snellen chart

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mike scott
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snellen chart

Postby mike scott » Thu 06 Jul 2006 8:50 am

hi everyone

was just reading some posts and was wondering about the legal definitions of blind v partially sighted etc.
without my rgp's i cannot actually see the chart never mind read it, in fact out of my left eye i would have difficulty in seeing a bus, seriously. however with my lenses in , the vision in my left just gets me beyond the legal "driving line" and in the right a little better still.
my lens tolerance in my right eye is very good and i usually get around 16 hours wear.
my left eye is the poorest and tolerance varies wildly, from 2-10 hrs, much more than that and i'm asking for trouble for a few days

mike
onwards and upwards

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GarethB
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Postby GarethB » Thu 06 Jul 2006 9:50 am

Mike,

My understanding that to be classified partially sighted or blind your overall vision is assesed corrected.

So with your right eye you would not be classified as partially sighted due to the good vision you get.

Not so sure about the left though, I know the hospital I go to at wanted at one point to wright the vision off in my right eye because the best correction was very poor due to the lens not sitting correctly.

Then to drive with one eye you need to declare this to the DVLA and demonstrate that you have a certain field of view. This might be explained better in the FAQ sectio of this site.

The reason my lens would not sit right and like you only menat I could tolerate a lens for a few hours per day was down to poor tear production. Since ensuring I drink at least 2 litres water per day and regularly use lubricating eye drops the lens wear averages 12 hours.

In this weather I do need to re-wet the right lens regularly to achieve that, but 5 minutes fidling with lenses every two hours is worth the overall benefit.

May be your varying lens wear time is due to a similar thing?

Hope this helps.
Gareth

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mike scott
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Postby mike scott » Thu 06 Jul 2006 10:12 am

gareth
thanks for that info.
i assume that lubricating drops is different from lens wetting solution,
what type of drops do you use,? are they available off the shelf or are they prescription?
and how are they applied? ie do you take the lens out to apply or can they be applied with the lens in.
i'm happy to try anything to make my left lens more comfortable, the left eye has the far steeper cone and is heavily scarred, this probably means the cornea is thinner and so far more sensitive to the "weight" of a lens and if regular use of drops can "cushion " the effect then so be it

thanks gareth
mike
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Postby GarethB » Thu 06 Jul 2006 11:51 am

Mike,

The lubricating drops I use are Systane by Alcon available over the counter and from Post Optics.

You need to remove your lens first and put the drops in as they provide a fine gel layer over the cornea trapping moisture into the cornea. I find it also puts a layer over the eye lids so improving comfort too. After a minute or two I put the lens back in with some lens wetting solution and all is well again.

I discoverd at Christmas after posing the question to my optom that my tears break up very quickly so although they wet the surface it is very brief and no lubrication is imparted to the cornea surface so making the cornea very dry (although my eyes rarely feel dry) so when the lens did move it had a tendancy to stick in the new position be it slightly rotated or physically moved to the left or right by a fraction of a millimeter which gave rise to lens discomfort and poor vision.

Te effect is cumulative so initially I was using the drops almost every hour for the first week or so and gradually backed of to every two hours to removing lenses at lunch time and putting in some Systane and go through lunch seeing nothing at all. The at the ned of lunch, a quick Systane top up and lenses in again which would last until I got home and I would remove my lenses for the evening.

Until this really hot muggy weather started I was using drps only in the morning and at night. Now down to every couple of hours because of the heat and the aircon at work having to work harder.

Drinking plenty of water as I mentioned before in addition to normal drinks has really helped too.

I would be interested how you get on as I know this has helped others.

For those it has not, they have gone through a trial and error process like I did first time round to find which drops suited them best.

Regards

Gareth
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mike scott
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Postby mike scott » Thu 06 Jul 2006 12:50 pm

gareth
thanks for that
i'll give them a go and see how i get on. i was fitted with a new left lens a couple of weeks ago and initially it was very comfortable, but as you say , this heat isnt helping and i feel you may be right that that is the reason i feel discomfort at the moment. am also making a conscious effort to drink more water in an attempt to stay more hydrated.
i think that over the years my capacity to create tears has diminished and this obviously causes the cornea to dry out rather quickly, creating pain, by way of burning sensations and then the inevitable red eyed satanic look :roll:
i presume that this happens to all of us who are reliant on contacts.
thanks again mike
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Paul Morgan
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Postby Paul Morgan » Thu 06 Jul 2006 1:33 pm

Mike

I'd like to back up what Gareth says. Systane works brilliantly for me, and yes reapplying occasionally in this weather does work.

I can wear my lenses pretty much from waking to going to bed which ain't too bad.

The warm weather does play hell with it all though and drying is a real problem.

My office has no air con which for me is good (not for others) but the effect of oscillating fans pushing warm air onto the face has a similar effect I find.

Do try systane, it's good stuff.

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Postby Andrew MacLean » Thu 06 Jul 2006 2:10 pm

They take best corrected vision. If you become lens intollerant in each eye, you will need to ask your opthalmologist about registration: optometrists can't do it.

Andrew
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GarethB
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Postby GarethB » Thu 06 Jul 2006 7:29 pm

Mike,

Christmas is good with glowing green eyes.

Last year I left the hospital late in the evening with loads of fluoroscene stain in my eyes. While enjoying comfortable lenses for a while and a cool wind on my face and enjoying the Christmas lights i noticed my reflection in a shop window.

At first I was quite chuffed I had aligned my reflection with the lights on the nativity display, but soon realised with the strange lookas I received and the comments aimed in my direction that part of the display had low level UV light making the flouroscene eye dye glow a bright green!

Made a pleasent change from the usual pink and red eye :twisted:
Gareth

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rosemary johnson
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Postby rosemary johnson » Fri 07 Jul 2006 8:15 pm

Hi.
P/S registration can be yet another of those postcode lotteries we hear so much about.
Different consultants - as someone said, it takes a medical consultant and not the CL fitter to fill in the forms - have different views on where to draw th "borderlines".
Basic criteria are of low acuity, and restricted field of view (eg. tunnel vision).
People have been registered for combinationso f poor acuity and restricted lens tolerance times.
With your good acuity in one eye and 16 hour earing times, I think you'd be pushing it to get soeone to register you - but who knows? You may be a winner inthe post code lottery.....

There seems to be no provision at all in either "the rules" or the medical bods' mindsets to cater for someone who has a good visual acuity, normal field of view, no more than a normal person's lens tolerance problems if applicable - and has their life severely restricted by being severely afflicted by bright lights (I've met someone who is hypersensitive to light because of being albino, can barely go outside during daylight hours, and still can't be registered).
On the other hand...... if your eyesight is giving serious problem in running your life, and in particular in your ability to earn your living, this may be worth stressing as a factor to those who are the gatekeepers to the magic forms.
Rosemary

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mike scott
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Postby mike scott » Fri 07 Jul 2006 9:13 pm

hi rosemary
i appreciate your comments and quite agree.
although i can achieve 16 hrs tolerance in one eye most days, doesnt mean i ts totally pain free either, so there in lies another varible.
how much pain one person can tolerate as opposed to another. some pain to one person could be unbearable to another, my ex wife was very intolerant to my condition and found it got in the way of her life, and found herself another guy who was "normal". hence i am now happily single but need to provide for myself. the only way i know of doing that is to work and i do so regardless of whether i have pain, a lot of pain, or use of only one eye, call it stubborn pride as well, i wont let the pain beat me,
i have recently come out at work and started wearing tinted glasses with a reflective coating on them, this has helped quite a bit with flare from the flourescents and thanks to gareth for his help in this , it has worked. it also means that i'm not screwing my eyes up as much to see and so am not as tired at the end of the day.
re : being registered p/s it would help if the medical proffession drew up guideline with the government to help keratoconics. it is a unique condition, and we are only good sighted at times we can wear our lenses. if i have a problem that means i have to go to hospital, fairly frequently i might add, it also means that its cos i cant get my lenses in either, at which point i wouldnt recognise a bus from a house, never mind drive my car.
thanks again
mike
onwards and upwards


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