Brutal eyesight-what to do?

The Gopher

Wow,Im pouring out all my problems in this forum:D Coming next week,my uncontrollable addiction to beastiality films............
Anyway,Ive got absoloutely awful eyesight.If im in the car i cant read the licence plate of the car 6-10 feet in front of me(and dont worry,i dont drive a car:D )Ive got glasses but i hate wearing them-watching tv with them on hurts my eyes.I only use them occasionally in school to see the board but apart from that i never touch them.Would wearing them more often make my eyes better or would it make them dependant on the glasses,leaving me with worse sight than i began with if i discontinued use?My granny said that she thought that her normal sight got worse when she started wearing glasses,but then again it could be just her ageing.So what is the best option?I hate wearing glasses for 2 reasons-they give me a headache and i look like a tit wearing them.Sorry for the shallowness but i hate the look of myself wearing them.Nobody actually ever actually said they looked bad on me but i personally think they look awful on me,and i dont intend to be a full time wearer until im middle aged at least.And on a siightly related note theres a girl i know whos a real looker altogether,but she got glasses recently and if you didnt know her without them youd assume she was awful looking.But if my sight declines at the sight it does now i might really need glasses in only 5 or so years.What exactlys the deal with contact lenses and how they work and so forth?I hear there very expensive.To sum up again
I have trouble seeing licence numbers from only a few feet away.
Often i cant recognise a person i know well until im within about 18 feet of them(it can prove highly embarrasing when they wave from a distance and I shout out to som1 i know well"Howaya.Whos that?:o "
I have trouble reading small captions on tv from 5 feet away.
Cant read newspaper small print more than 3-4 feet away.
So what do i do?Could prolonged use of glasses make me dependant on them(like those ****ing inhalers i take,i dont have asmatha anymore but if i stop the inhalers i get a minor headcold:mad: .But that complaint is for another thread,once i clear up my animal films problem)
So whats the best solution?Thanks.

LegacyUser

Eat carrots

Makaveli

I would have thought not wearing your glasses when you should be would put even more strain on your eyes. I'd reccomend you go to the opticians and get a new eye test done.
When there you can always ask about contacts.
I've heard that once you start wearing glasses your eyesight does gradually get weaker, and this is why people have to go and get new lenses and such. But if you cant see things without your glasses it might be a good idea to use them.

Oh, and the way you write your posts... Are they written like that to make the rest of us need glasses? Damn it hit the "enter" button once in a while. And use the space bar more liberally. It wont hurt.

kamobe

Alright....

Your glasses shouldnt give you a headache. If they do, get your eye's tested again. If you work (at all) you should be able claim this back through PRSI. If you can, you'll get another 30 or so back for new glasses. Contacts are'nt TOO expensive. Most common sets work out at about €90 for six months, plus solution. This depends of course on the test. Personally i prefer glasses to contacts, hate sticking things in my eyes

If you dont like the way glasses look on you, then you have an ugly pair of glasses. Buy some nice ones....

Failing both of them, you could opt for laser surgery. 'Tis about a grand and a half per eye. You're left with about a week of pain, (per eye, each eye is done seperately), after that your eyesight is ALMOST perfect.

If you've anymore questions, I'll be happy to reply


**The price of contact lenses, is for six pairs of monthly disposable conacts, where *I* work. I'm not too certain what they charge elsewhere :}

Kali

I get the specsavers 3-month pack (its €53 for 3 pairs of monthly disposables).. they really cost **** all for the benefit you get out of them, i've no problem comfort wise with them (smoky rooms etc. aren't a problem with me).. i haven't worn glasses once in the past two years since i got them (broke them and never bothered fixing them).

they can be very annoying at times (when someones snuggling up to you on the couch/bed and your thinking, amongst other things, "ahh crap if im gonna be staying here i better go take out my lens"), i.e. they can ruin the mood sometimes, also when your headin out for the night and have no idea if you'll be going home its very advisable to take the lens case with you, again more hassle, but worth it in the end

personally i'll be going for laser surgery in the next two years (i'll be 24 then so eyes will have stopped developing)... i've no doubt that it will be worth it... but in the meantime the lenses suit me grand.

Shinji

The idea that wearing glasses can make your eyes weaker is an old wives tale - in fact you're more likely to damage your eyesight through constantly squinting and straining to focus while not wearing glasses.

If they're causing you to have headaches, go back to your optician and explain the problem. It's common enough for this to happen - especially if you don't allow your eyes to adjust to the glasses, like you seem to be doing. I wear fairly strong lenses, and it's really easier to just wear them all the time, so your eyes aren't constantly readjusting. It also means I don't walk into things

As for looking silly... *shrug* Personal thing I guess. Some people find glasses very attractive in a lot of instances. I hated mine when I started wearing them, but I've got so used to them that even after I do the laser surgery, I reckon I'll probably end up wearing clear-lensed or tinted glasses, at least for a few years - I'd feel silly without them, bizarrely.

swiss

Yeah I've had to wear glasses since I was about 8 years old. My eyesight is pretty crap without them - probably similar to yours, if your description is anything to go by.

I think that they are hurting your eyes because you are not wearing them regularly. Whenever I had to get new glasses as I was growing up, each one would be progressively stronger. For about a day or so my eyes would have to adjust, and I would get a headache from the glasses. If you've been wearing them pretty steady ignore that - and go and see your optician.

I wear my glasses practically all the time, I'd be lost without them - although I occasionally wear contacts as well - they're not that expensive and they're grand for sporting/social occassions where glasses might get in the way .

Frankly, I'd be glad to be rid of my glasses. Eventually I'm going to get my eyes lasered (Expensive though, about €1500 per eye - and there is a small but tangible risk that your eyesight will get worse). As for appearance, well you can always get another pair. In fashion terms it seems to be the smaller the better - but these are typically more expensive.

Mercury_Tilt

This post has been deleted.

The Gopher

Cheers for the help lads-any further suggestions greatly appreciated.I think that ill try and get that eye laser surgery done soon enough.But f*ck spending 1500 euro on it-my granny lives up North.Since ill be using her adress to get cheaper northern car insurance for under age 25 drivers sure i might as well attempt to get me peepers fixed by the laser treatment on the national health.Sound!

kamobe

I doubt they'll give you that on national health

You'll probably get some small discount. It *can* be cheaper up north, but not always, depends on the indvidual. The cheapest I've heard is about £650 (per eye). But was a customer talking about it, I've no official pricing to back that up

mike65

I've worn specs since 17 and never had any probs though the headache phenom did hit when I changed my presciption for the first time, its just a question of "wearing your eyes in". The last time I changed my glasses was about 10 years ago so the idea that ones eyes are weakened by using glasses is tosh as had been stated. They just get worse eventualy because we just wear out!.

I'd think long and hard about laser surgery, sure its
better than previously but its still a risk, glasses/contacts aren't.


Mike.

Saruman

I wore glasses for years and all they did was make my eyes worse... every few months a stronger prescription was needed... I got Laser Surgery done and have not looked back since.. thats a sort of final solution.. well at least till your over 40 and your eyes naturally get worse.

LegacyUser

I know what you mean Gopher. I was exactly the same as you. Couldn't make out things far away and thought I'd look a right tit in glasses. I was finally persuaded to get my eyes tested and i needed glasses. After looking around for a while I found a pair that looked alright on me. They weren't great but were the best I could find. I've become used to the way I look with them on and now I actually like the way i look with them on. I don't wear them all the time either and did get headaches but they went.
And you say you're in school, well when I got my eyes tested they said that they wouldn't advise me to get contacts as your eyes keep growing until you are about 21 and the contacts could hinder this growth and change the shape of your eyes and totally mess up your eyesight for good.

sceptre

Originally posted by Shinji
The idea that wearing glasses can make your eyes weaker is an old wives tale - in fact you're more likely to damage your eyesight through constantly squinting and straining to focus while not wearing glasses.

Sound advice that. Important to remember. Those old wives have caused an immense amount of hassle and trouble for people.

PHB

Also I find theres about a 2 week adjusting period of headaches when I don't wear my glasses for ages or whathave.

Get contacts if you're worried about how you look.
You can get lastek surgery, or something like that, but only if you're eyes are stabislised, which is at a different time for everyone

Defenistrator

My granny said that she thought that her normal sight got worse when she started wearing glasses

yeah, and the earth is flat....some ancestor far enough back said that, also traveling at speeds over 30MPH will kill you (search for Stephenson's Rocket on google).........so be a "seeing tit" as opposed to a "blind tit"

FFS some people!

dave.

Lyconix

Originally posted by Unregistered
when I got my eyes tested they said that they wouldn't advise me to get contacts as your eyes keep growing until you are about 21 and the contacts could hinder this growth and change the shape of your eyes and totally mess up your eyesight for good.

Is there really truth behind that? I'm 16 and was seriously considering contacts to replace my glasses... I read about a new type of contact lenses (on the Vision Express website) available that you can wear for a month at a time, even when you're asleep... apparently they are of a new design that allows more air through the lens to the eye which makes the extended wearing time possible...

Repli

i doubt it, i've used contact lens since i was about 5! never had a problem with them

Lyconix

Hope you're right... better look into this more.