Hello,
I am nearsighted, wore glasses continually for twenty years, and now I try to take them off as often as possible.
Now during work, I don't have very long time-spans to do this. Is it useful to take off glasses for, say, five minutes only, then to put them on to look at something, then to remove them again? Or is it even counter-productive to do that? If it is, what minimum time is useful?
I'm asking because each time I put them on again, it feels as funny as when I got them the first time, and it seems as if I had to get used to them all over again, which is rather disturbing.
A similar question: Is it useful to take off your glasses to work with computers, when you have to hold your nose very near to the screen to be able to read?
Thanks for any answer.
I don't like saying so, but there isn't an easy answer for this. Glasses for myopia is taken for granted so much that our society no longer considered myopia a disability unless a person is still functionally blind even with glasses (legally blind). I consider any type of blurry vision just as much of a disability as being unable to walk without crutches, and it's unfortunate that our society does not provide any of the support or understanding as it does for people suffering from and attempting to recover from other disabilities.
Some people like using reduced prescriptions just barely strong enough to help them see a computer or whatever. Another possibility, often overlooked, but admittedly not always helpful, is using pinhole glasses.
But to directly address your question, I believe learning and practicing the Bates method as much as possible is far more important than what type of glasses you wear, if any, or for how long. But certainly at least taking breaks from wearing them is in your best interest. But even taking breaks from them per se isn't so important as what you gain from doing so each time.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
So you don't think there's any harm to just put my glasses on the time I "need" them. Even if that means to put them off and on "all the time". (I think of this as a temporary solution, until I find another one.)
That's basically all I wanted to know, thank you :-)
Yes, that I understood (sorry, English is not my best language).
What I wanted to know was mainly about the time. Example: I "have" to put my glasses on to look at something. Then I take them off. five minutes later, I have to put them on again. So would it be better to leave them on, if I know that a couple of minutes later, I will "need" them again?
Hello Anna, If you can give some information , I may be able to help you in how to deal with going without glasses. At what age did you start wearing glasses fulltime? What is your present age, and what is your prescription? Can you see clearly, even though you have to be quite close to reading material? Can you function fairly well in familar surroundings, such as your home, without your glasses? Do you have a strong desire to be glasses free? You mentioned that when putting your glasses back on, after having gone without them for some time, that your eyes feel like they did when you first got glasses. Please explain more, about how they feel( strained, or relaxed ), and how long you are without glasse, and wheather you are doing close work, or distant viewing.
Hello Bifocal,
Your post made me notice I had forgotten to introduce myself, so I did that now in the introduction thread.
As to fill in the rest:
Yes, I see very clearly at about 20 cm (40 if I squeeze...), farther away everything is blurry. In my home, everything's all right without glasses, but I don't know if that's just habit, since I live in the same house since birth 27 years ago, and not much changed in all these years. Watching TV is impossible without, though, unless I block the view for the rest of my family ;-)
I really want to get rid of my glasses. As I wrote in the introduction, my eyes got worse and the thought of stronger ones freaks me out even after 20 years. When I take off my glasses even for some minutes, and put them on again, my eyes feel as if they want to cry, my head starts throbbing lightly, and when I turn my head, objects seem to spin around me at a very fast speed (sorry I didn't mention that sooner), for about half a minute. When I got them 18 years ago, the impression was the same, but much longer.
At work, I sit mostly at the computer (and unfortunately the monitor is rather old), and from time to time I have to double-check on a board at a distance, or check something out with a collegue some meters away from me, hence my question if it is harmful to put glasses on and off. But even while conversing with people, I'm used to look in their faces, and without glasses, I don't see their expression unless I was nose to nose with them, so it's rather uncomfortable.
Another situation that tempts me to put glasses on when I'm not forced to, is when I go for a walk. I like to see everything clearly, especially when the weather is fine. Sorry if I get carried away once again, but just yesterday is a good example for this: I wanted to take a walk. I go to my car, put the glasses on, blink away the tears, and drive out of town. I took my glasses off and walked in the wood. The path leads to an open plain. It was covered with snow. I just saw white and something glistening. So I put my glasses on, catched my balance as everything spun for some seconds, then admired the wide view with the snow gleaming in the sunlight. I put the glasses off and continued walking. Just some minutes later, some motion in the sky catches my eye, I want to see exactly what it is, put my glasses on to follow the flying bird... It went on like this. The whole was pretty discouraging. So, do you think it does any good to try in such situations, or would it be better to give up and just leave the glasses be when I'm at home?
Hello again Anna,
First of all I must congradulate you on your English.
I have read all the information in your introduction, and here.
The prescription change of 2 diopters of 18 years ago is only about 1 more than would be expected for an eight or nine year old, and it is quite probable that you were overcorrected at that time. That is most likely why the glasses were so hard to get used to. Astigmatism corrections are also hard to get used to. Do you happen to know how much cylinder is in your prescription?
Wearing that same prescription for 18 years is good, and bad. The good part is that had you gone back every year or two you would certainly wound up with an increase each time until you reached about 20 years old. It is very likely that you are quite undercorrected, but are very able to cope with it. Have you had any kind of vision test to determine if you see 20/20 with glasses? Now the bad part is since you have worn those glasses full time untill just recently, it will be a bit difficult to do without them, as you have found out.
Now here is what I would suggest. You should go to an optometrist for an exam to know the general health condition of your eyes.He or she will want to prescribe the lenses that their equipment says you need. You wouldn't have to get the new glasses, but the old prescription may be causing alot of the discomfort you experience. I would get the new glasses and then go on your vision improvement. The most important thing is to refrain from using your minus glasses for reading, and or computer work. 20 to 30 cm may seem close, but you are straining your eyes doing close work with minus lenses. Then you need to wear the new glasses only when you need to,dispite what the optometrist would say. The whole key to vision improvement is not to strain to see. So whenever you are not wearing glasses try to relax, and accept the blur. After time this will become easier, and the blur will go away. Don't forget that your eyes have been on crutches for 18 years.Think how it would be if you had been walking with crutches that long and attempted to walk without them.By the way, many people with your present prescription only wear them part time.
Have you read any of the vision improvement books? Bates.?
Anna, Another thought, If you get new glasses, and want to avoid using them for near,as you should, but feel you need them for the situations at work that you described.You could get them made up as bifocals, with clear no correction in the lower bifocal part, and your new prescription in the upper part. Dont get freaked at the idea of bifocals at your age,as you won't need them all that long as you wean yourself off of glasses completely.
Anna, Another thought that I had, is that because of the fact that your near vision is clear,without glasses, even though you have to be near the work.indicates that you most likely do not have much astigmatism, perhaps none at all. And from the way you describe the symptoms you have when putting on your glasses, It sounds as though they may have a fair ammount of astigmatic correction ( cyl. ) in them. If you do not have much, or no astigmatism,those glasses would certainly cause the problems you describe. If you do not know how much cyl. you have, it can be estimated by holding your glasses at about an arms length, or closer if you can't see. Then look at an object in the distance that is square, such as a picture frame , or window pane. Look thru each lense, one at a time , and turn the lense in a circular motion. If the square object becomes lopsided, as you turn the lense, then the lense has a cyl. in it. The more lopsided the square appears, the stronger the cyl is. Check this out, and let me know.
My glasses go on and off all the time and I haven't had any trouble. Walking without glasses is one of my favorite forms of vision training. I look around and see what I can see. That's just my experience though and your condition might be different.
My god, poor Anna. I have to agree with Chris though. I've just started going around without glasses all the time (I've left my job) and I love walking without them. It helps that the last few days have been very clear, but each day I've walked about two miles along the beach and I feel I notice more and more things each time. I'm quite sure I'm being incredibly rude to several people I know by not noticing them but the experience of taking in colours and shapes and making my eyes work is just amazing.
That's great, Lucy Ann. It's unfortunate that people you know don't get attention, but everybody goes through that and it has to be done. And the better you handle it, the quicker the blur will go away. The alternative is stressing out from not seeing people's faces...and of course still not being able to see them.
Dave
Site Administrator
"Half of our funny, heathen lives, we are bent double to gather things we have tossed away." - George Meredith
