OT Vision question...you guys know everything ...

That starts happening very much earlier. Typically in early middle age. 20 years earlier.

The problem is the waiting lists for NHS treatment. Forcing many to go private - if they can afford it.

You tend to get long sighted with age. However go and get the eyes looked at. Its all very high tech these days, so they should be able to tell you if there is anything odd going on. I do know that if the retina is under physical stress or has received some trauma, for a few days some of the originally damaged cells start to work again as the usual failure mode with age assuming no macular problems is an inability to remove the waste products and they go into a kind of hibernation. The trauma can clear this for a short time. It normally drops back within a week. Brian

will do....

I didn't need (weak) reading glasses until my early 50s and distance glasses until my mid 50s. Possibly I needed distance glasses a few years earlier as when I was first prescribed distance glasses the eye test indicated that I was borderline for driving.

Hmm. I have a sneaking suspicion that high street eye tests are very pessimistic on the need for aids when driving. I have no trouble reading a car number plate at 20m in reasonable daylight. Not so good at night because of astigmatism. My main problem is focus at normal TV viewing distance and I ask for the

When did you last have an eye test? They are free after a certain age 65 or after 40 if you have a family history of glaucoma.

It isn't a bad idea to have an eye test for peripheral vision and pressure teat at least every couple of years to avoid finding yourself going blind. Not a bad idea to have a retinal image every now and then.

and that's been going on for years - nothing to do with Covid. Some years ago, my optician suggested I had cataract problems and suggected a private surgeon. I declined, but managed to get an NHS appointment - but at a private eye clinic. The surgeon said that my cataract was quite small and it wasn't worth the risk of the operation, I changed my optician.

If you only have distance vision glasses when driving, the instrument panel is out of focus.

I found this problem when doing theatre lighting. Look up to see the stage and down to read the script.

all up to date this has happened since the last one....

If it is changing that quickly you should ask your optician for advice directly - advice on Usenet may be worth less than you have paid for it. Going blind is a rather serious potential complication of ignoring any sudden changes in your eyesight. It could be absolutely nothing at all or it might be due to build up of pressure distorting your eye.

Only someone who knows what they are doing and can measure it can tell the difference and even they sometimes miss edge cases which is why regular eye tests are helpful in tracking any changes.

It might be as simple as too much screen time and your eye learning to accommodate the "new normal". Talk to a qualified optician they might know - and will certainly give you a better diagnosis than we can!

I'm not 100% on the details but i'm sure we can send folk privately for their cataract op and the NHS pay for it.

Optician practices are largely open, we're not supposed to be doing routine eyecare (although many are) but you'd be seen if you had concerns.

There's a lot of contribution to this thread, *some* sensible & correct, but the only spot on advice is to get seen by a professional.

I have three current sets - no 1 is general purpose bifocal, up is distance, down is about a meter so that works for driving, supermarket and computer

I have another set that are a bit stronger in the down - that works for small print books (I have other issues that screw up my central field)

Then I have a third set that are monofocal but optimised for about 6". I use those for fiddly mechanical work.

To get a fourth set for watching TV lying down would not be onerous.

The opticians (Boots) listen, and deliver what I want.

Not so. All loose the ability to focus on closer things as they age. Your distance vision normally remains unchanged - unless you have cataracts, etc.

Long sighted is a silly term. Perfect eyes are in focus at rest on so called infinity. Some, of course, have optics which would be in focus beyond infinity - a useless fault. Younger people can focus forward to infinity - but being unable to focus on closer things will be obvious at a much younger age.

There is very often a difference between what you can get away with and correcting vision to as good as it can be.

Sounds like you are slightly short sighted.

Covid has merely pointed up the lack of NHS funding over the past few years. Many non essential operations etc have had a long waiting list for ages. You tend to get what you pay for.

Find another optician. Your astigmatism should be corrected in your glasses. And switch to varifocals, they can be plain glass (more or less) at the top for distant viewing.

This happened in my case. NHS treatement done at my choice of 3 or 4 hospitals locally. I chose the private one as it is closest.