Correcting Vision

I wrote you about 2 weeks ago about my eye problems.  Basically I was having trouble reading board in class and seeing at night.  Well it got worse to the point where I couldn't read the board at all so I went to the doctor.  She said my vision was -.75 in both eyes with a slight astigmatism in the left eye.  She wrote me a prescription for glasses and told me to only wear them in class and driving at night.  I started using them in class yesterday and could see the board perfectly but looking up and down was making me feel sick.  My friends ( who wear contacts/glasses) told me I just needed to get used to them so I decided to wear them around the house to try to get used to them.  I realized that I could see everything better.  Even looking at myself in the mirror looked clearer.  I really don't like wearing the glasses and would prefer contacts, so I went back this morning to try to get contacts.  She said that she didn't want me to see everything perfectly clear and to only wear them in class and driving at night.  But gave me a trial pair of contacts but put my prescription down to -.5.  I don't really understand this.  If I see everything clearer, why wouldn't she want me to wear them all the time?  I just wanted your opinion on this.  Thanks for any advice.

[Forum-OD-MP]

my guess is she thinks you have "pseudomyopia" (aka "accommodative spasm") or nearsightedness that is temporary, brought on by reading too much or studying too much w/o taking a break.  if a person with pseudomyopia wears their glasses only when they drive or look at the board, they are likely to keep the nearsightedness as being a temporary condition.  

if on the other hand you wore the glasses or contacts all the time, you run a greater risk of making your nearsightedness more permanent and then needing the glasses/contacts more frequently or always.  plus if you wear them to read/study you are more likely to get headaches and eyestrain.

patients incorrectly think that we eye docs *want* everyone to need glasses so we can make millions selling them.  truth is most of us are minimalists...we rx the least amount possible to acheive 20/20, and frequently undercorrect or DONT correct people with slight rx's.  this case proves that point.  if she wanted to, she could have easily said "sure wear these all the time", thereby increasing your likelyhood of being permanently nearsighted, and ensuring a patient/customer for life.  but she obviously didnt do that.

[JamesBrown]

You can try natural methods of eye care. I have personally benefitted from this <a href="http://eye.taragana.com/">free book on eye care</a>.

[Ag-i-doc]

a quote from that website:

"Each one of these children here has spoilt his/her eyesight by watching TV and video movies for hours."

that is totally and completely untrue, and has been debunked several times by medical studies.  this is a version of the "Bates Method", which was cutting edge technology... in 1918.  it has been proven to be incorrect.