To be disillusioned with the optical industry

[theeyeshaveitnow]

Haven't had my eyes tested in years because I suspected each time I was just been prescribed stronger glasses as a matter of routine. Experimented initially with just wearing old glasses and then my prescription got very slightly better. The next time, after the lesser prescription, when I went I spoke to the optician about eye exercises and he argued with me and prescribed a much stronger prescription and even said I had astigmatism then prescribed the strongest cylinder lens I have ever had.

Until recently that was my last visit. I cannot even see out of those glasses now. Went again recently because there were free eye tests available and I was curious. My prescription is 2 diopters weaker than my last visit. This is from years of wearing my older weaker prescriptions. I still think my slightly weaker prescription is better. Thankfully I don't drive but I want to be able to trust standard eye tests but how can I reliably?

Then when you read things like this from within the industry you really start to question it.

www.huntervision.com/blog/changing-prescription

tbh I'm concerned about both your eyesight and your eye health because you're so distrustful of the profession.

Could you tell me why, Jessica? I have (dutifully) had my eyes thoroughly checked. I bought glasses made up to my new prescription. What is it about my distrust of 'the profession' that would harm my eyesight and eye health?

Take a look at back vertex distance (bvd). The distance the lens sits from the eye changes the effective power which is why this distance must be specified on all large prescriptions.

My glasses fit as prescribed.

but the crystalline lens in the eye continues to change. These changes eventually lead to cataract and this process can cause glasses prescriptions to continuously change throughout life.

Would those changes alone account for a 2 diopter improvement in myopia?

the science, which as always is unaffected by belief. As happily you dont drive, it is your funeral.

My eyes have been tested, at the opticians. They gave my eyes a clean bill of health. My prescription was also weaker so my myopia has improved (in the context of doing eye exercises in between eye tests and wearing weaker prescriptions where appropriate). I have a brand new pair of glasses I could wear if I wanted to drive. What funeral?

You’ve missed what I’m saying, the trail frame or phoropter is measured from your cornea, usually at around 12mm if you have a big prescription your new glasses frame is measured before the lenses are put in and the actual power put in those lenses is adjusted based on the difference from the distance your eyesight was tested at, eg. -10.00 prescription @12mm you pick a frame that sits at 15mm instead of the store putting -10.00 in your new glasses they would put closer to -11.00.
And yes absolutely, my record is a young lady with a rare condition affecting her crystalline lenses at a young age, her glasses changed 16dioptres as a result.

And yes absolutely, my record is a young lady with a rare condition affecting her crystalline lenses at a young age, her glasses changed 16dioptres as a result.

How was that detected?

-10.00 prescription @12mm you pick a frame that sits at 15mm instead of the store putting -10.00 in your new glasses they would put closer to -11.00*.

But for my own comparison I was comparing prescriptions and not pairs of glasses. My previous glasses were fitted correctly and fit exactly as new and were fitted in the shop (the glasses with the prescription before my latest new one got very little wear!).

How old are you OP and what timeframe did you have the 2 dioptre change over?

FWIW, I've been wearing glasses (and contact lenses) for years, and for approximately 10 of those - from 21-31 in fact - the prescription didn't change (-5.75 and -6.25 for reference; my sight is not good!). In this time I moved opticians at least three times as I moved area in the country.

18mo ago I went to the opticians as I was having problems focusing on my phone screen or the tv of an evening. He sat there, listened to me and said (before testing my eyes) and said "you're in your mid-thirties, I would suspect that your prescription has improved a bit". Lo and behold, it had - 0.50 in both eyes. So it seems that it is a 'thing'. But you need to find an optician that you trust, as evidently you don't trust the ones you've seen so far.

The same applies if they tested your eyes at a different distances.
It was picked up by a thorough eye examination

Spectacle refraction isn't an exact science, you can have two prescriptions done on the same day and get easily get two different results, the difference is usually only +/-0.25DS/DC which is actually the tolerance on a pair of spectacle lenses. Many people's eye sit within this +/-0.25D window, and some fall outside.

It is really important that you bring your glasses to a test as it will determine what prescription I give to you, combined with your history and symptoms. For example for a 43 year old who is on the cusp of presbyopia, but who is complaining that their distance vision is blurred, I'm going to recommend a different prescription to someone of the same age, who is happy with their distance vision.

We stopped under correcting about 20 years ago as there were several studies which showed that it made myopia progress more quickly.

Here is one of the studies; this particular one was stopped as they found that they were making myopia worse.

www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/12445849
If you google myopia progression +undercorrection, you can find several studies which corroborate this.

hoppy above makes some great points, but the reason we don't cycloplege everyone, is that that isn't the eye in its natural state, the crystalline lens has a natural tone for everyone which reduces with age (which is why most people become a bit less short-sighted in their late 30's 40's).

My family are a good example. I have my own business where I do domicalliaries in schools (like a mobile test centre), there is significantly more to it than just testing Snellen acuity; which will vary depending on lighting conditions, viewing eccentricity and viewing distance.

DD is 7, her cycloplegic refraction R +5.50DS L +4.50DS, she wears
R +4.50DS L +3.50DS, this is because she doesn't have a squint (esotropia and has a low AC/A ratio). The lower Rx means thinner lighter glasses, less magnifications and allows for maintenance of residual accommodation. In a squinting child you would prescribe the full correction.

DS is 12, his prescription 6 months ago was R -0.75 L +1.50. Cycloplegic refraction was R +0.25 L +3.00.
What do you prescribe based on that? You have to use your professional opinion based on history and symptoms. In his case he couldn't see the board, had I prescribed R +0.25 L +3.00 his vision would be more blurred, so I prescribed something based on the first prescription. He's now actually less myopic in the right eye, he's clearly something called pseudomyopic.

DH is more classic. He was -1.25 R&L when I first met him (age 29), went up to -2.25 and now is around -0.75 age 45.

I think you're expecting it to be much more simplistic than it actually is OP.

Wow - that was long

How old are you OP and what timeframe did you have the 2 dioptre change over?

Why do you ask, Onefoot?

It was picked up by a thorough eye examination

Which I have had, Hoppybunny?

underneath, thank you for your response.

I think you're expecting it to be much more simplistic than it actually is OP.

I'm really not. I appreciate the variance in prescription range and complexity. I would simply like more transparency and consultation regarding my own prescription preferences. I would prefer this instead of assumptions being made resulting from my response to lifestyle questions, in terms of which prescription might suit me, without any consultation. I just would like more control over where a prescription is pitched.

Here is one of the studies; this particular one was stopped as they found that they were making myopia worse.

I have read some of them before. From what I recall, a feasible explanation seemed to be the phenomenon of having a blur horizon with which a subject stopped attempting to look beyond and thus becoming accustomed to adapting their behaviour to stop using their eyes beyond this.

I am another happy Specsavers customer. They mithered my GP to get me a urgent referral to an ocular oncology department - bypassing the 6 month wait in this area all because of a couple of spots on my eye. At every point they called me to make sure I was ok. They have chopped and changed my lens prescription on my whim depending on if I wanted to see long or short. Every time they have given me cost options and let me try each option before I buy.

Arndale Manchester... They are awesome. I cannot recommend them highly enough.

My prescription gradually improved from -4.25 to -3.00 between the ages of 35 and 40.

I anecdotally assumed it's because everyone gets more long sighted with age (and do elderly often need reading glasses). So in a short sighted person this manifests itself as being less shortsighted rather than more long sighted.

I’m asking for the exact reason @FATEdestiny just described above. You might just becoming less myopic because of your age and you obviously don’t like wearing your full distance prescription so the improvement of 2 dioptres is coming across a lot more dramatic than it probably is.

Also 2 dioptres over the period of a month is obviously suspicious. Over a few years, not so much.

The thing is if it was just the blur horizon phenomenon it would affect the majority of participants.

If you were my patient and preferred being a bit blurred, I would rather you told me that, if you would prefer to be cyclopleged, that's fine too. If you were a driver, I couldn't give you a reduced prescription, but I've given people 0.50 under before a few times when they've asked for it. I've just ensured that they understood that it can lead to myopia profession.

Optometric services are medical and you can decline and accept them as you choose.

I've given people 0.50 under before a few times when they've asked for it

How would you know it was 0.50 'under' if there can be variance of 0.25 on tests taken on the same day?

I went to an opticians, had my eyes tested and spent a small fortune on some glasses only when they arrived I couldn’t see out of them.

Optician insisted that was my prescription, wouldn’t do anything.

Went back to my old glasses. Later I went to another opticians. Instead of 5.5 I was 4.25.

I am sure some think if they sell you a dodgy prescription that you will come back sooner.

I have had pairs of glasses where I couldn’t even see to cross the road.

I've had lots of problems with motion sickness in new glasses so I tend to wear old glasses because they don't make me feel so sick
being short-sighted really starts to suck when you get the long sightedness with advancing age as well 🙄🤨

I’ve certaibly had opticians ask which prescription I prefer when I’ve been on the cusp. Had a seemingly never ending eye test once at Specsavers where we kept going over and over. At the end of the test the optician told me I’d flipped my answers a couple of times and she was going over and over to make sure - that was the same test where they said my prescription hadn’t really changed but suggested going up by 0.25 because if complained my current glasses didn’t seem as clear any more.

On a rough count I’ve been to about 7 different opticians in the last 10 years, and have found all of them to be open, friendly and happy to answer questions about both the test and prescription, so can only think that you’ve been unlucky.

My mum was another whose eyes improved in her 40s. Can’t remember how much by, but remember her being chuffed because she is blind as a bat

Just read your OP again. You haven’t had your eyes tested for years. That would explain the big change if you’re a presbyope. So how old are you then?

Is it odd that I almost enjoy the weird feeling you get with new glasses, where the floor feels too close and you might as well be on the high seas? I find it fascinating knowing that in a few hours my brain will adjust and suddenly everything will look normal again

onefoot, I've noticed a pattern right from when I was first prescribed glasses in my teens. When I only wore them occasionally my eyes didn't change. As soon as I wore newly prescribed glasses all the time my eyes changed by one diopter stronger each time I went for a check. When I started wearing my old pairs of glasses instead of my new ones my eyes got better. When I mentioned eyes exercises the optician argued and prescribed much stronger glasses. When I wear older pairs and then put newer ones on they are crisp. If I then wear the newer ones more often their crispness reduces. Not subjective tested my self with Snellen eye chart. If I go back to wearing weaker glasses for a time and then try stronger ones on again they are crisp again.

This is so interesting.

Kemer2018 I’m the same. Been with Boots for years but recently struggled with road signs and night driving. Optician said I had 20/20 vision with my lenses and was safe to drive. I said, “but I cant see road signs ir number plates ... “ He still said I was fine.

I went to see a different opticuan and he said it was due to the type of lens I was wearing (multi-focal) and prescribed another ‘more suited to my prescription.’ Bingo! Perfect sight again. FYI I have: -2.75; +.5 and astigmatism.

Results do vary depending on who you see.

OP, go to an independent in your nearest large city - take your glasses.