I use mostly semi-precious gemstone beads, and I do the wire-wrapped loop kinda thing. I’ve just started “branching out” and using chain in some of my stuff, and I even started making a necklace using austrian crystal beads (a novel thing for me). A friend of mine (she’s the one who got me into making jewelry) makes the little amulet bags and such with delicas using peyote stitch. I didn’t have the patience for that at first, and also I don’t have the $$ to buy the thousands of seed beads and all that you need for that kind of work! She showed me how to do peyote stitch recently, and it was fun. Maybe in the future…
I never wear bifocals but I have varifocals, which is by no means a contagious disease, but a variable view lens, as the name suggests.
The proposition of varifocals worries me greatly before I wear them first, as I do not wish to look in any way peculiar, or anyway more peculiar than I look already.
A varifocal is essentially a normal vision lens which incorporates a window for reading purposes. If you are watching television, and at the same time reading a book, or doing embroidery, not that I do embroidery, it is necessary to adjust your line of sight between television and book, which is a very simple matter.
Varifocals look exactly like a normal pair of spectacles, unless they are very closely scrutinised indeed, and I strongly recommend this system if your circumstances are appropriate.
My optometrist finally clued me in that the way you know if you need bifocals is, if you find that when you’re holding a book to read it, you have to move it up and down, closer and farther away, just for a moment, to bring it into focus.
I agree, if you move the book farther away to get the print to focus, you may need bifocals. i have been wearing them for eight years now, and today, my eye doctor perscribed trifocals. maybe in a few days, i will be able to see middle distances too…