Hi. My last post was:
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I cannot take a bus, train, taxi, etc. to work; I absolutely MUST drive. Therefore I've decided to get a lowered or reduced prescription which I intend to use ONLY when I'm driving (or if necessary, at the mall, walking in the street, etc.) I will not wear glasses at home, even in front of a computer or TV (I will watch less TV).
Here's my questions:
1. Will I get headaches from a reduced prescription? (Since it will be less clearer)
2. If I get a reduced prescription, does that mean I should not wear my original glasses anymore?
3. Approximately how much lower should a reduced prescription be from the original? I'm thinking of a prescription in which I won't be able to read the street names but will enable me to drive through a busy street nonetheless. Is that good?
4. I have started to minimize my use of eyeglasses, however I find it hard to 'not make an effort to see'. It's difficult to ignore people's faces, car plate numbers, etc. etc. ; what I do is instead of looking at the 'details', I try to look only at the colors (color of car, dog, tshirt, etc.) I also try to switch my view towards something nearer that I can see clearly, like my palm. What do you think of my methods? Any other tips?
5. Currently I'm using this chart: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.i-see.org/snellen.gif">http://www.i-see.org/snellen.gif</a><!-- m -->
At ten feet, my right eye can see, even if a little bit blurry, the 70 (and sometimes the 60) line. My left eye however can barely see them. Does that mean my right eye is 10/70? (obviously my left eye is worse). So how bad are my eyes?
6. How am I going to practice with the Snellen test card if my eyes (especially my left eye) can barely see a thing at ten feet?? Should I read the card at a closer distance, say 5 ft, and then slowly back up to ten feet? Is this how other people do it?
Thanks for checking your Snellen. It is very importan that you
check this when you work with Bates.
There is an inportant legal issue for driving a car.
You must read the 20/40 line at 20 feet. These are
3/4 inch letters at 20 feet. If you can not do this
then you must have a minus lens on for driving
a car.
Quote:I cannot take a bus, train, taxi, etc. to work; I absolutely MUST drive. Therefore I've decided to get a lowered or reduced prescription which I intend to use ONLY when I'm driving (or if necessary, at the mall, walking in the street, etc.) I will not wear glasses at home, even in front of a computer or TV (I will watch less TV).
You can work with no minus lens -- unless you drive a car.
Then you must be legal.
You might be over-prescribed. But an OD can only "reduce"
your prescription to the the point where you still pass
the 20/40 line.
The "standard" eye-chart is intended to be used at 20 feet.
Quote:5. Currently I'm using this chart: <!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.i-see.org/snellen.gif">http://www.i-see.org/snellen.gif</a><!-- m -->
At ten feet, my right eye can see, even if a little bit blurry, the 70 (and sometimes the 60) line. My left eye however can barely see them. Does that mean my right eye is 10/70? (obviously my left eye is worse). So how bad are my eyes?
Otis> If you use the 20 foot chart at 10 feet, then your
visual acuity is NOT 10/70.
Contrary to what you may have been told, you don't get headaches from seeing blur. There is nothing in the modified arrangement of light rays (blur) into the eyes that produces a sensation of pain in the head, if you get my drift. Any pain you experience from seeing blur is an abnormal reaction to seeing blur. Point being, you can strain in reaction to seeing blur, but that isn't the only thing you can strain in reaction to.
In my opinion, the proper amount of a reduced prescription is whatever gives you a feeling of relief or feeling less tired after some visually oriented task. Beyond that, I don't think it's much of a benefit, and your time and effort would be better spent in learning to stop and avoid the strain that is causing your blurry vision.
I think you've misunderstood the term "effort". Looking at details is good. The best way to understand the concepts is by practicing the exercises - see the Method of the Month forum. The thing that we try to communicate with the terms strain and effort is the fact that people with chronically blurry vision tense their eyes, tense their whole body, strain their mind, strain their eyes, "work hard" in order to see. People need to realize that sometimes, like with the eyes, the more you try the more you fail, and the more you try to control the outcome the more you produce exactly that which you are trying to avoid.
Yes, reading at a closer distance is fine.
David
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
