astigmatism and wrong prescriptions....

[chrissycay]

I wore glasses throughout my childhood from the age of 5 to 18. I had a slight lazy eye (then) along with nearsightedness and astigmatism.  As a college student, I continued to have my eyes examined but no one I saw prescribed lenses I could
wear.  I would run into things, get hurt, etc.  I finally just quit wearing them.  Now I'm in my forties and have spent the past
ten years going from opthamologists to optometrists and back and forth.  In the past 10 years, I've seen 9 doctors, three of them twice.  I even took in my prescription from my childhood glasses because my opthamologist warned me then to never lose my prescription.  He and another opthamologist worked on my prescription for months and said it was something most doctors would not be able to figure out.  Even though I tell each doctor this, they discard the information and present me with a prescription which is (I think) not close to the one I had as a kid.  Can someone please help me. I play tennis and I am at such a disadvantage because I can't see well.  Here is the old prescription from 1980.
right +2.75  -2.75 x 39
left    _1.75  -2.50 x 151 (I think the undercarriage just means it's a +)

Here is my most recent prescription: +2.00 -1.00 x 42
                                                                +2.00 -1.75 x 131

The previous one six months earlier:  +2.50 -1.75 x 039
                                                                 +2.50 -2.00 x 132

I even had prism lenses prescribed but I had trouble with those as well: right  plano +2.00x130  3
                                                                                                                                  + 0.25 + 1.75 x 055  3

Thank you for any suggestions you might be able to offer.  I have glasses from my childhood which I see perfectly well
out of.  I'm on the brink of just having it filled.  What would be the harm?

[dith05]

thank you doctor. :)

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

No, wearing glasses is not like wearing braces, it does not change the shape of your cornea, which is lopsided (like a football rather than a baseball) but clears the vision.

JC MD

[dith05]

will the glasses help in curing my astigmatism?

[dith05]

so doctor, wearing glasses is ok?

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

Glasses do not weaken the eye and many types of eye problems in children will cause permanent damage to the vision unless glasses are worn.  As we age TIME not GLASSES weakens the eye and this is called 'presbyopia'. It's why we start to need reading glasses or bifocal type glasses in our 40's.

JCH MD

[dith05]

Hi.. I just want to ask if wearing eyeglasses can worsen my astigmatism? I have read that wearing glasses can weaken the eyes and that it would make the eyes dependent on it. is that true? I need help! I really need to be sure of this one.  I want to improve my eyesight.

[dith05]

Hi.. I just want to ask if wearing eyeglasses can worsen my astigmatism? I have read that wearing glasses can weaken the eyes and that it would make the eyes dependent on it. is that true? I need help! I really need to be sure of this one.  I want to improve my eyesight.

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

=

[chrissycay]

The admonition about not losing my childhood RX is not bogus. I'm looking at the laminated card given to me when I was 17 right now. In fact I do wear the same size shoe and clothing as I did when I was 18 so your point is lost.

Thanks but your reply is confusing and makes little sense.

Crissy

[John C Hagan III, MD, FACS, FAAO]

The admonition about not losing your childhood RX is bogus. You don't wear the same size clothes or the same size shoe as when you were a child so there is no reason to expect the glasses RX not to change with the rest of you.

You are not myopic. The sperical equivalent of your glasses RX is positive. Your refractive error is very difficult for young people to get use to; often it takes several weeks for your eye to relax and let the glasses do the work. They are not glasses one puts on and it's 'love at first sight'.

I can't tell you whether you would be happier with the old RX or your new one. JCH MD