Dear Dr.
I have a 33 year-old sister that suffers sever myopia since birth. Her exact prescription is the following:
OD: 25.50, 375X40
OS: 25.00, 200X144
She's had three retinal detachments, the last one in 1999 and at that time, she had surgery for a scleral buckle in her left eye. I should also mention she started wearing contact lenses at the age of 5 but is pretty disciplined in taking them off as soon as she gets home every day. The last couple of months, she has been complaining that her eyes hurt. After consulting her opthalmologist and a few retinal specialists, they have advised her to stop wearing contacts altogether for a while. Besides that, she needs to avoid computer work (she's in sales so her use is moderate), avoid lifting heavy items and doing anything strenuous that could provoke another retinal detachment.
She's only 33 and very vital, she enjoys working out, dancing, and loves her job and telling her she can't basically do anything comes as a huge blow, not just for her but for our whole family.
She does have a pair of glasses she bought here, in Spain, about 10 years ago. At that time, they told her the refraction index (not sure if that's the same as the hyper index) is 1.9 and while they're not pretty or anywhere near aesthetically pleasing, they're supposedly the most modern. The glass is pretty thin in the center and then gets thicker towards the outside, you can see the circle and they make her eyes look really tiny.
Is there something better out there in the market right now? Putting aesthetics secondary (although that's important also), what are her options as far as eyewear is concerned? While the optician we consulted with told us there's only a handful of manufacturers worldwide, we have hope that there's someone out there, perhaps in the US, that has come out with some type of glass or technology to help dealing with this life change a little easier.
Any suggestions, names, advice... would be really great appreciated. Thank you in advance and regards.