You’re not getting older; you’re getting better!
It’s one of the telltale signs of aging.
Since I was 14, I’ve worn corrective lenses for distance viewing in the form of spectacles or contact lenses. (I typically wear contacts or prescription sunglasses when I venture out.) Every few years I’ve needed a stronger prescription. Last year I noticed that viewing small print or objects with small detail with my glasses on started to become a bit uncomfortable. “What goes on here,” I wondered.
A couple of weeks ago, my eye doctor confirmed my suspicions. I needed…bifocals!!!
I knew it was coming. My mother said that seemingly overnight, after she turned 40, she needed reading glasses. (Most people I know over 40 need reading glasses.) Before that, her vision was 20/20. My brother, one of my sisters, and I inherited near-sightedness from our father (who needed but didn’t wear glasses), apparently. Now I, the eldest Barber child, must wear…bifocals!!!
Actually, they’re progressive lenses: extra thin lenses with no lines. Whew! No one will ever know — except a few thousand LBC readers — that I’m wearing…bifocals.
My formerly near-sighted sister had Lasik surgery last year, and she loves the results. During the holidays, she laughed a couple of times as she watched me squinting around, looking for my glasses. I’d have the surgery done, too, only I’m afraid I’d become the first Lasik patient rendered blind from the procedure. 
Well, that’s a bloody nice way to start the weekend! Commiserate with me and share your “aging” stories. For example, how did you feel when you found out you needed reading glasses?
{ 90 comments }
You have to be careful of eye strain from the computer.
Aren’t we the same age, Shade? Do you need reading glasses, yet?
:::very small violin playing:::
I’ve been wearing them for two years. Of course, I am older than you.
I buy my reading glasses from CVS, $12.95/pr. Nuts to the expensive stuff. For now, anyway. If I get to where I can’t drive without corrective lenses, we’ll see.
But I’m not old; I’m just very, very experienced.
Thanks, Juliette!
RedBeard – I wish I could do that, but the lense power for one eye is different from the other. I don’t think I could buy reading glasses down at Rite Aid.
I’ll be 40 in several months. No glasses yet.
I wear glasses, have for years, but no bifocals yet.
My sad story involves my creaking knees. They literally creak out loud when I go up and downstairs! Every so often, they start aching enough for a good dose of ibuprofen. Man, it’s a bummer getting older. I still have six kids to keep up with too.
After 20 years of needing glasses and only about five years of actually having them (as I tended to lose two or three pairs a year) I finally broke down a couple of months ago and got lasik. Totally awesome! Actual procedure took about five minutes (though there were a couple of prior appointments necessary) and was completely pain free. And its great to actually be able to READ the street signs before its too late to make the turn! Should have done it a long long time ago.
I’ve been wearing glasses for nearsightedness since I was 9 years old. 63 YEARS! I hoped that when I got older they would get better by aging like everyone else’s. Not to be. I had to get bifocals when I realized I was lifting my glasses to see my first grandchild when I was 42. Now I am hoping that when my cataracts get bad enough they will put in new lenses and I will see better than I ever have in all my life. While there’s life there’s hope!
BTW love your spellchecker.
Thanks, Ruth. I wish more commenters used it!
– Admin
Hi La Shawn,
Don’t let it bother you. Just accept that as you get older you trade some of your physical aspects for more important ones – like wisdom, perspective, and judgement.
I’m amazed at how many times I’ve searched frantically for my glasses, only to find that they are perched atop my head.
You’re doing a great job – don’t let age hold you down … just use the lessons that aging has taught you!
Take care, Bob B
My friend has a child who has been wearing bifocals since she was 16… Scary, huh?
Don’t fret too much. Mamy of us computer workers/junkies as we approach fifty have to have tri-focals.
At the ripe old age of 33, I’ve been wearing glasses since the second grade and like you am VERY skeptical of LASIK surgery. I just can’t get with beaming lasers into my eyeballs.
However, I’ve been noticing a few grey threads in my lustrous mane that are causing MASS hysteria. My appointment to update my highlights is TOMORROW.
I’m 47 and it wasn’t until this year that I actually noticed some real issues. The only problem is, it’s only bad in my RIGHT eye (the one which also happens to be the most near-sighted. I wear contacts). Anyone have any suggestions?
At 40 it was reading glasses, at 51 it was having the cataracts removed, I was very nearly blind 2 years ago, now, at 53, I am back to 20/20 distance but still need reading glasses…
But I look good in glasses… Really, I do…
And they help hide the BAGS under my eyes…
My daughter’s best friend has trifocals (she’s 12!) and also has progressive lenses. At 12 it means a great deal to her not to have those big bulky lined glasses.
Last Christmas my glasses broke on me. For no reason, they just snapped in half without warning, I haven’t replaced them yet (I wear contacts) because I was hoping to get Lasik done this year. Alas, I’m now pregnant (actually, alas for my Lasik plans *not* for the pregnancy – that’s a blessing). Perhaps next year.
My husband has the better than perfect vision you hear some people having. Those kinds of people that can read a sign a mile away on the highway. Talk about envy!
I’m 47 and I don’t need them yet. Kind of. I’m fighting it! I also had LASIK. BEST thing I ever did for myself.
If anybody has figured out a way to put a locator button on your glasses, let me know. I take them off and then can’t remember where I left them and can’t see them either. Dang, when the eyes go, the memory isn’t far behind lol
I was 31. Went to the Air Force eye clinic, and he diagnosed me with a stigmatism. I wore glasses for 3 years, and my eyesight went back to normal. Needless to say I was shocked, but in a good way as I wasn’t looking to drop 70 pounds (about $130 at that time) for a new set of glasses.
One of my friends turned 30 yesterday, and the Air Force gave her bifocals.
Welcome to presbyopia, sister!
I started wearing glasses in 2nd or 3rd grade for near-sightedness. I briefly had bifocals in my youth, but got them again last year at 46. I always get the high-refractive lenses to cut down on bulk and weight. (I am very near-sighted.)
As for Lasik, I’ve thought about it, but I have some fears. A friend had it and then had problems with a detached retina, which may or may not be related. Besides, I’ve lived with the durn things so long, I’m not sure I would be comfortable without them.
La Shawn, my eyes aren’t the same, either. I’m thinking about buying two pairs of those cheapo glasses, one with a power suited to each eye, and then swapping one lens in one frame and tossing the rest. It’ll still just cost me $25 or so.
Am I the cheapest guy on the planet?
Hey everyone, it could be worse. I have keratoconus, a degenerative eye disease, and can’t hardly see at all without my contacts. Without my four contacts I should add. I’ve been wearing two hard lenses on top of two soft lenses for five years now. Because of my eye condition, glasses won’t do any good. It sounds bad, but I rarely notice them. LASIK is right out because it thins the cornea, which is my problem to begin with. The only other thing to do is a corneal transplant, and I’m not jumping on that train just yet.
Oh, and I just turned 30.
I’ve been wearing glasses since I was a kid, too, although I wear soft contacts most of the time. About 5 years ago I noticed I was starting to need reading glasses, and just got some cheap ones. One of the problems I have with my eyes is that I can’t change focus from near to far, and back, very well, so bifocals aren’t a good choice for me.
I have a very simple prescription for myopia, but it’s awfully strong, so I’m also skeptical of Lasik. I don’t think it would work for me for that reason. I’ve also heard of people who’ve had problems with it. And ok, I admit it, I’m scared of surgery. It sure would be nice not to need the props, though.
OK, here’s for some home remedies. I don’t warranty these…
First, you can develop every muscle in your body by exercising it. You can’t exercise your eye lens, but you cAN exercise the muscles which surround and control it. Simple eye exercises will help relax those muscles and keep them strong.
When you wear a lens continually, your eye muscles are ‘locked’ in one position for hours at a time. Imagine looking through a microscope all day long, and then imagine how your eyes would feel afterwards. To avoid that, alternate;
IOW, when you don’t absolutely NEED to use your glasses, DON’T. Alternating between looking through a lens and not looking through it is best.
Don’t get wedded to wearing glasses all day; let your eyes try and work without them. Scouts, Native Americans, etc., always developed their eyesight and saw further and better than others, because they were continually using their eyes. (An old Japanese folk remedy for near-sightedness was to stare for long periods at far distant objects.) If the only way you can read without lenses is by holding the book under your nose, then hold it under your nose. When possible, use no lenses. (Just don’t drive without them while I’m on the road!)
#14 The only problem is, it’s only bad in my RIGHT eye (the one which also happens to be the most near-sighted. I wear contacts). Anyone have any suggestions?
Cover up the stronger eye and use only the weaker eye. After a few weaks, it will adjust. IE, “work” it. Your brain knows the picture it is supposed to be seeing; make your eye work to attain that. The ‘weaker’ eye is weak because you rely on the stronger eye to do most of the work.
#18 If anybody has figured out a way to put a locator button on your glasses Global Positioning Eyefind, a satellite locating system for lost glasses; about $2250.00 plus s/h. Weight: 7 lbs. Never lose your glasses again.
Well, I’m 42 and I just went to the eye doctor last week and I need reading glasses +1. I asked him about bifocals and he told me not yet, maybe next year. Great. I need reading glasses and my hairline is receeding. Yep, I’m getting old.
I started wearing glasses when I was seven. I didn’t need my first pair of bifocals until I turned 44 last year. It’s genetic, everybody in my family wears glasses. Lucky me, I’ve got the worst eyes in the family.
La Shawn:
I got my first TRIFOCALS at age 53 10 years ago; my eye doctor told me most people need such 10 years earlier.
After going to Eyemasters, I realized they were no bargain; their “second pair for free” etc included trash, and the lady behind the counter went to her superior for every question. Not exactly red carpet service.
In contrast, at the local shop, the same man did all the work and asked all the questions. Great service, cost only slightly more.
These trifocals were large and heavy, and my wife didn’t like them. She said I looked like an OWL.
Last year, another eye exam suggested I get another prescription. I didn’t waste time shopping around (my eye doctor knew the marketplace; he suggested I return to the same place).
The man at the local shop recommended “progressive lenses” (not “liberal”)- no “lines”. I got similar frames with sunglasses as well.
Really uncomfortable for a few months, but I wouldn’t accept anything less.
When my glasses need adjusting, I know where to go.
$Total cost – $ 650.
Considering the cost of my time, really a good value. And real “red carpet service”.
PS – I wouldn’t trade 63 for 40; my children are on their own, and I have more money than I can spend – or so I thought.
2 of my children bought homes this year; they needed help with the dowh payments.
My wife agrees – these are the best years of our lives, even with trifocals.
It happened to me too, though around age 42. I was really unprepared for it. My hair started turning grey around 38 but I could still pluck them out; around age 40, the grey came in with a vengeance and there was nothing I could do but color it. I wasn’t ready to look old yet! Oh, and then there was the 40 lbs I gained in one year at around age 38. Nothing different happened, and all my medical tests turned up nothing. The doctor said “you’re just getting older.” Love him — NOT!
I wouldn’t mind growing older if I felt I’d accomplished everything I was supposed to by this point in my life, but I haven’t, so, that’s hard.
I can’t do bifocals because they just bother me too much and as for Lasik, like you, I’m terrified! There is no way I could lay on a table wide awake while someone pokes around on my eyes.
I feel your pain. Got bifocals for the first time a couple of months ago. Have had glasses for nearsightedness since fifth grade, but when I found myself ‘tromboning’ small print, I knew what was coming.
They drove me nuts at first. I still can’t wear them all day. I end up whipping them off and leaving them. Then spending forever looking for them again later. Try to get into the habit of leaving them in particular places and not just anywhere. It’s that old joke, “I need my glasses to find my glasses”, only it’s not that funny.
I’m not thrilled with this part. Yeah, 40+ is better in so many ways, but this particular aspect of aging stinks. At least I have progressive lenses, so it’s not obvious. I actually got advice about them from an elderly senior my first day in a department store. I still don’t know how to take that. It’s just…weird.
La Shawn, I use glasses only for reading. I buy them at Sam’s club six at a time because I am always misplacing them. At times I have to remind myself to be thankful that I only need reading glasses but otherwise have healthy eyes. The glasses tend to slow me down some. My friend wears glasses for distance and needs reading glasses. Since she wears contacts most of the time, her doctor told her to try a lens for distance in one eye and lens for reading in the other. She says it works well. As for the Lasik, Tiger Woods had it seven years ago and does commercials for it. I think I might try it. Besides if you were to go blind, you’d probably only go blind in one eye!
I just turned forty and I’ve had nearsightedness ever since in high school. So far I can still read up close. I understand there are eye exercises one can do to actually correct your vision. It takes time, work and a eye care professional to work with you. I also think certain supplements can slow the progression of near sightedness. I’ve had a few years where there were no changes. I guess I cannot prove it was diet or supplements but I would not be surprised.
I feel for you, Shawn. I do. I have the same eye issues. I cannot go anywhere without my contacts or glasses. I don’t like being a slave to this stuff!
Oh, I forgot to share an “aging” story. As I said prior, I just turned 40. I am noticing slight changes. For instance, gotta watch that posture! If I don’t do exercises and open my chest, my shoulders will get awfully rounded. I realize I have to keep up with that with abdominal work and/or yoga.
Posture is so key. Most women are so worried about weight but I’ve seen skinny women with poor posture and the poor posture is worse than the weight.
Keep healthy and say “Everyday and every way I am getting better and better. The age I am at now is a great age to be”. My mom started her second life at 50! Truly…the best years.
ANY operation has risks, including LASIK. My personal view is that my glasses work okay, so I have no need for LASIK. If you can barely see with glasses/contacts, then LASIK becomes well worth the (small) risk.
I’m over 50. Uncorrected, my left eye is 20/200 and my right is 20/40 with some astigmatism. I use my glasses mainly for driving and other distance needs. Other than that, I get by without them.
I went to my eye doctor a couple of years ago and said I probably needed bifocals. He said it was my call because they’re expensive, hard to adjust to, and I really didn’t need them because of my unequal eyes. For me they would be just the convenience of not having to remove my glasses to see close up. So I didn’t get them.
Eyes like mine are jokingly called “natural bifocals”. Interestingly, I’ve heard of people who had only one eye LASIKed so they wound up like me.
I went with bifocals, just a week ago, and there was no problem adjusting, except I had to move my tv a little bit. I look at the computer screen for 8 hours at work and have had no trouble.
By the way, if someone IS having eyestrain from a monitor, it can help to adjust the refresh rate-the number of times per second the screen is ‘redrawn’.
Right click on desktop,click on properties,settings, advanced,monitor.
There should be drop down box for screen refresh rate-mine is set at 75 Hertz. Quicker is better.
When I hit 42 my doctor prescribed bifocals. I asked how long I could go without. He said when I stopped being stubborn I’d get ‘em. Ten years later that happened. Took a while.
Several years back, went to my ophthalmologist. He said he had good news and bad news, which do you want first?
I said, the good news. His response was that my eyes are good (which is good news when being diabetic). The bad news was that I was slowly forming cataracts. Then he said, he then had some good news. I said, what was that?
His response was that when the surgery was done, I could probably be able to get rid of my glasses that I have worn for years. Yes, they are also the progressive lenses. But then the bad news. I would probably need reading glasses. I said, “wonderful, then I can be like all the rest of those that need reading glasses and leave them everywhere.”
However, you are in very good company. Welcome to my world. lol
Wait! It gets better. I,like you required corrective lenses from my early teens. Now, in my mid eighties do not require any external help thanks to cataract surgery with lens implants. Who would have thunk it?
I’ve made it to 52 without bifocals, though I do have myopia since I was about twelve, but on the negativeside, a fair amount of arthritis – both knees, both ankles, but that’s just a function of doing this job.
Some parts of the aging process hurt more than others.
When I first got bifocals I fell down a flight of steps because I couldn’t see the first one. It took a while to get use to moving my head different to see. My wife just got Lasek last week and she was even more blind than me. She loves it. She went with the mono-vision option where they correct one eye for distance and the other for up close. The near vision is still coming in (she had to use reading glasses for about a week), and the doctor says it will get better over the next few months.
I told the doc that I was the coward of the two of us. He said that he has done thousands of Laseks and has never had anyone leave without getting it done. I think that is because he gives everyone 10 milligrams of Valium prior to the procedure. I told him that he would have to hook up an iv for me.
LaShawn, I will be 40 this year and I have to wear eyeglasses. Nearsightedness is Myopia. Farsightedness is Presbyopia. I don’t need bifocals yet, but when that time comes, I will get the NO-LINE Bifocals.
#38
a fair amount of arthritis – both knees, both ankles, but that’s just a function of doing this job.
Home remedy (not warrantied!)
Try Hyaluronic Acid (tablets). It’s like giving your joints a lube job. (Might work.)
LB, I’m going bald but that doesn’t bother me.
My eyes are weakening, but that doesn’t bother me.
The gray hair I blame on my daughter, but the places the gray hair are, is a little off putting…
It’s the GROWING lactose intollerance that is causing me the most grief. You see, there is nothing like the summer time, with the choice of fruit, the warm/hot air, the loose fitting clothes, and a BIG OLE BANANA SPLIT!!!!!
Feeling bloatted and bad for 2 – 3 days afterwards is not worth it and it’s sad.
40 seems too young to have aging eyes.
Eat more carrots!
Me? I don’t care about my own aging, but I was devastated when my mother got glasses.
I don’t care how old and raggedy I get, but I wanted my mother to stay young-looking forever.
I am thankful I can see well without the aid of glasses, but I know a lot of people who have had Lasik surgery. I know well over 10 people who have had it done. I probably know more than 20 people if I thought long enough about it.
Lasik is good, Lasik works and I’d get it myself if I had issues with vision. The bottom line is that you are given a “scoping” prior to the surgery and they tell you how risky it will be to correct your vision problem then. Everyone I know that was told their risk was low is doing great now. They love it.
I only know one person who had a bad experience. He was already legally blind without his glasses before the surgery. He was told that he was high risk, but he wanted to go ahead and do it anyway. He’s worse off now in my opinion than he was before he got Lasik and he told me he would not have done it if he could go back in time.
So you might want to get checked for your level of risk if you had Lasik and take it from there. The procedure is so old now that if you use a good doctor you’ll be fine. I’m told the computers do most of the work now anyway. And if you smell something burning during the surgery, that’s your eyes literally being burned where the laser cuts
. The burning is not bad, just part of the surgery.
Keep in mind I’ve never had any vision issues, so I’m giving you a summary of 2nd hand information from talking with lots of people who have had it done.
DarkStar, I have two kids, so I probably have double the grey hair you do.
I figure parents earn every single one of those grey hairs.
Not to rub it in, but I’m 40, and I still have perfect vision and hearing. So far.
I’ve been taking the regular glasses on and off for a few years to read. Getting down to buying bi focals but the company negotiated vision care will only pay for lined ones. It’s a turn off.
Look at your parents. You will be them.
I was in the same situation wore glasses since preteen, hit 40 and whammo, very suddenly vision changed. I was very disconcerted and none too happy about the idea of bifocals, and went around complaining suitably for 10 days while waiting for the glasses to be delivered. (10 days to get glasses made, whole ‘nother story). But the funny thing was about that time I went to a church conference and I was told by somebody I had never seen before…. “God wants you to know those glasses are not a mistake”. So, yeah, I stopped complaining then. (!) Progressive lenses….. whole nother story again…. took me forever to get used to them. If you want the rest of that story, e-mail me.
I am about to turn 44 and got my first bifocal progressives last month. I am trying mightily to get used to them. So far, I only use them for reading – but I still feel like I am looking through the bottom of a coke bottle – there is a small spot in the center of my vision in focus, while everything around the center is gone – like looking through a tunnle..!! My sympathies, LaShawn..!!
I had to wear glasses all my life because of near-sightness, 5 years ago I had Lasik and have went from 20-400 vision to 20-15. Which was exactly what I would get with a new pair of glasses. 5 years later and I have no problems.
I take after my mother and her family does not get far-sighted, even in very old age.
Carpe Diem!!! Go for the Lasik, but go with a top doctor like I did.
I fully agree with the “your getting better mene”.
On a separate note, in the stuff mom brought back from her childhood, was an eye exercise book. I found it fascinating. It was a group of 3D eye exercises. One of them had you focus both eyes on a spot, and then move the focus of one eye at a time through a maze until at last your eyes once again focused together at the end of the exercise. Have always thought it had to have helped my eyesight.
Has anyone ever seen or heard of something similar? Please respond if you have.
Thanks
I don’t need glasses, yet. But does it count when you start getting muscle cramps…from sleeping?
I am pregnant, but I was starting to experience this even before. Yuck.
La Shawn, I would think you look just as great with glasses, as you do without, so not to worry. I am 57, and will probably get Lasik this year, due to the fact that I’m just tired of fooling with both contacts and glasses. I’m told that I will still need readers, but prefer that to staying as I am.
Welcome to life on planet earth everyone! At age 24 I passed the toughest flight physical the U.S. Air Force could give, buy age 37 I needed glasses to get a drivers license. Currently, I work in a multi-specialty university eye institute, so if I may, here’s advice:
- Please consider examination by an Ophthalmologist rather than an optometrist. Many people are confused by the titles. Ophthalmologist are actual medical doctors who spend 3 to 5 years in a residency program after medical school learning to treat eye disease.
- If you are considering laser vision correction, research the surgeon carefully. Any ophthalmologist can rent a laser and legally perform these procedures, but not all ophthalmologist are corneal specialists, which I feel gives them a leg up on the knowledge of the part of the eye they are working on. Also, those medical groups that do the most, have the most experience and know how to get it done right with the least complications.
- If you are diabetic..PLEASE keep up with your yearly eye exams by a MEDICAL EYE DOCTOR (Ophthalmologist). If you have diabetes,and they tell you to come back in more than a year…fire them and find someone more attentive. The saddest part of my work is seeing people who are told by the doctor to come back in 4 months because they have diabetic changes starting, and then show up two to three years later with poor vision and their eyes full of blood. It’s sad and avoidable.
- Get a full glaucoma screening. The Doc. should check your eye’s interocular pressure (And not with an air puff machine..those things are inaccurate), and also look in the back of your eye to insure the optic nerve is healthy. About 5% of Americans of African and Mediterranean descent have glaucoma. It’s a disease that’s painless with no noticeable symptoms until it’s too late and the lights start to go out.
Well that’s my Sunday morning $00.02 worth.
Coy
I fear doctors, but I fear blindness more. I have diabetes all through my family tree (uncle, two aunts, and my father) so I’m always looking out for the signs, and test myself. Part of the reason I go to an ophthalmologist for routine checkups. He sent me for a full diabetes blood test when I hit 50, just to be sure. Knock wood; so far, so good.
Reading glasses only at this point (60), which is ok, really. I wear them only when I need to actually see stuff.
And, I can put them on top of my head to look all university-like, or hide them in my pocket when I need to look macho. 
“Getting old stinks, but it sure beats the alternative”…
I’m lucky…my eyes are changing at the same rate so that all I need are magnifiers…I can buy them at the local Dollar store. I’m up to 2.25, and probably should be at 2.5. My husband has always been nearsighted, and for the first time in his life, takes his glasses off to read. We have a lighting store, so do a lot of eyeball work – we look like Mic and Mac with me putting glasses on to see print, off to see customer, and he puts them on to see the customer, off to see the print. Visually (in my mind) we look like a comic routine!
Darkstar…have you tried the pills for lactose intolerance? I’ve forgotten what they’re called…they’re over the counter pills that you eat just prior to eating milk products – a friend of mine used them and said they worked.Lactaid????
Dana (#52) you might want to talk to your doctor – cramps when you’re sleeping sounds like a problem with your potassium/calcium blood levels. Might be an easy fix – like a glass of milk (hot cocoa?) before you go to bed.
My mom alway wore glasses; I always felt just a touch, umm…superior…20/20 and all, ya know. Until I hit 40. Stronger and stronger reading glasses. But I think I’m being taught a lesson in humility and I’m really thankful that they are readily available. Imagine giving up reading! Or don’t, it might be too dreadful.
Coy is right on point. I had symptoms of detached retina on 2/1. I inquired the ‘net and of course saw the emergency need. My eye doc group has all the bells and whistles PLUS 24/7 availability. Ans. serv. put me right through to the vitreo-retina guy and i met him 10 hours later at 8 AM not sure what i was to be mentally ready for. He diagnosed a retina tear and hemorrhage. He lasered in the office and the one week follow up was fine with great long term encouragement. The tear is from high myopia and the consequential stretched oval retina. I am so thankful for those who have trained themselves to help each one of us with good eye care. We all benefit from the new and updated technology. Also, i do wear contacts and i carry/maintain reading glasses everywhere, work, car, etc. It has taken me years to get used to the trouble of using them, but I have slowly adapted. Need a different power for computer use vs reading. Best of luck, LaShawn!
Welcome to the bi-focal club La Shawn!
The progressives take a little bit of time to get used to.
60th birthday next month.
Had to get driver’s license renewed. Decided to try eye exam without glasses (which I’ve had since around 23yo).
Passed. Got “corrective lenses” restriction removed from license.
My erudite post? Na, na, na, na, na, na.
I’m in agreement with the one who knew of bad results from Lasik. If you checked the stats you’d probably find that you would not wind up in Guiness for being the first one to go blind. When I was 40 I finally found a doctor who agreed that one eye had a different focus than the other. That only resulted in reading glasses. The problem with all the changes since then is that I can no longer use open sights, had to go to a peep, and now use telescopic–that big difficulty with trying to use the same focal length for rear sight, front sight and target! Also, GPS does not solve every problem. I’ve baled too many pairs while baling hay.
Oh yes, spell check rejects Lasik.
When I passed my 40th birthday 18 years back, I went into bifocals, and developed high blood pressure and high cholesterol all in one shot. It was as if “40″ was a magic number, or something.
Shortly after my 50th, I went into trifocals. Now my prescriptions cost around $400 each, and I’m considering Lasik because of the cost of having to have my trifocals changed every year. With Lasik, I’ll be able to buy my reading glasses at WalMart, too!
What I’ve been reading here has been encouraging
.
Hmmm. I got my first pair of bifocals in kindergarten. You can only go downhill from there…
I’m no where near 40, about to be 31…
But, I used to play basketball religiously back in the day. Just recently got on the court and after missing a bunch of easy shots one of the young guys shouted to me, “yo! Ol’ School! PAss the ball! next time”,
Wow…………….never thought i’d hear that…
My dad got lasik to fix his near-sightedness and loves it, but still needs reading glasses.
On the other hand, my mother’s vision actually started getting progressively better from 55 on – she needed bifocals during her 40s (and, I think, her late 30s) and early 50s, but now, at 60, she just needs reading glasses she can buy off the rack at drug stores.
So, there’s hope for you!
I wear extended wear contacts, the Night/Day version are good for 30 days. Put them in and forget about them for a month. Totally awesome. I’ll get the Lasik surgery when the eye doctor’s start doing to themselves, mine still wears glasses. I’ve went down to the pharmacy and bought the cheap readers for the close in stuff about 6 months ago. I’ll make that work for as long as I can before I go to the bifocals.
Started wearing glasses at age 14; started needing reading glasses (for the computer primarily) about 10 years ago and I absolutely REFUSE to get bifocals when the only time I need readers is when I’m at work! So at age 64 I’m still doing the “denial” mambo and I intend to keep up THAT dance as long as I can! Don’t let the hair go grey either! I’m a hairdresser’s kid – the ability to cope with grey hair was omitted from my DNA!
The other “eye” situation I’ve been facing is the borderline glaucoma I have. My ophthalmologist says it’s possible I don’t have it at all but rather “sturdy” corneas (weird compliment that). In any event – I dithered around in denial about THAT for 2 years before I really sought treatment and now I’m glad I did. Not knowing was more stressful than knowing. Everybody on my mother’s side of the family has died around age 58 so at 64, I’m kind of a survivor! Guess I should count my blessings – and I do.
Darkstar, suffer no longer, poor thing. Behold, the power of Lactaid! With it, you need not suffer the, ah, repercussions of LI. Lactaid has OTC pills, and it makes an excellent milk substitute in the milk aisle. The milk is thick enough to dunk cookies (I will never outgrow that. Never.) and I don’t think you will miss the other kind of milk. Better than the soy stuff, that’s for sure.
I am in the same boat, and I recently got some progressive bifocals. However the area in the lenses where I can read is actually very small, about 2″ square. I don’t like moving my head when reading a book or a website. So for reading long lines of text I take the glasses off.
Now I wish I had bought the uglier bifocals with the big line across the middle. At least they would have worked better, I think.
Good luck with your bifocals, Ol’ Lad-, er, La Shawn.
I’ve worn glasses for years too.
The only trouble with Lasik or RK is that the surgery is irreversible, and as many readers have pointed out, vision can change over time. The procedure won’t change with you so you’ll still end up needing glasses or contacts sometime down the road.
There’s an emerging technology that uses special lenses that get inserted between your lens and your iris. Sometimes called “intacs.” The good part is that the lenses can be removed if vision changes or if the patient simply changes their mind and wants them out. The bad part is that it’s still surgery with its attendant risks.
Well, eat your carrots & bilberry supplements, do your eye exercises, and keep blogging!
Lashawn,
I am 59 and have been wearing glasses since I was 22. I have never been bothered by it, even when I went to bifocals. I have never tried the contact lens route and would not have vision corrective surgery.
John
That’s nothing. I’m 57 and 10 years ago I had to have cataract surgery, lens implants.
I had been very near sighted since the 4th Grade, but when I turned 40 I noticed that I was now also far sighted. I got bifocals, the ones without the line in the lenses. It was worse when I wore contact lenses. I couldn’t read a newspaper without reading glasses. Then, when I was in my late fifties, I got Lasik surgery. It cured my terrible nearsightedness, and strangely enough, it also cured my far-sightedness. Now I can read a newspaper easily without reading glasses. It was like a miracle.
Got my first (so far only) pair of progressive lenses when I realized I couldn’t read the notes on my desk and the computer screen without taking off my glasses (to see close) and putting them back on (to see the screen). Very annoying!
Re: Lasik surgery… My sisters and BILs have had it and love the results. I’m of the opinion (shared by my cousins who are optometrists
) that the words “laser” and “eyeball” should not be in the same sentence. Ever! 
One of the main reasons I’m considering Lasik is because the vision in my right eye is radically worse than that in my left eye. I have astigmatism, and the curve that defines the problem called “astigmatism” is much worse in the right. That is the main reason my prescriptions are so expensive… the one really bad curve.
Lasik is exactly the sort of thing needed to correct astigmatism. The problem of needing reading glasses correction beyond Lasik goes with age, and I’m pushing 60. As of right now, however, if I want a pair of reading glasses to wear when I’m on the computer and not likely to drive anywhere, those, too, would be expensive because they have to be corrected from the base point of the astigmatism prescription. So WalMart reading glasses don’t work for me… I STILL have the problem of the two eyes being different.
Interesting comments, people
.
I’m nearing 40 and it’s nice to see I’m just having the usual problems. Bifocals, check; hair coloring, check; achy knees, check. I couldn’t do the bifocals though, I didn’t feel like I could focus properly when driving.
On the leg cramps – try eating a banana every day – worked for me. Your potassium may be a little low and this is a nice low-tech solution.
Progressives were no problem — just had to learn to move my head to find the sweet spot to focus on things at varied distances. However, after cataract surgery I had to go to traditional bifocals and they were very difficult to adjust to. I miss the progressives…
Dont fear, Lasik surgery is safer these days!
Shannon
It was my understanding that Lasik won’t work if you have severe myopia even if your prescription is very simple. Is this not correct?
I’ve needed corrective lenses since the 3rd grade. I just hope that my 2 week old daughter has her daddy’s eyesight which is 20/20.
The only advice I can give you, La Shawn, is that when you get the glasses it will take a day or so to get used to them. When I went from bi-focals to the progressives, some things looked magnified. The sensation goes away eventually.
La Shawn, I had Lasik on both eyes about 7 years ago. I was legally blind in my left eye and couldn’t see well out of the right
Needless to say, the operation was a smashing success, I went home that same day, took a 4 hour nap and haven’t needed glasses since and now I’m about (heh!) 60 and still don’t need anything. I used to be glasses for most everything, another pair for the ‘puter, and a third pair for distance. Like my fanny, all that is behind me now. Get the surgery, it is life changing.
Lasik is nothing to fear. Very simple procedure. Mine took a total of about 15 minutes and was painless. Go to a reputable Lasik surgeon who has performed the procedure many times and has a proven track record. Pre-screening is very thorough. Some can’t have Lasik and I suspect that those who have had problems with their surgery were not screened properly. My myopia was very severe. I was considered legally blind 20/400 in left eye and 20/300 in the other since age 7. I was 47 when I had my surgery. I am now 53 and it was the best $$ I ever spent. I do have to wear readers which I buy off the rack for small print, but for me…someone who had to wear heavy glasses (contacts always created corneal abrasions)almost 24-7, light-weight readers are a welcome compromise. Go for it LaShawn!
As for getting older….well, who can fight it? I will go into that stage with as much gusto and grace that the very good Lord has given me.
I’ve had bifocals for about four years now. Age wasn’t a factor, my eyes are just going bad! I too wear the progressive lenses, which are far more attractive than the ones with that prominent line. Not the end of the world. Darn computer screens are doing all of us in….
La Shawn,
In case you’re still…ahem…reading this, I’m near-sighted in one eye also, but didn’t get that way until a couple of years ago (when I was 43). I blame my mom (heh), who has worn coke-bottles since she was four years old.
Funny story…
When I found out that I needed bifocals, I called my mom up to whine about it, momentarily forgetting her vision history. “Oh, you poor baby” she said with exaggerated empathy. “Oh I’m so sorry.” Her tone jogged my memory.
“Mom, are you mocking me?”
Putting on her best June Cleaver voice, she said, “Why yes, Honey. Yes I am.” LOL.
Nothing like good parents to shake one out of one’s self-pity.
oops. forgot to close a tag
I think I closed the right one for you. Well, I’m getting used to my progressives, but it’s still a bit jarring to need them.
– Admin
Hey La Shawn,
I turn 40 this month. Last year I was reading a book and realized that suddenly, it was out of focus. I could have sworn a few days prior I could read it just fine. I held the book closer, it was fine, further away, better but too far away to see the print. I went to the Doc and he told me it happens with age and typically because of sun damage. So I too, have joined in with the oldies crowd and now sport bi-focals. My hair is turning gray and I am starting to feel like an old lady. My kids make fun of me. sigh.
La Shawn,
I’m also presbyopic: my problem was that very often I did not have my reading glasses when I need them. Because of that, I invented i4ulenses, credit card size reading glasses you keep in your wallet like a credit card. These are pinch nose lenses you perch in front of your nose and not the magnifiers you hold in one hand. Please check http://www.i4ulenses.com for more information about presbyopia.
Regards, Patrick
Have you tried the following?
Wear a contact in one eye for long distance vision(usually works best in the dominant eye) and no contact in the other eye, which should work pretty well for reading. I started this about 10 years ago at the suggestion of my opthalmologist and it has enabled me to avoid bifocals so far.
It might feel strange at first, but I think you will be surprised at how quickly you get used to it.
I think I lost an argument with my 86 year old father and I’m upset about it…I was 50 when I had a cataract operation 2 years ago and wasn’t informed that there are both monofocal and multifocal interocular lens’ available, so given no option, I was implanted with a distance only IOl in left eye. I told father that he would need to wear reading glasses like me because there is no such thing as both near and far range implants. But, now today, after spending some time researching on the web, I find out that my memory impaired father has more smarts than me! Bottom line though, besides being upset that I wasn’t given the opportunity to choose for myself, am I at least right that if one is over 80 —especially well over 80, at 86 that they are inelligible for an IOL as a result of a cataract operation and would be required to wear cataract glasses due to age?
Craig
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