Eye sight

[#1]

Have my eyes tested on a regular basis and no problem with, 6/6 with one eye and the other 6/5 well within the requirements for driving but I have noticed the focus when watching television for a hour or more and I seem to get double vision of the picture.

Is this simply a matter of 'tired eyes' for want of a better description or is it something I should be bothered about ?

I suspect that most people on the forum wear glasses so is this something you have experienced ?

I wear varifocals to watch tv but when out and about, other than driving do not bother wearing any glasses.

[#2]

I get something similar when reading my KIndle. I'm short sighted (myopic) so like many with the same affliction prefer to read without glasses on. If the TV is on but I'm not watching it, if I put my specs back on look at the at the TV screen then I find occasionally it is out-of-focus, not in a big way, just uncomfortable for a few minutes then everything goes back to normal.

My optician is not concerned and explains it is more to do with ageing rather than anything else.

Like gleneagles I have excellent eyesight (with my glasses on) and they are tested three times a year for my bus/coach licence.

I have always been very fussy with eye tests, you only get one set, they are not to be messed with.

[#3]

I'm long sighted but i have noticed that i struggle in low lights to read small text these days. A few years ago i was given a prescription for reading glasses but i've been putting that off for as long as i can until i am absolutely desperate as i've known many say their sight only gets worse once they start using them.

In normal day time i seem ok although after long periods of reading i do struggle a little but looking away for a few moments and then going back to it usually helps.

Ultimately i think with age, things are going to gradually slip with most folks. I'm mid 30s and they say after 40 it starts to be down hill so .. well you know lol

[#4]

7up wrote:

as i've known many say their sight only gets worse once they start using them.

To be blunt...absolute rubbish. Talk to your optician.

Moderator's note by Mike (Mav): Quote fixed.

[#5]

Well mate you're entitled to your opinion but this is what i've been told repeatedly.

My partner also says the same thing - she's been wearing glasses for over 20 years. Admittedly she was a constant book worm though and now she's had little one to distract her and no longer reads her eyes have stopped getting worse.

[#6]

@7up @petlew

You are probably both correct in some respects.

In order to focus there are small muscles which squeeze the lens in the eye. Like all muscles these benefit from exercise, wearing glasses to correct your eyesight, means the muscles don't have to work as hard. Thus, when you're not wearing glasses that your eyes have become used too then it is more difficult to focus. 

With age, the lens also gets stiffer and harder to compress, so that makes it even harder to focus when you're are not wearing glasses.

I have one pair of glasses for driving/distance vision and television, but I can't read or use a display screen when wearing them. I was recommended varifocals as my reading vision is starting to deteriorate, but after discussion with the optician he conceded that an intermediate single lens prescription would be an acceptable compromise.

But I would recommend seeing an optician if you're having any difficulty. A good optician/eyetest procedure can distinguish between a vision deficiency and so called 'tired eyes'. Aren't  eyesight tests free in Scotland?

[#7]

I am extremely myopic with astigmatism but need varifocals to switch between watching the TV/driving, etc and reading a book. I have found that when my eyes feel tired I am better taking my glasses off and holding the book much closer to  them. I also use a pair of fixed-focals for using the PC.

Apparently, though, the amount of myopia is decreasing as I get older and my optician informs me that it is not unusual.

Edit: As my father had glaucoma I, at least, get eye tests for free.

[#8]

Fun fact, since leaving school ( be 43 this year ) not once have I went for an eye test. Never needed to in my opinion. And yes I know they can see things that might be coming up that may affect your health but I feel great and can see perfectly so why bother. I do get eye strain but only when playing formula one racing games and occasionally some reading although I am sure reading these screens we all read more and more of have more of a detrimental impact!!

[#9]

Funny you mention eye strain as i get it if i'm using my phone for too long! I also keep the brightness on the computer turned down for the same reason. TV doesn't seem to affect me though and I have to wonder if that because of things like the background on the TV which fools your eyes into thinking that it's something real (eg countryside).

Thats my theory anyway..

[#10]

It's distance, brightness and refresh rates. Your phone is usually parked right in front of your nose. Your TV is usually on the other side of the room. CRT monitors used to cause headaches because of their refresh rates simply because that's the way old CRT displays worked. On modern LCD / LED / Flat panels, if the refresh rate doesn't sync with the strobe of the backlight it creates a "flicker". Usually because it's using PWM.

Nothing to do with fooling eyes into something looking real.

[#11]

the thing with the double vision can be corrected through using "display screen glasses" 

normally a coating on your lenses will do this for prescription glasses or you can just buy some off amazon /ebay (non corrective lenses) for watching tv or using a digital screen, there's something about the type of light given off and how close you are to it that causes problems over time, the longer your watching the goggle box the worse the damage will get, and the faster your eyes will deteriorate, the damage is minute day to day and normal daily cell renewal will repair it when your young but as you age things slow down and it starts to become permanent and of course its worse with plasma or led screens, but not as bad as the old CRT's were (although good distance was the key with them to getting rid of the problem)   

[#12]

@nanotm yup. Old CRT monitors and TVs were horrible. When your parents used to say "don't sit so close, you'll damage your eyes" they weren't joking. I could only play computer games on those for an hour or so before I'd get thumping headaches. Then LCD panels came around and everything was great for a while. Until they started making high Hz panels with incorrectly implemented PWM. It's nearly entirely imperceptible to the human eye, but the constant "flicker" that your eyes adjust to will again quickly give me a headache. I actually got rid of a high Hz "gaming" monitor because of the headaches and went back to an older 30Hz monitor I still had lying around and have been headache free since.

Some people it has absolutely no effect no. At least not in the form of headaches and stuff. But I'm wondering what it will eventually do to their eyesight over the years.

[#13]

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@7up wrote:

Well mate you're entitled to your opinion but this is what i've been told repeatedly.

---

told by whom? opticians?
if not opticians then it's hokum.

[#14]

You may well be right checks but the people that have said it were all long time wearers. That may be natural degrading of the eyes and coincidence though as you suggest.

[#15]

@7up

its totally nonsense 

your eyes are a muscle group and like any muscle group if you don't use them they eventually stop working, if you over use them you create strain, if you then continue to use them you cause damage, and if you never give them a chance ot rest up  they will either never repair or will repair wrong and become defective, surgery can fix these problems (well it can now you can use nanometre sized laser scalpels) by removing the bad parts from the muscle group,  much in the same way that if you snap a muscle in your body and don't get surgery it will never work quite right again your eyes need proper care....

what most people find is that when they stop doing something there eyes take the rest time and start repairing the damage as best they can (but it will never go back to best without surgery) corrective lenses can lessen the damage being inflicted by eye strain, the damage being inflicted by high energy light stroboscopic effects and other things,

glasses also help lessen the damage being done to your eyes so long as you have the correct coatings to lessen the damage, if you just put on plain lenses and look at your phone screen for instance you will notice the damage intensifies and you get manic headaches, you must have the correct coating to stop this extra damage.....

about the only thing you could possibly do that slows down or reverses the damage to the muscle group is stop using them (tape them shut) but that's not something most folks can actually do and continue normal life /