I’m 24 and over the course of the last 5 years or so developed a fairly potent astigmatism; I finally got myself to go to the optometrist to get my eyes checked. (I may have keratoconus, I’ll be getting screened for it next week). I’ve NEVER worn glasses or contacts, and my vision never really botherd or hindered me…I suppose I was just used to it. Well, I got my glasses today, and I’ve had them for about 5 hours. I’ve kept them on continuously, and I’m to the point where I want to pull them off and stomp on them. Yes, they make my vision crisp, sharp, and vivid, but everything looks distorted and just weird, like my depth perception is off. When I crane my head from side to side, images become skewed…like, as I’m sitting here looking at my monitor, and I crane my head to the right, the square shape of the screen takes on a shape like this, only not quite to this degree:
______
/ /
/ /
/_____ /
Is my prescription totally jacked, or will I my eyes get used to this? Will stuff stop seeming to do that? I know I just need to be patient and get used to them, but this seems really extreme…I dont know. If anyone else out there has gone through this, I’d love to hear what you have to say…
I suppose it may be a case of your having adapted to the astigmatism, and the corrected version of your vision may just take some getting used to.
OTOH, if it just won’t clear up in a few days, you might have the optician check the 'scrip. I did once get a pair of glasses where the optician had accidentally reversed the sign of my astigmatism correction.
Whew! My depth perception seemed to be the most affected. When I left the optician’s, I was soon at a downtown streetcorner, waiting for the light to change. When I looked down, I thought, “Yikes! These people are really going to step off of this curb? Without parachutes?”
Astigmatism here. Had glasses for 26 years (got them in basic training). You should stop noticing the angular distortion before long - maybe a couple days at most. I can still notice it if I look for it, but I’ve long since stopped thinking about it. I find I much prefer halo-free highlights and text I can read.
I had a similar experience several years ago. I went for my first pair of glasses and sat anxiously awaiting my new, improved vision. The doctor placed the glasses on my face and instantly everything went to shit. He was more out of focus, everything else was out of focus, and everything was distorted and moving around like you describe. He assurred me this was normal and said I just needed time to adjust to them. I tried. And tried. And tried. I complained again. The doctor checked the results of his exam and the prescription he wrote. All was well, he said. I just needed time to get used to them.
Finally, after several weeks I got fed up and went for an exam with a different doctor. What the new doctor discovered was that the first doctor had way over-corrected for astigmatism. (Possibly due to the type of error Ringo spoke of.) He wrote me a prescription and I went to the mall to get it filled. I explained the trouble I’d been having and asked the people at the eyeglass store to try to do a good job grinding them. They assured me they would “nail” the prescription.
I went back an hour later and slipped my new glasses on, and it was like a breath of fresh air. My vision instantly went to perfect. Everything was crisp and clear just like I had hoped.
There’s no guarantee that your problem is the same, as my astigmatism is pretty mild. But I would spring for a second exam by another doctor if the problem persists more than a few days.
I got glasses when I was in forth grade some (chunka-chunka-thunk) 25 years ago. I have a slight astigmatism in both eyes and significant myopia.
My glasses drove me nuts for years. Headaches, flashes in my peripheral vision, depth perception problems, the works, on top of being made fun of for the ugly-ass frames my mother insisted on. (You’ve seen Drew Carey? Worse.) I stopped wearing them after a couple of years, and when I was old enough to work, I bought contacts, which corrected the myopia but not the astigmatism. That worked fine for years, but a couple of years ago I got some toric lenses that correct for the astigmatism as well, and now I’m all good.
Give it a few days; your brain may just need to get used to the new situation. But if it keeps straining your eyes or giving you headaches, go to an opthomologist (not an optometrist, where I assume you got your glasses) and get it corrected. Nothing drives you nuts faster than looking out into the world and seeing something that looks like the last 20 minutes of 2001.
I have had fairly bad astigmatism for years. I have been wearing contacts since 8th grade (I’m near 40 now), but I wear glasses around the house, or when I’m too lazy to put my contacts in. I know exactly what you are talking about. I cannot drive with glasses on. The cars approaching from the sides not in focus freak me out.
Toric contacts are the way to go. I specifically like Focus brand. When you rotate your eyeball the lens follows so you don’t get that weird skewed perception.
I disagree with this advice.
If you want a second opinion, go to a different optometrist.
Ophthalmologists are medical doctors specializing in diseases of the eye. Most only do refraction as a secondary function at best.
Optometrists specialize in refraction & dispensing of lenses. They do refraction every day, many times a day, as opposed to most ophthalmologists who may not have done a refraction for days or weeks.
Glasses always distort to some degree. After a while you get used to it, but then they also force you to turn your head more.
I’ve had glasses for a long time, just for watching tv or the cinema, or driving. At some point I noticed I started getting tired sooner and noticed this got much less by wearing them all day. After trying that for a year, I tried lenses. Took a while to get used to putting them in and stuff, but they are very superior to glasses almost always (when I’m tired, I prefer glasses, because it allows for a more natural progression to falling asleep … )
Contacts are like correcting your eyesight without noticing you’re wearing anything, without narrowing your field of vision, without distorting the edges of your vision, etc.
I have that same experience every time I get a new prescription, for me it has always gone away after a few days at most. I remember when I was a kid and got new glasses, stumbling around the house for a while because the walls and floors were all sloped in and out, it was like being in a funhouse.
When I switched to contacts it stopped, but if you prefer glasses you should still be able to wear them. If it doesn’t go away after a bit get your prescription re-checked.
I even have a bit of difficulty if I switch from my contacts to my glasses within a short period - my depth perception goes all funky for half an hour or so.
Most likely you will get used to it quickly.
Different ophthalmologists specialize in different areas of, well, ophthalmology. Some work with disease and pathology, others trauma or structural/developmental defects, et cetera.
My problem with optometrists is that, as with astrologers, I seem to get a different reading at every office. One will tell me that my astigmatism isn’t worth correcting; the next will warn me that it’s causing me eyestrain that may lead to permanent damage. I’ve had post-pubescent prescriptions that have corrections anywhere from -3.0 to -6.5, and I know my eyes haven’t changed that much or that radically in the span of a year or two. I’m sure that there are good and bad optometrists, but most seem to be more of a technician than a diagnostician, and if I’m having real problems I don’t want to be pooh-pooh’ed by someone who is speaking through their hat. (Not that physicians don’t do this as well, but…)
My advice, having worn glasses since fifth grade, is to keep wearing them. I got headaches from them at first, as the world became clear, but in week or so, they went away. Which was nice. However, my best friend got glasses at the same time, and took them off whenever they gave her a headache. We’re almost 20, and she still finds the need to take them off far more often then I do.
That being said, if it doesn’t get better relatively soon, check wiith your eye doctor.
I got glasses when I was seven (um, 19 years ago) and every time I get a new prescription, I get the wonky depth perception for a while. It only lasts a few hours now, since I’ve been getting a new scrip every few years.
If it’s not better after a few days (keep wearing them) then go back to get them checked.
Just last year I got new (first) set of glasses. I have one good eye (no correction) and one near sighted eye (about -2.75 but I couldn’t read the perscription all that well because his writing sucked).
I got glasses, tried my best to use them for a few days, but gave up.
Unless you’re actually having trouble reading (while others are fine) I wouldn’t worry so much.
I’d rather have semi-poor vision than being confused and getting headaches from the distortion. I didn’t even try driving in that condition.
badmana, I have a similar prescription (right eye really doesn’t need correction, left eye is -3.50) and wore contacts for several years. First I only wore one, then I found I’m more comfortable with just a little correction on the right as well, so I went to two. Then my eyes started getting dry, so I rather hesitantly got a pair of glasses. The first couple of days were pretty weird, but they’re great now. You might want to give them another chance – my depth perception is horrible without correction, so I’m guessing yours isn’t so hot either. I can manage without my glasses if I have to, but I’m a lot happier with them.
)