Need Some Optometry Guidance

[Robert Gee]

I just got my first Rx, I was usually the one that got asked to read the fine print or ID something in the far distance. Funny to me but I can remember the moment I first questioned my vision, on Sunday evenings I would often do the NY Times crossword in bed. Newsprint not being the most clear anyway. One week I was fine the next week I needed a brighter bulb in the bedside lamp. Since then I used about the lowest power readers the drug store offered until those weren't enough. One reason I delayed was I fell asleep with, sat on, knock off, scratched or otherwise managed to break almost 10 pairs over 2-3 years.

I just got my new specs in the mail and I'm kinda disappointed. Some of the Better or Worse choices were so similar I think I might have chosen the wrong one, IDK. I can now read the paper bound FARs very clearly, more than needed I think, but anything at just before outstretched arms length starts blurring out and they're useless. I realize now I picked the wrong frames and think I should have gotten the half lense types and end up looking over them and down my nose when speaking to people, LOL.
I only got the single vision lenses because I do fine with road sign, license plates, billboards or the closed captioning on TV. I barely saw any difference during the distance test. It was just a single image of a mountain range anyway.

My Rx.
OD SPH+1.50 CYL-0.75 AXIS 90 ADD 2.00
OS SPH+1.25 CYL-1.00 AXIS 90 ADD 2.00

So, could anyone detail, ala simpleton, the Rx above?
What would be the next step less powerful for reading. I might try some cheapos from WlMart or internet but dont want to bother with another exam yet. Im thinking that the zoom at less than arms length is more than actually needed. At panel distance Im mostly fine for now as long as its bright enough, sometimes I need to squint for precision. One thing for sure is these glasses are useless at that distance.
Can any damage be done from the wrong lenses? I wonder if I might have been just as well off to get some more from the drug store.
Any Vitamin or diet recommendations other than carrots?
Do any of those things in the back of AOPA mag really help? Whats the active ingredients to look for.

Right now Im thinking the best thing I got from the exam are some really cool pics of my retina
Thanks for reading.

 

[AggieMike88]

I like my no-line progressive focal I got at Walmart. They filled my script, got them in 10 days, style very similar to optometrist’s offerings, but significantly less money

 

[rk911]

if you're just needing 'drug store cheaters' try going up a step to 1.75. you can try the differentr powers at the drug store.

lately i've been ordering from www.readers.com or www.fostergrant.com (readers.com is, generally, less expensive). for flying i bought a pair of magnified reader sunglasses. a bit pricey but they are non-polarized so you can still see the glass panel.

 

[Van Johnston]

Your original post is not clear (ba da boom).

You say "anything at just before outstretched arms length starts blurring out and they're useless." Does it start blurring out as it comes closer or goes further away?

You got a bifocal prescription, but you said you got single vision lenses. So you told them not to add in the reader part?

This is the reader part: ADD 2.00. The next less powerful would be 1.75.

I don't know about permanent damage but you can sure get a bad headache if the correction is off.

Best ways to ensure good life-long vision is to choose your parents well and be lucky.

 

[Bob Noel]

It is my understanding that in any lens there is a sweet spot. And if the glasses aren't fitted properly (and/or the lens was not made correctly), the result is a pair of glasses that doesn't meet your need.

I realize that many people go with mail order or just the cheapo cheaters, but perhaps you should spend the money/time with a good eye dr and get the glasses done right.

 

[Eldorado]

No permanent damage. vitamins, diet, wonder drops, etc are useless. My guess is you’re about 48y/o.

 

[Robert Gee]

I like my no-line progressive focal I got at Walmart. They filled my script, got them in 10 days, style very similar to optometrist’s offerings, but significantly less money

That was another question I forgot to ask the DO. The "Progressive" lense, is that as the name implies that as you look through different areas of the lens it gradually adjusts from near to far, and they are different from a traditional bi-focal that has just the two near/far specs?

if you're just needing 'drug store cheaters' try going up a step to 1.75. you can try the differentr powers at the drug store.
lately i've been ordering from www.readers.com or www.fostergrant.com (readers.com is, generally, less expensive). for flying i bought a pair of magnified reader sunglasses. a bit pricey but they are non-polarized so you can still see the glass panel.

So far Ive used 1.25 and 1.5 but I didnt know if that was some standardized measurement or not. I did get some cheater sunglasses off Amazn, like bi-focals with a small area of magnifying in the lower parts,

Your original post is not clear (ba da boom).

You say "anything at just before outstretched arms length starts blurring out and they're useless." Does it start blurring out as it comes closer or goes further away?
You got a bifocal prescription, but you said you got single vision lenses. So you told them not to add in the reader part?
This is the reader part: ADD 2.00. The next less powerful would be 1.75.
I don't know about permanent damage but you can sure get a bad headache if the correction is off.

Best ways to ensure good life-long vision is to choose your parents well and be lucky.

Judging with the print in the FAR/AIM, within 8" its blurry, then fine, then blurred again at outstretched arms.
No, I only got the close vision. Anything several feet away seems well defined or about as good as I remember 20 years ago. Maybe I just don't know what Im not seeing anymore. I think I'm fairly lucky with heredity, family trends seem to show a need cataract surgery ~mid 70's. Except for the vain one, my sisters got glasses in their 30's.

It is my understanding that in any lens there is a sweet spot. And if the glasses aren't fitted properly (and/or the lens was not made correctly), the result is a pair of glasses that doesn't meet your need.

I realize that many people go with mail order or just the cheapo cheaters, but perhaps you should spend the money/time with a good eye dr and get the glasses done right.

I still have that option I think, it was the AmeriBest chain and had them delivered to save the 40m drive. I might have been better to use the local WlMart but did the drive for cooler frames and they offered the retinal scan, just in case.

 

[Robert Gee]

I want to frame this and hang it with my NASA Voyager photos

 

[Brad W]

I'd suggest taking them back to the am best store and having the optician fit them. The frames could need some tweaking to get the lenses aligned properly in front of your eyes.

My 2 cents about AM Best.... the opticians in the store I've been to most are hit and miss.... some are ok, some are most definitely not.....so good luck.

Also, are these progressive lenses or lined bifocals? I went through this a few years back.... went from always being the guy with the best vision in the room to struggling to read the menu. Used over the counters for a while but always seemed to not have them handy when I needed them....so I went to the eye doc and asked for progressives clear on top and readers built in. Turns out he added in a bit of a correction for distance too, and a slight stigmatism correction. Over a few years the script got worse and worse. I came to realize that it was worth it to buy the highest end progressives possible. The cheap ones have such a very narrow usable field in the center of the lens that the majority of the lens is useless. Never could get used to those. You truly get what you pay for!

 

[Old97]

I just got my first Rx, I was usually the one that got asked to read the fine print or ID something in the far distance. Funny to me but I can remember the moment I first questioned my vision, on Sunday evenings I would often do the NY Times crossword in bed. Newsprint not being the most clear anyway. One week I was fine the next week I needed a brighter bulb in the bedside lamp. Since then I used about the lowest power readers the drug store offered until those weren't enough. One reason I delayed was I fell asleep with, sat on, knock off, scratched or otherwise managed to break almost 10 pairs over 2-3 years.

I just got my new specs in the mail and I'm kinda disappointed. Some of the Better or Worse choices were so similar I think I might have chosen the wrong one, IDK. I can now read the paper bound FARs very clearly, more than needed I think, but anything at just before outstretched arms length starts blurring out and they're useless. I realize now I picked the wrong frames and think I should have gotten the half lense types and end up looking over them and down my nose when speaking to people, LOL.
I only got the single vision lenses because I do fine with road sign, license plates, billboards or the closed captioning on TV. I barely saw any difference during the distance test. It was just a single image of a mountain range anyway.

My Rx.
OD SPH+1.50 CYL-0.75 AXIS 90 ADD 2.00
OS SPH+1.25 CYL-1.00 AXIS 90 ADD 2.00

So, could anyone detail, ala simpleton, the Rx above?
What would be the next step less powerful for reading. I might try some cheapos from WlMart or internet but dont want to bother with another exam yet. Im thinking that the zoom at less than arms length is more than actually needed. At panel distance Im mostly fine for now as long as its bright enough, sometimes I need to squint for precision. One thing for sure is these glasses are useless at that distance.
Can any damage be done from the wrong lenses? I wonder if I might have been just as well off to get some more from the drug store.
Any Vitamin or diet recommendations other than carrots?
Do any of those things in the back of AOPA mag really help? Whats the active ingredients to look for.

Right now Im thinking the best thing I got from the exam are some really cool pics of my retina
Thanks for reading.

Your correction is quite close to mine. I either wear single vision contacts with cheaters or multivision contacts. I do have non-bifocal glasses also.

my recommendation is you will need multifocal contacts or progressive bifocals for the most practical solution. Once you need a bifocal correction of 2 or more the zone of things out of focus will be too great for cheaters or regular bifocals to cover what you need - Something will always be out of focus and if you drive a desk every day its just not good enough.

 

[Stewartb]

Glasses take time to get used to. Every new scrip, same thing. You’ll always think you saw better with the old. 99% of us that say it are wrong.

Sometimes the lenses get ground incorrectly. Take them back and question them.

These days when you look through the machine that has you focus on a balloon in the distance the machine determines what your scrip needs to be. The doc is just confirming it.

Single vision glasses solve one focal problem and create another one. Progressives correct every focal distance.

 

[WDD]

OD SPH+1.50 CYL-0.75 AXIS 90 ADD 2.00
OS SPH+1.25 CYL-1.00 AXIS 90 ADD 2.00

OD is right eye, OS is left eye.

The +1.50 is a correction for far sightedness. It means your eye is at a point where it can't properly focus on anything (even perhaps far away things) without bending the light / correcting to bring it in a little closer.

The CYL is adjusting for astigmatism - the lens in your eye is not perfectly symmetrical.

The ADD 2.00 is the "reader" portion of your lens. This can be used to make a pair of Bi Focal lenses for you - Bi meaning "two, as in a single lens has two different areas with different correcting power. The top part is the normal correction, but the bottom part is a different lens power where they will add even more correcting power +2.00 to bring things in even closer. You look through this part of the lens to be able to focus on things very close, such as reading the paper at a normal distance.

I couldn't get used to traditional bi-focals, so I use "progressive" lenses - the switch from the lower "reader" part to the upper "normal vision" part of the lens is gradual, and allows me to have correction for "between near and far" as well.

BTW - the fact your optician didn't tell you these things means you need a new eye doctor.