OT - eye test

[Dave Baker]

Went for a free eye test at Tesco in Slough today cos my 20 year old frames are broken and I need a new pair. Surprisingly my prescription hasn't changed much more than a jot in nearly 35 years. Back in 1977 I was minus

1.75 dioptres in both eyes (short sighted) with a touch of astigmatism. The astigmatism moved around a bit over the various tests over the years but the basic sphere correction has stayed the same. My old specs work just as well as they ever did. I thought eyes might get worse over time but apparently not. I'm still minus 1.75 in both eyes and can still read the smallest print on the charts despite the inevitable eye lense hardening over the years.

Do other people find the same or do eyes generally get worse over time?

[ARWadsworth]

Christ, you get 20 years out of your frames? I book eye appointments when my frames are smashed to pieces (fighting, accident at work, stood on them in the dark etc). And are you not afraid of looking a little out of date after

20 years in those specs:-)?

My optician suggests I have my eyes tested every 24 months. I usually meet his requirements due to smashed glasses and not through choice.

In the last 20 years my eyes have only altered to the "next level" on the scale every 5 years. ie it was the next strongest lens.

Cheers

Adam

[Owain]

Mine have got better. I needed glasses last year, but this year I don't!

Owain

[S Viemeister]

My distance vision has improved, but near vision has deteriorated.

[Spamlet]

Unless you are only a little short sighted you would normally find yourself needing bifocals or extra glasses for close work as you grow older. Some may find their mild myopia no longer needs correction as the long sightedness overtakes it as it were. I can't see anything much without my glasses (which are very old, and most of the plating has gone) but at least now I can take them off to read - albeit from 6"!

S

[Roger Chapman]

I am short sighted. When I was young I could use the same glasses for reading and for distance. About 5 years ago I found that I had to take my glasses off for reading and got myself a pair reading glasses purely for wearing at the computer as the screen was just that little bit too far away for perfect focus. I am not sure I need the reading glasses any more which is a good thing as one of the arms has broken off. I do have trouble reading small print.

As to my normal glasses my prescription has apparently got slightly weaker over the years. I keep my newest pair for driving and use whichever is the most available of several old pairs from years past. I think the oldest pair is over 15 years old but memory being what it is it could just as easily be over 25 years old.

As I understand it eyeballs tend to lengthen with age which helps the short sighted but not the long sighted.

[tim....]

Mine have got significantly worse each time.

I start to notice that my spec aren't working as well after about 2 years, but I'm a mean bugger so I stretch it out to three.

tim

[Spamlet]

Other way round: myopia is when eyeball is too long for lens and focus point comes before the retina:

is the loss of visual accommodation with age and in 'normal' persons this can make you need glasses for anything closer than a metre by age 60. It is thought to be due to changes in the lens with age, and if you were already short sighted your nearest accommodation moving out a little can help: however, you may then find you can't thread a needle when you could before. Us 4 eyes really can't win it seems.

[Dave Liquorice]

Think I've only broken two pairs of specs in 40+ years of wearing them. I started wearing glasses about age 7... The only time I have clear memory off is when they slipped of me nose in the garage and one lens hit the corner of spade and shattered.

Personally I wear glasses to see, not as a fashion statement. How anybody can wear and usefully see through the modern "fashion" of a pair of letter boxes is beyond me.

Same here, my main prescription hasn't changed significantly for the last 30 years or so. I have just started wearing varifocals though as age related lens hardening meant I could no longer focus closer than about 18" with my glasses but without 'em focus goes by 6". A 12" "dead band" is big enough to be a PITA.

[dave]

I can't say. During my thirties my left eye started to elongate and I was warned that my retina could detach. I ended up with a glasses lens that was very thick in that eye. I then changed to hard contact lenses until I was diagnosed with a cataract in the that eye. When the doctors opperated I ended up with 20 20 vision in that eye (1998)

2008 I was diagnosed as having a detached retina and was told my vision would never be the same again. It was not quite as good, but good enough to drive without glasses.

Dave

[Mike Barnes]

Dave Baker :

I first needed reading glasses in my mid-40s, and still need them 20 years later. My prescription has changed from +1.25 to +1.5 in that time. (I've got through many dozen pairs due to loss, breakage, falling apart, scratches, etc.)

In contrast SWMBO first needed them a couple of years ago and is up to

+2.0 already. She's not pleased :-(

[Tim Streater]

In my case I didn't need glasses for any purpose until my early 40s. I've only ever used varifocals over the intervening 22 years. Nowadays I have a "normal" pair for driving, general use, and a pair of varifocals for reading and computer use that focus from about 1ft out to about 20ft.

While I take the point in the other post about "style", it is better for me to have lenses that are not too tall, otherwise they dig into my face and get grody quite quickly. So the more "modern" look has a practical aspect (until they go out of style :-)

SWMBO can only see out to about 6" without her contacts.

[John Whitworth]

Agreed - I bought some 'trendy' glasses off one of these Chinese online suppliers. The product was good quality, but the design is s**te. I wear contacts most of the time - but when I do wear glasses, I stick with my 2002 model! :-)

[Malcolm]

I have had a 9 - 10 dipotre correction for short sight but recently this has come down to about 8 as age related long sight has kicked in I now have varifocals to cope with the reading problem that this created

Malcolm

[robgraham]

Well at 68 I'm well into presbyopia - bloody nuisance as I cannot read a thing without glasses and my distance vision is OK.

I find the cheap 'reader' specs are fine - 3 for ~=A310 +VAT from Costco, and I can have a pair in the workshop, one in my jacket and the third round the house.

That was from about 60 but the focus distance has moved out and the lens strength has gone up so there are now 2 sets of glasses around ! If I'm doing PCB work I now pile two if not three pairs down my nose and the strengths add up. No one sees me so I only know I look a prat !!

Rob

[Spamlet]

Last time I thought I ought to have new glasses - a long time go now - I went through two or three shops, then had all the tests and went through just about all the frames in the shop, not liking any of them. I let them go ahead and talk me into new glasses to go with the contact lenses anyway, and handed over my £200 odd quid. When I went to collect them and try them out, I found I could see b'all through either of them and asked for my money back. They had to have a whip round of their local branches to find the £200! I've still got my old glasses many years later. Since they became businesses rather than professions it's all gone to pot in my view: just impractical fashion and expensive tat.

S

[geoff]

In message , Spamlet writes

Yeah, right

[Spamlet]

Something the aging d eye yer might like to try and report back on:

(Or just search "presbyopia surgery" if that only works for firefox.)

My partner's son has just had his eyes lasered and I'm jealous. But am I

*that* jealous...? S

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember "John Whitworth" saying something like:

Christ onna bike, you must all look like Dennis Taylor

[Grimly Curmudgeon]

We were somewhere around Barstow, on the edge of the desert, when the drugs began to take hold. I remember Tim Streater saying something like:

Exactly. I put off replacing my old ones for far too long and three years ago got a set of letterboxen for long distance, one for reading and one for PC use (set for 20" distance, eyeball to screen). I really like the new specs; half or a third of the weight of the old Dennis ones and don't slip down my nose all the time. Since they stay in position, my field of view is as good as before, and they're bendy indistructible frames. Win-win all round, I'd say.