Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with vision

Am I losing my vision? At 22?

wild like kudzu — Tue, 22 Dec 2009 14:00:07 -0800

Am I going blind? All of a sudden I have a large blindspot at about 4 o clock in my field of vision. I also have a terrible headache, both of which developed today. The blind spot is large enough that I can't see my hand as I type, and my head hurts when I try to focus on that spot in my peripheral vision. This also means that if I look at someone's face focusing on their right eye their mouth tends to disappear. I remember this happening a few times before, but I shrugged it off. This time it's very hard for me to read anything on the computer. I didn't stare at anything bright other than the computer screen (simple reason?) and I don't know what the problem is. It seems to be getting a little better, but my head is still killing me. I don't have any vision problems other than needing to wear glasses to help with astigmatism. Could it just be eye strain? It's freakin' me out a little.

Help with vision problem

Bulgaroktonos — Fri, 20 Nov 2009 08:12:49 -0800

What are these moving lines in my vision? So, for quite sometime, I've experiencing a problem where I will get these moving lines in my vision. They look like worms, they're black and white and they move around for a few seconds then disappear. They're not floaters, which I also have. They only crop up when I've just exerted myself, or when I stand up. I've tried Googling, but I haven't come up with much. It's been going on for years, and I've never asked a doctor about it, which I probably should. I'm mainly curious, since it hasn't seemed like much of a problem before.

Should I see an opthamologist or an optometrist?

desjardins — Tue, 10 Nov 2009 12:00:23 -0800

Probably need my first pair of glasses. Haven't had my eyes checked in years. Should I see an opthamologist or an optometrist? My vision is not what it used to be. I look at a computer all day and I'm starting to get eyestrain. Night driving is also more difficult. Should I see an opthamologist just because I haven't had a checkup in awhile? Or is that overkill?

What fun stuff should I know about getting my first pair of glasses? (I'm sure I don't want contacts.)

I'm 35, no known health conditions that would affect vision. I have health/vision insurance.

Why doesn't it damage your eyes to look at light after they've been dilated?

LillyBird — Mon, 09 Nov 2009 16:52:11 -0800

I'm posting for my wife who just got her eyes dilated at 4 p.m. (so she can't look at the computer to type this herself). I tried to Google my question and couldn't come up with any satisfactory answers. The question is why doesn't dilating your eyes and then viewing any form of light harm your eyes? The pupils adjust to regulate how much light is taken in. Is this a safeguard? I don't see how it's not damaging your eyes to shine a bright light in them when your pupils are fully dilated, because, and I may be wrong, but I've never seen pupils naturally get this big. But then again, you need light to view your eyes so maybe they do in a pitch dark room.

I read Catch Me If You Can, and when Frank was imprisoned in a French dungeon, deprived of any light, they had to slowly reintroduce him to even the dimmest light so not to damage his eyes. Why was this and how would this relate to dilation?

I hope I'm being clear enough. I just want to know why it isn't damaging because the eye doctor told her to come in every year, and it seems like over the course of a lifetime that would be a lot of damage, if damage is occurring. Thanks so much!

(What's the Story) Morning blurry?

XiBe — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 07:29:21 -0800

IKnowYouAreNotMyDoctor-filter: one blurry eye in the morning. Hello,

I've had a new eye behaviour since this Monday. Waking up, I quickly opened my eyes, only to discover a slight change of perception to my right eye, and a feeling as if opening my peeled something off my cornea - but it might just my brain trying to adapt a blurry right eye to a perfect left eye.

Yes, because I don't wear glasses or lenses - never have. I used to have very clear vision in both eyes (not perfect, mind you, but I could read easily some very far texts).

I slowly regained focus on my right eye, but since then I have a slightly blurrier vision in the right eye than my left. Next morning (yesterday), I woke up with no noticeable change. This morning, I again woke up with a blurry right eye, which improved in the next few minutes.

Yes, I am planning to see an ophthalmology, but it can take months before I get a appointment, so in the meantime I'm asking The Hive: have you ever witnessed such a behaviour (both the morning blur, and the slight loss of focus from one day to the next)? Should I be worried?

Details: I'm 32 and healthy, I work on a computer all day (have been for years with no issue)... and have slightly lacked sleep these last few days (what with being single again, y'know).

Thanks a lot for any insight.

How can you see what I saw?

history is a weapon — Sun, 01 Nov 2009 17:40:32 -0800

In 35 mm terms, how wide angle are our eyes? Understanding that we have our main vision, what we're actually focusing on, and our peripheral vision, what we can sort of see, what're the answers to this? For example, can we focus the equivalent of a 22mm lens on a fullframe 35mm? I understand that our eyes and brain are much more complex than a lens; I'm more interested in the physical frame in terms of what lens would most closely replicate natural vision.

I don't think it should be hurting this long

Hakaisha — Sat, 31 Oct 2009 15:00:09 -0800

Is it normal to have recurring headaches while wearing contacts? Yes, YANMD. I started wearing contacts for the first time this past September (soft hydrogels). Got fitted properly, tested out a pair, prescription/comfort was good, bought a batch, hooray.

Of course, during the start-up period I had the usual headache/slightly nauseous feeling. I always have this whenever even a slight change is made to my prescription (I got new glasses at about the same time and that gave me a headache for a few days too), so I wasn't surprised. I adjusted to my glasses, adjusted to my contacts, and I thought all was golden.

Well, I don't actually wear my contacts as frequently as I'd like. I'm a student and I'm in chemistry labs 5 days a week, where contacts are strictly forbidden; contacts are generally for weekend use. And the last month I haven't touched my contacts at all save for a brief hour-long stint; 've been pulling lots of late nights and such and my eyes were generally too puffy and whatnot to have contacts in there comfortably. (As exemplified by the previous hour-long stint.)

So I finally put my contacts in today. I'm sure they're not inverted, I got the right eye to the right lens, they've been cleaned properly, etc. Vision is good, comfort is good...except the headache/nausea is back. And my friend who I was complaining to was like "...you're the only one I know who has problems with contacts for this long. You should be used to them by now." I'm like "...but I went a while without wearing them...?"

Is this normal? Should I be concerned?

Living with floaters?

kms — Mon, 26 Oct 2009 05:44:41 -0800

Any advice for getting rid of or living with floaters in my eyes? I'm 29, nearsighted, and just spent six months in front of a computer working on my dissertation. Over that time, my eyesight has gotten noticeably worse. My distance prescription hasn't changed, but my night vision is worse and, annoyingly, I seem to have a lot of floaters in both eyes. I went to the optometrist and everything checked out fine after a very detailed exam. There were some issues with near-field focussing (some kind of eye strain), probably related to staring at my computer so much, but they gave me a prescription for use when I'm working and it has definitely helped.

I'm not terribly worried about the floaters since they really checked out my eyes (almost 2 hours of tests, dilation, all sorts of bright lights), but they are very annoying. Its been a few months now and I haven't noticed them blending in or disappearing at all. It looks like I'm stuck with them.

What I'd like to know is whether anyone has had any luck getting rid of floaters or training yourself not to notice them. How do you do this? Will they ever go away or be less noticeable?

edit detection

yegga — Mon, 19 Oct 2009 01:41:10 -0800

I'm interested in detecting edits in a given video stream. Is there any literature out there on edit detection? The idea is to take in an arbitrary video stream as input, and detect 'edits', 'scenes' or 'cuts' in the stream. Further, to try and cluster similar kinds of edits/scenes/cuts.

How would you go about researching this?

Some examples:

http://cat.inist.fr/?aModele=afficheN&cpsidt=1579591

What can you see in satellite photos?

k. — Wed, 30 Sep 2009 22:33:01 -0800

Satellite photos: what interesting features can be seen or measured in them (or other aerial photos), and where can I get a supply of images? Examples I have already seen, from some crude Google-searching:
Roads
Buildings
Degree of development (urban/suburban/rural)
Oil spills (apparently these are usually hard to see)
Blooms of algae (cyanobacteria) in the Baltic Sea
Damage to buildings from earthquakes

More would be appreciated--the more specific, the better. These will be used in a computer vision system, so I'd especially like to know where I can find a supply of images containing whatever feature I'm looking for (including the above)--easy for buildings or roads, but hard for rare events like oil spills. Natural disasters seem interesting, if there are pictures available.

I would also consider some other kind of non-photographic data as well, if it could be combined with maps or photos. Don't worry whether you think it's suitable; any idea you have will help!

Help me find an odd magnifying glass.

dogwelder — Tue, 29 Sep 2009 14:16:17 -0800

Help me find an odd magnifying glass. A guy at the coffee shop was reading with a magnifying glass, but I'd never seen one like it. Just a chunk of glass, no frame. 3-4 inches in diameter. about an inch think, with a convex top that rose another half inch or so. THe man using it must have had horrible vision, so I was thinking it might be available through a medical supply house, but I can't find it.

Windows to the soul in constant involuntary motion

chrchr — Sun, 20 Sep 2009 16:54:10 -0800

What do you see when you encounter someone with nystagmus? I have nystagmus arising from ocular albinism. I realized recently that I'm shy about making eye contact with people, and I think this stems from self-consciousness about it. So, strangers and mefites, please tell me the honest truth. Do you even notice it when someone has nystagmus? If so, how does it register? Is it sorta creepy? My friends seldom comment on it. I know it's not a big deal for people I know. I'm wondering more about first impressions. Thanks.

Damn My Eyes

Lieber Frau — Fri, 11 Sep 2009 08:04:05 -0800

I'm seeing a weird "floater" on the right side of my field of vision. I suspect this is something minor, but it's never happened to me before. My eye does not hurt. It gets worse when I'm looking at a computer screen, but stays after I look away. It looks like a big, white, 8-bit graphic backwards "C". When I turn my eyes to the left or right, it follows my line of vision. When I cover my right eye, the "C" dims, but remains present.

I have not done anything unusual with my eyes this morning, and I do not have any vision problems. No contacts, glasses, prescriptions, etc.

I work day in and day out in front of a computer screen, so I thought that might have something to do with it. A cursory google search didn't do me much good. What might this be? What can/should I do?

Laser eye correction in the northern virginia area?

Nonce — Wed, 09 Sep 2009 18:34:41 -0800

I am nearsighted with a slight astigmatism, have about $2,000 to spend, and a desire to never wear glasses again. I'm in the northern Virginia area. I can travel to DC, MD, or anywhere close by, but not too far, as I don't want to make any followups too difficult.

Where should I go?

What kind of surgery should I get?

Is transepithelial PRK (all-laser) surgery the best? Or Custom Vue IntraLasik? Or something I don't know about?

Should I worry about what version of what software the center is running? How detailed to I need to get in this quest? Who has the best rep, the best service, and the best results? Is this possible to do responsibly for that much money?

Please help me not do something stupid to my eyes that can never be undone.

How worried should I be about my symptoms?

suncoursing — Sat, 05 Sep 2009 17:08:41 -0800

Should I be worried about this? I went to the doctor this morning to get checked out for cold/flu symptoms; I didn't think it was serious -- I just wanted to check that I didn't have H1N1, but the doctor told me that the treatment I'd been getting for prostatitis was "highly unusual for someone in their 20s", and he said I should immediately stop taking the antibiotic I'm on (Septra/Bactrim) because I might be having an allergic reaction to it, or possibly an autoimmune reaction. The doctor told me, in the strongest possible terms, that I should write up a description of the treatment I've received so far, with dates, and bring it to another urologist to get a second opinion. Since I won't even be able to schedule an appointment until Tuesday, and it will probably be a week or two before I can actually get in, I might as well post here to see what opinions MeFi experts (or non-experts) have about this.

About a year ago, while seeing a sports medicine doc for an ankle sprain, I offhandedly mentioned that I was waking up once or twice a night to urinate, unless I avoided drinking any water during the afternoon. She said that was just part of getting older, and that I shouldn't be worried about it. My symptoms gradually got worse, but I avoided seeing a doctor for a really long time because the deterioration was so slow, and I'd already been told it was just a natural part of getting older. Eventually, it got to the point that I was waking up every couple of hours to urinate. My life was a total disaster. I was too tired to functon at all. At that point, three months ago (6/26), I went back to the same doctor, who did a urine culture (negative) and prescribed a week of doxycycline (100 mg, twice daily). My symptoms completely disappeared for a couple of days, but they eventually reached a midly annoying steady state level (waking up every four hours or so).

After going off the doxcycline, my symptoms started getting worse, and I got a referral to a uroligist, who did a urine culture (negative), and a DRE (inflamed prostate). He put me on a month of Cirpo. My symptoms cleared up after a few days on Cipro, but after a week or so they went back to the same steady state (waking up every four hours) that I had when i was on doxycycline. After the course of Cipro was up, my symptoms got worse, and I went back to the same urologist (on 08/19) who did another urine culture (negative), a semen culture (negative), and perscribed a month of Septra (800 mg/160mg, twice daily), and gave me some samples of Enablex to "experiment with". The same thing happened again: my symptoms initially went away, and then they came back, but weren't as severe as they were when I wasn't on antibiotics.

I started the Enablex last Sunday (8/30), but stopped last Thursday (9/3) when it didn't seem to help.

And now for the symptoms that really seemed to freak out the doctor I saw today. Three days ago (9/23), while applying sunscreen, I noticed that the lymph nodes in my neck were tender and swollen. I also had some mild eye irritation that I'm not sure how to describe. It felt really uncomfortable, in a weird way, if I moved my eyes to an extreme position (e.g., if I tried to look right without turning my head).

You know that gunk you sometimes have in your eyes when you wake up? My eyes kept generating that stuff all day Friday, and by the end of the day, my eyes were really watery and bloodshot. It looked like I'd been crying all day, but it wasn't affecting my vision. This morning, when I woke up, I had a mild fever, a sore throat, my lips felt like they were burning very mildly, and my eyes were tearing up enough that my vision was just a tad blurry. Like I said above, I went to see a doctor to make sure I didn't have swine flu, and after giving the above description to the doctor, he sounded really worried and told me to stop taking Septra immediately, and that I should see a different urologist as soon as possible. Also, he gave me Erythromycin ointment, in case I have an eye infection, and Optivar drops for the eye irritation.

Since this morning, things have gotten a bit worse. For a while, my eyes were watering so much that tears were streaming down my face. It's not quite so bad now, but my vision is still blurry enough that I wouldn't feel comfortable driving, or even cooking The burning on my lips is a lot worse; I can see skin blistering off my lips and the inside of my mouth, and my ears are red and warm to the touch.

Just as an aside, the urologist I'm seeing seems poorly organized. I called them up this week when I noticed this pattern of my symptoms getting better and then worse again every time I started a new antibiotic, and the nurse I talked to told me I should give it time since I had only been on Cipro for a week (when I had actually been on Cipro for a month), and that I had only been on Septra since last Monday, barely more than a week (when I'd actually started the Septra two Wednesdays ago). The last time I called, asking if I should refill my prescription of Cipro after two weeks, the nurse responded to all my questions with "you should come in and see the doctor", but when I did, he spent about thirty seconds with me before writing me a another prescription for two weeks of Cipro, which I didn't even need, since my previous prescription was refillable.

Sorry for the typos and grammatical errors; it's hard to proofread when my vision is like this.

Also, can anyone recommend a urologist in Austin? The doctor I saw today avoided recommending a particular urologist, telling me I should call my primary care physician for a recommendation, but who knows if they'll even be around on Tuesday?

Mac and eystrain

lsemel — Fri, 04 Sep 2009 21:21:17 -0800

I've been wanting to switch to a Mac for around a year, but my vision isn't perfect and Macs seem to be designed for designers with 20/20 vision. First I tried a Macbook Pro 15" and everything was too tiny for me (I asked a question about this on this site previously, but couldn't find any good way to enlarge everything, unlike on Windows which is full of options for this). Then I got a Mac desktop and hooked it to my old monitor, which was nice and big (19" 1280x1024) but now the text is big but so fuzzy it immediately gives me a headache and eyestrain looking at it. When I switch to Windows in VMWare this feeling immediately goes away. I am already using DVI, have calibrated the monitor, adjusted the brightness, tried all levels of font smoothing, checked the resolution, toyed with the contrast settings in universal access, and tried every other adjustment I could think of.

So, what's the best super-sharp, high-contrast LCD monitor for a Mac that doesn't make everything look tiny? (Apple's 30" and 23" displays are too high-res for me) Or is there some other solution I've overlooked?

I have around 10 days before I have to return it, and if I don't find a way to use it comfortably, I'll just have to face that the Mac is just not for me and go back to Windows for the foreseeable future.

How Dry I Am!

airguitar2 — Fri, 21 Aug 2009 12:37:19 -0800

VisionFilter: Should I switch from rigid gas permeable lenses to soft? I've been wearing gas permeable contact lenses since i was ELEVEN-- about twenty years-- and I've had almost no problem. Yes, there's the stabbing sensation that accompanies any small piece of grit in the eye, and there was the time I accidentally put one contact on top of the other, but overall, it's been okay.

Then, SUDDENLY, in the last month or so, my eyes have become really dry and uncomfortable while wearing my RGPs-- so much so that I find myself wearing glasses about half of the time.

1. Is there something I can do to get back to the comfort-of-old? (I used the protein deposit remover when I think of it.)
2. Did Boston change its cleaning or conditioner formula when it merged with Bausch and Lomb?
3. Is it time to bite the bullet and switch to soft? (My vision is about -4 in each eye, and I've been told I won't have as crisp vision with soft, but perhaps lens technology has changed...?)

Thanks, fellow sufferers.

Looking for the best contacts for dry eyes

ishotjr — Fri, 14 Aug 2009 11:13:35 -0800

Should I stick with my current contact lenses, or go with one of two other brands? I'm about to buy a 6 month supply of contacts (2 boxes) and am trying to decide between staying with my current brand of contacts, or going with one of two other types. They all have the same BC and Diameter measurement options as my current ones. My vision is not too horrible, -3.75 in one eye, -4 in the other. I'm nearsighted, and have been wearing contacts on and off for about 8 years, mostly off. My #1 problem is dry eyes. My eyes are so dry that I even have to use drops regularly without contacts.

Looking at 1-800-CONTACTS, I find two other brands that seem like they could be better than my current ones. This makes my options:
1) Current contacts: Biofinity, made of comfilcon A, 48% water. These are my current ones, and I'm mostly happy with them. I still get really dry eyes if I wear them for too long.
2) PureVision, which are balaficon A, 36% water. You are able to wear these for 30 days day and night, although I would definitely not be doing that. I might wear them overnight occasionally, like if I was up all night studying or was too tired to take them out before bed. Yes, I did read this thread.
3) Focus Monthly, which are vifilcon A, and 55% water.

I'm tempted to go with the Focus ones because they have a higher water content, and I have dry eyes. However, I've read that contacts with a higher water content are not always better for dry eyes because they can suck more moisture from your eyes when the water in the contacts starts to evaporate. I don't know if this is true.
The reason the PureVisions are tempting is because they're supposed to be comfortable enough to wear overnight if desired. With my super dry eyes, I don't know if this is possible, but it would be very convenient.
All of my options are monthlies and are within $10 in price for 2 boxes, so cost is not a factor.

One important factor is that I don't plan on wearing contacts every day. When I have contacts I wear them at most every other day. When I run out, I tend to go months without getting more, just wearing glasses every day. I'm going back to school, though, and I can see things in class much better with contacts, and get frustrated with dirty glasses. I also like being able to wear regular sunglasses instead of my heavy rx ones with thick lenses. It would be nice to be able to fall asleep in my contacts without worrying too much, but if they aren't comfortable enough to do so anyway, it's a useless feature (referring to the PureVisions).

I would appreciate any input from those who have used any of these brands of contacts. I need to buy these before the end of the month because my Flexible Spending from my job will run out then, so I don't really have the ability to ask my optometrist to try any (and she will try to get me to buy them through her, which is more expensive).

Can Contacts Replace My Progressive & Computer Glasses?

justcorbly — Thu, 13 Aug 2009 11:28:21 -0800

I'm considering wearing contact lenses again in lieu of eyeglasses to make working with camera viewfinders easier. I've worn glasses since i was a kid. Got the usual array of problems: Nearsightedness, astigmatism, presbyopia. Currently wear progressive lenses in my glasses. However, I find reading with my progressive lenses is unpleasant, so I usually take them off. I use a separate pair of glasses for computer work. I was fitted with a test pair of soft monovision lenses last week. They're not going to work. Close vision -- within arm's reach -- is unacceptable. I told the clinician I wanted contacts to provide vision correction at least as good as my glasses. I want any contacts I wear to work at distance vision, close vision, reading, driving, computer work, etc. She replied that I wouldn't get that with contacts. Is she right?

How can I color correct my digital photos if I don't see colors well?

Anonymous — Tue, 09 Jun 2009 19:08:05 -0800

I want to color correct my digital photos, but I have a color vision deficiency. Up to now, I've been correcting the levels manually, but relying on the auto-color features in Picasa or Photoshop for colors, but often this doesn't do a good job and the colors look off, even to me. I can manually correct the levels and adjust the colors so they look right to me, but that doesn't guarantee they will look right to others. Is there any way to color correct numerically (for instance, using the eyedropper tool on someone's face to to see if the RGB value of skin falls within a skin-tone range) Otherwise, is there a service that I can send my digital photos to where they can color correct them perfectly and send them back? I'm interested in the digital files, not in getting prints.

Dry sore eyes without contacts

andraste — Tue, 02 Jun 2009 18:21:21 -0800

My eyes are dry and sore when I'm *not* wearing my contact lenses. Does anyone else experience this? I have a regular optometrist's checkup coming up next month at which I will ask about this, but I'm wondering if anyone else has experienced the weirdness of having sorer eyes *without* contacts, and whether/how it's been treated. Everything I can find via Google is about eyes being sorer with contacts, not without them.

I'm very short-sighted and have been wearing contact lenses for around 24 years. I generally wear them all day, every day as I don't like glasses - they make my eyes look disproportionately tiny, the lenses are very thick and my field of vision feels enclosed.

About eight months ago my eyes started looking a bit blurry. I went to the optometrist who worked out that my prescription had changed - my astigmatism has become more pronounced - and also that I had extraordinarily dry eyes. She also thought that I might have some problems with the composition of the lens itself, as just before I'd had the problems my contact lens manufacturer had discontinued my old lenses and switched to a new more oxygen-permeable type. I got my prescription changed, got new glasses and astigmatism contacts, and she treated the dry eye with gel and drops. The problem lessened a great deal although it didn't completely disappear, but my optometrist was satisfied I could keep my eyes happy with drops.

Lately the problem's begun increasing again, and I find it is actually worse when I'm not wearing my lenses. It almost feels as if the air against my naked eyeballs is too cold or too harsh, and if I concentrate on anything - computer, a book, TV - my eyes get watery and sore. When I have my lenses in, they feel more comfortable - but they're still getting a bit blurry again and my eyes are red a lot of the time.

However, I took a week off work recently and during that week I didn't have any problems with my eyes! They were comfortable and not red or watery - I didn't need to use the drops at all. During that time I spent almost as much time on the computer as I do at work, but I wasn't in the air-conditioned, high rise office in the city. Anyone else get *that* problem?

The lenses are fortnightly disposables - Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism - and I religiously change them according to schedule, and I also use the gel at night and drops in the daytime.

Do contact lenses that compensate for color blindness work?

Elmore — Sun, 17 May 2009 10:36:35 -0800

Are those contact lenses that compensate for red/green colour blindness actually any use? I had a long overdue appointment with the optician today. When I told them I was red/green colour blind, the optician then told me that there are contact lenses available that have a red dot that covers the pupil on the dominant eye. She gave me a test lens to try and it did make a difference on the test cards with all the coloured dots where you have to say (guess!) the number.

I imagine these lenses are pretty expensive, and I'm not sure that apart from getting through those test cards it would actually make any difference to my experience of the world. My level of colour blindness isn't very bad, it doesn't impact on my ability to make a living or enjoy life in any way - it's only trivial things that can be a bit frustrating (playing board games and computer games in particular). But, that said, part of me would love to see the world the way most people do.

While I know that my colour blindness is not a big deal, when I used vizcheck (website is gone it seems, but it was a photoshop plugin that converted images to how they would be seen by people with different types of colour blindness) on some photos to show my girlfriend how things look to me (sort of) she got pretty upset and explained to me that the colour red was supposed to be bright the way that yellow is bright. That was a bit of a shock, and while I'd like something as simple as a contact lens that would show this to me... I'm dubious.

Does anyone have first hand experience of using these lenses that compensate for red/green colour blindness? Do they actually make a difference to you when you use them, or is it just a scam, or a device that lets people determined to get their pilot's license pass the test?

Bizarre visual phenomenon

Acey — Mon, 11 May 2009 09:54:37 -0800

Occasionally, I experience a strange visual phenomenon that resembles a vortex of some sort... ... I distinctly remember experiencing it aged 14, and it repeatly resurfaces. It is very real, and to me suggests an illusion of depth, like a bubbly vortex or portal in the centre of my vision, moving in on itself and lasting for several minutes. I can't be the first to experience this apparently harmless apparition. So what is it?

Dots in my vision, dots on my arm, and uh, hmm, what's the word?

elektrotechnicus — Tue, 28 Apr 2009 23:05:38 -0800

Since I last posted I've been feeling much better, but now have very new and strange symptoms. I've been seeing flashes in my vision, felt like I was misreading text or having difficulty expressing myself verbally (words came a bit more slowly than usual), and went to the ER when I saw (and a friend confirmed) my pupils were unevenly dilated. I've also had a recurring, painless rash of tiny red dots that is only ever present on my right hand, and comes and goes rather quickly. All symptoms started two or three weeks ago. I can't see a doctor for a week or two, but when I can, what kind should I see and what should I ask about? When I was in the ER they tested my intraocular pressure with a tonometer and that was totally normal. The attendant doctor did not observe and problems with my pupils. An eye exam (non-dialated) didn't turn anything up. A CT scan was done as a precaution and (to my great relief) no abnormalities were found.

The flashes of light started occurring in my peripheral vision, and in those cases it's not really like I'm seeing anything so much as I visually detect movement out of the corner of my eye (turning my head, I see nothing. Since this started I've become hyperaware of my peripheral vision and occasionally experience what I think is a "flash" only to see it was a glint of sunlight off a car's hood or some other normal cause). I also see dots in my central visual field that are usually pinprick sized and stationary, lasting only a few moments, an experience not unlike seeing the cue dots in film. Occasionally these very tiny, bright, dots will meander about for a few moments (maybe a second at most) and then disappear. The largest "dots" subtend a portion of my visual field about as large as my thumb from knuckle to finger nail held at arm's length (these rarely move, but last slight longer than others). These are not afterimages... they seem to occur spontaneously in environments without obvious sources of concentrated light.

As far as the language use symptoms go, I feel like I make many more mistakes than usual reading - typical examples would be combining letters or sounds from two adjacent words and detecting a nonexistent one for a moment, or skipping over words entirely and having to backtrack when a sentence stops making sense grammatically. I find it's taking me longer to read in general. Likewise, I'm usually a pretty easygoing conversationalist and rarely have trouble expressing myself, but lately I've had bouts where words come with difficulty or I have to pay particular attention to form sentences. I ask people to repeat themselves fairly often.

All of these symptoms are episodic, seeming to occur for a few hours at a time, with no obvious pattern save that I generally feel better at night.

No real headaches outside a very dull ache every now and then. A bit fatigued. No fever or anything.

I'm going to see an ophthalmologist in a few weeks, and a neurologist after that, but in the mean time I'd like to figure out some likely causes of these symptoms.

Please help me with my glasses

DarkForest — Thu, 23 Apr 2009 15:04:15 -0800

Please help me with my glasses. Farsighted, astigmatism, presbyopia. Glasses provide only a very small field of sharpness. Details within. I'm a lifelong wearer of glasses. Over the past 10 or 15 years, I’ve been increasingly dissatisfied with the glasses that I’ve owned. I’m wondering if it is just the way it is, or if I can do better. Sorry for the length of this question. I think I’ve read most of the threads here about glasses.

First some specifics. I’m farsighted, with astigmatism. My prescription is something like +5.50 sphere, -1.5 cylinder. I also have presbyopia, and use +2.25 progressive addition to the lenses. I may well increase this amount with my next glasses. My prescription is basically stable aside from increasing presbyopia. I’m in my 50’s. Optometrists tell me I’m not a good candidate for laser surgery due to the strength of my prescription.

I’ve purchased my glasses at chain stores: Lenscrafters, Pearl, etc. The current pair came from Walmart. I’ve seen the threads here about purchasing glasses online and am intrigued, but haven’t tried them out yet.

The problem I am having is with radial blur anywhere away from what I would call the optical center of the lens. This was bad enough a decade ago, but adding the progressive part of the lens seems to have made things worse and the current glasses are by far the worst of all. In fact, my current lenses seem to have only a very narrow channel of real sharpness. Anything to the left or right of this channel is blurred. These are Zeiss Premium 1.67 Hi-Index lenses and were supposedly the highest quality lenses available at the time from Walmart. I need to find something with a much wider field of sharpness and less of the radial/off-center blur. At their center, the sharpness is fine, so I think the prescription is correct. It’s just such a very small spot that is sharp.

Reading, computer use, SLR photography, etc. are all becoming increasingly difficult. I’m a software engineer so I spend most of my time with the computer and books/pencil/paper. I don't think it's an eye problem. My corrected vision has always been 20/15.

So my questions are:

- Am I stuck with this situation?

- Would I be better off with some non-chain store solution or more expensive/exotic lenses? Glass lenses? Some other lens material or manufacturer?

- Should I Look for a better quality optician than might be found in a chain store? Is there likely to be a significant difference? How would I find someone good?

- Should I try lined bifocal/trifocal glasses? Is the radial blurring problem made worse by the progressives? Or perhaps separate glasses for different situations?

- I’m intrigued by hard contact lenses. I gave them a short trial in the early 90s, but had a very hard time getting them in and out of my eyes. Not sure if I’d have better luck now. I’d like the freedom from glasses and the wide field of view, if I can adapt to wearing them. I’d probably still need reading glasses to go with them. Is this a reasonable thing to try?

Also, if anyone has any suggestions for scratch resistance, I’d be interested. It seems that the anti-scratch coatings have become worthless over the past decade.

Thank you for reading this and any suggestions or comments you have are appreciated. Anyone who provides a real answer for me will have their own shrine in my house that I will bow to daily.