Question
I am 26 years old. I recently had my first eye exam. I always thought I had very good vision until I took an eye-test to renew my driver's license. I realized my left eye was not as good as my right and it was difficult to read the letters with my left eye. I was always able to focus on anything I wanted to before. My job requires a lot of reading, particularly fine print, and computer use. I recently started getting headaches at the end of long days, or it may be difficult to focus on words. I also have a terrible "starburst" that comes off bright lights.
I received the following prescription and was advised to wear them always, not just for reading:
OD +1.00 -0.25 x 147
OS +2.25 -0.75 x 055
I have been wearing my glasses for nearly a week now. When I first put them on, it made me feel slightly cross-eyed. My eyes seem to have adjusted to the glasses and everything seems clear to me, I am wearing them right now and they seem to help with work. The "starbursts" have not gone away, but I believe they are smaller. Computers and TV's still seem very bright to me, and often create trails of light, particularly if I am tired or if the light is very bright.
However, now when I take my glasses off I feel very cross-eyed and I feel like I cannot see well at all. It is difficult to focus on most anything. Is this normal? My husband tells me it's because I needed glasses. The optician just laughed when I came back to ask her that.
Also, I feel very sensitive to the rim around my lenses. I got a pair of light weight flex frames and the lenses seem to stick out past the glasses. The edge of the lenses catch light and create a bright oval around the frames of my glasses. It's particularly bad when looking at a computer/TV, or driving looking at headlights or brake-lights (the oval is red then).
I have returned to the optometrist and was told it may be an issue with the "bevel" and perhaps it could be fixed with a "polishing." They also said I might just have to get used to it - that's it's part of wearing glasses. They told me to come back next week.
Is this typical? I feel like it obstructs my vision and after a while makes my eyes water, which makes more light trails appear from bright lights. When I am out in bright sunlight, there is light trial lines through my lenses, when the sun is over head. A hat helps, but really, is this typical?
Thank you in advance for reading this. This is all very new to me. Will wearing glasses make my vision without my glasses worse? Is there any way for me to correct my vision with therapy, as opposed to relying on corrective lenses?
Answer
Seeing that your Rx is significant, and you never wore glasses before, I would expect you to have some problems adapting to the use of glasses. With the Rx you have, it would not be uncommon for you to spend your youngest years not at all suspecting the need for glasses and then finding out later that your eyes are strained. It would also not be uncommon with a prescription such as you have, for that prescription to increase as the years go on, so you may as well find a way to get comfortable with eyewear.
With the type of Rx you have, your eyes have been straining for some time, especially if you have been doing a lot of reading and computer work. It may take some time for them to relax enough to be comfortable with the new glasses.
Now, in making the glasses and adjusting them to your face there are some factors that could contribute to a longer period of adjustment than usual. I HOPE you got anti-reflective coating on your glasses. If not, this may be a large part of the problem you report of seeing the edges of the lenses catch light. If you did not get it this time, let me just say that it may almost be worthwhile to keep the first pair as a sort of spare and now order a new pair that HAS anti-glare coating. It is generally not added once the glasses have been dispensed. But I assure you, you would be more comfortable with this coating.
I am not sure polishing the edge would eliminate the glare, but that depends on the style of the frame and some other factors. I have to assume if that is what your optometrist recommended, it must be that your type of glasses could benefit from polishing so perhaps you should try it.
Another consideration that is not commonly used anymore is something called edge-coating. This is where they sort of paint along the edge of the lens to reduce the glare that comes from it. This probably can be added to your current pair. Of course there is the cosmetic consideration - depending what type of style you have, it may not look that great.
You can relax about the fear that wearing the glasses will make your eyes worse. on the contrary, it should allow them to relax more while you are working and your visual system may become more flexible after a while and you may not feel you need them as much. If that happens though, do NOT stop wearing them at work, for reading and the computer. With that type of Rx, it is very important that you wear it for all near tasks. While it is helpful to also wear them for distance viewing, that is not as critical as the nearpoint tasks.
And no, with your type of Rx, I really cannot imagine that any type of eye exercises would help. Do not however rule out contact lenses! They might give you very good relief from the optical aberrations that occur with glasses and may be easier for you to wear.
