Can't put it off any longer - possible specs

Right after having a bit of eye ache for about 4 years I had a bit of an "episode" that nearly laid me out for 3 days with dodgy eyesight and bad headache's. I'm thinking after talkintg to a few blokes on here that it maybe time to book a trip to the opticitans for the first time ever. Having never had my eyes tested properly before apart from the standard testing for my ENG1 medical I'm unsure what to expect. Also where you lot get your bins from? visionexpress seems popular on here, oh yes i'll need a quick turn round as well so somewhere that does specs in an hour or so and good selction of frames. I cant believe the cost of glasses though, its mental!!

Boots are okay. Boots the optician I mean, not walking boots.

varifocal 3 season with crampon attachment please

I've been going to Boots for my specs for a few years now, I wear varifocals now which cost around £350 and are a little difficult to get used to. When buying specs, you choose your frames then choose your lenses. For example, you could have scratch resistant, tinted and hardened lenses all of which add a little more to the bill. One thing I would advise against if you are an Engineer and work at sea is getting reacterlight lenses. They are lenses that change colour when outside in the sun then change back on entering a room and so on. They advertise them saying they change in seconds but in reality they don't. I have personally found them a bit of a pain at work and no longer wear them.

I have recently bought some safety glasses which have the same lenses as my regular glasses but have safety lenses and guards on the frame, I have found these much better than wearing safety glasses over my regular glasses as you get all steamed up when you have two pairs on, especially if you are wearing a hard hat too. The cost of the safety glasses was £180 which the company paid for, and by the way your company should pay for your eye test and cover the cost of the glasses to a reasonable level. One word of advise if you opt for safety glasses, don't get the cheap frames because you will end up looking like either Deidre Barlow or a child molester

One thing I would say regarding the expense of specs, I feel that both Boots and Specsavers both give you weak lenses so you have to have them replaced every year or eighteen months, little bit naughty if that is the case.

The ERG 1 eyesight test is a laugh (and it was back in the 80's...)

The Philippines has many good opticians; this is because astigmatism is very common in people of Malayo-Polynesian descent. So I wouldn't go any further than Olongapo.

Second what Timmers says about reactolite lenses and safety glasses.

Thanks for the info. I would like to minimise my child molesting look if possible Timmers so thanksfor the tip!! To be honest they will only be used while at a computer screen (for now), no outside stuff or on deck. I was thinking about waiting until I get back to olongapo actually but I figure the frame selection maybe be somewhat limited especailly for my deformed potato of a head thats not quite as flat as the average locals there!
Regards the ENG1 is now worse in my mind as they no longer dothe lantern test. just readthe board of letters andread some numbers out of a book to check for colour blindness.

One other thing to mention that I found in my case, I went from just needing glasses to read to full blown prescription glasses in less than one year, I don't know whether that is the average timescale or not. Even now with glasses, I struggle reading a micrometre and detailed engineering diagrams, I often sneak off and use a magnifying glass which doesn't look too good if the customer catches you doing it.

I either needed to get specs or see about getting longer arms for reading the newspaper

Stu, I wouldn't worry about your head shape, the better opticians here all stock western designer frames and, if anything, they're cheaper here than back in the UK. I got my glasses, which are varifocal and reactolite with Christian Dior frames in Cebu for about 200 Pounds a pair. That included a very thorough eye exam including pressure tests.

I am short sighted, and have worn contact lenses for many years, I was able to get over six months out of a pair of monthly disposables, and am currently getting several days, perhaps a week out of daily disposables, so the cost is not that bad.

Being short sighted means that I have difficulty seeing distant things, however several years ago I started having difficulty reading newspapers, restaurant menus and working with a computer screen as well, so I got a pair of decent specs with varifocal lenses made up in Tacloban, Philippines of all places, cost about three hundred quid.

The specs are OK, I use them when I am inside, working at home, or when I go down for breakfast, however I still wear my contact lenses at all other times which does cause difficulty on occasions.

I need to kick my vanity into touch and start wearing the specs full time I guess, perhaps I need to get some new ones made up as well, they are almost five years old now.

Have you thought about getting laser eye surgery done Dave for your long sightedness? Then you can keep your vanity at least when you're out and about

I'm told laser surgery doesn't work if you are short sighted.

Food for thought folks, thanksfor the input. My mum has booked me an appointment at visionexpress in town for me next week forwhen i'm back in blightly for a week. I'll see what they say anyway, I can always bag them off and take a look in Olongapo I suppose.

The thought of having my eyeballs blasted apart by a mad doctor with lasers does not really appeal to me, anything like that causes physical destruction of eye tissue.

I need to get into wearing my specs.

I'm the same, that andthe ideaof contactssendsshiversdown my spine.

Hmmm seems myspacebarisn'tworkingproperly

I thought you were inebriated

You definitely need glasses

That sounds like you may have the symptoms of acute angle glaucoma. Glaucoma does not usually cause eye pain but acute angle glaucoma causes pain, headaches, nausea, vomiting and poor vision. It is really a medical emergency requiring immediate attention to prevent blindness. I think you need to go to an opthalmologist or doctor right now.

Acute Angle Glaucoma causes a sudden rise in eye pressure because the drainage channels become blocked. The pain may go but will probably return, causing more eye damage each time.

The pressure in your eye can be measured with a tonometer which usually operate by blowing a puff of air onto your eyeball. But, in your case, it would probably be a tonometer that is placed onto the eyeball (after anaesthetic eye drops) I had the pressure tested in my eyes in such a way a few weeks ago.

If the pressure is raised, you may then have drops to dilate the pupils so that your eye can be looked at with an opthalmoscope. But these drops can actually trigger an episode of acute glaucoma. You cannot drive for around 3 hours after these drops as your vision will be blurred. The opthalmoscope would also be touching your eye.

You would probably have a field of vision test as well - this is the easiest test for you as the patient, not invasive in any way and will help determine any impairment to sight.

There are other tests to determine either acute or chronic Glaucoma and the thickness of the cornea but I have no experience of these.