Being myope

Hello!!

I am going to dedicate this post to the subject of sight, from my point of view (worth the redundancy!). Rather, it will be an essay with my experience and reflections on the topic of myopia, glasses, contact lenses and Lasik surgery.

It is clear that the percentage of people who use glasses/contact lenses has increased a lot in recent years, and I am sure it has to do with the lifestyle of working with the computer, smartphones … despite all the advantages that this gives us. Despite all good things (to me, the Internet is one of the best inventions of history) it had to have some disadvantages, and I think that it does not affect sight it in a positive sense. Our eyes are prepared to look into the distance, as when we lived in nature, but today we are all the time with our eyes fixed on very close and small objects. Decades ago, only older people wore glasses, for tired eyesight. Today almost everyone has a fault in their eyesight. Although luckily glasses are no longer awful but a fashion accessory, and contact lenses give us a lot of comfort. Some recommendations for day to day are: take short breaks from the computer and look into the distance, install a yellow light filter for the computer (this also helps to prevent blue light from keeping us awake at night) and lower the brightness of electronic devices. Also take advantage of natural light whenever possible to illuminate your space.

I had good eyesight until adolescence, when, like so many others, after a visit to the optical shop I went out with glasses “just to study and watch TV.” I had little myopia, less than 1 diopter in each eye. Over time, myopia increased, to the point that one day I did not recognize my mother when she was walking in the opposite direction down the street. She thought it was too sad and she told me to either put on my glasses for the street or put on contact lenses.

Obviously no way I was going to go with glasses on the street, I had enough with my teenage insecurities at that time (acne, orthodontics …) to wear glasses. I didn’t want to be Ugly Betty! I know that now with all the hipster fashion and such it is very well seen to wear glasses, but I do not look pretty with them, to be honest. Also, in the case of myopia, glasses make eyes look smaller, and for one thing that I like about my face …

Luckily I had no problem learning how to wear contact lenses. Luckily, because one day we tried to get my brother (who has not had vision problems) to put on those colored lenses, in blue, to see how he would look with blue eyes, and there was no way. It was impossible for him to allow a foreign object to come into contact with his eyes.

Well, and so the years went by and unfortunately myopia increased … the constant use of screens (computer, now smartphone …) didn’t help very much. The fact is that today (32 years old) I have 4.75 in one eye and 5.25 in another, and when I get the annual check-up at the optical shop I start to tremble with fear that my diopters have risen again.

What I do is wearing contact lenses when I’m out and glasses at home. I actually have older glasses with a lower prescription than what I now use for contact lenses, and I use them to be at home (at home I don’t need to see well from afar). I have the newest glasses with the graduation that corresponds to me for “just in case”: in case I have a problem with contact lenses and I can’t put them on for the street, for when I travel and I plan to fall asleep … But I don’t like wearing glasses outside. Not only for aesthetics reasons, but also because I don’t see them as practical as contact lenses: it is not practical if you practice sports, or if you go to the beach (tip: wear diving goggles if you bathe with contact lenses), or if it is winter and your glasses fog up when entering indoors, even worse if it rains … Wow, I see a lot of drawbacks. Besides, I already have considerable myopia, if I wear glasses I have to lower my head like a fool to be able to go down the stairs properly, for example. With glasses you do not have the same panoramic vision as with contact lenses.

Luckily over the years contact lenses have improved a lot, and for example the ones I have now are made of silicone hydrogel and you can wear them for many hours without discomfort (I wear them all working day, until I get home). By the way, they are much cheaper if you buy them online (same brand). What I do is always carry a small refillable bottle with a little liquid and a case of contact lenses in my bag, in case something happens (it starts to bother you and you have to take it off, you stay to sleep at someone’s home…). Anyway, bad vision is a handicap, for example when traveling, having to carry the glasses, the contact lenses, the case of contact lenses, that “wait,-I-go-to-the-bathroom-to-take off/put-on-my-contact lenses” at the airport or bus station … a pain.

And yes, I already looked for surgery, but it turns out that I had not gone to a review for the previous two years (mea culpa! You should check your vision once a year) and my graduation had gone up a lot. I was advised against having surgery, mostly because if you haven’t had a stable prescription for at least two years, you may have surgery and have to keep wearing glasses/ contact lenses afterwards. In addition, in the case of women the issue of pregnancy is added. It is proven that many women’s myopia is affected during pregnancy (more for the worse than for the better). But my optician told me about a case in which a girl’s graduation dropped a lot after pregnancy, that’s luck! I also kind of believe in conspiracy theories on this topic: if there was a definitive solution for vision problems, what would eye doctors live on? And if Lasik surgery is effective, why almost no eye doctor operates himself? What’s more, why do they wear glasses? Is not a bit contradictory?

There is information on the Internet that says that the eyes, like the brain or the heart, are basically “muscles”, so they must be used so that they do not atrophy, and train them in the appropriate way. This would make perfect sense to explain the prevalence of myopia today. You just have to Google “myopia cure exercises” and you will find gurus, magic solutions and opinions of all tastes. I am quite skeptical that there may be a natural way to cure myopia (hopefully though). But the truth is that since I started investigating things on my own and not trusting so much what is taken for granted or the medical/pharmaceutical discourse (I recognize its importance but my personal experience makes me trust their opinion very little),  many myths and assumptions have fallen for me (such as the use of deodorant or toothpaste; and of course the myth that acne problems, and especially hair, are solved with pills).

Continuing with the theme of having surgery, what I have thought is to wait until I am in my 40s, at an age when I already know that I will not have more children. If I have been like this for 15 years, I don’t mind another 10. And as  technology in this is improving, it will surely be better in a few years: the first myopia laser operations “eroded” the cornea, now the technique used is a”flap” of opening and closing (according to my profane knowledge). And it turns out that when I did the tests they also told me that I have a “thin” cornea in terms of thickness, meaning that I am “operable” but they would not advise me to operate twice.

And yes, the issue of glasses and contact lenses is an expense and a nuisance, but if I am not going to amortize the money from the surgery, it does not compensate me either. On the other hand, taking into account my fondness for electric hair removal, it turns out that it is an activity in which you have to see well up close (although you can use magnifying glasses), and it turns out that precisely those nearsighted people see very well up close. Anyway…

I would like people who read this post and have something to contribute to tell me about their experience. Above all, I would like to know about the people who have had surgery (honestly please, I know that nobody likes to admit that they made a mistake or threw their money away), if they have returned to have some diopters (even if it is little, I know that this happens ). And, for the “moles” who have been mothers, whether they have had surgery or not, how this has affected their myopia: if it went up or down. It is something that I ask whenever I have the opportunity but here perhaps I could gather more information. And of course, if someone has had results with miraculous gymnastics for their eyes.

 Greetings!!

UPDATE!!: read my post Antimyopia method