Tag: Contact lenses

Travel Tips

Hello everyone!!

In this month’s post I am going to talk about some tips that are quite useful for traveling, I am referring especially to long trips. In the current moment, traveling seems a thing of the past, but sooner or later we will return to normality.

Due to my job I have traveled many times on long flights (transoceanic), flights of at least 10 hours. The longest lasted 14 hours! So, I have some experience and I have seen what is best for travel, from my personal experience. I am going to offer a list of recommendations, especially suitable for long flights, although they could be used for other types of trips, I hope they serve you!:

1. Comfortable clothes. I am always surprised by the photos of celebrities arriving at the airport super divine, with jeans, heels and makeup. I suppose those are occupational hazards. But for those who are not or aspire to look like celebrities, the best thing in the case of long flights is to wear comfortable clothes: leggings, sports shoes, sweatshirts. Clothes with which you can sleep in the most similar way to how you would in your pajamas. Footwear that you can put on and take off easily. And don’t wear a bra. If you have big boobs you can wear a comfortable sport bra. I don’t wear any bra when traveling. In a previous post I already talked about the lymphatic system and the convenience of not wearing a bra, but on a long flight this is even more necessary. When I have flown in the summer and I was wearing a T-shirt at the airport because of the heat, and I felt that I could not go without a bra because it was going to be too evident, what I did was to take it off in the bathroom of the plane and put it in my handbag or backpack. On airplanes it is never excessively hot, rather it is cold because there is usually ventilation going on, so you will be able to put on a sweater, even if it is thin, and not feel that people will realize you are not wearing a bra. Although, as I mentioned in my previous post, wearing a bra or not, noticeable, or not, shouldn’t be a problem or cause for embarrassment. Also, even if it is summer/hot, I think it is always better to wear more than less clothes when flying. On airplanes, I repeat, it is usually cold. Although they give you blankets, you can get cold, and anyway the excessive clothes that you wear can always be removed. For this reason, I never get on a plane wearing sandals (unless I have thick socks in my bag to put on later) or with not enough clothes, I always wear at least one sweatshirt just in case. And I also wear a neck scarf because the cold of the plane can cause sore throat.

2. Travel pillow. Although they also give a mini pillow on the plane (in the case of Iberia) it is better to take a travel pillow for the neck. You can end up with a terrible torticollis if you fall asleep with poor neck posture.

3. Glasses. If you wear contact lenses, do not take them to travel. You can take them off when boarding the plane or going directly to the airport with glasses. On airplanes your skin and mucous membranes get very dry, even if you do not fall asleep it would be very bad to fly for many hours with your contact lenses on.

4. Big bottle of water. Continuing with the above, on the plane you get very dry on the outside and on the inside. It is advisable to drink plenty of water during the flight. At meals time (on a transoceanic flight there are usually 2 meals and a snack) they offer you a glass of water, but it is advisable to drink much more. And it is better not to drink wine, coffee, or anything like that, just water. Since I cannot carry liquids, I always buy a bottle of water as big as possible (1 or 2 liters) in a store inside the airport.

5. Ear plugs, eye mask, headphones. Again, they usually offer them to you on the plane, but just in case. The earplugs can help you sleep well, the mask protect you from the light, and the headphones are in case you want to listen to your own music, audiobooks or whatever, or if you are uncomfortable with those that are provided on the plane.

6. Toothbrush and toothpaste. After a long trip and several meals, bad breath can occur. At least before landing it is advisable to brush your teeth. Depending on whether you are going to see someone important when you arrive or not, you could also wear some cologne or makeup. I prefer not to wear makeup for long flights, because the skin suffers a lot on those trips. Sometimes I put some aloe vera before landing in order to hydrate. Some underarm wipes can also help you arrive with more dignity (I remind you that I don’t use deodorant).

I hope it helps you! Until next post!

Antimyopia method

Hello everyone!!

This month, and as I already announced, I am going to talk about a method that I have found to reduce myopia.

In another post I talked about my experience with the topic of myopia, glasses, contact lenses, laser surgery … and I asked if anyone had a positive experience with any eye exercises. Well, those exercises have been around for a long time, they’re called the Bates method. In fact, today there is even a specific “yoga” for the eyes.

But that’s not what I’m going to talk about. What I have found is a method that I found researching on the Internet, which is quite logical to me and about which there are many testimonials of success. I’ve been applying it for some months, and when I had my annual vision checkup this year they told me that my eyesight was noticeable better. In fact, for the first time in a while it has not worsened, in fact it had gone down by 0.25 diopters. The idea is, if myopia arises and worsens because the eye “lengthens” itself, can’t the opposite also happen? Can’t it be made to happen?

The method has been “invented” by an American named Jake Steiner, and basically what he explains is that often the opticians prescribe an “overcorrection” of myopia, designed to see with a quality of 100% at a distance, and that makes us see worse and worse, because what we use glasses and contact lenses for (apart from driving) are often close-up activities (computer, mobile, etc …). What Jake explains is that many times it begins with a very low myopia that is due to an overexertion of the eye, and which could be corrected by itself with good lighting, looking into the distance, taking breaks when looking closely, practicing “active focus” when we look into the distance… But what happens is that we go to the opticians and they put glasses on us, we always wear that correction (regardless of the activities we do, and which are often “close up” activities ) and that means that in our next visit to the optician, myopia has increased. And so begins a vicious cycle in which we see worse and worse (the exception to this, as I have read in some testimonies, would be the hormonal changes of pregnancy, which often cause increases in myopia, but like other effects of pregnancy, I guess they revert later).

The solution he proposes is to measure oneself for myopia (you can have Snellen tests at home) and to wear 3 types of glasses: one with the maximum correction or the one recommended in the optician to see 100% in the distance if we have a job that requires it or to drive; other with half a diopter less than the first to see from afar but not perfectly; other with a diopter and a half less than the first for all close-up activities (computer, TV, being at home …). If you use contact lenses instead of glasses, bear in mind that the required prescription for lenses is 0.25 less than glasses, because contact lenses are glued to the eye.

With the method Jake proposes, the idea is to improve vision and reduce myopia by 0.25 diopters every three or four months or so. Thus, in a year we should reduce 0.75 or 1 diopter. He also says that once we have two diopters, we better try not to use anything for close-up activities.

The biggest problem with this method would be the cost of having so many different glasses and gradually changing them every few months. Jack criticizes the business of opticians and glasses, and proposes to buy glasses online. I have done it on the Zenni Optical website. There you put the graduation you want and you only need a pair of glasses that you already wear: the measurements are already on the temple. The web explains very well how to do it.

To give you an idea, I bought two pairs of glasses, each pair cost me 40 dollars. My prescription was 5.25 in the left eye and 4.75 in the right eye. But for one year I had been wearing my old glasses, which had a prescription of 4.25 in the left eye and 3.75 in the right (I had already guessed something about this issue of not carrying the full prescription for close up activities). Well, I ordered two pairs of the same frame glasses, one with a 4.25 to see from afar and another with a 3.50 for home and close up activities. I also ordered new contact lenses for 4.25 diopters (they are also cheaper online). Note that I do not drive, so I do not need a perfect distance vision at any time. It’s been two months now and, as I told you, the checkup at the optical shop went very well (I didn’t tell them anything about the experiment I’m doing).

Honestly, it was silly to buy two pairs of glasses, because I don’t use the 4.25 pair (to see farther), since for the street I always wear contact lenses. When I work or I’m at home I put on my 3.50 diopters glasses.

My 40$ glasses

Well, I am quite happy with how the process is going, I recommend trying it to everyone, also to parents whose children begin to see badly (Jake also talks about this issue). I link here his website and youtube page. He also has a private Facebook group, where people talk about their experiences and raise questions. I recommend that you read it carefully and slowly, so that you understand everything.

Natural Myopia Control: Improve Your Eyesight

Jake Steiner

Endmyopia Facebook Group

And if you are not convinced, I also link the page (in Spanish) of an optometrist who, although it has nothing to do with Jack’s method, gives very good advice on taking care of eyesight (for example, he talks about the issue of humidity and its relationship with dry eyes, the influence of screens on visual problems:

Cuida tu vista

Have a good summer, and by the way, don’t forget your sunglasses to protect your eyes!

Being myope

Hi there!

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