"I'm not cold!!"

Do you know how terrible, diopters-wise?

I'm just trying to prepare myself for the possibility that the march will continue for a while -- if I'm convinced that -10 diopters (for example) isn't a big deal then I won't worry as much. (OK I'm the tiniest bit freaked.)

She has taken beautifully to contacts. Usually she just wears them for sports. She likes glasses fine, though we were already shopping for new frames before I realized that her eyesight had gotten much worse. I did plan on having her eyes tested before getting the new glasses.

That's actually another branch of inquiry, how long people who wear contacts have been wearing them and whether there were any ill effects. She's a pro at getting them in and out, better than me. (I wear contacts only very occasionally.)

The eye doc said that there is some study going on at OSU now, she emphasized that sample sizes are too small to draw any firm conclusions but FYI; three groups of kids, one with glasses, one with soft contacts, and one with hard contacts. The kids in the soft contact group had the least vision deterioration. (Her contacts are soft ones, Acuvue Oasys, lovely things, first kind of contacts I can wear with pretty much zero discomfort.) (I have the same kind.)

Overall though it looks like there's just not really anything that can be done, prevention-wise. Reading with adequate light and not too close up seems to maybe help a bit.

Hmmm......the figure 8 seems to be hovering in my consciousness....but from a while ago.

OK thanks.

My grandma had true coke-bottle glasses that made her eyes look teeny-tiny. I think both my parents have worse vision than I do, too. E.G.'s side has pretty good eyesight though. Sorry for the bad eye genes honey. (Actually we had already wondered where she got her eyes, they're freakishly huge, bigger than ours or anyone we can think of for a couple of generations. Noddy noted that those kinds of eyes tend to be myopic [when she saw a picture of sozlet] well before there were any problems.)

Yaya is farsighted, not nearsighted, but the eye doc told us that kids are usually farsighted as toddlers, and it gradually corrects until they're 9 or 10.

Now, I would interpret this to mean that if you start out nearsighted, the "natural correction" for farsightedness will cause nearsightedness to get worse.

However... I first started wearing glasses for nearsightedness in 1st grade, but it continually got worse until I was 35 or so. I hope that's not the case for Sozlet.

How bad is it now? And how much does it affect you?

I wear glasses daily. I have astigmatisms in each eye, so if I wear contacts I have to wear the special Torcs. (Torx? Torques?)

I hardly notice my glasses anymore, though, except when The Boy tries to grab them off my face.

Toric

The Boy! How's he doing?

Do you know your prescription?

How thick are your glasses? (You don't have to answer this stuff if you'd prefer not to of course.) I seem to remember seeing that true coke-bottle glasses don't really exist anymore, high-tech materials keep them fairly thin and light even if the prescription is very strong.

I honestly don't remember my correction. A quick check in the filing cabinet didn't turn it up....

It's a strong correction. And my glasses are kind of thick. I find that the high-index plastics create rainbow effects for objects that are not directly in front of me, so I don't like them. Instead, I just use frames with the smallest lenses that I can find.

He's doing well. Driving us nuts by not sleeping through the night....

OK, thanks. Interesting about the high-inedex plastics, good to know.

Doesn't sound bad as a worst-case scenario, though. (Would you disagree?)

Sozlet's worn contacts a lot but hasn't worn them all day since last summer (usually puts them in shortly before a late-afternoon basketball game, then takes them out maybe 4 hours later). Yesterday she wore them 7:00 AM to 9:00 PM and that was too long. They were fine right until she took them out but when she did it was really uncomfortable. (Didn't have enough to drink and a dry winter day, things got a bit too dried out I think. I think what happens is that if there's minimally enough lubrication but not quite enough, the eye is perfectly comfortable under the contact lens but the eyelid gets irritated, and then when she takes out the contacts, the irritated eyelid on the newly contact-less eye causes discomfort. I had some eye drops on hand, administered those, she was better in about 15 minutes.)

So she's back to wearing her not-strong-enough glasses today, will go more gradually with contacts (shorter time periods) and hopefully she's learned a lesson about drinking enough. Then have to find new frames and get those.

Ah yes, I don't really miss those days. Well except the cuteness can make up for it. (How old is he now?)

Eight months. Yes, he's verrrrrry cute. Lucky for him....

No, I don't disagree at all. Every time I read an adventure novel, or watch a period drama, it strikes me that I'm fortunate to be living in an era where my vision problems are easily corrected.

I started wearing glasses in the fourth grade. Got a new prescription about every year until I started wearing contacts at about 17. My prescription is north of -10 in each eye. Yea, the big eye thing may be true.

Hi Swimpy, thanks for stopping by, I remember you said that you had majorly not-good vision. Interesting that the deterioration stopped when you started wearing contacts. Have you worn them since? Any problems from long-term use, if you have?

And same question to you as to DrewDad -- the north of -10 thing hasn't put a major hitch in your giddyup, has it?

Ain't that the truth. (My -3.25 isn't that bad but I rely on my eyes big-time and if I didn't have correction I'd be at sea.)

I started wearing glasses at 16 and contacts when I was around 18 years old.
My eyes unfortunately did not stop deteriorating with contacts, I gradually
got up to - 8.00 on both eyes. However, contacts have become so much better now than they were 20 years ago. Currently I am using a product called "biofinity" and I hardly feel them at all - even after wearing them straight for 14 hours +. So far the best lenses I've ever had (and I tried a lot over the years).
http://www.coopervision.com/us/patient/contactlenses/brands/biofinity/biofinity/

My take is that myopia, the problem of my youth, is not that big a deal. My myopia did not cause any of my other stuff.

Thus, get a grip.
I mean this well.

Nah. Causes minor issues if I go skiing, or scuba diving. Not that I get to do that right now.