Monday, December 15, 2014

#MicroblogMondays: I can see clearly now (well, sort of...)

I got a new pair of glasses last week. I'd had my previous pair for seven years, & while my vision was still not bad, the lenses were scratched and marked with spots, and I felt it was time for a change.

Like my previous pair, my new glasses include multifocal/progressive lenses. I remember going through quite an adjustment to adapt to them, seven years ago. I didn't think I would have to do it again -- but apparently I do. :p  I've been trying to wear the new pair for as long as I can each day -- but sometimes I cave & put the old pair on. (There's an immediate feeling of "ahhhhh!" when I do, lol. My eyes don't have to work as hard with them.)  I also have a separate pair that I use exclusively for when I'm on the computer and reading. So I am juggling three different pairs of glasses at the moment. Yikes!

I've been wearing glasses since I was 7, and by my calculations, this is about the 10th pair of glasses I've had (not including the reading glasses) in the 45+ years since then. I also wore contact lenses for 20+ years, from the time I was 17 until I was in my late 30s/early 40s. Then I developed a virus in my eye -- and had to lay off the contacts for a few months while it ran its course. When it finally cleared up, it was time to order new lenses -- but the particular kind of lens I'd been wearing for years was no longer being made (!) & I had difficulty finding a new pair that was both comfortable and gave me good vision.

So I haven't worn contacts in well over 10 years -- something I would NEVER, EVER have believed when I was a teenager and absolutely desperate to have them. (My optometrist at the time did not believe in letting teenagers wear contacts -- he didn't think they were responsible enough to care for them properly... and he was probably right.) I'm thinking of giving it another try, though. After all, Oldest Nephew is getting married in another year & a half -- family pictures, etc. etc. (Vanity, thy name is Loribeth, lol.) 

Do you wear glasses or contacts (or both)?

You can find more of this week's #MicroblogMondays posts here 

14 comments:

  1. I've never had glasses (and still don't) though I keep telling myself that it's at least time I go to an eye doctor and have my vision checked. My mom was in her 40's before she got glasses, so I hope I've inherited her eyesight!

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  2. I have just ordered new glasses, after a slight prescription change (an improvement, actually). They're progressives, as are my existing pair, so I wear them for everything. I'm surprised you have separate reading glasses if you have progressives too.

    I got glasses in my 20s, when I started working on computers. A year learning Chinese full-time saw my sight deteriorate more. I wore contacts for maybe five years or so, but gradually stopped wearing them when I was in an air-conditioned office that dried my eyes out too much. I have a slight astigmatism, so my contacts never adjusted for that. Glasses just work better for me.

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  3. I wear glasses and have been since my mid 20s. My vision is actually nearly perfect but I have an astigmatism that is getting gradually worse that requires correction. I usually replace my glasses every 1.5-2 years but I am very hard on them. I just got a pair this past spring to replace my old pair that was being held together by super glue and craft wire. I've never had contacts because I've always been weird about touching my eye.

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  4. I've been wearing glasses since 3rd grade. My lenses are so thick that I can only get full frames. None of those nice half frames that are light weight. I will NOT wear glasses in public. I do wear glasses alot at home.

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  5. I wear glasses. I've never tried contacts. I don't think I could touch my eye on a regular basis. And glasses don't bother me.

    BUT getting a new pair of glasses does. I'm trying to break a new pair in and I go through the same thing: I'll wear the new ones for a few hours and then switch back to the old ones.

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  6. Wow. I wore glasses until college (got them in 7th grade, but really needed them way before considering how bad my vision was). Wore contacts until my mid-thirties when my eyeballs decided they don't like them. Finally caved and got surgery. It worked. Yay! But I was pretty scared about doing it. :)

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  7. Get those eyes dilated when you are getting the Rx updated!

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  8. I wear glasses, as you know - I used to wear contacts for years - but I wore a pair too long and got a little ring around my eye, so I had to lay off for a while. By that time, I was doing so much work on a computer that wearing contacts was no longer convenient. I now need another pair of progressives (my prescription changed and it's harder to see tiny print) so that's next. You should see the state of my glasses, dirty, smudged lenses, broken and glued on one arm, ah, the glamorous life.

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  9. Glasses!

    frameless for every day, and I have fancy glasses (instead of make up or handbag) in many colours

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  10. I'm slackin'. Admittedly. I had glasses when I was 10. Got contacts at 16 or 17 when my prescription stabilized (that was the criteria according to my opthamologist). But by age 26 I had scratched both corneas while living in Japan (and staying at my boyfriend's house without my lens case or solution...). Returning to Canada, I had laser surgery to correct my vision. That was in 1996. I've only had my eyes checked a couple of times since then. But with the recent significant weight loss, I am seeing HUGE changes in my vision. I think I might need reading glasses at this point; not that I actually have time to read anything! *sigh* I need to get off my butt and get my eyes checked. Hubby tells me that too. Thanks for the much needed kick in the keister. I'll call and make an appointment for the new year. Somewhere.
    I hope you get used to your glasses soon. Breaking them in is quite a pain, isn't it?

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  11. @Brooke: A lot changes in your 40s...! :p

    @Mali: I was surprised that I needed computer/reading glasses too. But I was still having some difficulty reading the small print (taking off my glasses to read it...!). My optometrist suggested it & I was reluctant to spend the money, but it really does make a difference.

    @KT: Thanks for the reminder! We have a wonderful optometrist & he does a thorough checkup on us every year. We've been seeing him for almost 30 years (!) & I was wondering if he was going to retire -- I am sure he is in his 60s. But he & his wife (who is also an optometrist who practices with him) recently purchased & renovated a new building & they are always up on the latest technology. They recently had all their patient records scanned, and he is always taking pictures & scans of my retinas, etc. He did a dilation & scan of my eyes last year & all was well. I hope your treatment goes well. (((hugs)))

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  12. I wear contacts, with glasses for backup. I probably need reading glasses too, and new lenses in my glasses. But, when I last got contacts, I had to buy way more than I needed (I use disposables) in a year, so when I run out, I'll make an appointment for an exam.

    My husband got the progressive lenses and hated them. I can't remember if he returned them for bifocals or not. I hate that post-40 loss of near vision...

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  13. Glasses for driving and distance, as needed. Got my first pair when I was in my late twenties and was not so happy about it. But, my fiance thinks I look sexy in them.

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  14. Loribeth, you're so funny ("Vanity, thy name is loribeth") LOL!!!!

    My eyesight is actually fine. I've never had to wear glasses, except now that I live in Lapland, there can be snow blindness when the sun goes up again, so I need a good pair of polarized sunglasses.

    I never know how people can even wear contacts because I feel like it looks painful ha ha ha...My husband wears contacts only on holidays, but in daily life he wears glasses.

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