Ask somebody with poor vision

[aimeeandbeatles]

I wasn't sure what else to name this. I'm not legally blind by any means (or close) but it is poor vision.

I am very myopic (nearsighted); when I remove my glasses, anything more than 6 inches away from my eyes turns into big colorful blurry figures. Sometimes this can lead to funny issues such as walking into walls as I can't see them in time.
Even with glasses, my vision still isn't as good as someone with normal sight.

I also have a lot of issues with night-vision, in that wearing glasses in low-light situations is just the same as not wearing glasses in the daytime. If I take them off, I can't see a damn thing at all.

I also have issues with contrast at times, to the point where I email websites and ask if they would change one color to something a little lighter or darker so I was able to read something. Most of them are nice about it (that actually bothered to respond).

Here are a few things that I expect'll get asked:

1. What is your glasses prescription?
I actually don't know my current prescription (well, I do, but I don't remember it). It changes every time I get my eyes tested. I know it's pretty strong though and actually both eyes have different numbers.

2. Do you wear contacts?
No. I really don't want to go into more detail, but the eye-doctor strongly suggested that I not use contacts.

3. Have you had any issues with wearing glasses.
When I break them (sometimes the nosepad falls off and once I stepped on them and broke off the arms). Though one time I got new glasses with a frame and I ended up with this huge red rash-things that made me resemble a raccoon or something. Turns out there was nickel in the glasses-frame, which is actually kind of a common allergy.
Also whenever I get new frames I need to get them adjusted several times to get it to fit properly. I once didn't get it adjusted and wore the skin off my nose from the pads rubbing on it. It hurt pretty badly. The main issue is trying to keep the darn things clean.

4. Have you considered surgery with lasers.
No. Too expensive for now.

 

[kochman]

OK... so, this has always interested me.

When having sex with someone, emotional sex... eye contact. If you don't have your visual aids, it's all blurry... so, how does this effect the eye to eye intensity?

 

[Samez]

Are you allowed to get a drivers license? A friend of mine has ~20% of standard sight and had to do multiple tests to apply.

He got special contact lenses which can be worn one year for the price of about 300€ each, so your point about them being too expensive is quite understandable.

 

[W|M]

Have you always had bad eyesight?

 

[emzie]

Do your glasses bring you up to 20/20 or near that? How big of a difference do glasses make for you?

 

[Integral]

I am also highly myopic and will answer questions. My lens' diopter value are around -10.5. That's really really strong. I can see about 4 inches in front of my face before things get blurry.

My background: Have had glasses forever. I am not blind, but nearly went blind last year due to retinal detachments in both eyes. Going blind is pretty darn scary, and for me it was happening in slow-motion. Each day I could see a little less out of the left eye. As me anything

When having sex with someone, emotional sex... eye contact. If you don't have your visual aids, it's all blurry... so, how does this effect the eye to eye intensity?

Interesting question! It never came up as an issue.

Are you allowed to get a drivers license? A friend of mine has ~20% of standard sight and had to do multiple tests to apply.

He got special contact lenses which can be worn one year for the price of about 300€ each, so your point about them being too expensive is quite understandable.

I can drive, and indeed could fly for a while. The minimum regulations for a pilot's license are: correctable to 20/50 in your bad eye, 20/40 in your good, and 20/30 overall.

Have you always had bad eyesight?

Started getting glasses when I was 3 years old.

Do your glasses bring you up to 20/20 or near that? How big of a difference do glasses make for you?

I am correctable to 20/40 in both eyes, 20/30 on good days.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

OK... so, this has always interested me.

When having sex with someone, emotional sex... eye contact. If you don't have your visual aids, it's all blurry... so, how does this effect the eye to eye intensity?

I don't do sex.

Are you allowed to get a drivers license? A friend of mine has ~20% of standard sight and had to do multiple tests to apply.

He got special contact lenses which can be worn one year for the price of about 300€ each, so your point about them being too expensive is quite understandable.

The optometrist (spelling?) mentioned the driving thing to me. I haven't tried to apply yet but even if I was approved it wouldn't be very safe in a lot of situations (also, I have trouble turning my neck which may be an issue).

Have you always had bad eyesight?

I first got glasses when I was 5. Then for a couple of years it actually improved and I didn't have to wear them. But when I turned 9 it worsened and I've been wearing glasses since.

Do your glasses bring you up to 20/20 or near that? How big of a difference do glasses make for you?

I wouldn't say a full 20/20. Things are still a bit fuzzy around the edges if you go more than ... I'd say 8 feet away? (Right now I have a calendar on the opposite wall from me. I can see the picture although the fine details are fuzzy. I can read the big FEBRUARY text but I can't even see the numbers for the dates unless I go up closer.) They make a big difference as I can actually see where I'm going (as I said, I can walk into walls without my glasses).

Without my glasses, I can get around the house, but not as well. I rely on the sense of touch and memory of where things are located. Though the memory is always thrown off when my mom decides to move the furniture around or get new furniture. And in the new house I can't go down the stairs without risking a fall, especially considering the cat likes to stretch himself out on them.

Also I can type with my eyes closed and am able to tell if I hit a wrong key without looking.

 

[Chukchi Husky]

I don't know how long I had bad eyesight, but it got noticeably bad during the last few years of school when my dad found out I couldn't read car number plates. I was taken to the optician, and then the hospital, and found out I have an eye condition called keratoconus. The doctors at the hospital said my eyesight can get worse and nothing can be done about it until I'm 25. I was about 16 at the time.

I do have glasses, but my right eye is so bad that it can't be corrected with a lens. My left is slightly better, and a lens can increase my reading distance by about a centimetre. I think contact lenses could help but if it gets too bad I may need surgery done, which has a six to nine month recovery and a high chance of infection.

I think it's affected my ability to draw the most. To be able to see what I'm doing I need to draw in a place that has good sunlight, and then if the light's not that great I'll have my face so close to the paper that glasses get in the way.

 

[W|M]

The doctors at the hospital said my eyesight can get worse and nothing can be done about it until I'm 25. I was about 16 at the time.

I'm not sure if this happens in ophthalmology, but in dentistry, British doctors often arbitrarily wait until a certain age to fix a problem, even if it can already be fixed - If you go to another country, you might be able to get treatment on your keratoconus in less time.

 

[Save_Ferris]

I'm exactly the same as you. Can't see anything more than 6 inches from me without glasses or contacts.

 

[Incodcito]

How many eyeglass clothes do you have?

I have 1 for each day of the week.

 

[LucyDuke]

I too have awful vision, first got glasses when I was five. My corneas are too thin for laser surgery, but I'm hoping that the technology will improve enough by the time I could pay for it.

I also have issues with contrast at times, to the point where I email websites and ask if they would change one color to something a little lighter or darker so I was able to read something. Most of them are nice about it (that actually bothered to respond).

You could probably solve this on your end with browser settings.

OK... so, this has always interested me.

When having sex with someone, emotional sex... eye contact. If you don't have your visual aids, it's all blurry... so, how does this effect the eye to eye intensity?

Kissing is as central as eye contact IMO, which calls for close face-to-face already.

 

[ParadigmShifter]

How many fingers am I holding up?

(I'll get my coat)

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

How many eyeglass clothes do you have?

I have 1 for each day of the week.

I have two. One I keep around my desk and one I take with me. I also have a glasses container in my bag in case, for some reason, I ever need it. (I have a lot of stuff in my bag though for 'in case I ever need it')

 

[classical_hero]

Yet another person here with terrible eyesight. I think my prescription is somewhere in the magnitude of -8,-3, which is quite bad. My problems started in my mid twenties rather than early in life, well I could say my late teens was when things started to go wrong, since first bright lights started to affect when then didn't before. But there was a period of two years where my prescription basically had to double in strength to correct my vision. My problem is that my lens is distorted and thus my vision is distorted, so as a result of that problem I cannot have contacts, since they won't go properly on my eye and thus won't fix the eyesight problem.

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

You could probably solve this on your end with browser settings.

Hard to do when the text is in an image file. I've before royally screwed up my contrast/brightness trying to read something and when I went to watch a video all the people were bright green.

 

[Synobun]

Have you ever, at any given time, considered getting laser corrective surgery? The biggest company in Canada usually does both eyes for less than a thousand (around 900).

 

[Integral]

I have considered laser surgery, and have been informed that I would be a poor candidate for such a procedure.

 

[LucyDuke]

I have considered laser surgery, and have been informed that I would be a poor candidate for such a procedure.

Did they tell you why?

 

[aimeeandbeatles]

Have you ever, at any given time, considered getting laser corrective surgery? The biggest company in Canada usually does both eyes for less than a thousand (around 900).

To be honest, even less than a thousand is a lot of money for me. So unless I suddenly win the lottery I won't be considering it anytime soon.