Glasses

[dr4b]

So I went to Pacific Eye Care Optometry on June 24 for my first eye exam in... ever, possibly.

Bad news: I got glasses :(
Good news: Google's eye insurance is crazy good.

I had been getting weird headaches and blurry vision during work for a while.  I'd usually just step away from the computer and go to the minikitchen or whatever until it cleared up. So I decided to see an eye doctor because this was really mostly happening at work, AND because I've noticed in the last few years that I often need to make fonts bigger to read things comfortably, and when I'm at baseball games I sometimes can't tell the difference between 3's and 8's (and 6's and 9's depending on font) on scoreboards.

I've never had glasses before, despite that everyone in my family has them and I stare at computer screens a lot and I'm getting old.

Anyway, Dr. Zaum was really cool and the office is super-convenient (it's right by the Krispy Kreme on the other side of the highway on Rengstorff; I was able to ride my bike there from campus in like 5-10 minutes) and she did all kinds of tests on my eyes and pretty much everything is fine except that I have mild astigmatism which is why things are blurry. It was pretty crazy seeing what everything looked like when there were corrective lenses applied (like the letters would just go from blurry to clear).

I think the last time I did anything eye-related would be when I got my CA driving license like 3-4 years ago, but at the time I was able to pass their vision test without any problem. Dr. Zaum said that I'm legal to drive since my overall vision is 20/30 but that my right eye is 20/50 and if both my eyes were that bad, combined I wouldn't be legal. Not that I drive much anyway; I wonder what the vision requirements are for biking 3 miles to campus.

Google's insurance apparently covers us for 3 pairs of glasses. I'm already freaked out about having one pair, so I'm just doing that for now, but she said it wouldn't be unreasonable to get a pair for sitting by the computer and a pair of sunglasses for riding bikes.  I did get the progressive glasses that darken when you get UV light on them and turn into virtual sunglasses.

Pretty sure I'm incapable of getting contacts given how freaked out I got when she poked lights at my eyes and things like that.

The glasses came in on July 2nd.  Chris and I went to Chicago for the weekend, from the 2nd to the 5th (we had July 2-3 off from work) and so of course I landed at ORD and got the voicemail about the glasses and couldn't pick them up until today.

This morning I got Chris to drive me over to get them, so he could also look at computer glasses -- he doesn't wear glasses either but has been saying that staring at a screen all day feels weird to him lately.  So he did that while I got my glasses.  It's mostly just WEIRD to be wearing them so far.  I fully realize they make things more clear than they were before -- it's striking to take them off and look at something and then put them on and it's like everything goes into focus.

Comments

[mg4h.livejournal.com]

They look good on you! I also have the progressive lenses, I love how well they work to also cut down on night glare when I'm driving. Headlamps aren't these BIG BLURRY things they're more like light lamps that I don't have to squint against.

And yeah, wearing them is weird at first, you'll have to get used to them, but it's so nice to see! I'm having to decide between getting two types of glasses since up-close things are starting to be hard to refocus through the glasses, or bifocals or whatever. Blah. I don't want to try dragging around a second pair though, so I'm afraid it'll have to be the bifocals.

[sorakirei.livejournal.com]

Since both you and Chris spend so much time at computers, maybe for your second pair of glasses you might ask if your eye doctor can provide Gunnars. They are a yellowish lens that helps to reduce eyestrain. They are pretty interesting.

http://www.gunnars.com/

[dr4b]

Chris got a pair of Gunnars. I think he got too big frames though since he said they don't work with his headphones. Oops.

[kojaxs.livejournal.com]

Welcome to the club! Now you can come to all the secret meetings. :D

[owens888.livejournal.com]

Even if you wear glasses, it always takes a period of adjustment to a new pair. Straight lines don't reach your retina as being straight anymore, and your brain needs a few days to perceive them as straight again.

Also, it's good to buy a cheap backup pair; by Murphy's law, that guarantees that your originally purchased pair won't break.

[eustacio.livejournal.com]

This. Every time I get new glasses, I've got a few days of adjustment to go through.

Also, that reminds me that I need to schedule my own appointment in the near future.

[dr4b]

I have an appointment today to get my eyes dilated (she didn't do that the original appointment because I was biking back to work after) so I'll ask them about getting a second pair, I guess. Right now the biggest problem so far has been that they are a little loose and keep falling down my nose (I am under the impression that something can be done easily to fix that). The second biggest problem is that my eyes are super-itchy at the end of the day, I'm going to ask the optometrist about that.

Keeping the glasses clean also seems somewhat annoying, I wonder if that's normal.

[cellio]

The glasses look good on you!

Glasses frames can be, and generally need to be, adjusted to fit your face. Sometimes this takes a few iterations to get right -- it'll feel ok in the store but by a few hours later you realize it's not quite sitting right or sliding too much or whatever. That's normal.

I have been using computer glasses at work for several years now (but haven't gotten a second pair for home use yet). This made a huge difference for me; the computer glasses are focused at monitor distance, not distance-distance. It does mean switching glasses every time I sit down or get up, which is a minor hassle, but so long as I keep a spot on the desk clear right next to the monitor (so I have a place to put the other pair), that works out.

Definitely get the anti-glare treatment for computer glasses. (IMO get it for all glasses, but especially those.)

Plastic lenses scratch. If yours are plastic rather than glass, be careful in cleaning them. Microfiber cloths are good.

[dr4b]

They adjusted the frame today during my dilation appointment and it seems much better, I was able to look down and play pinball for a while this evening without them falling off.

Not sure what my lenses are made of, but I do have some of those cleaning cloths.

I think computer glasses work better for people who really do all of their work in one place. My problem is that I have two separate desks I sit at (in two buildings on campus) and it's also pretty common for me to just work on my laptop at home or at various other places. Switching glasses so often seems like a pain. But I know that people just sometimes keep them by the computer at work, like you do.

[mh75.livejournal.com]

One of my daughter's friends, who is 8, just picked up her first pair of glasses yesterday. She is so thrilled, and spent all afternoon doing just what you say - take them off and look, and then put them back on. Its magic.

What are 'computer glasses' precisely? In some other post you mentioned that the eye doctor suggested computer glasses, and reading glasses and normal glasses? I don't know what any of those differences are.

(note: I have worn glasses since 3rd grade, but they are all the same.)

[dr4b]

The computer glasses are kinda yellowish and supposedly reduce the effect of computer screens on your eyes. I honestly don't really know, I think someone else may be able to answer that better -- or you can look up Gunnar glasses.