As well as developing hearing loss in my early forties, I have also been myopic since childhood. At the age of seven, when I started at primary school, my teacher suggested that I have an eye test as she suspected that I was short-sighted.
She was correct so I ended up, from the tender age of seven, having to wear the ugliest glasses ever designed. Those horrible flesh-pink, round framed ones with the wire earpieces.
This is not me (obviously) but you get the idea...
At the age of eleven, I progressed to the next level of NHS horrors - the pale blue plastic frames slightly reminiscent of Dame Edna...
Needless to say, these did nothing for my self esteem as I reached puberty, and being called "specky four eyes" didn't help much either.
In my twenties I was able to afford contact lenses, although in those days I could only afford the hard lenses which I found quite uncomfortable.
In the late 1980s I read about a procedure called Radial Keratotomy, a type of refractive surgery where small incisions are made in the cornea in a radial pattern to change the shape of the eye. I decided to have this done by a surgeon in London and was able to subsequently enjoy unaided perfect vision for the next twenty years.
In the past few months I have noticed that I have needed to borrow P's reading glasses when the light is bad so, when a recent Amazon order fell a little short of the minimum for free delivery, I added a pack of bargain reading glasses to make up the difference. Three for £6 so not bad.
Now, I find that I am wearing them all the time for reading. Back to square one again!
Hi JayCee. I would be lost without my Lidl reading glasses. I once got out of the bath to put them on so I could read SHAMPOO on the bottle.
ReplyDeleteApparently Back to square one comes from 1930s football radio commentators who divided the pitch up into numbers. Back to square one was in front of the home goal.
Ha, ha. My eyesight got so bad many years ago that when we stayed in hotels, I also used to have to get out of the shower to put my glasses on to check which bottle was the shampoo.
DeleteHow wonderful that those two surgeries gave you so many years of good eyesight. The fact that you require reading glasses now is no big deal. On the other hand, I am very nearly 67 and I have never worn glasses in my life - but of course it helps that I am a perfect human being!
ReplyDeleteIt must be so wonderful to be perfect. O brave new world that has such people in it....
DeleteIt is indeed wonderful but as many artists have learnt it is usually imperfection that creates beauty. Still, we all have our crosses to bear.
DeleteI went for an eye test yesterday and no change. I'm a bit short sighted, but at least that means I don't need glasses for reading, only for driving. At school I was long-sighted. I remember when I was about 9 or 10 the optician's nurse said in public at the front of the waiting room "You're going to have to wear glasses and you're going to have to wear them all the time." All the other mothers waiting outside laughed when I said "What, even in bed?".
ReplyDeleteAlways the joker 🙄
DeleteI weat varilenses and have done for years but the reading part is not perfect. I might try those bargain Amazon - at that price I have nothing to lose.
ReplyDeleteThey seem to be quite robust and at that price I can keep one pair in each room.
DeleteI used to have to wear those pink specs with the wire around the ears - they hurt! When I graduated to a larger pair I took my old ones outside and stamped on them - I hated them that much.
ReplyDeleteThey were horrible things. Such trauma to inflict on a poor chid!
DeleteMy grandson also had to get glasses at the same age and I hope that he too will be able to benefit from advances in eye surgery as he gets older. We live in exciting times for medical advances.
ReplyDeleteWe do indeed!
DeleteI started wearing glasses as a teenager and they were horrible black plastic things. Just no choice back then, nothing stylish anyway.
ReplyDeleteAt least you only need reading glasses now. I read without glasses and put mine on top of my head and forget where they are
The are admirable hairbands aren't they?
DeleteI started to wear glasses ten years ago and hate them, as they have completely changed my "image". I am also hard of hearing and wear aids. I feel 25 inside but glasses and aids make me feel decrepit.
ReplyDeleteI know. I have never been able to find any frames that suit me. Some people can look trendy in glasses. I just look like an old lady!
DeleteWhen my son was in the US military, soldiers were provided with free eyeglasses, too. Heavy, black plastic framed ones. He called them "Birth Control Glasses."
ReplyDeleteOoh. So cruel.
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