Specs, Contacts or the op?

Johnny7000

Johnny7000

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Apologies if this has been done before.
I am having to wear specs more and more but I find them a little awkward.
What are your experiences and opinions on contacts or saving for the lazer op?
John.
 
I wear specs pretty much all the time- you get used to them!
I also have a supply of contacts but hardly ever use them- I find that specs give my eyes a bit more protection when I'm working with power tools.

I prefer to use contacts on dedicated photography days, which don't happen very often.
 
I used to wear contracts - I think I was spending c£30 a month. When we were expecting our first, I decided to have laser treatment ( my prescription was -9 so I was proper blind ) - that was 13 years ago this December.

My eyesight was perfect afterwards except i suffered from "haloing" of street lights when driving at night - I think this is/was a reasonably common side effect.

18 months ago, I noticed my night vision had deteriorated so although I tested at only -0.75, I bought some glasses for driving. I bloody hate glasses but wifey is trying to deter from from getting contacts as I don't need them all the time.
 
Specs here.
Contacts are great but I just can't poke myself in the eye.

Surgery? Known too many people for whom ir was a failure.
 
Had laser surgery around 8 years ago and have to say it was a revelation. I now have to wear glasses to read, but that was explained to me when I had surgery.

I'd recommend it to anyone.

I know a lot of people who have had surgery and nobody has had an issue.

I had a scar on my cornea and, therefore, had to have them cut and peeled back before the surgery; not big deal.

IMO, go for it.

Cheers.
 
I was very shortsighted since the age of 13. 5 years ago I had laser eye surgery. An amazingly wonderful life-changing decision.
 
A short laser treatment is the alternative to continual faffing around with specs or contacts. Swim. Wear sunglasses. Take a shower. Go snorkeling or skiing. Walk into a warm room on a cold day.
 
I had eye correction for short sight +15yrs ago (pre-laser). It cost £1800/ eye !!.
Eye sight was perfect until 2 years ago where, with a combination of age and medication I now wear reading glasses ( I was warned that this could happen earlier because of the correction). I'm now 49 so think thats pretty normal?

Down side is when using the camera I can't see clearly enough without glasses to see images.
 
If you are short sighted then glasses have the advantage that they can easily be removed in order to read close up things when you reach the age of about 50 - with contact lenses or laser surgery you would be in trouble unless you always carry a dedicated pair or reading glasses.
 
I wear contacts and have glasses for emergences or when I don't need to be so vein :D
 
I've worn specs since I was 7, and from age 10 was wearing them full time. One gets used to them. Opticians have asked me if I'd like to consider contacts, I always tell them there's no way I'm sticking things in my eye. Apparently that's the most common reason for declining them!

My eyesight is improving, my prescription as come fown from -7.5 to -6.5 in the last decade, but I've also noticed my near sight is starting to go, I can only focus on something if it's at least 3" from my eye without specs, my minimum focus distance used to be closer to 2".
 
Until recently, I mainly wore contacts - or, more correctly A contact since that allowed be to have reasonable close vision and good distance at the same time. However, age has taken its toll and I now need reading glasses as well as the distance vision having deteriorated so I've gone down the bifocal route (and might try varifocal next time). Occasionally wear contacts still, especially if I'll be doing a day of driving and won't need to read close up.

Surgery doesn't appeal to me. I know some people for whom it has worked great, although about half of them now need glasses again but I also know people that it didn't work on. We only get one pair of Mk Is and I'd prefer to keep mine standard rather than on a rolling restoration basis!
 
I don't wear glasses, but I'd say if you don't need them all the time, just wear them when you need them. Your eyes will likely not be so reliant on them and less likely to deteriorate I was prescribed glasses over 26yrs ago, they were very mild and I only wore them at work as they were safety glasses and needed them working under unnatural light. Then they got new safety glasses at work which slightly magnified and I found I didn't need the prescription glasses anymore. Haven't needed or worn glasses since.
 
Wear contacts for distance but now have to use glasses for reading. Alternatively no contacts and glasses for distance!
Thought about surgery but don't like the thought of it. I have prescription sunglasses, snorkel mask and swimming goggles!
 
nilagin said:
I don't wear glasses, but I'd say if you don't need them all the time, just wear them when you need them. Your eyes will likely not be so reliant on them and less likely to deteriorate
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Every optician I've asked about that has said it's not true.

I've found a research study that suggests if short-sightedness is under-corrected it accelerates the deterioration (so you become more shortsighted, more quickly), rather than inhibits it: http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12445849
 
Contacts. All day every day.

Anybody who thinks they are a hassle or expensive may not have looked into them recently ;)
 
I've worn specs since I was 10. In the past year, I've started wearing contacts. The difference is amazing and I look much better without specs. But the cost is the downside and I'm still getting used to them. I might use three or four lenses in order to wear two. They seem to stick more to my finger than my eyeballs.
 
I use extended wear Contacts. Put them in at the start of the month, take them out at the end of the month & bin them. Having corrected vision 24 hrs a day is good :)
 
I'm a specs wearer, at roughly £25 a pair I can buy a lot of pairs for the £800-1000 the op would cost and then I'd still need glasses to correct the corrected vision for reading.
 
Steep said:
I'm a specs wearer, at roughly £25 a pair I can buy a lot of pairs for the £800-1000 the op would cost and then I'd still need glasses to correct the corrected vision for reading.
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I've never needed glasses for reading.
 
That's good to know but I'm still happy wearing specs, it gives me something to buy when I get a spend on.
 
Expect to need reading glasses within the next 5 or so years then!
 
Steep said:
I'm a specs wearer, at roughly £25 a pair I can buy a lot of pairs for the £800-1000 the op would cost and then I'd still need glasses to correct the corrected vision for reading.
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An ophthalmologist suggest to me to have one eye done (dominant eye) and then you can see both distance and read. I sometimes wear just one contact lens in my left eye (dominant) and it works- I can read and see distance without glasses.
 
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I wear glasses, but hate them and they get in the way, get smudged during long days of shooting, so I'm constantly cleaning them

Have an astygmatism in both eyes that is above what all of the continuous wear soft lenses can correct. But, I'm about to trial some semi-rigid lenses that will correct my eyesite completely and I can sleep in them. They're not cheap, but if they work as well as promised they'll be worth it.

And, I only pay if they work for me, so no risk thankfully.
 
I have worn glasses for 45 years Started with half specs then to Bifocals. You just live with them not much of a problem.
If I had had surgery all those years ago (supposing it were possible) the changes in my eyes would have continued, so after about 15 or so years would have needed glasses any way... Just like everyone.
As you get older the accommodation in your eyes becomes nearly fixed focus so you then need Bifocals or the like, anyway.

"According to the medical journal Ophthalmology, the average failure rate for laser eye surgery - which involves reshaping corneas to correct short or long sightedness - is 10 per cent."
Some can be corrected by further surgery, some can not. Many clinics charge for further corrective surgery.

Eyes are a once in a lifetime thing... 10% is an unacceptable risk to me.
 
MiL had her cataracts and eyesight sorted 7 years ago and now needs specs again. Not as strong as her old specs were (10 dioptres or so IIRC) but still needs specs again. She's also just started to develop wet Macular Degeneration so will be starting the injections into the eyeball as soon as possible. Another friend (early 40s) had her eyes done so she didn't need to wear her contact lenses. 10 years down the line and she has to wear specs since the op left her eyes unsuited to contacts.
 
My other half recently had an eye injury that resulted in her having a plastic lens inserted which is effectively the same as some eye surgery to correct vision outside the normal laser treatment. Basically it went wrong and it resulted in her having to have a second op, thankfully that has gone right, but she is left with an eye very sensitive to light and worse close vision. She will need specs for close up stuff. Being down at the NHS eye hospital is an incredibly busy and time-wasting experience. Barely a seat to sit on, completely full, time off work, running 2 or 3 hours behind the allotted appointment time. You then meet other people who have had corrective treatments that have gone wrong. Whilst for most people laser and other corrective treatments work well, I've certainly learnt you only have one set of eyes and your vision can be lost in an instant through accident or of course through illness. It can also be lost, or reduced or other eye problems can arise through surgery. It's not meant to be a doom and gloom post, but people should really think hard if treatments are worth it over putting on a pair of specs. I am considering a treatment myself, but other half's experience and those people we met, it certainly makes you think again.
 
Had laser eye surgery in 2008, within a week my vision was 20/10, bordering 20/5. No problems whatsoever, I'm a complete wimp when it comes to pain and the worst discomfort I felt was no worse than when I'd left my contacts in for too long and was tired.

Admittedly my vision wasn't that bad but I was at the point where I needed to wear glassed all the time, especially when playing cricket which wasn't particularly convenient.
 
I had my first ever trip to the Opticians last Saturday. Been using 1.5 readers from the pound shop for a couple of years so thought I'd get my eyes done and invest in some proper goggles. Ain't got em yet tho.
 
Glasses rule! Couldn't be doing with sticking things to my eyes, let alone allowing a surgeon to chop them about!! Too bloody precious.
 
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