Wearing glasses advice needed.

ben@31

Hello, For a few months now I've found that when driving at night any street lights or tail lights no longer looked clear but a slightly out of focus starburst. Interestingly day to day tasks in daylight was perfectly fine.
The potential danger of driving at night gave me the incentive to get some glasses from the Opticians.
I never knew how bad my eyesight was until I wear my new glasses at night for 10 minutes then take them off again.

Anyway... my question is "Do they take a while to get used to or do I have the wrong prescription" ? As they are more noticeable than I expected. Its not like having perfect eyesight but its obvious I'm looking through something false, like wearing a goldfish bowl on my head. Especially when walking around.

Is there any veteran glasses wearers out there who've had experience of this ?

bianchimoon

glasses can take a little while to get used to, i've only been given the wrong prescription once and it felt like my eyeballs were being pinched together, optician said he prescribed one strength too much as he thought i was in-between strengths. Stick with them for a week or so, if the prescription is wrong your eyes and brain will complain straightaway. But sounds from what you're saying that it's a strange new experience, something you'll get used to in a week or so

bbrap

Single vision lenses should be pretty OK from the off. Varifocals can take a little while as your brain needs to get to grips with the change points and smooth things out. If you are having problems after a week I'd go back to the opticians. It can be something simple like the glasses sliding down your nose a bit which needs the arms bending to keep them properly in place. Goldfish bowl implies that you have quite a strong prescription, in which case it may take a little time. What prescription have you been given? (should be on your paperwork).

kingrollo

Single vision glasses should ok from the start.

However they do have to be lined up and fitted properly - this often overlooked as the sales staff do the hand over these days - some have the knowledge , skill , and experience to set them up - others don't.

Just pop into any optician and they should be able to line then up correctly in under 5 minutes. £1 to a penny thats your problem

sungod

your visual system will learn to adjust what you perceive to match expectation - i.e. straight lines being straight

until then you can expect some distortion, especially away from the centre of your visual field

i'd think wearing them as much as possible and in changing environments would speed the process

over time it'll adjust faster when you switch between wearing/not wearing, i switch between none/contacts/glasses, at first it was quite apparent, but now adjustment is so fast i barely notice

Frank Wilson

Don't know your age Ben but it may be related. I absolutely hate night driving now for the reasons you have stated, day time I am fine.

spekky

I suspect you have early cataracts. Glare from headlights and driving into the low sun with a wet road are typical symptoms.

oxoman

As a wearer since childhood most of the above I'd agree with. Disagree with spekkys comment as the opticians should pick that up straightaway.

earth

From my experience, and I'm not an optician, it takes a few minutes for my vision to adjust when I change prescription or when I used to go from contact lenses to glasses. This must be the brain adjusting to differences in what the eye is presenting. It's quite remarkable and gives an indication as to what perception is.

If it were the wrong prescription I don't think your vision would adjust correctly. But that's just a guess. Either way I think it might be harmful.

I am more concerned about the long term effects of prescriptions that under correct or prescriptions that get closer to fully correcting. Or indeed if it makes any difference.

ben@31

Thanks for the advice.

bbrap, when I say goldfish bowl, I don't mean any distortion in vision, I think every thing still looks straight and not bent. In fact wearing the glasses is like seeing everything in HD. But I get a slight dizzy feeling. Almost like my mind knows the image isn't real, if that makes sense ?

earth

ben@31 wrote:

Thanks for the advice.

bbrap, when I say goldfish bowl, I don't mean any distortion in vision, I think every thing still looks straight and not bent. In fact wearing the glasses is like seeing everything in HD. But I get a slight dizzy feeling. Almost like my mind knows the image isn't real, if that makes sense ?

It feels weird because it is not what the brain was expecting. But it adjusts. When I used to swap between glasses and contacts, vertical lines like door frames would turn into circles. :shock: Then over a few minutes they become straight. The brain knows what it is looking at and must adjust itself to read the eye differently until it gets what it expects again.

Now I just have to put up with my glasses splitting light into component wavelengths like the cover of Dark Side of the Moon.

keef66

My first time in varifocals was a slightly disturbing experience; takes some getting used to the fact that you need to move your head about to bring things into focus.

They are properly annoying when doing DIY / car repairs when you can't actually look through the right part of the lens and the very thing you're trying to focus on remains stubbornly blurry. Anything near the ceiling is quite literally a pain in the neck.

I'm still thinking about laser surgery...

mouth

I went back to glasses after a 14 year absence between finishing school and applying for a vocational driving license - turned out my eyes hadn't changed in the intervening period yet eyesight correction was required for all vehicle categories. I never knew this in the 12 or so years I'd been driving until this point. FWIW I'm a massive advocate that all applicants for a provisional should be submitted to a formal medical in the very first instance - I know people who've found out they're diabetic, or have eye problems, or even heart problems when applying for a bus/lorry license later in life. A periodical medical would have potentially identified these issues earlier on.

Back to the point; when I reintroduced specs in my life, it was like getting a new telly or a better digital camera than the last one but things weren't exactly right despite the benefits. I ended up having a re-test because of the bus license process and was advised that I had the wrong prescription. When I fetched my new ones I was absolutely astounded by the difference. Life really was in HD. my advice is they should be pretty much bang on out of the box - I'd be returning, potentially to a different optometrist for their opinion. There are also several elements in terms of the fit and the glasses/lenses being in the right position to gain the maximum benefit. Pupillary distance is a major factor.

If you drive a lot at night, I'd recommend night time lenses. For me, the 40 quid or whatever it cost was worth every single penny. I noticed the difference when I had to go back to some standard lenses after a breakage.

ben@31

@Mouth, I agree with your post and your experience is similar to mine... I never knew how bad my eyesight was, until I got glasses. When I put my glasses on its like watching everything in 1080HD.
It makes me wonder how many motorists out there have potentially dangerous eyesight and are still allowed to drive unchecked? A good comparison is Airline Pilots, they have to take a medical every year then it reduces to every 6 months after a certain age, to be allowed to fly. I think their medical covers quite a lot like heart ECG, blood tests + urine tests (anaemia, cholesterol and diabetes), respiratory tests (asthma), hearing test, colour blindness.

I think Im getting used to the glasses now. Bizarrely if I wear the glasses for a long period and take them off, my natural eyesight seems much worse than it was before?

mouth

ben@31 wrote:

It makes me wonder how many motorists out there have potentially dangerous eyesight and are still allowed to drive unchecked?

The main point that I was trying to make was that the initial eyesight check for a car license - "....please read that number plate at xxxxx feet away....." clearly isn't adequate. I can still do it even now, despite the fact I need an eyesight correction to drive according to the DVLA. I have no idea how I fare when it comes to cycling - I don't wear specs when doing so.

With reference to your other points, bus and hgv drivers are subject to periodical medicals, usually every 5 years. Until recently this was a self declaration up to the age of 45, and then with a doctor from that point onwards but has now been changed and a medical professional is now involved. I'm quite fortunate to work for a company that pays for this on my behalf- my company essentially hires a private practitioner for a day at a time (I think she's a GP on her day off tbh) and she'll go on to perform 15 or 20 medicals on our premises filling the forms out at the same time . The period between depends on any health conditions the license holder may have. For instance I have a heart problem and get seen every 3 years despite being only in my 30's. I get to do an exercise tolerance test, and the whole process took about 5 months last time around - lost paperwork, cancelled appointments etc. Diabetics are yearly, glaucoma sees you in the job centre and blood pressure or head problems can see you on sick pay for a significant period. At age 65, health issues or not you go in every year, but I think this is across ALL categories, not just vocational.

I know the pressure placed on the NHS would be reasonably high if every provisional applicant had to undergo a medical, but much of it could be done by a nurse rather than a doctor, or in private practice - my GP surgery charges something like £85 for a DVLA medical. In the long run though the health issues identified in this initial medical could be addressed, potentially saving a lot of heartache and expense further along the line.

DeVlaeminck

Mouth wrote:

I went back to glasses after a 14 year absence between finishing school and applying for a vocational driving license ......

....If you drive a lot at night, I'd recommend night time lenses. For me, the 40 quid or whatever it cost was worth every single penny. I noticed the difference when

Night driving lenses ? I ask because my daughter, not yet driving age, finds car headlights very dazzling. Are they just yellow tint or is there more to it.

Also out of interest where did you attend finishing school ?

mouth

DeVlaeminck wrote:

Mouth wrote:

I went back to glasses after a 14 year absence between finishing school and applying for a vocational driving license ......

....If you drive a lot at night, I'd recommend night time lenses. For me, the 40 quid or whatever it cost was worth every single penny. I noticed the difference when

Night driving lenses ? I ask because my daughter, not yet driving age, finds car headlights very dazzling. Are they just yellow tint or is there more to it.

Also out of interest where did you attend finishing school ?

I'll be honest, I wish I could have finished the school off lol.

Night lenses - not a peek of yellow in sight, but they're coated with something or other to significantly reduce glare and are an absolute godsend. They just look like regular specs and are also perfectly suitable for daylight. I also have 'thin & light' lenses - quite a strong prescription of +1.75\+3.25 (or something close) in distance glasses - both combined cost over 60 quid on top of a normal pair of specs, but a minor investment considering they're lasted a couple of years or more and I wear them for significant periods of time - easily 4 hours plus in one hit.

manglier

The obvious way to prevent that looking through the glass feeling is to be meticulous with lens cleanliness. Now I don't mean the little cloths that come with your new Gregories, they just smear the muck evenly. Use proper cleaning wipes that are soaked in cleaning fluid, like these.
https://www.amazon.co.uk/ZEISS-Lens-Wip ... B00IKGH2TI
I know they sound expensive but the box I bought in April is still going strong and will probably last a whole year.

earth

ben@31 wrote:

I think Im getting used to the glasses now. Bizarrely if I wear the glasses for a long period and take them off, my natural eyesight seems much worse than it was before?

I hear that sometimes optometrists prescribe lenses that under correct. I have no option but to use eye correction otherwise I really cannot see further than the end of my nose. But I suspect glasses make your eyes worse. My eyesight has certainly never got better.