As we go blind....

[AdoreroDio]

I was looking at the Lit Net Photo Album and many people commented on how many Lit Netters wear glasses. I must admit I have to wear glasses. There are many theories to why this is....
I came up with a few questions related to this subject.....

If someone wears glasses does that automatically make them considered to be smart? or nerdy?

If you wear glasses, what are they for (distance or near) and do you know what caused you to need them?

Is the reason that many Lit Netters wear glasses that they stare at the computer for too long?

What do you think?

I wear glasses, and most people say I am somewhat intelligent but hat is debatable. I have to wear glasses for distance because I read so many books that my eyes weakened in distance and strengthened the near vision. I have perfect reading vision because of this. ( and no this isn't a joke that is the actual reason my eye doctor told me, lol)

:D

[Themis]

I can assure you, I don't wear glasses because of staring at the computer screen for too long. ;) Though, it really does strain one's eyes, looking at the screen.

How one looks with glasses, depends a lot on the type of glasses. I know I have a pair where my brother once said it looked good and my father always comments on how "stern" it makes me look.

My glasses, I wear because I'm practically blind without them. I've worn them since I was five years old, first I needed them because I was hyperopic (farsighted), now I'm myopic (short-sighted).

[AdoreroDio]

I only just recently started to need glasses, about two years ago, and yet I am already practically lost without them. My eyesight has gotten dramatically worse over the last three years, and it makes me sad to picture how I'll be when I'm in my thirties or forties...or even twenties for that matter (I'm only 16).

All my glasses have either made me look older or smarter, never really nerdy though.

[Logos]

I don't pretend to be smart :lol: I have to wear them because it's an inherited thing, and because I do so much work on computers. I've got bi-focal reading glasses, and I have a pair of slightly tinted glasses if I'm doing a lot of work on the comp, it really helps reduce eye strain and attendant headaches :sick:

[Shalot]

I don't pretend to be smart :lol: I have to wear them because it's an inherited thing, and because I do so much work on computers. I've got bi-focal reading glasses, and I have a pair of slightly tinted glasses if I'm doing a lot of work on the comp, it really helps reduce eye strain and attendant headaches :sick:


Really? Tinted glasses prevent eyestrain? I have transitions. The pair I had before eventually stopped changing back to clear again and i had funky looking pervo tinted lenses indoors. But then I got some new glasses with the no glare coating. And those began to bug me so the next pair I got were neither transitions nor no-glare. And now I am back to transitions.

now I can tell myself that my transitions also prevent eyestrain. Yay transitions. no more fumbling for sunglasses.

Once, I went to the beach and forgot to bring my regular glasses and had to wear sunglasses the whole time (even at night at restaurants and when we went to the amusement park).

But back to the poll - I am just flat-out helpless without my glasses.

[Virgil]

I voted for bi-focals, but actually they are progressives, which is similar except there is no line that separates the two parts but a gradual transition. This is my first year with progressives. It was hard to get used to progressives. It took me a couple of months. Since high school I've had glasses for near sightedness. When you hit your mid forties you wind up needing both types. I'm getting old. :bawling: I've never want to have the trouble of contacts. I'm not good looking to begin with, so what more harm could glasses do. :p :lol:

[Bakiryu]

Mostly everyone in my family wears glasses but our intelligence is debatable :p. I had to wear classes as a small child (I didn't :sick:) because of (CAN'T THINK OF CORRECT TERM!) a problem where my left eye when to the right when I stared at something. I had pretty much perfect vision. Then I don't know how, I lost all my vision. I can only see a hand away from my face. yet I have perfect night and reading vision. It doesn't make me smart, just a ditz :lol:

[Oniw17]

I don't wear glasses; I have 20/12 vision in both eyes.

Mostly everyone in my family wears glasses but our intelligence is debatable :p. I had to wear classes as a small child (I didn't :sick:) because of (CAN'T THINK OF CORRECT TERM!) a problem where my left eye when to the right when I stared at something. Maybe a lazy eye? Though they usually treat that with an eye patch as opposed to glasses. So I can't think of what you're talking about either.

[AdoreroDio]

I once had transitions, loved them except for the fact whenever I wwalked inside everything was black for a minute or two. When I didn't have them anymore my eyes were ultra sensitive to the sun and got head aches easily. I plan on never getting transitions again.

Bakiryu- My best friend has that problem, though it's not a lazy eye, and it is corrected with glasses so I'll ask him tomorrow what it's called.

[Bakiryu]

Bakiryu- My best friend has that problem, though it's not a lazy eye, and it is corrected with glasses so I'll ask him tomorrow what it's called.

My mum says it's called extravismo, I think in english is something like extravism or so?


Maybe a lazy eye?

Nope, not a lazy eye, you can't really see it right now unless, I don't know, you decide to stare into my eyes for 10 min and i stare back.

[Pensive]

I don't wear glasses. My eye-side was quite good the last time I got it checked but I feel if I would keep on having the headaches I have, things might change... (am starting having pressure upon them)

[Scheherazade]

a problem where my left eye when to the right when I stared at something. Squint?

[Granny5]

I have worn glasses since I was 5. I had a cataract removed then from my right eye. Back then, there was no implants to replace the lens so I don't see out of my right eye as long as my left eye is open. There is just enough vision to keep my eye from discoloring. It does drift off sometimes, especially when I've very tired. I had perfect vision in my left eye till I got olded. But I wore glasses to protect my left eye. They were non corrective glass. Now I have progressive bifocals. It took me longer to get used to the progressives than it did the lined bifocals.

[Weisinheimer]

If someone wears glasses does that automatically make them considered to be smart? or nerdy?

If you wear glasses, what are they for (distance or near) and do you know what caused you to need them?

Is the reason that many Lit Netters wear glasses that they stare at the computer for too long?

What do you think?


:D
I think glasses give some people an intelligent or nerdy look, depending on the person and the glasses. My brothers and I always joke about ppl w/ glasses being smarter, but we're not serious of course. But there could be something about the type of people who choose glasses over contacts? Maybe nerds tend to like glasses for some reason? I don't know.:p
I'm farsighted. I've had to wear glasses since I was 6 so it's definitely not because of staring at a computer screen. I tried contacts for a bit when I was 11 or 12, but I didn't like them.

[CdnReader]

Like Virgil and Granny, I wear progressives. My first pair were awful, and I couldn't get used to them. My optician recommended a separate pair of reading glasses, and that was the perfect solution for me. I just got my second pair of progressives and they're fantastic! Apparently the "better" lenses (supposedly higher quality, and DEFINITELY WAY MORE EXPENSIVE!) are easier to use, have a wider field of vision, and I have definitely found that to be the case. However, since I have my nose in a book for most of my waking hours (LOL!), I still find that my reading glasses are better for long stretches of close-up work, and much more restful for my eyes.

[AdoreroDio]

For those who have glasses how often, if ever, do you lose them?

I wear glasses and have only lost them once (during this summer)......in another country....on the last day I was there with no time to search for them. lol, my luck is impeccable.

[Walter]

I've gone the usual route with age: nearshighted as a child, right from earliest grades in school; bifocals in middle age; farsighted now. Pretty soon I'll be able to read the newspaper on the moon. :) But the upside is that now I don't need prescriptions; I can buy the cheapy reading glasses in the pharmacy (2 diopters).

[SleepyWitch]

I'm shortsighted and have been shortsighted since I was small. the other day my doctor told me kids normally start off farsighted, but I was shortsighted right from the start. I started off with around -1 and -2 dioptres and it's now stabilized at -6.25 (right eye) and -7.75 (left one) dioptres
i tried contacts but they were itchy and kept falling out of my eyes. the problem is I've got astigmatism, as well, so I need tailor-made contacts, I can't just buy the cheap monthly ones at the supermarket :(

if it's any consolation to my fellow blind bats: my doctor says as long as you can see 100% WITH glasses, there's nothing wrong with your eyesight. he says I've got 100% vision, provided I wear the right kind of glasses :D there's no reason to worry as long as glasses do the trick.
I guess that's Deconstruction theory applied to optics :)

[Granny5]

For those who have glasses how often, if ever, do you lose them?

I wear glasses and have only lost them once (during this summer)......in another country....on the last day I was there with no time to search for them. lol, my luck is impeccable.

I lose my glasses a lot, fall asleep with them on. I woke up one morning and was laying on them and they were broken. Poppy had to go get some new frames and have my lens put into them.

[BibliophileTRJ]

I've worn glasses since the age of 16 when I failed the vision test that was required before I could get my driver's license. Up until then I had no idea that I had vision problems. I'll never forget the day I got my first glasses.... I walked around AMAZED by all the things that I could see..... individual leaves on the TOPS of the trees, people on the beach as we came into port.... all sorts of details that I had never imagined.

I don't use the transition lenses because if it's a bright day and I'm on the bridge but not in direct sunlight they don't darken and I wind up squinting all day long. So I have 2 pairs of prescription glasses - 1 regular set & 1 set of sunglasses. Also I have to buy the very expensive Flexon frames because, as everyone here knows, I'm terribly clumsy and tend to break things (and, like Granny5, I tend to fall asleep wearing them), but the Flexons are virtually indestructible.

I lost my regular glasses a few weekends ago while getting arrested at an anti-war rally in D.C.; so I've been wearing my shades day and night for 3 weeks now while I wait for the replacements that I ordered off of the internet to arrive.
I lose one or the other pair of glasses nearly every other year..... it's a vicious but predictable cycle.... like earthquakes.

[BlueSkyGB]

Use to think that since I was colorblind that I might not need glasses....
then I needed them for reading....the needed them for all the time...:sick:

Now wear no-line bifocals with anti-glare....
and yes I tend to misplace them.......:lol:

[Themis]

i tried contacts but they were itchy and kept falling out of my eyes. the problem is I've got astigmatism, as well, so I need tailor-made contacts, I can't just buy the cheap monthly ones at the supermarket :(


You can't? That's strange. I've also got astigmatism and I can wear them; I only need bigger once than normal because of my big brown eyes. ;)

[Niamh]

I've been wearing glasses since i was four or five. Most of my family wear glasses. In fact i think only one of my sisters dont wear them but may need to get them. Both of my parents wear glasses. Its a family thing.:p

[Bakiryu]

For those who have glasses how often, if ever, do you lose them?

I lose them everyday, since I sometimes take them off to read and Bam! They disappear. My glasses are the most mistreated glasses in history. they have been:

stepped on, fallen on the sea, fallen on the dirt, gotten under the bed, gotten entangled in my hair, got stolen by the cat.

Everything that can happen to glasses, happen to mine, :lol:

[manolia]

I am short sighted but i wear contact lenses since i was 15. Contact lenses is for me one of the best inventions ever :D , because i couldn't stand my glasses (i've been wearing glasses since i was 9 years old :( ). So, i wear my lenses every day all day and i only switch to glasses late at night when i lay in bed to read ;)

[Weisinheimer]

i tried contacts but they were itchy and kept falling out of my eyes. the problem is I've got astigmatism, as well, so I need tailor-made contacts, I can't just buy the cheap monthly ones at the supermarket :(


Same here, I couldn't have the normal contacts because of astigmatism. Maybe now I could though, it was several years ago that I tried (like 10 years).

[symphony]

Been myopic for years now (and I'm 17 :sick: ). I hate, HATE, wearing glasses. Just hate the idea of having to see the world through these spherical liaises. :( It's probably my fault that it got so worse though... (havent told my dad about my blurry visions when i was younger, i knew the docs will suggest glasses, and i hated them...).
My worst nightmare once was- someday i'll go completely blind. But now i know it'll be better for me, 'cuz i wont have to wear these damned glasses anyway!! :flare:

[BibliophileTRJ]

lose them everyday, since I sometimes take them off to read and Bam! They disappear. My glasses are the most mistreated glasses in history. they have been:

stepped on, fallen on the sea, fallen on the dirt, gotten under the bed, gotten entangled in my hair, got stolen by the cat.

Everything that can happen to glasses, happen to mine, :lol:

LOL - you sound like me!! I've run my glasses over with my car (thankfully they were not on my face at the time). I had a pair of glasses stolen off of my face by an elephant and then he proceeded stepped on them. Had them go through the washer & dryer with my clothes. Ran them through the dishwasher (cleanest they've ever been). Found them in the refrigerator/freezer more than once.

One time I lost them for so long that I went out and bought a new pair.
Two days after getting the new ones, a friend of mine asked me "Why is there a pair of glasses in the bottom of your fish tank?" To this day I have no idea how they got in there!!

[Shalot]

LOL - you sound like me!! I've run my glasses over with my car (thankfully they were not on my face at the time). I had a pair of glasses stolen off of my face by an elephant and then he proceeded stepped on them. Had them go through the washer & dryer with my clothes. Ran them through the dishwasher (cleanest they've ever been). Found them in the refrigerator/freezer more than once.

One time I lost them for so long that I went out and bought a new pair.
Two days after getting the new ones, a friend of mine asked me "Why is there a pair of glasses in the bottom of your fish tank?" To this day I have no idea how they got in there!!

well maybe if you didn't smoke so much pot you wouldn't have so much trouble remembering where you put your glasses or how they got into he fish tank... :D ;)

[AdoreroDio]

Wow...My glasses seem royally treated compared to most. Though I have broken a pair once, but only once. I don't want contacts, I actually enjoy glasses. I remember when I first got glasses. before the day i found out I needed them I didn't even realize I needed them . The when I got my glasses I was amazed at what I saw! All the detail amazed me and I never had known before what I was missing out on.

[SleepyWitch]

All the detail amazed me and I never had known before what I was missing out on.

really? I don't like all that detail. seriously, I don't wanna know how many leaves there are on a tree.. at least not from 100 m off. plus, the world seems to be full of sharp edges when I've got new glasses, it's scary.

[SleepyWitch]

bah, my doctor is a jerk. he told me my glasses would cost at least 400 Euros, for the lenses only, if I want the super thin ones. i told him last time they were 200 euros including a new frame (5 years ago, when the health insurance still helped you with the lenses) and he said "Never!". so I went to the optician's today and, lo and behold, the super super super super thin non-reflecting ones are 292 Euros including a new frame and that's without the health insurance paying a single cent.

[Themis]

bah, my doctor is a jerk. he told me my glasses would cost at least 400 Euros, for the lenses only, if I want the super thin ones. i told him last time they were 200 euros including a new frame (5 years ago, when the health insurance still helped you with the lenses) and he said "Never!". so I went to the optician's today and, lo and behold, the super super super super thin non-reflecting ones are 292 Euros including a new frame and that's without the health insurance paying a single cent.

I do wonder. 4 dioptres more than you and glasses (with "super thin lenses") cost around 700 Euros. What for, I really need to ask my optician!

[SleepyWitch]

I do wonder. 4 dioptres more than you and glasses (with "super thin lenses") cost around 700 Euros. What for, I really need to ask my optician!

4 dioptres more? I've got 6.25 and 7.75. is it possible to have 4 more? or do you mean 4 more 0.25 thingies?
which one did you go to? an Austrian one? I got mine from "Apollo", dunno if you have them in Austria? I think you can find them under a different name in the UK! right next door from Apollo they had the same collection of frames and the stylish ones cost 100Euros more than at Apollo!!!

edit:Themis, are your lenses plastic or glass? mine are glass.

[Virgil]

I do wonder. 4 dioptres more than you and glasses (with "super thin lenses") cost around 700 Euros. What for, I really need to ask my optician!

700Euros? Wow, what are you buying, binoculars? ;)

[Themis]

edit:Themis, are your lenses plastic or glass? mine are glass.

Eh. I have -9.5 and -10.25, that's what I meant. It's more like four-ish ;)
And they're plastic.

The opictian's name is "Emberger" but the glasses are from "Silhouette" (Austrian firm).

@Virgil: They'd look like binoculars for sure if they weren't so wonderfully thin. ;)

[SleepyWitch]

oh. i thought -10 was literally blind. at least that's what my doctors made me believe. but they also told me my short-sightedness would stabilize when I was ten. LIARS. i know why i don't like doctors

[Themis]

Practically it is..well, no, but everything's very blurry. But you can go up to - 20 as far as I know and still see something.

[Virgil]

oh. i thought -10 was literally blind. at least that's what my doctors made me believe. but they also told me my short-sightedness would stabilize when I was ten. LIARS. i know why i don't like doctors

Thought you might be interested:

What is Myopia?

You have myopia if you can focus close to without help but you need glasses for driving, Watching TV or to read a blackboard. Your eyeballs are longer than normal so you cannot focus far away.

Why do I have Myopia?

Some families are more prone to myopia than others. If you have a family history of myopia and you do a lot of close work (like reading in bed) then your eyes will change thier shape and grow longer. They will get better at close work but will no longer be able to focus in the distance. Doing close work using your prescription distance glasses will tend to make myopia get worse.

What can I do about Myopia?

Use Trayner pinhole glasses (without your prescription lenses) to help you to focus farther away than you normally can for half an hour or more each evening before bed. For some this will be watching TV for others reading a book held farther away than you can usually focus. This will help to leave your eyes relaxed overnight. If you can use weaker than normal prescription glasses most of the day (ask for a reading prescription) your eyes will remain more relaxed more of the time, speeding their recovery.
http://www.trayner.co.uk/Eyesight/Myopia.html

This was startling for me: "Doing close work using your prescription distance glasses will tend to make myopia get worse. "

I wonder if that is true. I was never told to take my glasses off when I'm doing in close stuff like reading. My eyesight seems to change somewhat every year. I guess it depends on the definition of stable. I wonder if it would have made a difference if I took my glasses off to read?

[LadyWentworth]

I voted "other". Most of my family wears glasses. I don't. My eyesight is practicaly 20/20, but I have to wear glasses occasionally when I read. If I read too much I can get quite a headache. So, if it feels like it isn't going to be too good a day for me, reading wise, I will wear the glasses. That is what the optometrist told me to do!

[the silent x]

i was the only one to sign for contacts, which are the best, i had glasses for 8 years, then realized how much i hated them adn switched to contacts.

I found that if you don't focus, but stare with you eyes out of focus, your reaction time is shorter.
that myopia sounds like a hoax to me.

[Granny5]

that myopia sounds like a hoax to me.

Tell that to my husband, who has worn glasses his whole life and my son, who has worn glasses since he was in 1st grade (he's 25 now) and my grandson who is 8 and has worn glasses for 2 years. All for myopia or nearsightedness.

[Themis]

Isn't myopia the same as nearsightness?

As for Virgil's article: What does sound like a hoax to me is the "What can you do against it?" point. It reminds me of something a friend once told another friend who had around - 10 dioptres (a bit more, I think than I do) that it could all be cured if he just concentrated really hard and exercised a lot without glasses.

Given a certain amount of dioptres, you just can't do that. For my part, I have trouble looking at myself in a mirror without glasses, I need to get so close my nose almost touches the mirror.

[SleepyWitch]

Given a certain amount of dioptres, you just can't do that. For my part, I have trouble looking at myself in a mirror without glasses, I need to get so close my nose almost touches the mirror.

unfortunately i can see myself well enough to spot all the big fat blemishes in my face :(

[Themis]

Given the choice, Sleepy, I'd rather see something.

[Logos]

Really? Tinted glasses prevent eyestrain?
Oops, sorry, I've only now remembered to answer this...if you do a search you will find lots of info about 'computer glasses' and hyperbole about 'Computer Vision Syndrome'. In many ways I think optometrists have found another 'niche' to sell glasses to :lol: All I know is that my +1.0 non-prescription 'computer glasses', similar to these ones with a very light sepia tint (http://www.goodglasses.com/index.cfm/fa/categories.main/parentcat/4894) do make a difference if I have to read a lot on the screen.

I'm so grateful that so far I don't need expensive prescription glasses!

[BibliophileTRJ]

I lost my regular glasses a few weekends ago while getting arrested at an anti-war rally in D.C.; so I've been wearing my shades day and night for 3 weeks now while I wait for the replacements that I ordered off of the internet to arrive.


STILL WAITING!! FramesDirect.com told me that it would be less than 2 weeks... They've had my order for 3 weeks now, and when I called yesterday to check the status of my order they told me "Maybe next week....."

I am SO tired of wearing sunglasses at night!!

[AdoreroDio]

STILL WAITING!! FramesDirect.com told me that it would be less than 2 weeks... They've had my order for 3 weeks now, and when I called yesterday to check the status of my order they told me "Maybe next week....."

I am SO tired of wearing sunglasses at night!!

Wow, that's a long time to wait. I have never really had that problem, I once needed glasses in less then two weeks, they said it would take two weeks minimum and 9 days later they had them ready. I guess I was really lucky.


As for Myopia, that sounds like what I probably have, because the reason I got glasses is because I read to many books- my near vision got better steadily as my far vision got worse, eventually I became near-sighted.