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Thread ID: 129114	2013-02-03 22:09:00	A tip if you're buying prescription glasses for the first time	BBCmicro (15761)	PC World Chat

Post ID	Timestamp	Content	User
1326404	2013-02-06 02:50:00	Another hijacker ... My question to Paul is, will contact lenses correct astigmatism ?? The reason I ask is, I'm having problems with glasses in the rain and someone suggested that contacts are the way to go ... I'm not convinced and not sure what his eyesight problem is, however, it would be a lot easier than trying to fit wiper blades to my glasses ... :D	SP8's (9836)
1326405	2013-02-06 03:18:00	Sadly im understanding most of what is being discussed........... the 3 of us this year need our eyes checked......... my son probably needs new ones he has finally given in and started wearing them at times when he should be his dad did that so i dont know where or who etc. i know nothing about whats wrong etc.... just kno he needs for computer, gaming, reading and tv............. my daughter complains of sore eyes a lot, and i have found that things i took for granted are no loger do able.... threading a needle...... seeing that thistle in my finger etc...... so for the first time my daughetr and i may need glasse's ( hers was a given, she had been told at last eye test) while me have never even been for a eye test. so when i find a optometrist, i have no idea what to say and why...lol or what i should look for if i need glasses myself. a learning curve... and then i prob dont want to be able to read the bill anyway......	beetle (243)
1326406	2013-02-06 03:55:00	Another hijacker ... My question to Paul is, will contact lenses correct astigmatism ?? The reason I ask is, I'm having problems with glasses in the rain and someone suggested that contacts are the way to go ... I'm not convinced and not sure what his eyesight problem is, however, it would be a lot easier than trying to fit wiper blades to my glasses ... :D Yes They are called Toric lens. I use them myself for a bad astigmatism. en.wikipedia.org	DeSade (984)
1326407	2013-02-06 06:31:00	Another hijacker ... My question to Paul is, will contact lenses correct astigmatism ?? The reason I ask is, I'm having problems with glasses in the rain and someone suggested that contacts are the way to go ... I'm not convinced and not sure what his eyesight problem is, however, it would be a lot easier than trying to fit wiper blades to my glasses ... :D I find that wearing glasses in the rain is a problem. I usually wear a brimmed hat to keep the rain off my glasses. Wiper blades have jokenly been suggested to me through the years. They might end up being hypnotic.	Bobh (5192)
1326408	2013-02-06 19:16:00	Hope its OK to ask a question here. I wear glasses for distance and take them of to read/ close up work. They also have the tint so there like sunglasses when outside. I'm thinking of getting a new pair of progressive glasses but just wondering what would they cost roughly price wise?	Clod (7853)
1326409	2013-02-06 21:03:00	[QUOTE=DeSade;1145388]Yes They are called Toric lens. I use them myself for a bad astigmatism. Thanks for the link DeSade ... I assume these aren't off the pharmacy shelf ones. Any chance you could give me an idea of price (via PM if you don't want to post) and how / where you get them from.	SP8's (9836)
1326410	2013-02-07 01:27:00	Seems to be a discussion on long-sightedness or "old age" reading problems. Husband gets his at the $2 shop. Up to 2.25 now. Short-sightedness is a whole different matter, I have this, right being way worse than left. And astigmatism too although never found that to be a problem except for trying to view those 3D puzzles: These: binaryprints.com Can't say I care that I can't see the hidden thing.... Paul was helpful explaining about lenses to me some time back and I took his advice and bought my glasses with the better lenses from 39dollarglasses.com. Second recommendation was Zenni Optical. Great stuff, excellent price, prescription is as the old one (I kept the old ones to compare), if there's a difference I can't tell. Never had the reading problem, kept getting told I would but I can read real close up still....thread needles, all that. Astigmatism is apparently great for being in front of computer monitors too, so I got told ages ago by one tester.....have to say I've never had issues with screens like a lot of people...	pctek (84)
1326411	2013-02-07 03:25:00	My eyes are completely different, so much so that in the days before very highly refractive optical glass was developed, one lense was much thicker and heavier than the other and they always sat lop-sided. I have had progressive lenses for years now, and my only comment is that they don't work well with low-height lenses as the gradation is so steep that you go out of focus very quickly. The way I had to crane my neck around to find a clear focus point I had started to look like an inquisitve ostrich. I now have a pair with taller lenses (5mm made all the difference, that and a decent Optometrist). Actually, even that Optometrist got it wrong first time around, and when reading I had to turn my head from side to side to find the sweet spot for each eye. To their credit, they replaced the lenses without argument (and at no charge of course). Cheers Billy 8-{)	Billy T (70)
1326412	2013-02-07 09:28:00	Another hijacker ... My question to Paul is, will contact lenses correct astigmatism ?? Yes, but with some 'conditions' attached to the answer. For now we'll leave hard contact lenses out of the discussion, coz they're more of a specialised niche. Soft lenses that correct astigmatism are known as 'Toric' contacts. Toric contacts have two different powers across the lens, and an angle is also specified to determine at which angle these powers are to be set at, so you typically read an astigmats prescription laid out like the following: SpherePower / CylinderPower x Axis or to use different language, Power1 / Power2 x Angle Power1 (sphere) always sits at 90 degrees to Power2 (cylinder - often just called 'Cyl'), so there's no need to specify an angle for both powers. If you know the angle for the cylinder, then you can determine the angle for the sphere. A low powered example being -0.75 / -1.25 x 180 Almost all soft lenses these days are disposable, meaning you'll buy them in quantities of 3 / 6 / 30 / 90 and throw them away at some pre-determined interval. Longer life contacts are available, but belong mostly with the dinosaurs, or very special cases, and in the toric form they can be very expensive... so for now forget about the long life soft contacts. Disposables come in 1 Day lifespans / Week / Fortnight / Month / 3 Month lifespans. The common ones being daily, fortnightly, monthly disposal options. The vast majority need to be removed every night before sleep, cleaned and stored in fresh disinfecting solutions every day (so some added input needed in terms of care, time, expense) Guys who just want to party hard and pass out till noon the next day are BAD candidates for contacts. Anyway, toric contacts can come in over 1000 combinations of the powers and axis, so you can forget about the perfect lens being available off the shelf. Sure, they're pre-made and sitting on a warehouse shelf, but with 2 dozen different brands, each with 1000+ power combinations, it would take all of a stores space to carry the full range... and 99% of them would hit their expiry date before being sold... so it's always going to be a case of determining what you need, and then ordering it in from the suppliers - usually only a day or two in most cases. Due to economies of scale, and limited storage facilities for all this, the 1 day lenses cover the fewest power combinations - so if your prescription is not a typical, common power it probably won't be available for you in a Daily lens, unless you're prepared to sacrifice some clarity in order to accept the nearest powers available to your needs. If your Sphere power is over +4.00, or over -6.00, or the Cylinder power is over -1.25, or the axis is not close to 10, 20, 90, 170, 180 , then you're probably not going to get a 1 Day lens. Tough. Get over it. With 2 week lenses the limits are set higher, accommodating sphere powers from +6.00 to -8.00, Cylinder powers from -0.75 to -1.75, and the full range of axis from 10 to 180 (in 10 degree steps). Some brands cover more, some cover less. With monthly lenses you've got the best chance of a lens that will cover most visual needs. Spheres go from +8.00 to -12.00, Cylinders from -0.75 to -2.25, with all the axis covered typically. The most difficult situations usually involve cylinders over -1.75, and axis at 'oblique' angles, like the range from 30 to 70 degrees, or 120 to 160 degrees. Lastly, some folks have irregular astigmatism, which may require a hard lens. This is beyond the scope of posting here now, and really needs considering on a case by case basis. If you have allergies, eczema, dermatitis, dry eyes, or use oral acne medications (which dry you out savagely) then you may be best to avoid contacts. If you're a piss-head slob, then you should avoid contacts. If you're too stupid for words, then you should avoid contacts (sorry, but we do get cases where some folk are their own greatest hazard, due to their total stupidity) If you're poor or tight fisted you should not try contacts (tight folks persist in wearing lenses that have degraded into a terrible state, and injure themselves in the process - kind of gels with the 'to stupid for words' group, even though these folk can be bright) If none of the above apply to you, then you may be a great candidate of contacts. Comfort is usually great, with the issue being end of day comfort (feels like dryness similar to having spent days glued to a new computer game). Young eyes tend to have less dryness than old eyes. Long winded reply again. I'll stop now.	Paul.Cov (425)
1326413	2013-02-07 09:50:00	i have no idea what to say and why . . . lol or what i should look for if i need glasses myself . a learning curve . . . and then i prob dont want to be able to read the bill anyway . . . . . . The human eye was designed to typically give good service up to age 50 . Untill the last century or two you were expected to be dead before hitting your 60's, so there's really been no 'evolution' (if I can use that word without offending some) towards a longer lived ocular system . Your son sounds like another case of astigmatism (smudged vision) . Astigmatism mucks up long range and short range vision, can lead to fatigue and headaches . It's also one of the hardest issues for a person to detect for themselves . Best answer for astigmatism is to wear the corrective lenses ALL DAY EVERY DAY . As for yourself and your husband, you're likely effected by Presbyopia, a hardening of the lens that sits behind your pupil . This results in increasing difficulty adjusting your eyes for sustained close work . We all start to feel the effects of it after our early 40's, although some folks like to deny any issues well past that age . If your books look clearer if you hold them further away, then you've got Presbyopia, and reading glasses will help . The worse news is that presbyopia goes hand in hand with age related cataract . The process that causes Presbyopia is the same process that ultimately gives us all cataract (expect to need surgery by age 75 +/- 5 years) . I need to stress that we are ALL on the path to a cataract . It's a fact of life, like death and taxes . Budget $7,000 of todays money for fixing the cataract in both eyes . So for those of us 55 and younger, it might cost $14,000 by the time we've reached age 75 . Best to start saving NOW . There's no harm in simply going for a check and just seeing what the optom can determine . There's no need to wait til you have definite issues before getting checked . I saw a guy recently who'd lost 50% of the vision in one eye (permanently damaged) through going unchecked for a decade . He'd probably had glaucoma for 8 of those 10 years . An eye exam 5 years earlier probably would have made a huge difference to the outcome, so to everybody, please don't wait until you know there's a problem . Glaucoma is called the 'sneak thief of sight' because it doesn't give symptoms until far too late . Odds are you don't have it, and I don't want to panic you, but it's wiser to go for a test you don't need than to wait until you have a dire need for a test .	Paul.Cov (425)
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