How long does it take to get used to being a glasses wearer ? ?

[glassees]

I’ve always had glasses. I have a lazy eye and when they weren’t able to correct it with a patch when I was very little, my brain just got used to it.

I tend to have a pair of glasses around, I’ve tried contacts but was mostly able to get by with nothing for many many many years.

now I’m 40 and boom. Reading is becoming a bit more difficult and in general I’m just noticing my vision is blurry sometimes and out of focus and in the morning it takes a long time to have clear vision.

so off I went and got a new pair of glasses. I didn’t go with the vertifocals yet, just because I wanted to see if I would finally get used to wearing my glasses more.

I just find them so annoying on my face ! How long does it take to get used to wearing them ?

another reason I got them is because my migraines have really ramped up during the last year and it’s one more thing to check off as a cause.

I have the very start of a reading prescription now, which my glasses actually don’t help with as they not verifocals.

anyway I feel like my whole life I just haven’t got on with glasses. Ever since I was young I hated them and the feeling on my face. Could it change ? How long do I need to persevere here ? Or do some people just not like it ? I can’t imagine ever getting used to it. I feel suffocated by them. It’s weird. It’s not about how they look btw. It’s a sensory thing for me. I was able to get away with it before but my vision is just a bit unclear sometimes.

I never got used to it so had laser eye surgery in the end after nearly 30 years of wearing contacts and avoiding glasses as much as possible

Try contacts again.
I mix and match glasses and lenses. Took me about a week to get used to glasses. Contacts were immediately fine.

Yeah laser eye surgery won’t fix my lazy eye really. It never learnt to see properly so it will always be off. I guess maybe it could help my good eye but I hardly need a prescription on that eye anyway.

Could you have surgery on the lazy eye?

Why on earth didn't they operate to correct your lazy eye OP? I'm much older than you, and had mine done when I was 9 years old. It seems very strange that they didn't do yours, did your parents not agree to getting it done?

I don’t think that was an option for what I have. It’s not visibly lazy if that’s what you’re thinking. It moves fine. I just can’t see well out of it, but also not extreme. Minus 4 astigmatism or something around that.

Oh, I see ('scuse the pun), that makes more sense now.

Unfortunately, if it's a sensory thing for you, you may never get used to wearing glasses, I struggled for many years, but for me it was more of a vanity thing, so that's not a lot of help, I'm afraid.

Can you wear a very weak contact lens?

My mum is the opposite- she wears a low prescription glasses but uses contact lenses for events but cant really get on with them.

I am VERY short sighted but wear contact lenses almost always as I hate my glasses. Hate them in the rain, hate cooking in them, hate them being smudged

Strangely have about 30 pairs of sunglasses that dont annoy me

I don’t remember how long it took but I went from reading glasses feeling really weird to wearing them round the house most of the time as I don’t bother to take them off.

It took me about 6 months. That was 30 years ago.

never able to get on with contacts sadly

20 years and still not used to it. I would love laser surgery.

You could try a different type, if you have the ones that don't have the little silicone nose pads, the frame probably touches your cheek which can feel really annoying. With the nose pad type, the frame is further out so you can't feel it on your cheeks, I much prefer these.

I've worn them since I was four so can't help on the how long to get used to it front.

OP, it seems we’re similar in terms of diagnosis and options. I was under Moorfields at 3-4 years old, and one eye is such that surgery would be futile.

Personally, I think it’s really important to get glasses that feel right; never mind the vision, is the weight right for you, is the grip comfortable? What about lens frames versus rimless? Glasses are so personal, and sometimes I think the focus is so much on getting the prescription right (which of course it has to be) that the fit gets overlooked.

All I can suggest is that when you’re trying glasses, give yourself up to an hour to choose your frames, take your time. And go to an optician that will give you a period to return your glasses if you can’t get used to them - I know Boots gives 28 days, but am guessing that most opticians will do the same or similar. I think this is really important, and particularly with varifocals, which I needed a lot of time to adjust to. Even now, I should probably have readers and distance glasses, but can’t face the regular switching from one pair to another.

I’ve worn them for a few days now and I just feel like they’re suffocating me and like I’m ill. I equate it with being unwell. I took them off finally and I can still feel them on my nose. I don’t like wearing sunglasses but at least you’re not expected to wear them all hours. I do like how they make things darker obvs as I’m a bit of a vampire and find brightness a bit overwhelming. I get migraines a lot, so I tend to just hang around in dark rooms a lot. Wow I sound fun, don’t I ?

the glasses I have now are quite big and yes they do touch my cheek kind of and they don’t have the pads. My last pair had the pads and were thinner framed and actually they do feel less intense.

it’s also my new prescription just feels a bit off. When I take my glasses off I feel completely disorientated for ages and can’t see properly. I know that’s normal. But my last glasses ( from 3 years ago ), just feel a lot less intense on my face and also the actual prescription. Of course my prescription changed and all that.

anyway thanks guys. You know what, I feel a bit better knowing it’s not just me. Because so many glasses wearers who have absolutely zero choice, just wear them don’t they and it seems so effortless but probably is not ! I thought I was just super weird for struggling. I got my first pair at 3-4 years old. It’s always been like this for me.

If your prescription feels off OP, can I suggest that you go back to where you got them from and check that they're right, as one time I had that feeling, and they hadn't got the prescription quite right. They changed it, and the new ones were fine.

If the prescription feels wrong, it probably is wrong. That’s happened to me twice, and one occasion (Specsavers, since you asked) it was so bad, it made me feel ill/mad.

Also, your frames sound totally wrong for you. I can feel mine, but I like that; I hated frames that were so light, I couldn’t feel them. Horses for courses.

OP, you’ve got to be, if not actively happy, at least able to wear your glasses. They’re part of your everyday life, and if they feel horrible, it affects everything. If you possibly can, go back and talk to your optician, and get something that’s closer to what you need. Because what you’ve got now feels a million miles from that.