seeking optomerist advice

[The Bleeder]

You need to visit an ophthalmologist, a highly trained medico who specialises in the eye and its function.

Lignin is right. Get in to see an opthalmologist as he can tell you what is exactly wrong and if there is a procedure to fix it. The optometrist will test your eyes and look for the more common causes of what is happening.

If you are meant to do eye exercises this is meant to help stablize (to some degree) the degeneration of vision. This only goes so far. (old age degeneration is not in this group). Obviously you and I are in this boat.

I get stronger prescription for my right eye every year and if I try and use last years prescription I can't read unless I really strain the eyes.

I did 2 years of optometry then found computers.

Kick up a stink until you get a satisfactory answer.

Hope you can get it fixed.

[Lignin]

Peter,
Although I think you've misinterpreted what I meant, I apologise for any slight, real or imagined.I too wear glasses, but it doesn't make me an ophthalmologist any more than my collection of tools makes me a cabinet maker, much as I wish they did!!

[Pheonix]

Yeah, us old bguggers dont know what we are talking about.NOT

[fxst]

I am thinking that some people here are too stressed out when they see offence in Ligs post.I too now use glasses for reading and wood/metal work and saw no offense only a point that while we wear glasses for varing amounts of time it does not nor will it make us opticians thats why we have to pay to get our glasses replace or retuned.
Maybe its the country living or just that my view that life is to short to be offended or slighted so easily.
No doubt this will be seen as offensive by some and not by others but as we cant be face to face we cant type our inflections of speech or see faces to tell the difference.
JLWI
Pete

[Rossluck]

Peter,
Although I think you've misinterpreted what I meant, I apologise for any slight, real or imagined.I too wear glasses, but it doesn't make me an ophthalmologist any more than my collection of tools makes me a cabinet maker, much as I wish they did!!

I think your point is well made, and it has the same intention as my post (above). From my understanding these problems are caused by a gradual decrease in the flexibility of the cornea (that functions in conjunction with the lens to focus light for the retina). This loss of flexibility can be and often is uneven. This also means that you can have a quick deterioration of flexibility in one eye and a slow deterioration in the other, and then visa versa for a while. This is an ageing problem along with other losses of flexibility (anyone out there feel like lying under your car's dash to install a new stereo these day?).

The laser alternative restores focus by re-adjusting the cornea. My sister had it done and it's been great, but ... I dunno ..... Either way, if you don't trust the opticians or optometrists, then it's best to seek a referral to an ophthalmologist to discuss the options. They're busy people though ....

[Sturdee]

Peter,
Although I think you've misinterpreted what I meant, I apologise for any slight, real or imagined.I too wear glasses, but it doesn't make me an ophthalmologist any more than my collection of tools makes me a cabinet maker, much as I wish they did!!

No worries as I must have misinterpreted your post. In any case we all agree that John should not accept what has happened and seek a second opinion, whether an optometrist or an ophthalmologist.


Peter.

[Optimark]

I have some interesting eye problems, which required an Ophthalmologist to diagnose. My sister in-law in Germany is married to an Ophthalmologist; we visit Germany very regularly and in fact only returned a month and a half ago.

Whilst there this year and staying at their place, my sister in-laws husband told of the second quite serious preventable eye disorder he had unfortunately diagnosed.

The patient had gone blind in one eye, solely due to that affected eye not being used. There was a very interesting dinner discussion about this problem and the cause. It appears that the patient had been using the high street store bought reading glasses which only cost a few Euros, for quite some years. These have been extremely satisfactory, but there appeared to be a problem for long sight, so the visit to the Ophthalmologist.

As the wearer was using a pair of lenses that were identical in their dioptre power, eventually the eye with the best correction was the one the brain used for virtually all seeing when these optics were used. As the eye not being used was used less and less, the body virtually stopped using it altogether. This resulted in virtual blindness in the weaker eye.

This was the second case my sister in-laws husband had diagnosed in the last year or so, an effect he believes is due to people not understanding some of the finer points of using or losing, a function or body part.

Whilst he isn’t of the opinion that the supermarket bought reading optics should be banned, he believes that their usage should be limited to reading of a menu in a restaurant or scanning documents at a legal meeting and such. Not for outright reading of novels, newspapers and other intense reading exercises.

He has to compulsorily retire next year, so he doesn’t have a boat to push regarding seeing an Ophthalmologist or Optometrist. He did stress that after a certain age, which was mid fifties, one should see an Ophthalmologist at least once for a general check, rather than an Optometrist.

The general gist of his talk/discussion, was that once there was some kind of funny business with your eyes, see an Ophthalmologist pronto. Knowing what I know about my own eye problems, and having been to different Optometrists and finally to an Ophthalmologist for a correct diagnosis, about a problem that was deceptively simple to mis-diagnose, I would also suggest you see an Ophthalmologist

Mick.

[zelk]

I have some interesting eye problems, which required an Ophthalmologist to diagnose. My sister in-law in Germany is married to an Ophthalmologist; we visit Germany very regularly and in fact only returned a month and a half ago.

Whilst there this year and staying at their place, my sister in-laws husband told of the second quite serious preventable eye disorder he had unfortunately diagnosed.

The patient had gone blind in one eye, solely due to that affected eye not being used. There was a very interesting dinner discussion about this problem and the cause. It appears that the patient had been using the high street store bought reading glasses which only cost a few Euros, for quite some years. These have been extremely satisfactory, but there appeared to be a problem for long sight, so the visit to the Ophthalmologist.

As the wearer was using a pair of lenses that were identical in their dioptre power, eventually the eye with the best correction was the one the brain used for virtually all seeing when these optics were used. As the eye not being used was used less and less, the body virtually stopped using it altogether. This resulted in virtual blindness in the weaker eye.

This was the second case my sister in-laws husband had diagnosed in the last year or so, an effect he believes is due to people not understanding some of the finer points of using or losing, a function or body part.

Whilst he isn’t of the opinion that the supermarket bought reading optics should be banned, he believes that their usage should be limited to reading of a menu in a restaurant or scanning documents at a legal meeting and such. Not for outright reading of novels, newspapers and other intense reading exercises.

He has to compulsorily retire next year, so he doesn’t have a boat to push regarding seeing an Ophthalmologist or Optometrist. He did stress that after a certain age, which was mid fifties, one should see an Ophthalmologist at least once for a general check, rather than an Optometrist.

The general gist of his talk/discussion, was that once there was some kind of funny business with your eyes, see an Ophthalmologist pronto. Knowing what I know about my own eye problems, and having been to different Optometrists and finally to an Ophthalmologist for a correct diagnosis, about a problem that was deceptively simple to mis-diagnose, I would also suggest you see an Ophthalmologist

Mick.

Hi Mick,
what were you diagnosed with?

Zelk

[Optimark]

Zelk,

Thygeson's SPK.

I was constantly having vision problems which although minor, were sometimes painful, plus I started to suffer from photophobia, occasionally quite severe.

It was when I visited my third Ophthalmologist that I finally had a correct diagnosis. I fortunately have an Ophthalmologist who has treated one other person with this problem, she recognised it.

My Sister in-laws husband has never seen a case, he was understandably quite interested in looking at my eyes when I visited with a known diagnosis, about 8 years ago.

Mick.

[jow104]

There is certainly some good advice and information in posts above, Thanks to all.

Did an eye test again this morning looked at my monitor and could read all the above posts with my left eye, but struggle to read or not read with my right eye although my lens is only 3 days old.

So its back to my GP and get another referral, (incidently this present situation was a referral) so I will give it a few days for the dust to settle and go back to the GP, he is known as the eye man at our surgery practice.

Regarding the eye test done at the ops. my complaint looking back is that the test lenses fitted only went to the request if sight was better with this lens and I said yes but I think I should have verbally said it could be better.
So perhaps there is a communication problem with this tester.

[zelk]

Zelk,

Thygeson's SPK.

I was constantly having vision problems which although minor, were sometimes painful, plus I started to suffer from photophobia, occasionally quite severe.

It was when I visited my third Ophthalmologist that I finally had a correct diagnosis. I fortunately have an Ophthalmologist who has treated one other person with this problem, she recognised it.

My Sister in-laws husband has never seen a case, he was understandably quite interested in looking at my eyes when I visited with a known diagnosis, about 8 years ago.

Mick.

Yeh, it's sometimes difficult to diagnose. Did you finally have some treatment?

Zelk

[jow104]

Made some progress on the problem.

Went for eyetest with an optician in another town, got the same test prescription, but the new optician found that I had conflictiong lenses, Mine are varifocals, but the last time lenses were fitted earlier this year, a lens type named Liberty was fitted and the original lenses (and the left eye still is) a Comfort type.

Also the glasses are frameless and the new lens is fitted at a different angle plane, the original faces in the later faces out.

So original optician is taking specs. back and corrections are to be made.


Thanks for all replies.