@flga
Right. An optometrist told me lasik would be a waste since I'd turn 45 in 5 years and my vision would go to hell anyway. There seems to be some confusion or deception in the eye care industry because whenever I tell people (both lasik and non-lasik patients) this they say that's a load of nonsense and the the ones that have had lasik done have all said it's the best money they've ever spent.
@brad-ott My mother has keratoconus. She ended up having corneal transplants. Still has terrible eyesight, but a little more flexibility on the contact prescriptions. I was very paranoid about whether I might have if as it runs in families, but if I have it, it's so mild that it doesn't need treatment.
My eye doctor also says I'm too old for Lasik (49 in April).
I'm thinking if I went to a Lasik doctor, they would say otherwise.
Today was my first with contacts. Took about an hour to get focused on the PC screen. Everything outside looks perfect. I was doing fieldwork near Sylvan Beach where it was 32?ø and windy. Eyes teared a bit, but no more than normal. I just took them out to give my eyes a rest. I like them better than glasses so far.
@john-putnam They do make daily disposable contacts! There even ones for astigmatism. I haven't used them. Even if I wanted to wear contacts, I think my prescription would be too strong for daily disposables. Online I found a brand that goes up to -12.0 which is about where I'm at but a brand that handles astigmatism which I would need goes to -9.00 only.
My eyes tear up now a lot. ?ÿThis is a good thing. ?ÿAllow it.
-12.0 which is about where I'm at but a brand that handles astigmatism which I would need goes to -9.00 only.
?ÿ
If all else about your eyes is compatible, that extreme correction would make you a prime candidate for Lasik.?ÿ If I computed that right, your eyes focus at 3 1/4 inches without correction, which I can't imagine dealing with.
"An optometrist told me lasik would be a waste since I'd turn 45 in 5 years and my vision would go to hell anyway."
Undoubtedly the opinion of someone selling eyeglasses for a living who is basically a technician or Opthamologist wannabe. When it comes to eyeballs I will only consult an Ophthalmologist who is a MD. ????
My vision is really bad, 20/800 (-8.00 diopters) so Lasik is out of the question;
I saw this on a web site, indicating that does not necessarily preclude it:
In general, excimer lasers?ÿthat are FDA-approved for LASIK surgery performed in the United States can correct up to approximately -11.00 diopters (D) of nearsightedness, up to +5.00 D of farsightedness, and up to 5.00 D of astigmatism.
For high amounts of refractive error, it's important to understand that there can be an increased risk of visual side effects like nighttime glare, halos and other possible problems. It is important to discuss this with your surgeon during your preoperative consultation ?? especially if you have more than -8.00 D of myopia or more than +4.00 D of hyperopia.
@flga
Good for you
Eyecare is more important than I was ever taught as I later found out in my 50s after years of working and playing in unsafe environments without proper eye protection.
There are many reasons that today's athletes wear eye shields and most people at work and play will and should wear some form of eye protection inside and outside and most of the time.
The health classes I attended were when schools were so afraid to teach highschool people the truth about their bodies and say anything that may reveal the realities of life, hardships, things to avoid and how to properly do anything. I did watch a hoard of stupid movies about a lot of unexplained topics where we had to observe the content without being told what was what.
None of the places that I have worked ever made sure that a surveyor had proper eye protection and never provided any type of protection for most anything else either.
Most eye specialists will tell you what is expected for your future and that information is not always a fit for everyone's benefit.
My specialist said that I could have Lasik after 50 if I wanted and that it would probably be necessary to come back for some touchups as time went on and my vision changed.
After lens replacement surgery, it is still a process to keep my 20-20 vision and kinda like working out in a gym except that I am sitting in my easy chair doing eye pushups and reading and working crypto puzzles with different sizes of lettering and using a lot of eye drops for tired eyes and my left eye does not produce enough tears.
?ÿ
0.02
?ÿ
?ÿ
I kind of had a change where the computer screen and text on a typical letter is not clear at all.
I just had an exam Sept 29, 2019 and he said my left eye actually got better.?ÿ I am going to
make an appointment at another place for a second opinion.?ÿ It is really not cool.?ÿ Kinda scary.
Reminds me of starry starry nights - scream 😉
I left university wearing glasses and quickly found that they were a real pain on instrument work and pushing glasses onto the top of your head when observing makes you look a right pratt. Changed to hard contact lenses within a year and have now been wearing them for nearly 51 years.
Everybody is different, some can wear them all the time, some can only wear soft ones; you will soon find out which type you are. I went for hard ones because a) at that time there wasn't a great choice and soft ones were expensive b) they are almost indestructible (I "lost" one once whilst gardening - over 2 years later I dug it up and it was still fine).
Nowadays I give my eyes more rest from wearing them - I'll take them out in the evening if I don't need to watch television or if I'm working on something small and fiddly (without them I can focus down to the end of my nose, so my real vision is great for doing things like Norm Larson's Bilby Tower models without having to use an eye magnifier!).
========
ADVICE, learnt from long and bitter experience
TAKING THEM OUT ON SITE - sit down and hunch up, make sure there is no wind - don't put a board or paper on you lap to "catch" it, because it will bounce off. If it lands on clothing instead of in your hand then it will stay put. I always keep my "old set", from the last time the prescription changed, in a case with spare glasses and this stays in the vehicle. That way I have a double safety net, just in case (pardon the pun!). If possible, take them out in a vehicle with doors and windows shut.
If one does end up in the wet mud, DONT try and pick it up directly - it will disappear under the effects of surface tension - slide a thin card under it and lift lens and mud to a safe place - then separate. A good dollop of spittle works wonders for both cleaning and disinfecting
In very high dust environments I carry a set of safety goggles as a last resort - if I have to go into silos containing powder I used to take them out before starting. Now, with experience, I know when I need to take them out and blunder around and when the conditions are safe to keep them in.
UAV flying is no problem as a set of sunglasses is probably being worn anyway and they keep the dust out.
For those about to get hard lenses - ask for them to be marked L and R - it's almost mandatory that the lenses will mix themselves up if you take them out on site and if the prescription is different for each lens then putting them back in the wrong way round is a recipe for a headache. Most suppliers tend to mark just L, but when you have mixed them up and are trying to read an engraving which is just half a mm high it's a lot easier if you have two to go at!
========
Just my opinion, but eyesight seems to deteriorate far slower in those wearing contact lenses than for those who wear glasses. I think I've only had around 3 or 4 prescription changes over the 50 years and those have all been marginal.
Lee,?ÿ
I'm going through the same thing. I just started wearing glasses a few months ago (I'm 47). I need them for reading and other closeup activities such as looking at the level bubble on a prism pole. My glasses also turn dark in bright light, which can be a pain. I'm not sure I'm ready for contacts though.
Sorry I missed you at the conference. I'll give you a call if it ever slows down.
Gregg
This was back several years, at that time by doctor said the daily multi-vision contacts were not up to par. I think that has changed but I have not investigated. It would be nice for diving.
@bill93 Yep, that's about right. My current prescription (bifocal) sucks is not very good and I'm using my phone without my glasses sometimes. I'm 53 though so I would likely get the presbyopia:no answer from the surgeons. I've never seriously considered LASIK because I usually cope with glasses quite well. The possibility of ending up with haloes--when I already have some--was off-putting too. LASIK mainly seems to be about correcting distance vision. Besides driving, I don't really need good distance vision. I want sharp near vision.
I wear my glasses almost all the time. Not asleep nor in the shower, but that's about it besides the occasional amusement park ride. I even wear them swimming.
It's all relative. My mom's prescription before she had her lenses replaced was around -18 and -20. She has keratoconus (she dealt with multiple images for years before finally getting cornea transplants), I don't know what all else, so my mediocre-by-comparison -9/-10 (h.s. through 30s) was not so bad!
The dollar store sells an all power pair of glasses for less than $20.
My part-time helper speaks very highly of them.
I agree with the original poster. Contacts work great with optical plumb plus OTC sunglasses can be worn.?ÿ ?ÿ I bought a pair of bi focal safety glasses for windy or dusty conditions.?ÿ bifocal sunglasses for sunlight work great too?ÿ
I saw this on a web site, indicating that does not necessarily preclude it:
In general, excimer lasers?ÿthat are FDA-approved for LASIK surgery performed in the United States can correct up to approximately -11.00 diopters (D) of nearsightedness, up to +5.00 D of farsightedness, and up to 5.00 D of astigmatism.
For high amounts of refractive error, it's important to understand that there can be an increased risk of visual side effects like nighttime glare, halos and other possible problems. It is important to discuss this with your surgeon during your preoperative consultation ?? especially if you have more than -8.00 D of myopia or more than +4.00 D of hyperopia.
The docs going above -8 diopters are carefully selecting their patients and the adverse results still skyrocket (from 0.5% to 4% or so).?ÿ Anything above -8 diopters in the US hasn't been studied by the FDA and is considered off label.
My doc (an expert) examined me and said my pupil size(?), tricky dick parameters, etc. precluded me from Lasik at the get-go.?ÿ I told him I'd seen Lasik advertised up to -11 diopters so why not me??ÿ He replied those cowboys are pushing it and practicing bad medicine.?ÿ Yes, mostly good results?ÿ but too many bad results to take the risk.?ÿ Do no harm.
Less so now that GPS button pushing is prevalent but back in the day excellent eyesight (even if corrected with glasses/contacts) was mission critical for everybody on a terrestrial survey crew; the instrument person, brush whacker, rodman, even monument searching required visual acuity.?ÿ I'll buy Lasik is good for folks with up to -5 diopters but beware if you're more myopic than that.?ÿ You may end up 20/20, but with halos and night vision problems worse than when you wore your glasses.
As noted in a post above I'm an ortho-K patient and am totally happy.?ÿ Lasik is surgery and the prime directive is do not treat healthy tissue unless it improves the patient's life experience.?ÿ Glasses and contacts do so without cutting so go with that if your eyes are less than perfect.?ÿ In 2000 over 1.4 million Lasik procedures were done, much less than the 700,000 in 2018.?ÿ Contemplate that.
?ÿ
@rochs01 My left eye got stronger from looking through the total station lens all the time when I was an IO. At least that was the notion the eye doc had.