Something that's been bugging me about eyesight

[Solo]

Right now, I have fairly poor eyesight: I need 500 degree (roughly) eyeglasses to see reasonably well. I'm not even 20, though which is the sad thing...

And during school, I spend a lot of time online. Most of it is on things like GitP, but I have to do schoolwork online, and research, and write papers, which is unavoidable.

Right now, during the summer, I spend 8 hours a day interning at Motorola, which means I kill my eyes for 8 hours by making powerpoints and graphs. I'm lucky to be situated near a window, which means I kill my eyes less quickly.

The thing that bothers me is that my eyesight is never going to get better, only get worse, and things are pretty bad right now. The only thing that could possibly make things better is laser eye surgery, and even then, it's a one time fix, and can't prevent my eyesight from declining in a future filled with computer wrok.

heck, rihgt now, even reading a book feels like it makes my eyesight drop by a few points...

So, does anyone have an idea of what I should do about my eyes, or should I just get used to the fact that i will go blind?

[Dallas-Dakota]

Try to sleep more. At night time.

Just close your eyes for some time if they are feeling tired(As by your post I understand, they feel that easily).

Personally I think the light is evil, but it might make them less tired.

And I would start as soon as lenses or glasses as possible, they'l most likely atleast slow down your eyes getting worse. It may be a bit painfull or annoying, but thats your eyes getting used to them.

Good luck with your eyes,
DD

[Spiryt]

Well, I don't really know, but don't activities like shooting from airgun, that require using your eyes in old fashioned "predatory" way, help?

At least I heard that when you are working with computer, it's good to take a break every hour or so and just look at distanced object for some time.

Anyway, at now I should wear about 0,7 dioptre at my right eye... My left one is still "almost" good, so my eyesight still don't need glasses to serve me reasonable.

But the sad thing is that I lack any strong will, so I can't just break from computers ec to slow down the degeneration....

What 500 degrees mean, anyway?

[BizzaroStormy]

First of all theres an option you can get for your lenses to reduce strain on your eyes when working on a computer, you should seriously consult your optometrist about that. Second, train yourself to blink a lot more. I know it sounds wierd but I've trained myself to blink a couple times every few seconds.

Don't do computer work in a dark space. Right now, I have a 40-watt bulb in my lamp instead of a 100-watt and its casing me some discomfort. If you have the money/insurance for laser surgery, get it. I doubt your eyesight will decline THAT badly over the course of your life.

Thats pretty much all I can think of at the moment.

[Gorbash]

I'm not even 20

Totally offtopic, but damn, I though you were 25+.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Totally offtopic, but damn, I though you were 25+.

Same here.

We need you back in those vs. discussions, can't let those people win those discussions so easily, now can we?

[DraPrime]

Just don't strain your eyes too much. Make sure that when you read or anything like that, that you have a good amount of light around you. If you can, do get the laser eye surgery.

[EvilElitest]

Same here.

We need you back in those vs. discussions, can't let those people win those discussions so easily, now can we?

what?
from
EE

[Winterwind]

If it comforts you, my eyesight kept declining till I was about 20, and then suddenly stopped. Even though I tend to spend even more time before a computer than I used to.

My oculist had the theory that wearing hard contact lenses might, due to an explanation I have forgotten, stop the decline in seeing power as well. I did start wearing those around 20; whether my eyesight stabilizing at that time was caused by that or whether this was just coincidence, I have no clue - maybe you should discuss that with your oculist.

[Solo]

Hm. I have heard that eyesight in general tends to stabilize after you're early 20's, that might help.

[Dave Rapp]

At the rate you're going, you'll go blind about two year after we invent working robotic eyes. So you'll be fine.

D'you know the human eye only sees in about 80 megapixels? In about a decade the average digital camera has gone from, like, .5 megapixels, to 11. And that's just what us consumers get. NASA or someone probably has cameras that're, say, 400 megapixels.

So yeah, you goind blind ultimately means you'll get better eyesight than us. Don't sweat it.

[Dallas-Dakota]

what?
from
EE
Dangit! I keep confusing you and Solo.. Argh.

[Mauve Shirt]

I didn't notice I was farsighted until last year. Then I started wearing glasses, and it was amazing, I could see much better with them. So I wore them all the time instead of when I needed them, like when I was driving. Now my vision is so much worse, I can't even see the blackboard in a classroom, or subtitles on a movie. Wearing glasses made my eyes lazy, and now they don't work. I stopped wearing glasses when I didn't need distance vision. Like when internetting.

Eyesight doesn't get better, and if it's not that bad in the first place correction makes it worse. Dammit. Optometrists are out to get you.

[xPANCAKEx]

rest lots as previously suggested

also - i know this may seem like a no brainer - get your eyesight checked to see if your current prescription is correct. If its not strong enough it may be straining your eyes further.

[endoperez]

There are some exercises you could do. I've read about eight Techniques (yes, with a capital T :smalltongue:). I think I'm content with picking two or three of them and doing those, at least until I have some evidence that they really work.

These are from wongkk.com, site of a certain Wong Kiew Kit. I don't believe all of his explanations for why his martial arts or chi kung or eye exercises work, but he seems to know at least his martial arts. Your mileage may vary, but here are the eye exercises:


These wonderful Shaolin Eight Eye Techniques are as follows. All the exercises are performed while standing upright in a relaxed manner. Those too weak to stand, may sit upright.

Technique 1 -- Counting Leaves. Stand a comfortable distance from a tree or plant and count its green lieaves with your eyes. Start with 50 leaves, then gradually increase the number to 300, increasing a few leaves after a few days.

Technique 2 -- Rolling Stars. With the eyes open, roll both eyeballs in big circles (as big as possible) 10 times one side, and then 10 times the other side.

Technique 3 -- Angry Eyes. Open both eyes as big as possible, then shut them as tightly as possible. Repeat about 10 times.

Technique 4 -- Far and Near. Stare at a distant object, like a cloud or a tree on a faraway mountain, for a few seconds, then stare at a nearby object, like the tip of your nose or some grainds of sand on your feet, for a few seconds. Repeat about 10 times.

Technique 5 -- Focusing One. Gently stare at a point about 5 to 10 feet in front of you with steady eyes as long as you can, which may range from a few seconds to a few minutes. At first your eyes will become tired or painful, and tears may roll down. This is part of the training or recovery process. Initially when your staring time is short, you may repeat the exercise a few times, but as your eyesight improves gradually you can stare at the point for many minutes comfortably and steadily.

Technique 6 -- Nourishing Spirit. Gently close your eyes and let your chi (energy) nourish your eyes and spirit. At first you may feel your eyes itchy. This is a good sign indicating that chi is working at your eye problems. As you progress, you will find your eyes restful and your mind fresh. (Note: "Nourishing Spirit" may appear similar to but is actually different from "Standing Meditation". But students need not worry about the differences.)

Technique 7 -- Point Massage. Massage the face with both palms and then using your fingers massage energy points around the eyes, at the base of the nose, at the temples (here, use the base of the palms to massage) and behind the ears. If you do not know where the energy points are, just massage the face, round the eyes, nose and ears.

Technique 8 -- Heavenly Drum. Close your ears firmly with your palms and strike the back of your head with your fingers 24 times. You should hear inside your head sounds like a resonating drum.

Practice once every morning. At first, start with Technique 1 and complete with Techniques 7 and 8. After about a week or two of daily practice, add Technique 2, then Technique 3, and so on. Then practice all the Eight Techniques in that order in one session.



I don't know if this helps, but I've started counting tree leaves from a distance from where I can barely differentiate between leaves, and rolling my eyes. It can't hurt to exercise the eye muscles, can it?

[Phase]

Get bionic eyes! You'd be super-duper awesome! With laser-vision!

But seriously, things happen. Have you tried Lasik?

[Solo]

rest lots as previously suggested

also - i know this may seem like a no brainer - get your eyesight checked to see if your current prescription is correct. If its not strong enough it may be straining your eyes further.

Hm. might wnat to do that, but I'm pretty sure the prescription is good. But I'll have it checked if I can find an optometrists around in virginia.

Or maybe in china?

Though my eyesight's likely to have gotten worse by now.... so it'd just mean i need a new pair of glasses....




I don't know if this helps, but I've started counting tree leaves from a distance from where I can barely differentiate between leaves, and rolling my eyes. It can't hurt to exercise the eye muscles, can it?
Technically, what you're doing is relaxing the eye muscles by using them at a distance. Just FYI. And it doesn't hurt at all.

If it does, you should see a doctor.



But seriously, things happen. Have you tried Lasik?
I'm trying to avoid surgery until it is absolutely necessary, as it is a one time thing, and they haven't quite fixed all the problems with it... I'm going ot wait until they get it to a stage when the side effects are minimally minimal.

[EvilElitest]

Dangit! I keep confusing you and Solo.. Argh.

ok, that makes more sense. Don't worry, i'm still hanging out on vs. threads (and soon, i shall be king)

Hey, as somebody who has glasses, here is a question

I can't see far away, and i shouldn't (and don't) have my glasses on when i'm reading. What about when i'm on the computer? Should i be using glasses then?
From
EE

[Dallas-Dakota]

ok, that makes more sense. Don't worry, i'm still hanging out on vs. threads (and soon, i shall be king)

Hey, as somebody who has glasses, here is a question

I can't see far away, and i shouldn't (and don't) have my glasses on when i'm reading. What about when i'm on the computer? Should i be using glasses then?
From
EE

As a person who has glasses, no.
(I only have to use glasses for far away reading, and I'l use them ONLY THEN!)

[Volug]

Wha!?!?!

You can't go blind, you won't... Nope...

I mean... Who else will tell me that all my base are no longer belong to me?!

I hope things get better:smallfrown:

[Mauve Shirt]

(I only have to use glasses for far away reading, and I'l use them ONLY THEN!)

That was my only problem until I started using them while not distance reading. :smallannoyed:

[Hell Puppi]

I have terrible eyesight that's slowly been getting worse. I figure I'll wait 'till I'm about 45 and try corrective surgery.

I did once work at an eyeglass shop and someone came in with a prescription twice and bad as mine. She did need to special order the glasses, but it made me feel better that someone had eyes that bad and could still see. Means I won't go blind before I reach that 45 mark :smalltongue:

[Bor the Barbarian Monk]

Solo: Hmmm...Glancing over the thread, your worries seem unfounded until you see an eye doctor. An optometrist is what you see to get those new glasses you seem to need. An ophthalmologist is the guy you'd see for bigger and better eye treatments, such as surgery. Then there's the guy I see...the dreaded RETINAL SPECIALIST! ( :elan: Dun dun DUN! )

Bah! Pay no attention to me. It's a private woe of mine involving my diabetic retinopathy and the news every time I go to that last doctor.

Meanwhile, don't surrender to anything, especially the concept of going blind. Wait for a doctor to tell you that that's what will happen, and then maintain your eyesight out of spite. My Uncle Jimmy, given three months to live with leukemia, went on to live nine months out of spite. If he can do it with a terminal illness, you can certainly overcome poor vision. :smallsmile:

[Mr. Moon]

As a person who has glasses, no.
(I only have to use glasses for far away reading, and I'l use them ONLY THEN!)
That was my only problem until I started using them while not distance reading.

You guys sure? I wear glasses (I'm painfully near-sighted), even when using computers. Normaly I'm sitting an arm's distance away from the screen, and if I take my glasses off, all I can see in this text bog is a big white thing with blury grey lines. Right now I'm using glasses that are a tad to weak for me - I can barely see my Jappanese sensei's writting on the whiteboard. Should I have them off and be sitting closer or what?

[Dave Rapp]

There are some exercises you could do. I've read about eight Techniques (yes, with a capital T :smalltongue:). I think I'm content with picking two or three of them and doing those, at least until I have some evidence that they really work.

These are from wongkk.com, site of a certain Wong Kiew Kit. I don't believe all of his explanations for why his martial arts or chi kung or eye exercises work, but he seems to know at least his martial arts. Your mileage may vary, but here are the eye exercises:

[snip]

I don't know if this helps, but I've started counting tree leaves from a distance from where I can barely differentiate between leaves, and rolling my eyes. It can't hurt to exercise the eye muscles, can it?

Those seemed good at first, but you lost me at 6. The 8th one doesn't even make sense from a spiritual point of view. IM TAPPIN MAH HEAD 2 MAEK MAH EYES BETTUR... LOL.

What? No.


I'm trying to avoid surgery until it is absolutely necessary, as it is a one time thing, and they haven't quite fixed all the problems with it... I'm going ot wait until they get it to a stage when the side effects are minimally minimal.

Look at it this way; the science will never improve if nobody ever gets the procedure. Be a hero. :smallbiggrin:

[Solo]

Hmmm...Glancing over the thread, your worries seem unfounded until you see an eye doctor. An optometrist is what you see to get those new glasses you seem to need.

Well, I wouldn't say I seem to need them... my eyesight doesn't really give me problems right now.

Granted, I can't read things on the other side of the office, but I'm not sure if I'm supposed to see that far either...


I think if it keeps bugging me, I will go to an optomistrist and see if I can get new glasses, though I prefer to keep things as is if i'm not having trouble...

[Collin152]

Look at it this way; the science will never improve if nobody ever gets the procedure. Be a hero. :smallbiggrin:

And so, although I wish to go, and greatly pine to brightly shine and take the line of a hero fine, with grief condign, I must decline.

[Hell Puppi]

You guys sure? I wear glasses (I'm painfully near-sighted), even when using computers. Normaly I'm sitting an arm's distance away from the screen, and if I take my glasses off, all I can see in this text bog is a big white thing with blury grey lines. Right now I'm using glasses that are a tad to weak for me - I can barely see my Jappanese sensei's writting on the whiteboard. Should I have them off and be sitting closer or what?

If you're near-sighted and you need glasses for distance, I think you may need a higher prescription.
I can always tell when I need a new set of glasses when the street signs start getting fuzzy.


@below- that can be that the prescription is off, but sometimes if you get a new pair it takes some getting used to the new ones, especially if the change from your last set was significant. Glasses can also have an axis that can be tilted which can't be duplicated in contacts, so switching from glasses to contacts takes some getting used to as well (usually the prescription reads plus or minus a number, if you have extra bits on the prescription that means they have an axis and I forgot what the other adjustment was called).
I'm not sure if your eyes have to adjust each time you put yours on (I wear mine all the time, so not sure if you just wear your glasses every once in a while if you have to adjust each time).

[Solo]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the eyeglasses make you feel uncomfortable or dixxy, that's a sign tha tthe prescription is off, correct?

I've never had that problem, so...?

[Fridesgerte]

First of all, if it's been more than a year since you've been to the eyedoctor, you should probably go again, and describe what you've been experiencing. And if you've just been going to optitians, or even optometrists, then a visit to an opthalmologist might be a good thing.

Until then, make sure you have good lighting both for reading and the computer, with no glare. (Ask if you can get a desk lamp at work, if there's not enough ambient light.) Also, remembering to blink, and changing focus (look at something across the room) every 15 minutes or so, can help prevent eye strain at the computer.

But the short answer is, don't just sit and worry about it, go see an eye doctor.

[Solo]

First of all, if it's been more than a year since you've been to the eyedoctor, you should probably go again, and describe what you've been experiencing. And if you've just been going to optitians, or even optometrists, then a visit to an opthalmologist might be a good thing.


Mmm. So far, lack of self esteem at having horrible eysight is the main problem, but that's for a shrink, isn' tit?

I'll probably try to go toa nearby optiomitrist tongiht and see what they tell me. AFter that, I'll be able to make a better decision.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Correct me if I'm wrong, but if the eyeglasses make you feel uncomfortable or dixxy, that's a sign tha tthe prescription is off, correct?

I've never had that problem, so...?
"s usually just getting used to new glasses.
Your eyes need to get a bit used of them.
But what exactly can't your eyes handle?
Far-Distance-reading?(further then 3 meters away)
Far-Distance-seeing?(if its to far, it gets blurrry)
Short-distance-reading(Just can't read the blurry text without glasses)
Short-distance-seeing(everything is blurry)
?
I'm nort sure it matters much, but it might help to know and what to do.
__
Moon Called, I would sit closer if I were you. Not get a stronger subscribtion, it'l only make your own eyes lazier and thus making the problem worse.

[Solo]

I can read books and the computer from normal distances, ie, stitting upright in a chair iwth the laptop at arms length.

Reading, i prefer a bit closer.

I can't read far away signs and htings, but then again, I'm not sure if I'm supposed to be able to read them anyways.... I see things on the chalkboards at college ok though, unless i'm in the back seat of our large auditorium.

The guy next to me with 20/20 vision had no problem at all reading things on the board, so I guess I can say I'm something behind 20/20 with glasses.

I can read things further than 3 meters away, fi htey're in biggish letters. There's a Motorola insporational poster something ore than 3 meters away from me right now on the wall, and I can read what's written on it without a problem, except for some of the smaller letters about the size of my fingertip.

[Dallas-Dakota]

Chalkboard is good then...

How are traffic signs? They're generally considered to be the kind of text you need to be able to see.

[Solo]

Chalkboard is good then...

How are traffic signs? They're generally considered to be the kind of text you need to be able to see.

Id ont' drive, but when sitting in cars, I don't have a problem reading them

[Dallas-Dakota]

You should be fine then....

My advice : Use them only when you actually NEED to use them. Or your eyes will get lazy and it'l only get worse... So thats back in the auditorium...

[Solo]

You should be fine then....

My advice : Use them only when you actually NEED to use them. Or your eyes will get lazy and it'l only get worse... So thats back in the auditorium...

Prolbem is, I can't see anythingwithout my glasses. I'm telling you my vision with glasses...

[Dallas-Dakota]

But you said a few posts ago that you could read stuff fine except from far away?:smallconfused:

[Solo]

But you said a few posts ago that you could read stuff fine except from far away?:smallconfused:

I thought you meant how my sight was w ith glasses on.

[Artemician]

You should be fine then....

My advice : Use them only when you actually NEED to use them. Or your eyes will get lazy and it'l only get worse... So thats back in the auditorium...

I wouldn't advise it. Undercorrection has been found to enhance (http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T0W-475JXMB-2&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&view=c&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=1312f0509844ec6aba86bb216af211a5) myopia (http://www.ingentaconnect.com/content/bsc/cxo/2006/00000089/00000005/art00006) progression (http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12445849).

From anecdotal evidence, I can say that I strain my eyes an awful lot when I forget to wear my Ortho-K lenses and have to go around with 300 degrees per eye. When I wore my backup glasses my eyes felt much better. Make of that what you will.

[Solo]

Well, I got tested today and it turns out my eyes went from 525 to 600, which is better than I thought would happen. There's no pressing need to get new glasses, though I'll get tested again in a month just to make sure they didn't mis-diagnose my eyesight today and see if I get glasses then

[Player_Zero]

You should get laser surgery.

Not the surgery that corrects eye-sight, the one that lets you shoot lasers out of your eyes.

...Might be a bit pricey, though.

[Solo]

Would the laser eyes also double as my Eyepatches of Power?

[sktarq]

Few things that I found help me...I make no statements saying these do/should work for everyone.
Try turning down the brightness and uping the contrast on your monitor. I generally find it helps with longer projects.
Use several smaller lights instead of a single big one....or use wall diffusion to "soften" the light....This helps cut shadows and lowers single spots of major glare that distract and strain your eyes as you refocus your eye on that part of the page/monitor regularly.
Try moving your glasses around your nose. Looking over them if that helps you see things at a certain distance when you are using that distance. When I wear glasses instead of contacts I take my gogs OFF to read.
Keep your glasses EXTRA clean if they are giving you blurs You'll have enough trouble without extra blurry bits and helps you monitor your condition.
From a point where you are regularlyfound pick out something you can just barely make out. Posters with complex pictures or lots of writing are good. If you don't have a good one from your desk. One in a hallway on your way to the John works too. Stand in a doorway or some other definable spot and pick out what you can see. I recomend doing this inside where you cn have regular lighting conditions and no changes due to weather. Do it once a week. If you condition is deteriorating rapidly then it could be a sign of a more serious problem that needs stronger intervention. Other wise it is a good meassure of how you are doing on needing a new lens ground for you.
Your eyes normally stabilize in you early/mid 20's so I wouldn't recomend getting Lazik until then. You'll need readding glasses like everyone else later in life but at least they won't be bifocals. Also when you are considering eye surgery find out if the doctor has any relationships with such an eye centre. If you trust the doctor then it may be a good recomendation but if you are new/unsure of the doctor then knowing that they stand to benefit from you choosing surgury is something you want to know.

[Collin152]

Would the laser eyes also double as my Eyepatches of Power?

You gotta pay extra.
But hey, it's worth it for the Beam o War.