Glasses for Driving maybe needed?

callaway92

Hello there,

Never posted in the Eye forum before, so go easy on me.

Was born with Lazy Eye in my Left Eye with it only having around 5% of it's vision. Wore a patch on it for around 2 or 3 years from ages 4-7 or so if I remember correctly. Wore glasses for the next 5 years or so until I started Secondary School for a couple of reasons. 1) The optician said that my eyesight was not going to improve any more. 2) Was truly sick of wearing glasses as a young lad. Didn't just wear them for reading/watching T.V. I wore them permanently.

Funny enough now I actually kinda miss glasses. Not just to help with sight, but I actually find them to be quite the fashion accessory funnily enough

Forward to getting my Driving License. When I first passed my theory test, I went into the Opticians to see if I needed Glasses for Driving. Myself and my Mother were sure I would because I have such little sight in my left eye. (When I cover my right eye I cannot see anything but a blur. I can't even make out the biggest letter on the Letter Reading thing in the Opticians.)

Anyway, the Optician said I didn't need glasses due to my right eye compensating well enough for my left eye!

Recently though after driving for over a year now, I have been starting to have a little trouble with seeing. Firstly, when anytime there is a car coming towards me, even with just their dims on, I have to look away because it actually causes a horrible pain in my eyes. A couple of times I even pulled over due to being slightly dazed :rolleyes: .

There's other little things that I've noticed now while driving that my eyes might miss out on which is obviously fairly dangerous!

Should I go to the Opticians? If they say that I don't need glasses because of the compensation, what should I say.

Maybe DEEP DEEP down my heart wants glasses again

Sorry for such a long post btw. I just LOVE to write!

Daemos

I didn't even know there was an Eye forum until your feedback thread

It actually sounds like we have nearly identical eyesight. I can see almost perfectly with my left eye, but the top letter with my right is a complete blur. My optician told me to wear glasses while driving, reading and watching TV. That turned out to be so often that I now wear them 24/7 because the adjustment from on to off was too painful.

Anyway long story short, eyesight changes, so you have to adapt with it. Two years ago I was told I'd need completely different glasses because of how my eyes were changing. When he tested them recently there was very little difference at all; even he was surprised at how little they changed. Working out how well compensation works isn't exact. Mine compensated better than expected - it's possible yours are doing worse than expected.

So yes - definately go to the optician, and sure it can't hurt to mention your suspicions before the exam, just to be sure

TwoCanDan

callaway92 wrote: »

Hello there,

Never posted in the Eye forum before, so go easy on me.

Was born with Lazy Eye in my Left Eye with it only having around 5% of it's vision. Wore a patch on it for around 2 or 3 years from ages 4-7 or so if I remember correctly. Wore glasses for the next 5 years or so until I started Secondary School for a couple of reasons. 1) The optician said that my eyesight was not going to improve any more. 2) Was truly sick of wearing glasses as a young lad. Didn't just wear them for reading/watching T.V. I wore them permanently.

Funny enough now I actually kinda miss glasses. Not just to help with sight, but I actually find them to be quite the fashion accessory funnily enough

Forward to getting my Driving License. When I first passed my theory test, I went into the Opticians to see if I needed Glasses for Driving. Myself and my Mother were sure I would because I have such little sight in my left eye. (When I cover my right eye I cannot see anything but a blur. I can't even make out the biggest letter on the Letter Reading thing in the Opticians.)

Anyway, the Optician said I didn't need glasses due to my right eye compensating well enough for my left eye!

Recently though after driving for over a year now, I have been starting to have a little trouble with seeing. Firstly, when anytime there is a car coming towards me, even with just their dims on, I have to look away because it actually causes a horrible pain in my eyes. A couple of times I even pulled over due to being slightly dazed :rolleyes: .

There's other little things that I've noticed now while driving that my eyes might miss out on which is obviously fairly dangerous!

Should I go to the Opticians? If they say that I don't need glasses because of the compensation, what should I say.

Maybe DEEP DEEP down my heart wants glasses again

Sorry for such a long post btw. I just LOVE to write!

Hey!

It sounds like you grasped what the optician said fairly well. You certainly sound more up to speed on your eyes than most. A few things spring to my mind:

-You may have passed the standards for driving without specs, but that doesn't mean you have zero prescription in your good eye. A minor amount of long/short-sightedness/astigmatism can become a problem, especially for someone so reliant on one eye...this can be particularly noticeable when driving at night, as you seem to be experiencing...

-Your prescription may have increased in the good eye.

I definitely recommend that you get an eye test. There's no harm in getting the eye health checked out anyway. If you have a medical card or PRSI cover your test may even be free...

Good luck!

callaway92

^^ Nicely written reply,thanks

I don't think I'm entitled to a Medical Card anyway so will have to pay for the Eye Test. Will definitely do it during lunch on Monday hopefully!

TwoCanDan

callaway92 wrote: »

^^ Nicely written reply,thanks

I don't think I'm entitled to a Medical Card anyway so will have to pay for the Eye Test. Will definitely do it during lunch on Monday hopefully!

No probs...I work in that field, so if you have any other queries, feel free to PM me...Bye...

MangoLime

I would definitely get an eye test before you crash!