Losing Lens Flexibility
Posted by terrepruitt on August 25, 2015
Recently I hosted a Nia class taught by a guest teacher. It was a on a Sunday. It happened to be one of the hottest days we have had. So I thought I would allow myself to be a little cooler by wearing my contacts and not my glasses. And by “cooler” I mean temperature-wise, tee hee! Having glasses on my face makes me a tad bit warmer than when I don’t have glasses on. I hadn’t worn my contacts in a long time. Turns out a VERY long time. When I went to read, I couldn’t. And on top of that I kept looking down under my glasses (the ones I wasn’t wearing because I was wearing my contacts). I also couldn’t write. I mean I could but it wasn’t very well because I couldn’t see. It was kind of funny, but very frustrating. I know that it happens, I know that as we age we lose our ability to read up close, but it was really weird, because without my contacts lenses I can see up close, fine. I can read up close without my glasses on, I have to look below them, push them up, or take them off. So when my contacts made me a far-sighted person, it was so weird to lose the ability to see close. I mean it made sense because my glasses do the same thing, it just didn’t dawn on me that my contacts would do the same thing and that I couldn’t push them up or easily take them off in order to see.
I am so used to wearing my glasses that the first time I stopped dancing during the Nia class, to mop off my face I grabbed for my glasses (the ones I wasn’t wearing because I was wearing my contacts) to push them up so I could towel off my face. Funny. It was a funny experience. Kind of frustrating because no matter how far or close I moved the – whatever I was trying to read – I couldn’t really see. This wasn’t an issue during the class, but afterwards it was. I actually borrowed by husband’s glasses for a second, just to see if they would help — they did.
Losing our ability to see close is part of the aging process. It is called presbyopia and is actually a change in the eye’s focusing ability. The American Optometric Association website says: “Losing the ability to read the newspaper or see the cell phone numbers may seem to have occurred abruptly. Actually, these changes have been occurring gradually since childhood. But up until now, your eyes have had adequate focusing power to allow you to see clearly for reading and close work. Now your eyes no longer have enough focusing power for clear and comfortable near vision tasks.” This is “the result of the lens inside the eye becoming less flexible.” The effects of this loss of flexibility starts being noticed about the age of 40. The condition just continues to worsen as we age.
There are many ways that this can be addressed or corrected, from glasses to surgery. I want to get new glasses. I don’t remember the last time I got new glasses. I am thinking I don’t want bifocals or progressives. I think I am ok with just looking under, pushing them all the way up, or taking them off. But we will see.
For those of you who are at this point or beyond, what have you opted to do? Anyone like progressives?
Terre Pruitt's Blog 
Carol Hamilton said
Terre, GET PROGRESSIVES! You won’t regret it, you will be so happy, that you can wear your glasses all the time and see, no matter what you are doing – far, near and a mid-range for the computer. And there is no blurring. They are simply fantastic!
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terrepruitt said
We will see. I think I might wait to get them for when I need reading glasses. But we will see.
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Michele said
Such a process, this aging…finally got progressives and love them! I still take my glasses off when reading a book at home, but when at the grocery store, filling out a quick form, or reading a menu, they are nice :). They did not take that long to get used to either. I do miss my contacts, my eye doc said there are things you can do with contacts as well to combat the close up reading problems caused by age.
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terrepruitt said
🙂 It is a process! I guess the first thing I have to do is go to the doctor. I am doing everything backwards, like I told you I was looking at frames. I need to see what is up, then what is available and blah, blah, blah. We will see. I am sure that lifestyle and things we do have a lot to do with what type of glasses are best. So we will see. I am glad you love your progressives! At this point I still don’t feel the need to spend the money on them when if I look down (as I would through the glasses) I can still read. But again, I need to see what a doctor says, I suppose.
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Deborah Watson Novacek said
When I last had glasses, I had progressives and loved them! After having cataracts removed from both eyes, the doctor implanted corrective lenses calibrated for distance viewing in my eyes – so now I need to have “readers” for up close, and don’t QUITE see perfectly at a distance (but much, much better than I ever have had in my life). I’m thinking of getting another pair of progressives, though – I keep losing my drugstore “cheaters” because I remove them so often!
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terrepruitt said
Wow! Cool! Lenses implanted! WOW! The things they can do, huh? At least when you loose “cheaters” they aren’t as expensive as “real” glasses. You can even get them at the Dollar Store! That way you can have a pair in every room, one in the car, and one in your purse! I know that you have fancy purses and bags that have enough pockets to stash a pair of glasses! 😉
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