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Aging and Eye Problems

ldstephens.net

61–70 of 89 posts

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#61

I'm nearly 49 now. Presbyopia (the loss of ability to close-focus) came on strongly for me at about 46. It was almost like an overnight change. I've also lost significant acuity in low light, but that seemed to come on more slowly. I got my first bifocals last year. I got the "no line" variety and, so far, I hate them. The focal distances I need for reading, viewing my phone, and other close work are at the absolute…

after COVID i experienced macular degeneration—first in the left eye, later in the right. unfortunately, I was in a rural area of India at the time, and there was no good ophthalmologist available. So the macular degeneration was diagnosed as cataracts; which were also there, but in a nascent stage and not yet the cause of vision problems. So I got a cataract procedure done on the left eye, and it basically changed nothing.

Later I moved to Sri Lanka, where there are good eye hospitals in the local area. There I got a proper diagnosis and was discouraged from a second cataract procedure. I am controlling the macular degeneration by high doses of ocular vitamins. As far as glasses, I also found progressive lenses pretty useless, so I have two pairs: one for distance and one for computer work.

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#62

I think there may be even more issues with brain health and vision. https://www.nccdp.org/the-connection-between-dementia-and-vi... The eyes connect to the back of the brain and just above the evolutionary older cortext. When those signals start failing, there's some deeper change going on.

Blind people do not develop schizophrenia

isnt that from birth though.

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#63
post #30

I'm nearly 49 now. Presbyopia (the loss of ability to close-focus) came on strongly for me at about 46. It was almost like an overnight change. I've also lost significant acuity in low light, but that seemed to come on more slowly. I got my first bifocals last year. I got the "no line" variety and, so far, I hate them. The focal distances I need for reading, viewing my phone, and other close work are at the absolute…

Optical engineer here. This is what they don't tell you about continuous/transition/progressive bifocals: optically they don't work. The lens design is an overconstrained optimization problem and the solutions they come up with end up compromising a lot on everything, to the point that it is practically useless.

I got my first set of progressive lenses in safety glasses earlier this year as a way to try them out. Based on that experience, I switched my daily glasses to progressives in May and love them.

Once or twice a day, I notice a visual artifact that I perceive to be in my left peripheral vision, and of course I sometimes need to move my head slightly to see something, but being able to see clearly at all distances with relative ease is the exact opposite of “practically useless” IMO.

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#64
post #36

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm trying progressive lenses again after throwing them in the trash a few years ago. The distortion is the worst part for me. Moving my head around makes the world warped as it moves between zones. Maybe I'd get used to it if I forced myself to wear them all the time but I spend most of my day WFH and wearing a weak version of my distance prescription that lets me focus on my monitor yet see reasonably well around t…

Knew a friend who was a doctor. Said your brain is very malleable and adaptive. If you wear them for a week, you will probably adapt and stop noticing the progressives, even walking around and going up/down stairs.

Yeah they told me the same.

But it doesn't work that way. I've had them for months now and I still notice them. While walking, while looking around. While driving.

Is it much better? Yes.

Stop noticing? Heck no.

I'm still giving it some time but I really don't like the sudden weird feeling I still get from time to time. And I can't even figure out why it's fine much of the time and then suddenly I get that weird feeling again.

And just having to double chin it to see the ground in front of you is so annoying.

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#65
post #30

I'm nearly 49 now. Presbyopia (the loss of ability to close-focus) came on strongly for me at about 46. It was almost like an overnight change. I've also lost significant acuity in low light, but that seemed to come on more slowly. I got my first bifocals last year. I got the "no line" variety and, so far, I hate them. The focal distances I need for reading, viewing my phone, and other close work are at the absolute…

Optical engineer here. This is what they don't tell you about continuous/transition/progressive bifocals: optically they don't work. The lens design is an overconstrained optimization problem and the solutions they come up with end up compromising a lot on everything, to the point that it is practically useless.

>to the point that it is practically useless.

And yet I know many people who use them and love them. So?

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#66
there's also the factor of display technology. when i got a new laptop with LED-driven display, i couldn't even look at it longer than 5 mins without getting watery eyes. switched back to the vista-era laptop only because of its 1280x800 TFT display - zero issues with that.

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#67
If you have a sudden increase in floaters or start seeing flashes of light, this is a medical emergency.

If you’re unlucky, it’s a retinal detachment and you need medical attention to keep your vision.

If you’re very lucky, it was only flashes and you’ve had a specific type of migraine.

If you’re lucky, it’s posterior vitreous detachment which usually heals on its own.

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#69

I'm nearly 49 now. Presbyopia (the loss of ability to close-focus) came on strongly for me at about 46. It was almost like an overnight change. I've also lost significant acuity in low light, but that seemed to come on more slowly. I got my first bifocals last year. I got the "no line" variety and, so far, I hate them. The focal distances I need for reading, viewing my phone, and other close work are at the absolute…

The camera analogy is a really good one

Re: Aging and Eye Problems

#70
post #30

I'm nearly 49 now. Presbyopia (the loss of ability to close-focus) came on strongly for me at about 46. It was almost like an overnight change. I've also lost significant acuity in low light, but that seemed to come on more slowly. I got my first bifocals last year. I got the "no line" variety and, so far, I hate them. The focal distances I need for reading, viewing my phone, and other close work are at the absolute…

Optical engineer here. This is what they don't tell you about continuous/transition/progressive bifocals: optically they don't work. The lens design is an overconstrained optimization problem and the solutions they come up with end up compromising a lot on everything, to the point that it is practically useless.

But for actual use, especially screens and reading, the tradeoff can be pretty bad
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