(no subject)

[tanaise]

I have to get glasses. *mope*. I've worn contacts since I was 13. And I haven't worn glasses since then at all. I was so happy when I got contacts, because I didn't have to wear glasses anymore. No more steaming up in the winter, no more red spots on my nose from the glasses pinching, nothing. And now I have an eyedoctor's appointment in an hour because I got allergic conjuntivitis *again*. This time after wearing my contacts for just a few hours. And so I'm pretty sure the end recommendation is going to be get glasses.

*mopes more*

And, as proof that the universe is spying on me, the article in the Science/Health section yesterday was about Lasik. (there was also an article about robots that just confirmed Andrea's fears, but I digress.)

The piece of the story that really caught my attention (much as I'd like to see clearly without glasses or contacts, I'm not *quite* ready for Lasik) was as follows:

Specialists said the scientific research so far does not justify telling patients to get laser surgery simply to reduce their chance of infection from contacts.

Or, for that matter, to increase their chance of finding romance.

"What we try to avoid is the unrealistic expectations," said Dr. Peter McDonnell , director of the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins University . "If we hear something like, 'I've never been able to get dates and it must be because of my glasses,' that causes us to hesitate.

Now. Guess the gender that Dr. Peter is talking about there.

"Sometimes you can tell that people have other social issues and that women are not judging them based on their glasses."


Surprised me, I have to say.

---

Anyways, I may have a poll tomorrow to vote on the sort of glasses I should get, if the appointment goes the way I assume it will.

Comments

[bondgwendabond.livejournal.com]

I found this great piece on Slate about what type of glasses you should get for different types of faces, etc., when I had to get a new pair and wear them in public for a few weeks. I can probably dig it out if you need it and can't find it.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

If you have the time, please, as my follow through sucks lately, and I never remember to do anything I need to do once I'm at home.

[bondgwendabond.livejournal.com]

Here you go. If you're as blind as I am, the thinnest possible lenses (which still ain't insignificant in my case) are worth the extra scratch.

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Glasses, they are the sexy things!

(Whether men will make passes/at girls who wear glasses/depends quite a bit/on the shape of the chassis :-)

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

I think I've got a germanic chassis, and people rarely say, "wow, look at the lines on that BMW." (except about the Z3, maybe.)

[commodorified.livejournal.com]

Oh, me too, the kind of woman you can hitch to the plough if the horse dies ...

We have our following...

(and, yanno, the the K 1200 RS (http://www.terrystransmission.com/cars/bmw_motorcycle.jpg)is pretty hot...)

[lonesomenumber1]

My wife had Lasik ten years ago and thinks it's the greatest thing ever. She says she's going to need glasses for reading pretty soon, though.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

They've apparently gotten very very good a minimizing the risks involved with it (Which I think is mostly code for 'not operating on people it won't help), and I think it's a really really cool idea...I'm just so scared of the idea of if it goes wrong.

[lonesomenumber1]

When Andrea had it done, they would only do one eye at a time. It was a litle scary.

[carolhelga.livejournal.com]

Glasses today can be very sexy.

I got contacts for the first time when I was sixteen, and I had to beg my parents to let me try them. With the collusion of my optometrist, who told them it could help the degenerative problems I was having (new glasses every SIX MONTHS), they finally relented. I wore them until I was in my mid thirties, at which time, I started having issues with the dust in the area where I live, so I returned to wearing glasses.

My eyes don't change much any more from year to year, though the doctor tells me I'm getting to a point where I'm going to need bifocals (eek!).

I have very bad eyes (both nearsighted and astigmatic)...and I use the "Fetherlite" (think that's how it's spelled) lenses, because they don't squish down on my nose and slide off the end. The old clunky type I never could get to stay on without those silly looking straps around the back of the head to help hold them on my nose.

Yes, today's glasses are much, MUCH nicer than glasses 30 years ago.

[haddayr.livejournal.com]

May I ask what type of contact lenses you wear?

I had constant problems with infections when I wore soft contacts. I have not had a single one since I switched to gas permeable.

Also, as an added bonus: gas perms correct vision better. I am legally blind, but with my contacts I have 20/20 vision. Not remotely possible with soft ones.

[tanaise.livejournal.com]

I wear two week disposable soft contacts. The fancy new ones I have are supposedly extra oxygen-y, the older ones are just soft contacts, nothing fancy.

I really *really* wish that consumer reports would do something on contacts again, because the last time they did it was before I started wearing them, which is to say 16 years ago, and while somethings haven't changed with contacts in 15 years, the soft, and particularly disposable contacts have gotten much *much* different, and I want to know!

My eyes correct to 20/20 with both contacts, which is something they never manage to do with glasses, and why I really *really* don't want to wear glasses again. i still remember the first time I wore contacts, noticing a corona around street lights and having the whole world be several shades lighter than it had been--when i started wearing them, I still had astigmatism, which thankfully is gone now. I also remember finally having depth perception and just...understanding how things were supposed to look. I adapted to wearing contacts immediately, and I've never since been able to see properly with glasses, though I've only tried once, with (I'm hoping) a bad choice of frames and lenses (because they were supposed to be emergency backups, not general wear, so why spend the money?)

I've mostly just worn only the contact for my 20/300 eye for the past 12 years or so, so I think my corrected vision was probably 20/40 or so (uncorrected eye is 20/60)