Posted on 01/25/2005 10:13:22 PM PST by neverdem
REALLY?
THE FACTS Glasses can bring a blurry world into focus, but some people suspect that by doing all the heavy lifting the glasses may speed the natural decline of vision. But ophthalmologists say this is an illusion.
How well a person can see is largely determined by the size of the eyeball, something a pair of glasses cannot change. The average eye is about an inch from the cornea, in the front, to the retina, in the back. When the eyes are either too large (shortsightedness) or too small (farsightedness), the cornea cannot properly focus images on the retina, and glasses can help compensate.
Dr. Robert Cykiert, an ophthalmologist at New York University Hospitals Center, said the contrast between poor and normal vision becomes more obvious when people wear glasses for a while and then take them off. But glasses have no lasting effect on eyesight.
Reading in the dark won't damage your eyes either, Dr. Cykiert said, though you may get a headache from all the squinting and straining.
THE BOTTOM LINE Glasses will not make your vision deteriorate more quickly.
scitimes@nytimes.com
Incredible.
A website to help those with vision problems, and they use a text size so small it's hard to read.
I think it was just a poorly constructed sentence. Most people who have just switched to corrected vision didn't think their vision was that bad before hand (unless they really put it off for too many years), but then after a few months of wearing glasses they take their glasses off and suddenly WHAMMO they're freaking blind. The gut response is to think you're eyes have gotten worse, but the reality is that you've gotten used to being able to see again and by contrast where you were before (which you got to gradually and largely without noticing) seems terible. I know that's what happened to me, after 6 months with the glasses I suddenly found I couldn't read without them even though I could before but with strain, nothing had happened to my eyes I just had gotten used to corrected vision and the vision center of my brain was lodging its protest against going back.
I've had to get new glasses every year since I started wearing them.
This can't be true. /sarcasm
Thank you as well! I enjoyed your tag too and that's exactly what the socialists are trying to do to Condi: a smear campaign. I believe it might have worked 10 years ago or so but the American people seem to be much less gullible for that kind of garbage than they used to be.
Arrrh!
If I didn't thank you already, thanks for the link. Check the link in comment# 80. You might want to add to "your favorites" its homepage.
Mine has too. I started going without glasses a year ago, and can see much better. Only wear glasses now to drive 'cuz my license says I need corrective lenses.
I had RK in 1992 when my vision was 20/500, 20/550. After RK, I was 20/15, 20/20. Flash forward to 2001, and I started noticing that my left eye (20/15), which had been great for distance, was weaker than my right eye and needed more light to see clearly. It has steadily gotten worse. I was diagnosed a year ago with cataracts in both eyes, also glaucoma, though no damage yet from glaucoma. The left eye is very blurry.
Come to find out that there are problems in getting the correct lens correction in people who have had RK or laser corrected vision. It is something I wish I had known before. I am now (ahem) 57 and desperately wish for my vision to be corrected, but it is not going to be easy. I've been doing research to find the BEST (read: doc who has had the highest success rate) to do my eyes. There isn't a lot that I have found online, but have found some information.
Another problem with having had surgery on the eye is terribly dry eyes. Using drops, like Thera-tears, helps and it does clear the vision somewhat. I strongly suggest you use drops.
Anyone needing the information I have found can email me and I'll send you links to what I have found. An opthamologist in Texas did publish a paper on the methods of correcting vision post-enhancement surgery and was kind enough to recommend the Casey Eye Clinic here in Portland to me.
Much like the owl, having the pupils so dilated made for great night vision when I was nearsighted. I miss that.
Thank you for your informative post. I do indeed suffer from terrible dry eyes...it has made my eyes delicate and the slightest blow will tear the cornea! Has happened twice. I use extra strength Refresh Liquigel. Especially in the morning when I can barely blink, my eyes are so dry, but also periodically throughout the day. (I had my RK in the very early 80s! Done with a diamond point scalpel!)
I'm 42 and the ophthamologist I saw when I hurt my cornea said my eyes were the driest he's ever seen and suggested "plugging" my tear ducts! I think I want to stay with the drops for now, but sometimes in the morning I wonder if the plugs might actually help...it's miserable.
He related the dry eyes to my age.
I would appreciate the information...check your freepmail for my email address.
You may be interested in this:
http://www.ohsu.edu/news/archive/2000/100400dryeyes.html
OHSU RESEARCHER HELPS UNCOVER CAUSE OF DRY EYES
PORTLAND, Ore. -- For the 10 million Americans who suffer from dry eye syndrome, tears are often a relief instead of a sign of distress. The condition, which is caused by a decline in the quality or quantity of tears
bathing the eye, can cause constant pain from eye irritation. In extreme cases, patients can suffer scarring on the cornea and loss of visual function. However, physicians have so far been unable to pinpoint the exact
cause of this common problem. Now a researcher at Oregon Health Sciences University's Casey Eye Institute has uncovered some answers to the questions about this mysterious condition.
According to William Mathers, M.D., a professor of ophthalmology in OHSU's School of Medicine, dry eye syndrome is a problem that feeds upon itself. "The lack of tears in the eye leads to damage of the cornea," said
Mathers. "This damage can then affect function of the lacrimal gland, which manufactures tears. The whole process acts like a feedback loop, resulting in both dry eyes and corneal damage."
According to Mather's research, several mechanisms are involved in this complex process, including nterruption or damage to nerves in the lacrimal glands, which secrete tears; damage to nerves in the cornea; and aging and autoimmune disease. In addition, contact lens and corneal
refractive surgery to correct farsightedness or nearsightedness may play a role.
Mathers and his fellow researchers at OHSU studied information obtained from 520 patients in the Department of Ophthalmology at University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics while Mathers was on faculty at that institution. He used this information to assess the relationship between dry
eye and damage to the cornea. Scientists measured tear flow, tear evaporation rates and tear volume among these patients.
"After studying hundreds of people with varying levels of dry eye syndrome, we were able to come up with a complex model explaining how the problem progresses and the many factors involved," said Mathers. "However, much more research is needed to explore the ramifications of this theory. Once we fully understand this process, we can design a treatment strategy for each individual patient."
The brighter the light, the better your vision. I've noticed this effect. In bright sunlight, the aperture opening of my iris is so small that I can see pretty clearly without my glasses.
It is the pinhole camera effect.
>>So does this mean I shouldn't waste my money on the "See Clearly" method?<<
I've only heard the radio ads for see clearly, but I was wondering myself if that is what this article is attempting to address. They are clearly attempting to address some new "teaching" out there.
That is interesting.
Snort. Not mine :(
Mine are what ever Lens Crafters offers. Being blue eyed I know about the need for the UV protection..it is unfortnate I can't wear sunglasses...they create the same condition as night time resulting in very low vision. I've tried all different colors, the yellow/amber creates the least problems, but still knocks my vision down quite a bit.
Have you considered polarized prescription sunglasses? They cost a little more but it can make a big difference for many people. Also, the chain stores often use polycarbonate lenses as their first line product. These are nice in respect to being lightweight and shatter resistant but often add some distortion, chromatic abberation, and are scratch prone. Hope this helps.
Tried RX glasses and polarized they knock my vision in half.
Speaking of pinhole cameras... I recall reading that Alfred Hitchcock used all sorts of fancy mechanical and optical stuff for the stairway shot in Vertigo to keep the zoom in sync with the camera motion. If he'd built a bellows pinhole camera, it would seem he could have saved himself a lot of work (exposure times would be quite long, but if you're trying to get a second of film who cares it it takes 24 5-second exposures?
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