Glasses ?

[gbb]

At 52...just started wearing glasses
Went for an eye test 10 years ago, they said you're borderline. i declined and continued with less than perfect vision. Some days now its ok, some days i struggle in the twilight and looking at text on the TV's leaving me squinting all the time. Its not bad bad, but focussing on roadsigns and numberplates is hard. All round visions ok, but its lost clarity
Blow it, week off, took an eye test. Still not too bad, but took the plunge and got some glasses....
Flaming heck, i can see soooooo much better.

Crikey, it feels odd, i feel self concious. Only going to wear them while driving and maybe if i'm watching something good on tv (or for when i'm watching eurosport, with that impossible to see text along the bottom of the screen)

At 50+, i suppose i've done ok to get this far....

Just musing really... (and rueing the fact i'm £350 worse off )

 

[beanzontoast]

As the optician said to me: "Welcome to your 50's!"

 

[Fiona N]

I know what you mean. It's nice to have got into my 50's without needing glasses

I had an eye test about 5 or 6 years ago and they said a pair for reading would make things easier but it was marginal, like you say. I did get a pair of fairly cheap glasses and wore them occasionally when my eyes were tired, mainly because they stopped me rubbing my eyes. Then I had an eye problem diagnosed and sorted (stopped the need to rub my eyes for one thing - I now have eyelashes ) and my vision improved again so I stopped wearing the glasses within the year.

The last eye test, just last month, it was back to marginal so I have another pair which are very flattering (according to colleagues) so I wear them more than I would otherwise but I really only need them for close work (threading sewing machine needles is getting tricky) or after a long day. Long distance vision is still really good so I'm lucky there.

It's interesting that my youngest sister had operations on both eyes for squints when she was little (about 4 years) and they must have done a good job as she's still without glasses at more than 40 years on. The rest of us have all succumbed...

 

[phil_hg_uk]

Never mind I have worn specs since I was 17 you forget your wearing them after a while, I can't see to walk across the room without mine

 

[beanzontoast]

I like my glasses. And you're quite right Phil - I do forget all the time that I've got them on.
I'm very good with keeping them scratch-free too and never put them down unless it's in their hard case.

 

[fossyant]

Had glasses from my late teens, so you've done well. The optician nearly got lamped at my last test... "now you are nearly 40 you won't be able to leave it so long....." the cow !

PS 41 now !

 

[TVC]

I've had glasses since I was six, and have worn them all day every day since. Well except when I'm on my bike or going out when I use contact lenses.

To get to your 50s without them is some achievement.

 

[Davidc]

Comiserations gbb. Happened to me in my 20s.

With care and if your eyes don't change much you can make glasses last 4 or 5 years. Still expensive. Contact lenses are useful, and I get a 50% discount on all glasses in return for having them - so they effetively cost nothing.

 

[twowheeler]

Glasses used to be made of glass. But nowadays they are made of plastic with an optional hard coat.
Even with the hardcoat the lenses will scratch more readily than glass. But plastic does not shatter into
nasty splinters like glass. Airbags in cars and glass spx are to be avoided!

Some tips for cleaning plastic lenses... don't use any paper based tissue - it scratches over time - very
abrasive to the plastic. Best to use pure cotton cloth or alternately microfibre. Wash with ordinary clean
water and a little liquid soap first. Also watch hairspray if its been sprayed in the room as it reacts with
the coatings and quickly ruins the lens.

All good information gained from time spent working as a dispenser in an opticians!

Gordon

 

[mcshroom]

I've worn them since I was 21 (27 now) but I am still borderline really (in that I can still pass the legal sight test for driving). I find that I only wear them for driving, and I still have my first pair of glasses working ok. The others were £25 ones from an online shop. Not the most stylish but perfectly normal looking and they live in my car.

Even with the infrequency of wearing my glasses I've found I forget they're on soon enough. It was a bit weird to start with though. What I have also noticed is that if I don't wear glasses all day then I don't notice any blurriness; but once I've put the glasses on everything seems blurred when I take them off again.

Make sure you get the prescription off of your optician when you have your test done. Most of the big chains try not to give it to you but they legally have to on request. This makes it a lot easier to get new glasses if when you lose the other pair.

 

[yello]

And the fact that the world is in sharp focus again never loses its appeal

That's true. That said, I became a dab hand at recognising people from the way they walked, their body shape, the way they stood, etc etc etc.

 

[wobbler]

Another cleaning tip. Don't hold the lens in the cloth between your thumb and forefinger and clean inside and outside at the same time, it leaves little swirls on the lens. Instead, hold the frame near the lens and clean the outside, then the inside.

 

[gbb]

Glasses used to be made of glass. But nowadays they are made of plastic with an optional hard coat.
Even with the hardcoat the lenses will scratch more readily than glass. But plastic does not shatter into
nasty splinters like glass. Airbags in cars and glass spx are to be avoided!

Some tips for cleaning plastic lenses... don't use any paper based tissue - it scratches over time - very
abrasive to the plastic. Best to use pure cotton cloth or alternately microfibre. Wash with ordinary clean
water and a little liquid soap first. Also watch hairspray if its been sprayed in the room as it reacts with
the coatings and quickly ruins the lens.

All good information gained from time spent working as a dispenser in an opticians!

Gordon

Nice one...i wouldn't have known, and i would have cleaned with papertowel (an abundance at work), and hairspray ? very timely cos the wife got her first pair at the same time. Jesus, the hairspray she uses !!!

 

[summerdays]

I'm in my 40's and venturing into glasses territory. Optician says it hasn't got much worse but I seem to be really aware of the slight deterioration in my vision. That I can't see birds so clearly in the garden, or words on the TV in the evening. Some days seem more blurry than others. I still find I forget to take them with me a lot of the time.

And I haven't gone down the route of a second pair for close up work but find it difficult swapping between the two (like at the moment trying to watch wildlife on TV and type on the laptop).

 

[HLaB]

I didn't even get to 20 before I turned blind as a bat. At college I suddenly found my self having to sit at the front to see the board; iirc correctly my left is -4.7 now.