As we go blind....

[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.