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Ask Me Anything About Optometry/Eyes
Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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gnolam said:

Except that every single pair of sunglasses out there will attenuate the UV more than any possible pupil dilation effect...

You've tested them all? Actually I thought "attenuate" meant to strengthen, so I googled it, saw the wikipedia entry, clicked on that, and saw the image at top right first, which says "Some sunglasses attenuate not only visible light but also its ultraviolet component" (emphasis mine).

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

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

gnolam
Member #2,030
March 2002
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You've tested them all?

No, but you really have to go out of your way to find a decently UV-transparent material. Even the cheapest glasses you can find will still take a good chunk out of the UV, to which any possible pupil dilation will be negligible (this part at least you can easily check for yourself; grab a camera and photograph your eyes out in daylight with and without sunglasses and compare the pupil diameters).

Stop! Reference time!
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/20454200

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piccolo
Member #3,163
January 2003
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An Ly said:

Piccolo: is the flexible thing a part of your eye or something artificial?

from the picture below I would say it was my corner. But in this image that part of the eye dose not look removable.
wow im wondering what happen to me why it was hanging out of my eye be cause it looks like it will have to be cut to be removed.

Edit i was thinking i could take it out and clean it my self and i would be able to see.
{"name":"normaley.jpg","src":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/f\/0\/f029eeaab04f5dfc2fe04d2472c125f7.jpg","w":744,"h":963,"tn":"\/\/djungxnpq2nug.cloudfront.net\/image\/cache\/f\/0\/f029eeaab04f5dfc2fe04d2472c125f7"}normaley.jpg

wow
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i am who you are not am i

Billybob
Member #3,136
January 2003

This thread is cool 8-) Although you should probably have put disclaimers everywhere ...

I have near-normal vision right now, just slightly off 20/20. Do you think there would be any long-term effects caused by wearing an eye-patch for 2 hour stretches every so often? I study the Human Visual System for a living, and as part of my experiments I tend to study single eye vision. Hence the use of an eye-patch. I'm wondering if it will mess up my vision in the long run.

Vanneto
Member #8,643
May 2007

piccolo said:

I put it back in place myself a regular person would probably run to the hospital to pay some huge bill for some thing so simple.

I would pay absolutely nothing. Ahh, socialism. ;D

In capitalist America bank robs you.

bamccaig
Member #7,536
July 2006
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I'd like to see about getting laser eye surgery done eventually... :-/ I think I've only been to an eye doctor once in my life (I'm ~24). He prescribed me with really weak glasses for near-sightedness, but I only wore them a few times before I stopped (they weren't cool and made my eyes blurry[1]). I was able to get my driver's license without them and generally can still do everything without them, though I can tell that my vision isn't perfect. I imagine my brain fills in the blanks at times too.

One thing I have trouble with is judging the lanes that cars are in in traffic. I generally can't tell if someone is in the far lane or the near lane (i.e., moving in the same direction). It doesn't really matter though, at least not here, because you can always wait for all traffic to clear, and indeed I've found that the safer thing to do anyway (you never know when someone will switch lanes). Is that normal or is that a sign of poor vision?

I should probably see an eye doctor... Like every other doctor in Canada (Northern Ontario, at least), it'll probably be hard to find one at all, let alone a competent one... :-/ I generally don't want them to make me wear glasses. ::) I don't expect to get used to them easily. They'd be a pain to have to always keep track of, not to mention completely rob you of any chance of looking tough. :P I doubt I'd be able to get contact lenses in and out either. I guess I can always hope for the laser eye surgery... :-X

Probably nothing special, but I discovered long ago that if I focus on something (i.e., tiles) long enough that I could make the lines between them "disappear". Is there any explanation for that? Is that bad for your eyes?

References

  1. Though I was told I would get used to them. :-/ I probably didn't trust the eye doctor and was afraid the glasses would hurt my eyes, degrading them to where those glasses did fix my vision.
Neil Walker
Member #210
April 2000
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Do opticians denounce laser treatment because it takes away their business or do they really think laser surgery is not proven over long term use?

Neil.
MAME Cabinet Blog / AXL LIBRARY (a games framework) / AXL Documentation and Tutorial

wii:0356-1384-6687-2022, kart:3308-4806-6002. XBOX:chucklepie

Matthew Leverton
Supreme Loser
January 1999
avatar

My vision was always bad. It stabilized around -7 on each eye around age 21. Even with glasses, it wasn't very good. But now I have "perfect" vision thanks to my LASIK operation six months ago. :o

If my eyes burst out of their sockets in forty years due to the operation, it still will have been worth it.

Neil Black
Member #7,867
October 2006
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I've worn the same glasses for about two years now, without needing to change prescriptions. And honestly, I think my face looks better with glasses on it. I probably won't get any LASIK eye surgery done, I just don't think I need it.

An Ly
Member #185
April 2000
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I go to work, come home and all these replies! Thanks for waiting everyone.

As far as the cheap sunglasses go, we can all agree that if you get good quality sunglasses then you'll be safer, right? The sun's damage to the eyes is a long term effect for the most part (unless you stare directly at it, don't do this) and so short terms effects of wearing cheaper sunglasses won't appear until later in life.

However, cheap lenses in sunglasses have other effects such as distortion of vision which can throw out your ability to judge depth (bad for driving!) and give you headaches.

You don't need to spend $1000 for good sunnies though. In Australia, you can get Oakleys or Raybans for like $150 AUD.

Neil said:

Do opticians denounce laser treatment because it takes away their business or do they really think laser surgery is not proven over long term use?

Do we denounce it? I actively promote it. I believe we are all here to give you the best advice when it comes to YOUR vision, not my wallet. However, there are some circumstances where lasik isn't a perfect solution and so I will let my patients know what to expect afterwards in terms of undesirable effects.

bamccaig said:

I'd like to see about getting laser eye surgery done eventually... I think I've only been to an eye doctor once in my life (I'm ~24). He prescribed me with really weak glasses for near-sightedness, but I only wore them a few times before I stopped (they weren't cool and made my eyes blurry[1]). I was able to get my driver's license without them and generally can still do everything without them, though I can tell that my vision isn't perfect. I imagine my brain fills in the blanks at times too.

By near sightedness you mean that without specs on, your distance vision is blurrier than your near vision? If that is the case, your specs should make your distance clearer. If not, then something is not quite right. However, there are times when you are near sighted and need to get use to spectacles. They may feel odd to wear at first (maybe give you headaches) but should be clear in the distance.

Your brain is a smart thing. It uses lots of visual cues to tell you about the world. One is blur. If something is blurry or hard to see, your brain would say "it is far away". If it is easy to see then your brain interprets it as close. This is why there are times when you have to get use to specs over a period of days. The blurry cues to vision are thrown out and your brain needs to readjust.

I'd advise regular check ups (yearly) just to ensure you are safe to drive though.

Quote:

Probably nothing special, but I discovered long ago that if I focus on something (i.e., tiles) long enough that I could make the lines between them "disappear". Is there any explanation for that? Is that bad for your eyes?

Do you have a photo of these tiles. I'm interested to see exactly what you mean.

billybob said:

This thread is cool Although you should probably have put disclaimers everywhere ...

I have near-normal vision right now, just slightly off 20/20. Do you think there would be any long-term effects caused by wearing an eye-patch for 2 hour stretches every so often? I study the Human Visual System for a living, and as part of my experiments I tend to study single eye vision. Hence the use of an eye-patch. I'm wondering if it will mess up my vision in the long run.

Yeh... Disclaimer: don't take my advice. See an optometrist for more personal service!

Moving on.

How far off 20/20 are you? And how often are you patching? There is a problem that sometimes occurs when we do vision training and we patch an eye to give the other eye a workout. Sometimes patients think they can accelerate this by patching for longer than prescribed and it sometimes makes the patched eye worse!

Another thing to be wary of is the eyes need to work together for stereoscopic vision (3D). Constant patching can decrease your sensitivity to this too. Keep a check on your eyes often if you do this.

What sort of study are you doing?

piccolo said:

from the picture below I would say it was my corner. But in this image that part of the eye dose not look removable.
wow im wondering what happen to me why it was hanging out of my eye be cause it looks like it will have to be cut to be removed.

Ummm... It sounds like you are messing around with a part of your eye. I can't say this is a good idea. See your optometrist before removing anything which is a natural part of your eye!

trent said:

Ok, serious question. I went to an optometrist a couple years ago for the first time, and he said my vision was good and that I would not have any problems with vision in the future if I didn't have them already. I'm 29. Is it true that I couldn't develop vision problems now?

You're past the danger period. Most common age for first spectacles is younger than 25 or over 40 (hardening of lens, see 1st page of thread). In between (25-40) there aren't many changes occurring in the eye which would affect your vision. Although there are some rare eye diseases which appear in this age group and injury to the eyes is always a possibility.

Your optom may also be saying that your eyesight is "adequate for your lifestyle". But if your lifestyle changes and your visual demands are higher, you may need specs for that.

Phew!

type568
Member #8,381
March 2007
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My vision was always bad. It stabilized around -7 on each eye around age 21. Even with glasses, it wasn't very good. But now I have "perfect" vision thanks to my LASIK operation six months ago.

If my eyes burst out of their sockets in forty years due to the operation, it still will have been worth it.

Wow, exactly my case, only that I haven't done the operation..

Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
avatar

I used to have a weird astigmatism when I was a kid, if I looked at a power line against the sky with my head upright, I'd see a ghostly double of the wire slightly above the true position, when I turned my head sideways, the images would merge.

About 20 years ago I noticed I couldn't focus closely on things like I used to, now some days my arms aren't long enough to read newsprint. OTOH, I buy 4 or 5 pairs of reading glasses at the dollar store every few months, if they get broken or scratched it's no problem.

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

An Ly
Member #185
April 2000
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Arthur said:

I used to have a weird astigmatism when I was a kid, if I looked at a power line against the sky with my head upright, I'd see a ghostly double of the wire slightly above the true position, when I turned my head sideways, the images would merge.

Sounds like regular, run of the mill astigmatism to me. Did you need spectacles?

About 20 years ago I noticed I couldn't focus closely on things like I used to, now some days my arms aren't long enough to read newsprint. OTOH, I buy 4 or 5 pairs of reading glasses at the dollar store every few months, if they get broken or scratched it's no problem.

How old are you now? And the cheap-o magnifiers don't correct astigmatism. Is your vision clear when you have your magnifiers on? What "number" are they?

Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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I don't see doubled lines anymore, I can separate Epsilon Lyrae with nothing but my eyes, and the reading glasses I buy range from 1.25 to read books and the computer screen up to 3.00 for extremely close work.

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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Oh, heres another question.

My entire family needs (or needed) glasses. Both my siblings, and both my parents. When I was young I was supposedly slightly farsighted (I did seem to be able to see things far away clearer than others, I had one Optometrist claim it was better than 20/20 vision one time), and last time I went in for a checkup I was ever so slightly near sighted. Do you expect it to continue to change? Or will it hopefully stay somewhat stable for years to come?

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An Ly
Member #185
April 2000
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I don't see doubled lines anymore, I can separate Epsilon Lyrae [en.wikipedia.org] with nothing but my eyes, and the reading glasses I buy range from 1.25 to read books and the computer screen up to 3.00 for extremely close work.

Ah nice! Yeh sounds like you're about 45yo? Unless you were long sighted when you were younger. Keep getting your eyes checked though. I have had patients who kept buying chemist spectacles to one day find that they no longer worked. Came in for an eye exam and they had macula degeneration.

My entire family needs (or needed) glasses. Both my siblings, and both my parents. When I was young I was supposedly slightly farsighted (I did seem to be able to see things far away clearer than others, I had one Optometrist claim it was better than 20/20 vision one time), and last time I went in for a checkup I was ever so slightly near sighted. Do you expect it to continue to change? Or will it hopefully stay somewhat stable for years to come?

Being far sighted when younger is quite normal. Most kids are. How near sighted are you? And when was your last eye exam? Also, how old are you?

Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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An Ly said:

How near sighted are you? And when was your last eye exam? Also, how old are you?

  1. very very slightly

  2. a couple years ago

  3. 28 as of June 2

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Thomas Fjellstrom - [website] - [email] - [Allegro Wiki] - [Allegro TODO]
"If you can't think of a better solution, don't try to make a better solution." -- weapon_S
"The less evidence we have for what we believe is certain, the more violently we defend beliefs against those who don't agree" -- https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/592870205409353730

Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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I'm 52, and the USMC said I was slightly nearsighted when I was ~20, but I disagreed and fought wearing glasses as much as I could. I don't remember if they corrected for astigmatism or not, but I could read street signs etc. much further than most people. Oh yeah, if I cover my right eye I can't see nearly as well as covering the left eye. When I was a teenager I tied a rag around my head to cover the right eye but everybody kept yelling "What the hell are you doing now?" (story of my life).

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

An Ly
Member #185
April 2000
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very very slightly
a couple years ago
28 as of June 2

By your age alone I'd hazard a guess that your eyesight will be quite stable now. Usually your eyesight stabilises in the late 20's to early 30's. Then when you hit 40 things change again.

Still, if your last eye exam was more than 2 years ago, I'd get it checked just in case. There is always the possibility of eye diseases changing your vision.

I've noticed that most people who find out I'm an optometrist ask me about contact lenses although I haven't had a contacts related question on this thread yet. Different demographics you think?

Thomas Fjellstrom
Member #476
June 2000
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An Ly said:

Still, if your last eye exam was more than 2 years ago, I'd get it checked just in case. There is always the possibility of eye diseases changing your vision.

I probably should. But I have far more urgent medical things I'm ignoring, and it just wouldn't be fair to them if I put my eyesight ahead of them.

--
Thomas Fjellstrom - [website] - [email] - [Allegro Wiki] - [Allegro TODO]
"If you can't think of a better solution, don't try to make a better solution." -- weapon_S
"The less evidence we have for what we believe is certain, the more violently we defend beliefs against those who don't agree" -- https://twitter.com/neiltyson/status/592870205409353730

Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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Programmers aren't nearly as vain as the general population, we don't care if our glasses break in the middle when tape fixes it so well, much less poke contacts into our eyes to avoid the stigma of wearing regular glasses.

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

An Ly
Member #185
April 2000
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I'm 52, and the USMC said I was slightly nearsighted when I was ~20, but I disagreed and fought wearing glasses as much as I could. I don't remember if they corrected for astigmatism or not, but I could read street signs etc. much further than most people. Oh yeah, if I cover my right eye I can't see nearly as well as covering the left eye. When I was a teenager I tied a rag around my head to cover the right eye but everybody kept yelling "What the hell are you doing now?" (story of my life).

If you poke a few holes (say pinhead size) into a piece of paper, cover your right eye and look through the holes with your left, it is clearer than without looking through the holes?

Programmers aren't nearly as vain as the general population, we don't care if our glasses break in the middle when tape fixes it so well, much less poke contacts into our eyes to avoid the stigma of wearing regular glasses.

Maybe you can score better jobs with the smart, spectacle look too?

Arthur Kalliokoski
Second in Command
February 2005
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I tried covering my eyes one at a time just now for the first time in years, and the left eye seems fine now :-X. I'd need to get much more assertive without giving out angry vibes to get a good job.

They all watch too much MSNBC... they get ideas.

An Ly
Member #185
April 2000
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I tried covering my eyes one at a time just now for the first time in years, and the left eye seems fine now .

Hmm... well I guess that's a good thing? If you haven't had it checked out in awhile though, go see an optom... just to make sure.

Johan Halmén
Member #1,550
September 2001

I'm slightly near sighted. At its worst my lenses were -2 something, but now (age 46) they are -0.75/-1.5. The bad thing is that I could otherwise read very well without glasses, if my eyes were not that uneven. 0.75 difference is too much for middle age eyes to adapt. Besides that, my left eye needs a slight cylindrical lens (whatever you call it), which means further distortion when reading without glasses.

I have my first progressive lenses now and I'm not very happy with them. Even though I didn't pick the cheapest ones available, the sharp field is a bit too narrow. It's amazing how one can see sharp at any distance just by finding the right spot on the lense to look through. But at some occasions I'd need a wider sharp field, like when reading notes on the music stand when I play the saxophone in big band. I can't turn my head just to find the sharp spot.

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