What's better in an emergency, old glasses or no glasses??

[Dinnerdinnerbatman]

Glasses destroyed in primary school playground incident. Can't get new ones straight away as it's a prescription that can't be done in an hour. Child's prescription is something like -4 in each eye, so quite strong. What's better whilst we wait for replacement specs? No glasses, or ones from a drawer that are a year old and therefore two prescriptions ago?

Will consider getting a second pair, too, but they are expensive and we haven't had a breakage for three years.

They were about £60 last time. I can't remember why but they aren't super expensive frames. They are only a month or so old so I don't think we'd get a voucher again this quickly?

I also worry about this!

And what if you are rushed unconscious to hospital with your contact lenses in, and no one knows and you end up with them bonded to your eyes a week later. Nightmare!

They take a week or more for the lenses to arrive and there's only one person in the store who can glaze them so we have to make sure he's in when we want to get them made up, if we're using the previous frames. I'll be at the opticians when they open tomorrow morning.

Wow, I'm really surprised by all those saying they couldn't survive without glasses at -3/-4. Due to an incompetent school eye check where they said to "see how things go" and obviously not on-the-ball parents, by the time they finally got me to the opticians at age 6, I was already -6 in both eyes, so not entirely sure how I coped.

I'm now -11 and so would definitely go with old glasses over none!

My DD age 6 has worn glasses since she was 2 and we've always got her two pairs. Though she went from ages 2-5 without breaking them at all, then in the past year has broken them three times!

If you can in any way afford a spare pair, I would get them - I only ever had one pair and as a child, losing/breaking them was my biggest fear... It used to cause me so much anxiety.

The NHS should cover insurance on the first pair of child's glasses. We use Specsavers for DC's glasses - first 'main pair' are free and insured so they will be replaced for free (we had three pairs in the past year!), then the last time we went, the second pair were half-price.

My optician will give unlimited replacements for under 16s so fingers crossed it's the same for you.

We also got our son myopia prevention glasses, I'm looking for the name. He's not had a prescription change in 12 months. Usually needs new glasses every 6 so we're hopeful they're helping .

It was more a figurative example 🤣🤣 but I do always only buy brands where the two are different shapes bottles, or ones from the top and the other from the bottom 😁🤦🏼‍♀️

Old ones. You try navigating the world at -4. As a child I had one pair of specs and whenever my prescription changed they'd be taken away for days while the new lenses were made and fitted. It was almost child cruelty, navigating a blurry school.

Oh no, I hadn't thought of that! I'm going to have to brief DH to make them check if I'm ever in that situation.

The majority of the time they check after you’ve been stabilised.

Op you’re fine to wear the old pair.

it could be a bad idea for a child, if their vision has improved (often happens for long sighted children as they hit their tweens).

I'm wearing my reading glasses right now (they're -2.00 and -1.25).

I can see my laptop clearly (which makes a change). If I take them off, I cannot read the screen text on 125% and the time and date on the menu bar is a white smudge. It is just readable if I hold it up with the laptop resting against my collarbone. The TV is 32" about about 6 foot away. The screen is a blur.

To read text further away than 4 inches from my nose without glasses, it has to be blown up to 14 point or photocopied to 144%/A3 size. I cannot read 12pt text at normal reading distance.

I managed as a child until I was 11 because my table was right in front of the board. I never caught a ball or learned to do high jump because I couldn't see the equipment. I couldn't run in a straight line or balance/spin because I couldn't find a spot to focus on. At home, the chair I sat in was less than five foot from the TV because it was the only one that didn't have somebody else in it. I used to fall off my bike and once rode straight into the kerb and fell against a lamp post because I didn't see where it was and ran out of road - it was assumed I was just rubbish at it, not that I couldn't see grey kerb on grey road and grey lamp post on grey pavement.

All with a prescription that turned out to be -1.25 and -1.50 when the visiting nurse/eye test at school picked it up. I also had daily headaches that I was prescribed adult strength painkillers for, but nobody had thought I should have my eyes tested, not even the doctor who prescribed me first Brufen 400 x 2 aged 9 and then Paramol and Paramax aged 11 (I refused to have Paramol after the first couple of prescriptions because it made me feel sick). To have the whole world swim up in bright, clear focus for the first time was alarming and made me feel dizzy.

Of course, once they broke, my mother refused to get any more because glasses 'cost money', so I had to go another two years without any, so I went back to the old method of sticking close to the board, being crap at PE and getting poleaxed by headaches. I only nearly got myself killed crossing the road once, though. I listened to things a lot - more carefully after that.

As soon as I had glasses, I could do so many things I'd never thought I'd be able to - and that's for a far weaker prescription than yours.

They check your eyes for pupil reactivity to light - it's easy to see contacts when you're looking directly at the pupil (did first aid for a while - even with my eyesight, I could always see if somebody had contacts in when there was a stray eyelash or dust they wanted found or they'd bumped their head and were woozy).

Mine are - 11, I can't even see my feet without them. I have a few times put them down while having a bath and had to call for help to find them.
I am terrified of zombie apocalypse.

This is me too.

I’ve knocked my glasses off my bedside table at night and had to wake dh up to help me find them as despite getting on my hands and knees to feel around for them I couldn’t find them at all. 😆😆😳

It’s no fun being very short sighted.

Cripes. I’m -9.00 but wear contacts. I have two pairs of glasses but can never find either of them. I’d be dead meat! runs to locate glasses

Oh, so would they take them out for you? I’d then be left half blind (but better that than having them stuck to your cornea!) It feels like I need one of those tag bracelets, my glasses and a spare pair of contacts on me at all times…

I actually wear a medical bracelet for medication reasons and I had a spare line on the personalisation so I added “high myopia” to it thinking of the whole contacts / checking for retinal detachment thing in an emergency. I always worry being very short sighted if I had a bump to the head my retinas would detach as we are more prone to it anyway but they wouldn’t automatically check and then it would get left and then be too late for surgery and I’d be blind…

(Yes, I have health anxiety).

My prescription is -2.25 and I'd hate not to wear glasses! I don't mind bimbling around the house without glasses or contacts on but the moment I step outside it feels so much worse not to have glasses on.

My little boy is a -7 bless him, my shitty eye genes passed on to him unfortunately. He’s used old glasses numerous times as he has broken them about 6 times.

I hadn’t thought of that. But it’s a good point! I might buy myself a medical bracelet.

As a side issue, isn’t it a pain that watersports are such an issue when shortsighted? Just little things like going snorkelling on holiday are so difficult to navigate. Glasses with big goggles? Contacts with small goggles? Prescription goggles? Backup options in case it all goes south in the water. Sigh.

DH doesn't wear glasses in general but has +3.75 for reading. Of course he doesn't wear them in the shower but I've caught him (from recognising the scent) on more than one occassion using expensive hair mask instead of shower gel "because he couldn't see what it was". I was not happy. It came in a tub ffs, that should have given him a clue 🙄🤣

Glasses anxiety is a thing! I'm -5/-6 and DH is -6/-9. We have an agreement that if one of us loses our specs at home, the other will drop everything immediately to look for them. Even if we've had a fight. Poor lad has has his work cut out due him since I bought transparent specs! (Frames obvs, for the clever clogs).

I did also used to worry about ending up in hospital wearing contact lenses. When I was a teenager I had a note in my wallet next to my donor card that said "I am wearing contact lenses".

I always keep at least the last pair of specs, if not a couple. Usually the most recent "old" ones in my car. You know, in case a giant bird comes and pecks my actual glasses off my face whilst I'm in Tesco's or something.

YABU to not have a backup pair of glasses for a prescription of -4!

Google phelophepa train and think about how lucky we are. Feel free to donate

I'm -8 (contact lens wearer though) and I keep all of my old glasses, I think the oldest pair are -6 ish. They're better than nothing. Hope your DS can get some replacements soon. Being that short sighted is miserable.