glasses vs. contacts

[scottpA_GS]

Question for you regular glasses wearers; I work on a computer all day and sometimes I get headaches. I have glasses that were issued to me from the Army and I started using them and the headaches went away and I can focus much better on the screen. My question is can anyone recommend a place where I can get these lenses put in better looking frames vs these RPG's (Rape Provention Glasses) they are in now? The perscription is still dead on so I really don't want to purchase lenses and frames just the frames.

Robert

I dont wear glasses often but I have them. When I got them they asked if I work on the PC alot.. I said yes... So they coated them with something to reduce the glare/light? from the monitor   Dont know exactly what it was but it seemsto work =)

We called them Contraseptive eyewear in the AF =) ... Not gettin laid w/ them suckers on 

[tt_four]

The most pain/annoyance I get from my glasses is when the the arms behind my ears starts hurting the crease behind my ears, and there's nothing you can do about it but suffer through it.

[DoD#i]

YMMV - a lot. Anti-reflection coating - was in my experience a great way to move cash from my wallet to glasses guy. Actual effect - none I noticed. Having a pair of glasses with a shorter infinity (effectively the same as a long reading glasses adjustment - adding about 1 diopter) does help, as your eyes are more relaxed when looking at the screen, this gets more important as you age and your eyes lose flexibility.

If the earpieces hurt your head, you need to get them properly adjusted. They should not hurt - they don't need anywhere near the pressure some idjiots set them up with. Or try cable ends.

Moving same lenses to different frames - can be done, if new frame is smaller. Needs a competent optician to keep the optical center of the lens in the right place. They all come about 2-3 inches in diameter and get ground to fit the frames anyway. HOWEVER, if your army glasses are glass, and are also tempered, leave them alone - tempered glass shatters if you try to change it once it's been tempered. Plastic, no problem.

There are some really inexpensive glasses places on the net. They make the glasses exactly where you would expect at those absurd prices. However, in a spate of disgust after dropping $200 on fancy-pants progressive lenses that are, IMHO, useless beer goggles, I got several pair (distance, reading, absurd close-up work) of single vision, and was pleasantly surprised at the quality, and also at how well the polycarbonate hard-coating has held up  - polycarb is the only option, and it's hardcoated by default, no extra charge. When I started wearing glasses, I went to "glass lenses only" very early because I destroyed plastic lenses. I went to metal frames because I destroyed plastic frames. I went to flexible titanium frames and actually got a pair of glasses to live many years without needing to be taped or soldered back together.

Laser correction surgery - well, it won't keep you from needing reading glasses when you get old, unless you go for the ultra-peculiar one-eye distance and one-eye short - good luck with that if you can't adapt (back to glasses). Plus I've seen so many versions of this (remember RK?), each hailed by the folks to pay out the nose for it and then discarded as old and problematic when the next one comes along - I'll wait. Certainly the occasional person who comes out of the laser with problems they didn't have going in, and which can't be corrected by glasses happens often enough that I consider the fact that my glasses work fine and leave well enough alone. Read the release they'll want you to sign in detail. The fact that no insurance I'm aware of covers it is also concerning, and it's a big pile of cash for an operation you can get by without, just fine, for 99.9% of people. Plus, aside from the old-age changes, my eyes have changed a fair amount over time - so you pay $6K or whatever the going rate is these days ($20 towards the cost of the machine, $100 for the doctor running it, $5880 for liability insurance) and then your eyes don't stay put...

08GSSteve - did a really hot (yet cool) girl bite your neck at some point in the past? 

[XealotX]

Yeah, me too! I got weird eyes. Guess it fits in with the rest of me. I know back in 2000 they still hadn't had lenses for astigmatism so my contact script was different than my glasses!

Mary

There have been contacts for astigmatism since 1974.

[socialDK]

Ok how about this great idea.  Im to lazy for contacts so I wear regular glasses.  I hate wearing them when riding so how about a visor or insert that could come in your prescription.  Just slip it in and enjoy your ride.   

[tt_four]

Ooh, I forgot, the most annoying thing about glasses is that you have to take them off and find something to do with them every time you take your helmet off or put it on. Plus if you readjust your helmet it will move your glasses and you're riding down the road trying to readjust your glasses so they feel even on your face.

They don't hurt the back of my ears often. Maybe one day out ever every 3-4 months, and it's usually when I'm already having a bad day.

[PaviSays]

I've had contacts for 5 years now, and I wouldn't be caught on the motorcycle without them.  I went riding on the back of the GS with glasses on and I was way too dizzy and disoriented from the glasses bouncing around.  Ironically this was on the way to an eye appointment, so I just picked up a pair of contacts, slapped them in, and the ride home was fine.

I used to sleep with my contacts in a couple years ago, until my eye doctor told me that wearing them that long causes blood vessels to grow in your eyes to increase the oxygen flow  He said the damage would be irreversible and could cause blindness if I continued.  So I took the hint and have had no trouble since.   I still nap with them in from time to time, but no longer than a few hours.

[tt_four]

My helmet holds my glasses pretty still on my head, I'm surprised you have a problem with them bouncing around. The only reason they're an issue inside my helmet is if I move my helmet, it's tight enough that it moves my glasses with them, and it just feels weird when that pressure is taken off my nose where they usually rest.

I think it would be extremely nice to not have them when I ride in cold weather as well. It's bad enough having to deal with a visor fogging, let alone your glasses fogging. Not to mention all the times it's just been foggy out, and I couldn't see through my visor anymore, so without thinking it through, I just say "forget it, I'll just open my visor and ride slowly", and the second you do your glasses fog up.

Yeah I'm really looking forward to them perfecting that lazer surgery. I can't imagine being able to see without glasses on, not to mention the cats think it's funny to knock them on the floor while I'm sleeping. At one point when we were repainting the bedroom I had removed the grate from the air duct. I woke up to the sound of my glasses hitting the bottom of the air duct 2 stories down. I was in the basement at 1:30am cutting up the air duct with some sheet metal cutters with 50% vision. Damn cats

[drewbytes]

Laser correction surgery - well, it won't keep you from needing reading glasses when you get old, unless you go for the ultra-peculiar one-eye distance and one-eye short - good luck with that if you can't adapt (back to glasses). Plus I've seen so many versions of this (remember RK?), each hailed by the folks to pay out the nose for it and then discarded as old and problematic when the next one comes along - I'll wait. Certainly the occasional person who comes out of the laser with problems they didn't have going in, and which can't be corrected by glasses happens often enough that I consider the fact that my glasses work fine and leave well enough alone.

I know a few people that have had laser surgery and all of them are the same as me - perfect vision, no problems, and it's been 10+ years for them too. It's the BEST money I've ever spent on ANYTHING. So what if you need reading glasses later? That's the norm anyway as you get older.

It doesn't matter what type of surgery you have. It has the same end result as the newer fancier types. It cost me $3500 AUD and I would have spent probably not far off that in 10 years of glasses and contacts - and I don't have any of the associated hassles.

[tt_four]

Yeah, I just looked around their website, that's even more expensive than I assumed it would be. I'm hoping the price will drop a bit over the next 10 years or so, but who knows. By that time I'll have kids and won't have money for those kind of things anyway. It would be worth the long term costs if you bought $400 frames and fancy lenses, but I don't, so I can't even use that one to justify. I need a sugar daddy. I wouldn't ask for a lot, just some eye surgery, and an MV Agusta Brutale. I don't even need the $30,000 R version, I'll settle for the lame S version.

[Flanders]

I had glasses, and wore contacts for a bit -- and going back and forth drove me nuts.  Losing the peripheral vision with glasses made me want to wear contacts, but i found them very uncomfy.  So, I got lasered too   I still wear sunglasses and safety goggles all the time, but oooooooo it's nice having better-than 20/20 vision

[DoD#i]

I know a few people that have had laser surgery and all of them are the same as me - perfect vision, no problems, and it's been 10+ years for them too.

Based on very limited research, the failure rate is still around 3 percent. I'm not saying it didn't work for you - I'm saying it's not very good odds for an operation on something that isn't going to kill you. Heck, it's 3 times worse than the liver-poisioning toenail fungus drugs (1% incidence of serious liver damage, up to an including complete failure), and I like my liver too much to offer it up on the altar of fungus-free toenails, even when one of them is hurting me (because it grows so twisted) from time to time.

I won't join you. I sure in the heck don't spend anything like US$289 on glasses in a year, and if you have gone 10 years without seeing an eye doctor "because you don't need glasses now" you're begging for other problems - but you and your friends got into the 97% group on the LASIK - good for you.

[jserio]

3% failure rate really doesn't seem all that high to me. but, i won't be spending the cash for the laser anytime soon. at this very moment, i'm back to my glasses and can barely see out of my left eye. (although it's getting better) went to family doc today to get my eye looked at. it's got some sort of infection. should clear up soon with the drops i've been given. then my eye appointment is next wednesday. ah, can't wait for new glasses actually. i don't mind having glasses really. maybe i'll spend the extra money to get the "transition" type lenses. 

[jserio]

so, i have a handle on what my problem has been with my left eye. a corneal ulcer. in simple english, an infection inside my eyeball itself. caused usually from not taking care of contacts properly.    some lessons learned the hard way huh? so, i'm stuck with poor vision until this clears up, at which time i can get a regular eye exam and get new glasses/contacts. 

[Toogoofy317]

See definately gotta take care of your eyes too!

Mary

[Jughead]

I tried contacts for a couple of weeks BUT i work in too much dust and Dirt.

[bombadillo]

Your glasses give you somewhat tunnel vision and you miss a huge chunk of peripheral when you put them on.  Also, the vertex distance from the contact actually being thousandths of an inch from your eye versus glasses, 12-17mm from your eye you get a "fishbowling" effect that doesn't happen with contacts.  Wear them a couple days and let your eyes rest from the contacts.  They need 1-2 days per week of oxygen actually getting to your cornea or you can get corneal edema (ulceration) of the eye and various vascular issues if you don't let it happen.  I once saw a kid have to have his 2 week trial pair of contacts removed by laser because he wore them for about a year and a half without taking them out or cleaning them.  When he tried, they had virtually melted to his eye and severely infected.  I do this stuff all day as a licensed optician so I get to see it all.

[jserio]

yeah, i've learned my lesson for sure about proper contact care. so if i do get contacts again, i'll follow doc's orders with them for sure.  my infection is almost cleared up. i've got another appointment wednesday. been doing a combo of a steroid drop and an antibiotic. my vision in that eye still is really blurry, but my eye isn't as red and swollen. 

[bombadillo]

Ooh, I feel your pain.  Hope you get better soon.

[tt_four]

That's crazy. Too bad for him it resulted in an infection, because if it didn't he could've had perfect vision for the rest of his life for the cost of a 2 week pair of contacts! I know that's not how it works though. I have my first eye appointment in years tomorrow, so I'll have new glasses soon. I'm excited about that.

3% isn't high in general. If I really wanted the surgery a 3% chance wouldn't bother me, especially if it's a chance that the lazers won't do anything, and the doctor will give me my money back if it doesn't work. However, if it's a 3% chance that I'll see worse/go blind, or the doctor doesn't give all my money back, then that 3% starts to look huge.  For me to really consider it an option, I think the whole situation would have to cost less than $1500 total, but preferrably under $1000, and practically no chance of going blind, but I don't see that happening right yet as the price hasn't really gone down since they started. Maybe in 20 years or so I'll get it as a mid-life present, I can use the money I saved by NOT buying a sportscar.