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Being shortsighted....how worse can it get?? (1 Viewer)

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my friend is shortsighted, she been wearing glasses for around 8 months because she became shortsighted near the end of school, anyways im concerned, well i just wanna know how worse can being shortsighted can get? like i would wave to her far distanced and she couldnt see me (without her glasses) lol. anyways i wondered how blurry can your eyes get for being shortsighted and what are the bad/good(if there's any lol) thing about it, hope its in the right subforum. thanks for the responses..
 

tempco

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It can get very bad. I have a prescripion of -4.5, and I wouldn't go outside without my glasses. Think not-being-able-to-see-anything-clearly bad. Except if it's 10-20 cm from my eyes.

And it gets worse, with prescriptions of up to -6 and -7 (that I know of).
 

Kulazzi

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I know of a friend whose eyesight is so bad, that she cannot get contact lense for her eyes because they don't sell it in her measurements.

Mine's about -2.5 and -2.75 but I'm still half-blind if I don't have my glasses on. If someone (that I know) waves to me from a distance, and I don't have my glasses on, I wouldn't be able to wave back because I have no idea who the hell that person is until I'm up close. I have contacts but I don't wear them all the time, just for sport or dinner parties etc.

Only when I read a book or magazine then do I take my glasses off. Even if I'm about 60-70 cm away form the computer screen, I cannot read anything. So yeah
 
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Kulazzi said:
I know of a friend whose eyesight is so bad, that she cannot get contact lense for her eyes because they don't sell it in her measurements.

Mine's about -2.5 and -2.75 but I'm still half-blind if I don't have my glasses on. If someone (that I know) waves to me from a distance, and I don't have my glasses on, I wouldn't be able to wave back because I have no idea who the hell that person is until I'm up close. I have contacts but I don't wear them all the time, just for sport or dinner parties etc.

Only when I read a book or magazine then do I take my glasses off. Even if I'm about 60-70 cm away form the computer screen, I cannot read anything. So yeah

damn thats bad, isnt there like laser treatment, i heard some kind of treatment that you sleep with some kind of contacts(it helps to shape your eye lense i think) and during the day you can take it off and dont need glasses and your eyes are perfect (cost kind of like how you get braces, around those prices)
 

Kulazzi

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CSI: CRIMES ™ said:
damn thats bad, isnt there like laser treatment, i heard some kind of treatment that you sleep with some kind of contacts(it helps to shape your eye lense i think) and during the day you can take it off and dont need glasses and your eyes are perfect (cost kind of like how you get braces, around those prices)
I think it was a long time ago when I heard about it as well. Or, Iv these e also heard of these contacts by i think freshlook called day and night where you can wear disposable contacts day in and day out and throw them away when you need to.
 

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It can be very inconvenient when you lose or forget to bring your glasses with you to school or somewhere like the cinemas, you miss out on alot, depending on how bad your eyesight is.
 

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yeah i'm fairly bad (-3.75 to around -4). I wear contacts sometimes, and i can do without glasses around the house usually (but most of the time i wear them anyway).

Couple of my friends are really really bad, like -6 to -8, technically they are clinically blind :p (which must suck i guess)


Look at it this way, short sightedness gets better as you get older, because it is a result of the muscles that control the lens being too strong, and as you get older your muscles degenerate a bit.

I think that's how it works anyway (since most old people with 20/20 vision tend to need reading glasses), but i'm not sure so anyone with any knowhow on this topic can come along and correct or confirm this.
 
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goony said:
yeah i'm fairly bad (-3.75 to around -4). I wear contacts sometimes, and i can do without glasses around the house usually (but most of the time i wear them anyway).

Couple of my friends are really really bad, like -6 to -8, technically they are clinically blind :p (which must suck i guess)


Look at it this way, short sightedness gets better as you get older, because it is a result of the muscles that control the lens being too strong, and as you get older your muscles degenerate a bit.

I think that's how it works anyway (since most old people with 20/20 vision tend to need reading glasses), but i'm not sure so anyone with any knowhow on this topic can come along and correct or confirm this.

im sure there could be laser treatment..


anyways whats the difference between long sighted and shortsighted? :confused:
 

James747

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i think longsighted is the opposite of shortsighted. So if you can see stuff close up, then you cant see stuff far away. And vice versa
 

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Not sure what my prescription is but I have terrible eyesight. 15cm from an object without my glasses on is the best I can do :(
 

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Well if she got glasses this late in her life, it's nothing to be concerned about. "How far" away until she can see you depends on her prescription. I reckon having a prescription over -1 is already bad enough to blur a fair distance (ie. reading road signs 20m away)

Usually people start realising they need glasses at -0.75.. Usually this is for reading blackboard/whatever board I can say w/o sounding racist =.=... Also it depends on if you have another condition which causes blurring of light.. I think it's called astigmatism.. Say, if you have the letter "I" on a projector screen, the edges would be slightly fuzzy since your eyeball or lens isnt spherical and it causes the wrong refraction of light.

Anyways.. prescriptions of -4 is not "bad".... I've seen worse....

Contact lenses as far as I know go up to a prescription of -12, people can still see.. they are not "clinically blind".. just out of focus..

Longsightedness (hyperopia) and Shortsightedness (myopia) differ due to the shape of the lens which causes refraction. In myopia, the lens is too fat so the image that we see falls short of the optic nerves at the back in which to receive a perfect picture, refraction of the image needs to fall precisely on that spot (to send to the brain, rarara). In hyperopia, the image falls too far back hence the image is screwed once again.

As for treatment, once again it depends on how bad your condition is..

-1 to -3 is basically the optimal if you want "hard lens"... it's basically a contact lens made out of semi permiable plastic that you can either sleep with or wear daily.. You CAN wear it if your prescription is over -3, but there's no point since they're so expensive and they only take off MAX of 3 degrees if you're successful.. some people's eyes are so hard to correct that they might reduce 1 degree, then when the stop the treatment they gain back to their original prescription.. depends on age and stuff.. after puberty there's no point really in having hard lens since your eye is pretty much in it's full grown permanent state.

Laser... or "Lasik"... I think it's only recommended up to -6 since if you have a prescription any higher, they have to remove too much tissue from the surface of the eye and it gets quite dangerous...

Intraocular lenses are usually for people with cataracts.. but can be used for people with really bad eyesight.. (ie. >-10).. what that does is remove your natural lens and stick a plastic lens in.. Great for normal to distant vision, but since the lens cannot accomodate (ie. flatten or fatten), you can't really focus on things close to you.. so you might need corrective glasses if you're reading close things..

However, I'm aware that there's a new treatment right now which is similar to above, however instead of removing your natural lens, they stick a plastic lens between your natural lens and the iris/pupil area.. So you can still have varing degrees of focusing..

Heheh.. funny things with people with the above two treatments is that, in certain lights, the lens reflects light and it seems like you're looking into cat eyes X]

Whoof, I just wrote an essay.. hope it clears things up a bit =]
 
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CieL said:
Well if she got glasses this late in her life, it's nothing to be concerned about. "How far" away until she can see you depends on her prescription. I reckon having a prescription over -1 is already bad enough to blur a fair distance (ie. reading road signs 20m away)

Usually people start realising they need glasses at -0.75.. Usually this is for reading blackboard/whatever board I can say w/o sounding racist =.=... Also it depends on if you have another condition which causes blurring of light.. I think it's called astigmatism.. Say, if you have the letter "I" on a projector screen, the edges would be slightly fuzzy since your eyeball or lens isnt spherical and it causes the wrong refraction of light.

Anyways.. prescriptions of -4 is not "bad".... I've seen worse....

Contact lenses as far as I know go up to a prescription of -12, people can still see.. they are not "clinically blind".. just out of focus..

Longsightedness (hyperopia) and Shortsightedness (myopia) differ due to the shape of the lens which causes refraction. In myopia, the lens is too fat so the image that we see falls short of the optic nerves at the back in which to receive a perfect picture, refraction of the image needs to fall precisely on that spot (to send to the brain, rarara). In hyperopia, the image falls too far back hence the image is screwed once again.

As for treatment, once again it depends on how bad your condition is..

-1 to -3 is basically the optimal if you want "hard lens"... it's basically a contact lens made out of semi permiable plastic that you can either sleep with or wear daily.. You CAN wear it if your prescription is over -3, but there's no point since they're so expensive and they only take off MAX of 3 degrees if you're successful.. some people's eyes are so hard to correct that they might reduce 1 degree, then when the stop the treatment they gain back to their original prescription.. depends on age and stuff.. after puberty there's no point really in having hard lens since your eye is pretty much in it's full grown permanent state.

Laser... or "Lasik"... I think it's only recommended up to -6 since if you have a prescription any higher, they have to remove too much tissue from the surface of the eye and it gets quite dangerous...

Intraocular lenses are usually for people with cataracts.. but can be used for people with really bad eyesight.. (ie. >-10).. what that does is remove your natural lens and stick a plastic lens in.. Great for normal to distant vision, but since the lens cannot accomodate (ie. flatten or fatten), you can't really focus on things close to you.. so you might need corrective glasses if you're reading close things..

However, I'm aware that there's a new treatment right now which is similar to above, however instead of removing your natural lens, they stick a plastic lens between your natural lens and the iris/pupil area.. So you can still have varing degrees of focusing..

Heheh.. funny things with people with the above two treatments is that, in certain lights, the lens reflects light and it seems like you're looking into cat eyes X]

Whoof, I just wrote an essay.. hope it clears things up a bit =]

wow props, that clears up everything i wanna know about people who are either shortsighted/long sighted. big thanks for writing that down, props :)
 

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CSI: CRIMES ™ said:
wow props, that clears up everything i wanna know about people who are either shortsighted/long sighted. big thanks for writing that down, props :)

i'm longsighted, it sucks/ because the more i wear glasses i seem to become more reliant on them. I can read signs from heaps far away though, which can be cool
 

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Ranger Stacie said:
i'm longsighted............ I can read signs from heaps far away though, which can be cool
LOL we have this family friend... this man is in his late 40s or there abouts.. and I swearrrr he has the most ABNORMAL SUPER vision... =.=

There was this plane in the sky.... and I just saw a white speck and a blue tail.. and I said, "wow, blue tail.. wonder what plane that is.."

He looks up.. and he reads the writing on the tail.. (K something I cant remember)

I was like.. what the heck.. I can hardly see the plane, let alone what it says.. =.="

I have to say I envy people with crazy sight.........
 

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luscious-llama said:
Not sure what my prescription is but I have terrible eyesight. 15cm from an object without my glasses on is the best I can do :(
Far point of 15 cm would be close to 7.7.

At least you're safe from being shot in the eyes.
 

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CieL said:
LOL we have this family friend... this man is in his late 40s or there abouts.. and I swearrrr he has the most ABNORMAL SUPER vision... =.=

There was this plane in the sky.... and I just saw a white speck and a blue tail.. and I said, "wow, blue tail.. wonder what plane that is.."

He looks up.. and he reads the writing on the tail.. (K something I cant remember)

I was like.. what the heck.. I can hardly see the plane, let alone what it says.. =.="

I have to say I envy people with crazy sight.........
Hahahahaha he reminds me of myself. I'm a farsighted 17 year old ambitious student and I absolutely love planes. I get the same sort of comments from my family and friends. When there a plane roars over from up above through the sky, I recognise the Airline (E.g. Qantas, Singapore Airlines, Virginblue etc), which is often the easier part. Not only do I recognise the Airline, but also the specific model. For example, I'd look up at the sky and call out to my friends "Whooa it's a Virgin Blue 737-700" or "it's a Singapore Airlines 747-400" etc. Lol I'm mocking myself here.

My friends often ask me how in the world I know what they are when they are so high up. I admit that I can also tell what which plane it is by just listening to the sound of the engines, probably because I see sound as an image in my mind somehow, it is quite complex but hard to physically convey.

My usual explanation for having this ability is possible from my far-sightedness. I feel, as a long-sighted person, that it would be quite easier for a short-sighted person to have a book out on their desk and study for hours.
When you're long-sighted, staring THROUGH a page in a textbook is very difficult, because it is like trying to read a sentence on a window with your periphel vison while your eyes are looking at a distant tree outside, through the window.
 
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kouri

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well being shortsighted isn't always a bad thing.

I'm walking along the streets and i see hot chicks and guys everywhere from about 2~3m away.
 

The Aviator

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Hehehe... but how about studies?

It's all relative. I could say short-sighter people can have an apparent supervision for reading a haystack of words in sentences. Similarly, someone can say that same for a far-sighted person who can see far away.

To me, studying for hours in a room is like being in jail. Of course, I can't speak for others. Some of people love it.
 

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en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Myopia said:
Myopia is more common in Asians than in Whites, and more common in Whites than in Blacks. It is also more common than average in Jews.
:( I wish i was african so I can see far lol.
Although I'm very sure I got my near-sightedness from my parents and grand parents since all of them needs to wear glasses!

EDIT: my prescriptions are only 1.75 (left) and 1.5 (right)
 
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