The Eyes Have It
I have been trying to ignore it for some time now, but even DH has remarked on how far away I have to hold things in order to be able to read them sometimes. So, I am forced to come to the conclusion that I probably ought to go and get my eyes tested and they will almost certainly recommend that I get some reading glasses.
I must admit that I am not at all keen on this. It is like an admission of being over the hill, that bits of me are no longer working as they should, that I am getting….well, not to put too fine a point on it, erm…old. I mean, I’ve never needed glasses before, why should I start now?
Oh, I know it’s not the end of the world. I know lots of people wear glasses and some even look good in them. I mean, look at Johnny Depp, I tell myself, but then, he even looks good with a syphilitic canker and covered in grime.
It’ isn’t simply vanity. No, really. I’m not that shallow – I don’t even wear make-up most of the time. Rather that I have the sneaking suspicion that once I start using glasses, it will be a slippery slope of dependence. That once my eyes become accustomed to not making the effort, they can only get worse. Sort of like using fat pants instead of doing sit-ups, but for the eyes.
I’m not a huge fan of doing sit-ups, it must be said, but I do try to exercise my eyes and it does seem to help. So if you see me crossing and un-crossing my eyes, rolling them around and looking like Marty Feldman on a really bad day, I haven’t gone bonkers, I’m just working out.
I totally agree. I’ve got +1 reading glasses and now I really struggle to read without them. It doesn’t help that I have scuffed the right hand lens and things are a bit blurry.
But I suspect the next step is bloody varifocals *sigh* and I always prided myself on excellent eye-sight.
My hearing, though, is absolutely crap. But a boon when sharing a bed with a man that snores 🙂
AX
so you’re me, and you wear contacts. Because your one vanity is glasses, you’ve hated them since you had to start wearing them at age 8 or whatever. And now ? You also have to hold things further away to see clearly. Reading glasses WITH contacts ?? What kind of cosmic joke is that ??
PS I would always take the fat pants option over actual exercise 😉
Ania –
LOL I have had to wear glasses all of my life. I also had cataract surgery in both eyes. I see the use of glasses a bit differently – I htink that by not getting the glasses your eyes will get worse. By getting the glasses, your eyes will get used to reading with the correction, but your will be able to read and do your work well. Your eyes will deteriorate at a slower pace with glasses than without.
Have to agree with Viv about the pants option! Which is why I have so darn much weight to lose now! 😉
Blessings,
Bonnie
I expect it is different if you have always had problems with your eyesight, but the deterioration due to age is a combination of loss of muscle tone (true of the rest of the body too) and shrinkage of the eyeballs. My eyesight gets worse if I’m dehydrated and gets better if I exercise my eyes and drink enough water (which I’m really bad at doing).
I had some problems with my eyesight a while back because I was spending too much time focused on the PC screen and other close objects. I made it better with eye exercises 😀
I do firmly believe that glasses make it worse. If you wear upside down glasses for a while you brain turns everything the right way up after a while and then when you take them off you see everything upside down. Stands to reason that corrective glasses will have the same effect of making the brain believe that everything is out of focus without them.