[Closed] Eyesight, realising you need glasses etc....

What are your experiences of first realising you were long sighted and could this be caused by prolonged computer screen viewing and/or wearing safety specs 10hrs a day 5 days a week at work?

It'll be an age related thing.

Getting old is crap - and undoubtedly going to get crapper; much crapper!

I need glasses for the opposite reason - distance. I've had them for about 25 years and I first noticed I needed them when passengers were able to make out road signs before I was.

OK for close-up so far and I've worked with computer screens for over 35 years.

sounds lke standard old age reading glasses required

Welcome to presbyopia, not longsightedness (or that may be contributing)
It has nothing to do with looking at screens all day, I'm afraid it's just your age, early to mid 40's is when you usually notice the symptoms your describing.

If you've not had an eyetest in 30 years you need one. You should get tested at least every 2 years, sooner in certain circumstances. Even if you think you have 'perfect vision' you still should get tested.

Apologies if this seems to be stating the obvious, but get booked in at a local Optometrists, preferably one with a good reputation and avoid the temptation to buy some ready readers without getting a proper eye exam!!!

Here endeth the lesson!!!

Huh, yeah - hit 41 this year.

Off to the eye docs it is.

Computer screens aside, I do have concerns about having bits on non-optometrically prescribed bits of plastic half an inch in front of my iris for such a prolonged time though. Better than receiving an actual eye injury without them, but still, you have to wonder.

sounds lke standard old age reading glasses required

Boots sell them - save yourself the cost of an eye test and expensive spectacles by getting an off the peg pair. You find them under the "old age reading glasses" sign.

ernie_lynch - Member
Boots sell them - save yourself the cost of an eye test and expensive spectacles by getting an off the peg pair. You find them under the "old age reading glasses" sign.

Well I can't really give much more advise than that. Other than to suggest that they are probably next to the "designer glasses for young sexy people" sign.

My advice....ignore ernies advice!

If the safety spex haven't peen prescribed following an eyetest then they 'should' have no power and as such have no detramental effect on your eyes, dpending on how scratched/ dirty they are may be a limiting factor though!

getting old is better than the alternative 🙂

I'm in my 30's and need glasses for both near and far 🙁

44 this year and glasses for the first time. Exactly the same scenario as the OP.

A total pain in the arse but dont feel anywhere near as knackered by the end of the day 😀

safety specs are not just a piece of plastic - good ones should be non distorting and of zero magnification.

equally if you get specs you should get safety specs made up too - good news is they dont scratch as easy as those stupid plastic things.

I have to have prescription safety specs for work - quite handy as it stops folk stealing them when they realise they feel drunk wearing them !

I turned up for my second year at secondary school and noticed I couldn't see the blackboard anymore. Glasses since then. I did use contact lenses in my mid twenties but it was more vanity than anything and I don't subscribe to that. If someone is so lame they wouldn't date someone with glasses then they aren't dateable themselves. After my mid 30's my eyes started to change shape and I could no longer wear contacts anymore. I've just turned 40 and recently I've been noticing that my previously excellent short distance vision is now going away as I have to work on things at a greater distance or experience pain.

Our bodies last solidly till about 40-45 as an average, eyesight is one of the first things to go apparently, so we know the decline is coming.

That's a cheery thought.

I've always had excellent vision, and I've absolutely no right to have it after the amount of time I've spent a foot or two from hazy portable TV screens and monitors long before MPR II came about.

I've noticed now that my right eye isn't quite as pin-sharp as it used to be. It's the beginning of the end.

On a related note, short sighted people's eyes get better as they get older.

I'm hoping that by the time I get in an old people's home my eyes will be fully recovered and I'll be able to start bullying all the people who have to wear glasses.

"Ha ha, not so funny now is it you speccy four eyed ****?"

I had to get some for driving in, about 9 months ago.

It's like driving, but in HD.

At 53 - I just find that my arms aren't long enough any more, nothing to do with failing eyesight

At [s]53[/s] 46 - I just find that my arms aren't long enough any more, nothing to do with failing eyesight

Shirking arm syndrome.

I don't like the 'negativity' people always attach to needing specs, at least we're aware of our visions shortcomings and have regular eye tests.

It annoys me that none spectacled people assume people with glasses have bad eyesight, where in the majority of cases their eyesight is probably worse and they aren't even aware of it.

As evidenced by the fact that they try some specs and suddenly realise what its like to be able to see (as attested by myself 20 years ago and the OP)

Glasses suck. At least you can still ride without yours. I don't think anything causes as much trouble on a wet ride as glasses that you can't take off.

Not looking forward to the time when I'll need two sets of glasses for long and short 🙁

I got glasses at 40, after 5 years working at pc/reading.

I still CBA wearing them most of the time.

Contact lenses and fender + crud guard works ok for raining weather, otherwise prescription riding glasses are good for 80% of the time.

You don't need two pairs of glasses for long and short, you just get varifocals, which are brilliant.

Don't worry about getting glasses. I've worn them for over 20 years and quite frankly forget I've got them on most of the time (that could be due to to the alzheimers though).

Contacts - yes.. completely transformed sport and outdoor activity for me - fab.

Contacts here, used 'em for years. I'm shortsighted and also realised I needed a test after I couldn't read roadsigns from a distance.

I've just spotted this beauty on ebay.
http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/New-LightMed-Lpulsa-SYL-9000-Yag-Laser-System-w-factory-warranty-complete-/370597277865?pt=LH_DefaultDomain_0&hash=item564951b0a9#ht_2394wt_1378

How about a whip round so we can have a go with it? If it doesn't work out, well, you'll have to find me to do anything about it, but I'll chuck in a white stick as a gesture of goodwill!

Don't bother with a 'standard' off the peg set of reading glasses.

I think I am correct in saying that if you spend time in front of a computer for work, your employer is obliged to ensure you eyesight is sufficient. This normally means you can get vouchers for the opticians, they get you a free sight test, and if the optometrist (sp?) says you need glasses for work you can get something like £40-60 to spend on specs.

I'm short-sighted so every year I apply for a sight test voucher, but I don't get the cash towards the specs as I need mine from the moment I get out of bed, to the moment I go to bed, i.e not just for work. Yourself being long-sighted, you don't need them so much, just for specific stuff such as looking at your PC screen. So you may get a half decent set of specs for free 🙂 If you need protective eyewear for a significant part of your duties, you may be entitled to get presciption eyewear for free as well. (I don't as I only need to use protection for short periods, so have to make do with silly eyewear over the top of my glasses)

http://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/1992/2792/regulation/5/made

On the cheery side, at least glasses and contacts make eyesight issues correctable. Generally short sighted people have muscles in their eyes that have gone rigid, not allowing their focus to push past into the distance. There is a 'natural' method to attempt to regain vision here, with exercises pushing the muscles and there is supposedly tales of those who have regained full focus movement. I found a book on the method in my local library, not quite sure how I stumbled on it. I tried it for a bit and once gained my vision with a a squelching sound, it was an astounding moment, but I just didn't have the patience to carry it on further and never got that again. I may return to the method eventually if I remember.

I think I am correct in saying that if you spend time in front of a computer for work, your employer is obliged to ensure you eyesight is sufficient. This normally means you can get vouchers for the opticians, they get you a free sight test, and if the optometrist (sp?) says you need glasses for work you can get something like £40-60 to spend on specs

We get the eye test voucher but don't get any contribution for specs

Mrdestructo I'm afraid you're wrong there, being short sighted has nothing to do with 'rigid' muscles. It's basically due to an eye being 'too long' for its own power so instead of the light hitting the retina it falls in front of it. The natural method to regain vision is total horse shit, dreamed up by a crackpot called Bates 100 years ago.

It goes hand in hand with Iridology and Homeopathy

Had an eye test yesterday (4 years since last) and had gone down 2 rows on the board of what I could read. Have been given a prescription for some glasses for fine detail/computer work.

🙁 beginning of the end...

46 here and no specs so far. But tried reading the blurb on the side of some packaging yesterday close up and was a bit of a struggle. So looks like a trip to the opticians might be in order also.

my driving instructor suggested i get my eyes tested on my 2nd lesson!
he was right though, not just a cheeky sod. i was borderline shortsighted, my prescription has gone from -0.75 to -2.75 since then.

The natural method to regain vision is total horse shit, dreamed up by a crackpot called Bates 100 years ago.

That took a bit of finding.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bates_Method

Also an advocate of sungazing being beneficial to eyesight. Genius.

Like many on here after years of pin sharp vision I have found in my late 40's the labels on some products are a bit blurred until I hold them further away than I used to.
Still I'm really shocked they have lasted so long as I've hardly looked after them.

Got mine when I was five. My mum finally twigged that the reason I continually ran into things wasn't solely because I was a clumsy oaf 🙂

Worn mine since aged four. Forty years now, with contacts interspersed. Not really a big deal. Except - try putting contact lenses in your eyes when you are +5 or more and can't focus down to less than about 4m! Reading and near work is still fine (corrected of course)

You short-sighted people don't know what you are missing 😉 .

So, had my first eye test since I can remember today. Been prescribed glasses for close-up and distance. I was told that my eyes are perfectly normal for my age and had my eyeballs photographed and they are completely healthy.

You may have struggled to read lables before your 40's .but never noticed its a 40's thing.

Welcome to speccyworld.

Eyesight still bang on the money for me - it's my hearing I'm worried about.

The plus side - I look bloody good in them (erm, says Mrs STR) 8)

Perhaps she needs a test too... 😕

SORRY?

I was fine up until about 2 years ago. It then got remarkably worse, quite quickly. About 5 years ago I started wearing glasses for PC work, all fine for driving, then about 2 years ago I had to change those glasses for something stronger.

Seems the eyesight is fine, bit of a lazy left eye (from youth) but what's happening with me is the amount of light hitting the back of the eye. Optom says it's normal for a bloke of my age...

Not that bothered, I can see for everything else, riding/driving yadda yadda, but PC stuff (where most of my days are spent) I wear glasses.

HeyHo,

One and a half pages in and nobody has said " proof at last that too much w***king will make you go blind...." 🙂
STW you disappoint me.