22
votes
Do you wear glasses?
I'm nearsighted and I have a -1.25 rx. I don't need to wear them all the time, but I love it when everything is well defined.
I'm nearsighted and I have a -1.25 rx. I don't need to wear them all the time, but I love it when everything is well defined.
Yes, and my prescription is a few years old now and desperately in need of an update. Near-sighted as well.
Honestly, I'd like to be able to ditch the frames altogether, but I'm opposed to contacts because my eyes are sensitive and I don't like the idea of having any foreign object anywhere that close to them, and corrective surgery is too expensive at this point in time. I just want to be able to wear sunglasses, damn it :(
Same here. Also, I've done work cleaning pools and I've heard that contact lenses are worse if you get chemicals spilled on your eyes(I don't have any good source for that). Not to mention with how hard I find it to take eye-drops, putting contact lenses in seems like something I wouldn't handle well. Then there's thing like losing them and solutions for them.
More importantly, I don't have many issues with my glasses and wear them all the time.
Oh god, yeah. I've had to take eye drops on a few separate occasions. Those alone are really difficult for me to manage.
I imagine most people don't really have issues with their glasses. I'm just a really finicky person :)
I take biotech classes at my high school and the professor said the same thing when discussing lab safety. It was something about the contact lenses absorbing the chemicals. It also has to do that if something gets spilled on your eyes, you won't be able to wash your eyes until you take them off. Those few seconds or minutes can make a huge difference depending on the chemical.
Yeah, don't mess with that. I worked in an analytical chemistry lab in college, and one of my coworkers insisted that goggles were enough protection to wear contacts in the lab.
All was fine until the day one of the fume hoods wasn't working so well, and some acrylonitrile vapor got loose - guy went straight to the ER with his contacts stuck to his corneas.
I kind of get where you're coming from, but at the same time I don't.
Maybe it's different for me because my rx, compared to others, is pretty low.
Why do you want to ditch your frames?
Do they get in the way a lot or is it something else you dislike about them?
They're just incredibly inconvenient. Oils from skin or hair smudge them up, steam reduces visibility to nothing, they fog up terribly in cold weather, I can't wear sunglasses over them, my hair occasionally gets caught in them when it's longer, I can't comfortably lie down with them on, over-ear headphones can get uncomfortable, I have to be careful about how I move so they don't fall off (can be a tad annoying when e.g. out hunting), I frequently forget to take them off before putting on or taking off shirts so they end up getting in the way, and a whole bunch of other little things that just add up to one giant headache.
I just don't like having a chunk of metal and plastic constantly hindering my movement and causing discomfort.
That does seem pretty annoying. I usually just end up taking them off if I want to lay down, but they can be really inconvenient (like in the examples you gave).
Wait, that's a thing? I've never experienced it because I live in a tropical island. Couldn't that become really dangerous? Or is it more of an annoyance? I'd guess it depends on the situation.
Haha, yes, it's most certainly a thing!
You may live on a tropical island, but I'm sure you've had an ice-cold drink and had the glass fog up and have water dripping down the sides because of condensation, right? Same principle. Cold glasses + humid air = foggy lenses. It's generally only a problem during the colder parts of the year when going from outdoors to indoors or if your breath manages to hit your lenses while outside, as there needs to be just the right combination of the cold lenses and available moisture in the air, but it's definitely something that happens.
As for whether or not it's dangerous, it typically isn't and is usually more of an annoyance than anything. I could imagine a possibly dangerous scenario, however, where you're in a packed, moving crowd and your glasses manage to fog up and leave you unable to see. Unlikely, but possible. There's not really any significant chance of it happening while you're driving because you'll likely have a heater going to defrost the windows anyway and so you're not driving along in a mobile freezer. And in most other scenarios you should be able to halt movement until the fog dissipates.
I think I get it now. Same thing happens to me when going from a very cold air-conditioned room to the outside world.
So it's a lot less dangerous than I imagined. It's mostly annoying.
Yes. Been wearing them since I was 12, when my teachers finally figured out I couldn't see the chalkboard without squinting. They only come off when I'm sleeping, or having a migraine (which they make worse). I'm blind as a fucking bat without my glasses, can't read even large things like a microwave timer or subtitles on a 72" screen from inside the same room. It's just one massive blur. Mine used to be coke bottles but now they have better refractive materials so I'm no longer required to wear dumbbells on my face. I like the single-piece lightweight titanium frames, can barely feel them when I'm wearing them.
Wow! That's got to be annoying. Good thing you were able to get some lighter lenses.
For how long did you use those thick lenses?
Middle through high school, about seven years. By the time I got to college I was able to get lenses that were about 1/10th the thickness of the originals that did a better job. The worst part is the permanent grooves on either side of your head that thick glasses create with the frames pinching to hold up the heavy lenses. If they don't do that they'll fall right off. I don't miss that one bit.
Modern eyeglasses have come a long way in materials from the 90s. The set I'm wearing now weights less than two ounces. Frame and lenses are almost invisible.
I use glasses, but only for close-up reading or for tiny screens (like my phone). It's the classic middle-aged problem of losing one's near focus as one's eyes age (or not having long enough arms!). I got my first pair about 7 years ago. I don't need my glasses for most of my normal activities, but, I've noticed that, as the years pass, the times I do need them are gradually increasing.
I've found I actually like wearing glasses. That's partly because I chose a frame that I really like. I bought my frames in a special deal where a second pair was half-price. So I chose a simple functional style for work, and a slightly more "interesting" style for elsewhere. What has actually happened is that the simple functional frame became my back-up pair, while the interesting pair comes everywhere with me - including work. They feel good and I know I look good in them (I've had compliments!). I need to update the prescription, which I'll be doing in the next couple of months, and I'm going to ask them to replace the lenses in my current frames, rather than buy new frames.
That's how I felt when I got my first pair of glasses.
My first pair were dark blue and I loved the way they made me look (I still do).
What would you say makes that pair more interesting than the other one? Is it the color, the shape or both?
Both.
Can I tell you a secret? Just between you and me? Noone's listening...
When I was looking for my second "interesting" pair of frames in the spectacle shop, I couldn't find anything I wanted in the sections the shop assistant guided me to. I looked around the store, and there were much more colourful and lively frames in other sections, but she never took me there. Eventually, she went off to serve someone else and left me to my own devices for a while, so I wandered over to those other sections, where I found quite a few styles I liked. When the shop assistant returned, she nicely told me that this was the women's section. So that's why she didn't bring me over here? Oh.
Then I decided that I didn't care. If I like a frame, then I like it. It's not like it comes with a big label saying "for women only". So I chose a style that suited my face better than the other ones, and that had a bit of colour in it (I like red, but most of the men's frames came in boring black, grey, brown, and navy blue).
And they look good - people have told me so. I have received unsolicited compliments about my glasses. So I feel no regret whatsoever about my choice.
That's always been my train of thought when it comes to a lot of things. I've always found it very limiting to just limit yourself over to things labelled for your gender.
Quick question:
How do you know if one pair suits you better than the other? I've always had difficulty with that and I end up asking for a second opinion because of it.
I look at myself in the mirror and see which one I think looks better. It's purely subjective.
Lucky! I couldn't ever do that because I can't see enough details from a reasonable distance with neutral lenses. I had to just trust someone or my blurred vision. Luckily this last time I bought a new pair for myself selfies have become a thing, so I could take a selfie with the model and check how they look with my old pair.
I was at -2 & -2.25 in left & right eye respectively, for the better part of my childhood. I never liked wearing glasses. I'd always misplace them, they'd feel heavy on my face, and cold when I went to put them on in New Zealand's chilly mornings. Plus they'd fog up or get sweaty when I go for runs. Bleh.
When I first got a job at 18, the first thing I saved up for was femtosecond LASIK surgery. NZ$6000 all up, when I was 19. I had a minor correction done about 6 months later. My vision is now 20/15 in my left eye, and 20/20 in my right. I'm 23 now, and it's to date the best thing I've ever spent my money on.
I used to work for a woman who lived a fairly active, outdoor lifestyle. Her, her husband, and their two sons were always going away camping for weekends. She had lasik surgery and never looked back. She loved the freedom of not worrying about glasses or contact lenses.
Wow, that's great!
How did you feel the day the surgery was due? Did you have any worries about something going wrong?
Thanks! Waiting in the room for the surgery was kind of sweaty, if I'm honest. It was my first sort of operation of any kind, so I had no idea what to expect. In reality, the preparation takes longer than the actual operation, which is maybe 2-3 minutes. The weeks beforehand involve taking topological mappings of your eye to determine the correct cuts to make, then on the day they give you anaesthetic eye drops to numb your eyes before leading you into the operation room where the first thing you see is this very large machine branded with "CARL ZEISS" on the side, haha.
But yeah, the procedure is very quick and painless. You hear some whirrs, a laser shines across your eye, and it's basically over. Prior to the op I was told there's a 1% chance of epithelial ingrowth, which AFAIK I believe is an adverse reaction to the operation, which can result in blindness. Being my 19 year old self, I don't think I really paid too much attention, to be honest. I probably should have.
It's the general recovery afterwards which is less fun. Halos, blinding lights, dry eyes, droplets every 15 minutes, broken blood vessels. The droplets in particular can be necessary for months afterwards. In my case, I was taking them until I was 20.
I would do it all again in a heartbeat though! I still have enough corneal thickness remaining for a second pass later in life, and I fully plan to utilise that option as I age. I'd definitely say you should consider it if you're looking for an alternative to glasses!
I used to!
For most of my life, I've worn glasses and was dangerously near sighted: -6.25 and -5.25—I couldn't make out a face without my glasses on. I mostly didn't mind them, and figured they were way better for my face.
However, just over a year ago I got LASIK, and while it didn't fully correct my left eye to 20/20, I sure do believe that having LASIK performed is one of the best decisions I've made in my life. It cost me about 5k, which is probably about the same value as fancy glasses + frames for the rest of my life, too. In terms of visual acuity, I feel like my vision has greatly improved—I can way more reliably see just about everything.
However, as a result of going from very near sighted to "normal" vision, I feel that I've lost my ability to see super super macro print or patterns: I used to be able to resolve fine print and thin lines on bank notes, or sub-pixel patterns on "retina-class" displays at a mere glance. I can still see some macro stuff, but probably about as average as anyone else, (based on anecdotal evidence by recounting this to friends.)
Anyway, all this just to say, LASIK was a huge net-positive for me, and I don't have to wear glasses anymore.
Yeah, certainly. I'm quite nearsighted, to the point I have trouble making out visual detail in objects that are further then about 6 inches from my eyes, so glasses aren't just for ease of use, but a necessity for me to function in daily life. I actually like them a lot, they've sort of become part of who I am appearance wise, and my frames have held up very well over the last 3 years and will probably continue to do so for many more. Compared to the risks of laser eye surgery, I'm quite happy to stick with glasses. :)
It's kind of interesting how that happens.
One day you start wearing glasses and you notice the difference, but eventually they just become part of your face.
I can't imagine myself without glasses.
Are your lenses thick? I've read that it's a common complaint when it comes to strong prescriptions.
Oh god yeah, in my early teenage years (when my prescription was quite a bit less then it is today), my lenses were about as thick as a slice from a cardboard box at their thickest points, if not slightly thicker. They weighed a lot, which was really annoying, they'd always slide down my nose a lot. I shudder to think what my current prescription would look like with those materials. Nowadays I pay extra for lenses made out of a different material that's much thinner. The extra money is well worth the comfort for something I wear on my face pretty much 24/7 :)
I've been wearing glasses almost as long as I can remember, for nearsightedness and astigmatism, both severe and variable enough that I'm not a candidate for LASIK.
Now that better optical materials are available, the glasses themselves aren't so heavy as to be uncomfortable, but it's still inconvenient and worrisome to keep track of my prosthetic eye appliances all the time. I've had a pair fall off while driving, and that was a minute or two of terror. For ocean kayaking and other sports, they're painfully bungee-ed to my head.
An old eye injury also means one eye isn't fully correctable, and since the tear duct was damaged, I can't wear contacts for more than a few hours without constant use of drops.
Nonetheless, like @Algernon_Asimov above, you can make a virtue out of necessity. Since eyeglasses have gotten much cheaper, and I've got an oval "wear any style" face shape, there are usually three or four pair in my collection to choose among, from the Audrey Hepburn-style giant sunglasses, to the naughty librarian wireframes, to the RBG-wannabe severe black plastic.
I've worn glasses since I was around 10-ish or so, when my parents realized I couldn't see a gigantic Costco sign across a parking lot at night.
I've considered contacts and LASIK, but as it is, glasses work just fine for me 99% of the time (even while bicycling, hiking, and such). It's hard for me to justify the additional cost and hassle of contacts or the cost and risks of LASIK when glasses work fine most of the time.
I've also always used Zenni. I mean, you can't beat $7/pair, and the first thing to go is the lenses anyway. The lenses $300 pair of glasses won't last much longer than my $7 pair.
My whole family has terrible eyesight. I wear glasses for everything. And I avoid contact lenses because I really don't like the idea of touching my eyeball.
I get my glasses online at Zenni Optical because I'm extremely cheap. Because it's such a cheap option, I get my lenses rose-tinted, for which I get constant compliments from both genders. It's tinted loosely enough that my brain adjusts so I can see everything naturally.
I'm at -5.5 for both eyes and I wear them almost non-stop. The only times when I don't wear them are when I am reading (on close-up (up to ~20cm) I see better w/o them), sleeping (obviously), or when I am skiing/swimming/SCUBA Diving (or some other simmilar activity), when I am wearing contacts.
I used to have glass lenses, but since I was diagnosed with Irlen Syndrome I need to have tinted lenses (darker shade of blue) I need to have plastic lenses.
Yep. Started wearing them in fifth grade, so at about 11. Got called Four-eyes by most kids in school. It bugged me for a few weeks then I ignored them. I went from 20/10 vision to 20/200 in less than four months. I blame it on the new (at the time) Commodore PET my dad bought for us to learn how to use a computer. No one else in my family needed glasses till they were in their twenties before the computer.
My vision quickly got worse. But I have excellent color definition and separation. It's weird, everything is blurry, but I can pick out what I'm seeing because of the differences in color.
I'm 48 now and wear progressive lenses. I get ultra-thins and wide view. Cost about $600 after insurance discounts. I also need UV as my eyes are REALLY sensitive to UV. Ha, so is my skin, I get burned on a five minute car ride, through a window, in the Winter...
I stopped being able to wear contacts about 20 years ago when my astigmatism got too bad.
I had being nearsighted and farsighted at the same time. It REALLY SUCKS. Without my glasses, I only get clear vision between 5" and 8" from my eyes.
Yeah, I don't wear them all the time either. Only in lecture classes and such, when I really need them. And yeah, clarity of vision is really nice, but I hate having things on my face. I'd get contacts but they're too expensive for me at the moment.
That's basically my mother's philosophy for it. She doesn't like having things in her face so she only uses them when necessary.
I, on the other hand, wear them all the time.
How often do you find it necessary to wear your glasses?
Well, honestly, as I said - only in lectures and stuff like cinema or sometimes when I'm watching TV. Otherwise I don't really need them or wear them. I have -1.0 rx.
I'm only a tiny bit nearsighted, but I wear glasses as an aesthetic choice to bring me closer to a "young Dumbledore" look. Well, I don't wear robes, but you know what I mean.
Yes, I didn’t realize I needed them until I had to go to a mandatory eye appointment for work (“medical surveillance”). The optometrist told me “Yeah you really shouldn’t be driving until you get glasses.” Now that I have them, it makes such a big difference. I can actually read signs now! Computers really wreaked havoc on my eyes apparently.
This kinda echoes the experience I had when I first got glasses. I was too young to drive, and I didn't really realize I needed them—I just had my own ways of coping without glasses as a kid, and I almost doubt I'd have ever gotten them had someone not told me that my eyes were bad, in this case a teacher noticing me squinting.
I do wear glasses, but I haven’t been able to find a pair that I like. In fact, I see people with glasses on that I like and think would look good on me, but can’t find similar glasses anywhere! I might not be looking at expensive enough places, since I usually just check Warby Parker and Costco.
Give EyeBuyDirect or Zenni Optical (online direct-to-consumer manufacturers) a try. I've used both, and their frame selection is very broad. The websites have photo fitting tools which give a fairly accurate impression of what the frames will look like on your face. They also have good return policies.
I generally prefer EyeBuyDirect for accuracy of lens manufacture, and their customer service has been excellent.
yup! Looking to get some anglo american optical 406 lenses. Might go with something traditional. But also considering going with something like the yellow which is really...lol different.
Not yet, it's been years now that I have this feeling that I'm going to start needing glasses soon. Pretty much everyone in my family has them, and spending so much time in front of screen isn't helping. Sometimes I get this feeling like I'm using up a scares resource, sitting here reading on a tiny laptop screen.
If it helps, the idea that reading a screen in any way, shape or form causes bad vision has been completely disproven.
Wow. Is that disproving screen vs paper? or does it include just looking at letter things in front of your face.
A screen was found to be as harmful as looking at anything else up close for long periods of time, which is to say it's not harmful at all. Monitors in dark rooms are just sources of light, and don't do anything weird, either, except maybe trigger epileptic seizures.
Yeah, that makes sense.
Yes, I am short sighted -4.75 in one eye and -5.0 in the other.
I was wearing glasses almost full time until two years ago I switched to contracts as it was easier to come up with the money for those than glasses, also the added convenience is a huge factor in keeping them. I can finally wear sunglasses!! picking out a pair for the first time was such a cool experience.
I tried the 24/7 contacts for about 9 months, it was nice waking up and being able to see. But my eyes got over that and started destroying the lens faster and faster, so now I have monthly ones. In when I wake up and out when its bed time, my daughters love watching me put my eyes in (their words) and often will ask to help, this is something I don't let them do. I don't particularly feel the need to be jabbed in the eye by little finger's.
Yes, I'm very farsighted. I think my prescriptions are +5.75 and +6.00, so I don't have the option to not wear my glasses. I got my first pair of glasses when I was two years old after my parents noticed I was crossing one of my eyes. Turns out, I was doing that to focus my vision. I wore contacts for a few years, but I got tired of wearing them. My eyes felt constantly dry and I hated having to make sure I had my case, solution, eye drops, and backup glasses with me at all times. I really like my current pair of glasses. I have transition lenses, but I really want to get a pair of prescription sunglasses at some point.
I don't look forward to the day when I start becoming nearsighted as well due to aging.
Yep, since I was seven, 2-3 yrs short of 2 decades by now. I've slight near-sightedness and a rather high degree of astigmatism, which means blurry edges spoil an otherwise passable sight for me. I've been wearing glasses constantly, and they are just another organ of mine by now. I'm also cross-eyed, so I need to get that sorted if I want LASIK, thus I don't plan to do it. I'm happy with my glasses anyways, so I won't take the risk.
I'm R -3.00 -1.25 16 / L -3.50 -1.50 6, which is to say pretty solid astigmatism, and near-sighted. I first got glasses when I was 12, and needed to see white boards in middle school. The first time I put them on, I noticed such a difference that I didn't want to take them off, and I have not forgotten them since my first months wearing them fifteen years ago. I've considered wearing contacts, but they add so many possible issues for minor aesthetic benefits that I just use photochromic lenses for when I'm in the sun.
Well I wear glasses but that's a funny post. Why did you post this ? Am I supposed to explain why I wear glasses ?