I assume you mean that you have 20/20 'distance vision'...how is your vision at 8-12" reading distance? Anticipating when my eyes need cataract removal.
I agree. I used contact lenses until I needed cataracts removed, then the implants gave me 20/20 vision unaided for the first time since I was 12 years old.
I'll probably need cataract surgery within the next ten years, but I plan to ask them to leave my refraction as is -- I actually find my "microscopic vision" useful and I've been wearing glasses (or contacts, until I gave them up twenty years or so ago) for so long (second grade) I'd feel naked without them. Not to mention I don't have complete trust in Lasik, which is how they usually achieve the excellent vision after cataract surgery.
Does anyone here have experience of using contacts for the first time late in life (eg 60+)?
I assume you mean that you have 20/20 'distance vision'...how is your vision at 8-12" reading distance? Anticipating when my eyes need cataract removal.
Does anyone here have experience of using contacts for the first time late in life (eg 60+)?
you will save a lot of time not trying to remember where you last put your spectacles.
I usually do not need reading glasses unless the print is really small, 8 points or less or the light is dim.
My spectacles are always on my face unless I’m asleep. The one and only advantage of contacts for me would be to get my eye closer to the camera viewfinder. Especially so that I can see the 35mm frame lines!Age should not be a problem if your fingers are dexterous. As already explained, the function of my soft lenses is to smooth out my distorted cornea and do not correct vision, which is the task of my hard lenses.
Those who initially used hard lenses are usually dissatisfied with the vision quality of soft lenses. But those who begin with soft lenses are less picky. After a short period of adjustment, hard contacts will become vey normal. One big advantage, you will save a lot of time not trying to remember where you last put your spectacles.
Interesting!...given the muscles in the eye are responsible for altering the shape of the natural lens, so it adjusts for near vision, and this adjustment capacity diminishes as we age and the natural lens stiffens...one would not think that a replacement lens would have the ability to alter its shape, too.
Varifocals do get a bit of getting used to.Sooner or later you will need glasses for slightly further distances, and eventually for distance too. My recommendation is to go for good quality (eg Zeiss) varifocals sooner rather than later. Wearing glasses all the time is a bore, but taking them on and off is worse
I wouldn't go back to readers and distance sets of glasses though, varifocals for me.
Current technology lens implants go three ways on this. One method is to make the two eyes focus differently -- one at infinity, the other at reading distance (or computer distance), similar to what's often done with Lasik surgery for patients of bifocal age. A second is implant lenses that actually flex similarly to the way the natural lens does, and are attached to the same muscles. The third way (more common than the second, possibly because many cataract patients have weak or degenerated focusing muscles due to too many years with a hardened lens) is implant lenses with multiple focus -- like combining zones from three or four lenses into one. Apparently, after some acclimation time, the brain filters out (most of) the residual blur from the multiple focal lengths, just as it will filter a slight cross-eye or astigmatism (most of the time).
My own preference, and something I need to discuss with my ophthalmologist next visit, is eye drops that are officially sold as supplements that have been demonstrated to shrink cataracts over time (a year or so initially). There are approved drops that do this for dogs, but FDA has not yet approved the one for humans -- however, because it's a natural amino acid, it can be sold over the counter as a suppplement. Last I checked, it costs about $80 for a 90 day supply, which is WAY cheap compared to even the copay for cataract surgery...
Interesting!...given the muscles in the eye are responsible for altering the shape of the natural lens, so it adjusts for near vision, and this adjustment capacity diminishes as we age and the natural lens stiffens...one would not think that a replacement lens would have the ability to alter its shape, too.
Varifocals do get a bit of getting used to.
When I got my first pair the optician asked me if I was a carpenter or similar occupation.
The reason is that straight lines appear curved. Not much good when trying to find a straight piece of wood.
My brother was a fireman, and he told me varifocals were not allowed in his job due to the lower area of the lenses being out of focus when looking straight ahead. A fireman new to varifocals had walked off a roof as he was not aware of where his feet were trading.
I wouldn't go back to readers and distance sets of glasses though, varifocals for me.
Current technology lens implants go three ways on this. One method is to make the two eyes focus differently -- one at infinity, the other at reading distance (or computer distance), similar to what's often done with Lasik surgery for patients of bifocal age. A second is implant lenses that actually flex similarly to the way the natural lens does, and are attached to the same muscles. The third way (more common than the second, possibly because many cataract patients have weak or degenerated focusing muscles due to too many years with a hardened lens) is implant lenses with multiple focus -- like combining zones from three or four lenses into one. Apparently, after some acclimation time, the brain filters out (most of) the residual blur from the multiple focal lengths, just as it will filter a slight cross-eye or astigmatism (most of the time).
My own preference, and something I need to discuss with my ophthalmologist next visit, is eye drops that are officially sold as supplements that have been demonstrated to shrink cataracts over time (a year or so initially). There are approved drops that do this for dogs, but FDA has not yet approved the one for humans -- however, because it's a natural amino acid, it can be sold over the counter as a suppplement. Last I checked, it costs about $80 for a 90 day supply, which is WAY cheap compared to even the copay for cataract surgery...
I had one cataract removed and has two eyes focusing differently unless I put it a contact lens. I found that without the other eye being corrected have two different focal lengths was the worst of all worlds. All of the so called advantages were very annoying disadvantages and I would only recommend it only to my worst enemies and possibly not even then.
Why didn't you do the other eye?
On the other hand, assuming your straight ahead vision is infinity, you might actually want to see what you are stepping on and your feet might be, say, 5 feet away from your eyes.
a fireman walking off a roof because of bifocals
When I got my first pair of bifocals, I was strongly cautioned by the optician to use my old glasses to drive, until I'd worn the bifocals for a few days. I've never had trouble with stairs or drop-offs with either bifocals or my current progressives (same as varifocals?), though.
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