Glass wearers.

[TeeDee]

I'm 50 and change - absolutely need glasses to function now for close work.

My question is - do people remember as many glass wearers being present back in their youth as you see now? This maybe difficult to recollect as your peer group would most likely be younger and 'maybe' not require glasses.

Glasses I think have also become cheaper and more mass produced - and we have in the last two decades embraced a more dependent need to use Monitors in the workplace and or a somewhat toxic over use addiction with Phones , Tablets and small bright screens.


So do people think there maybe something to it?

 

[stonepark]

Nope, we weren't glued to LCD screens when we were young and were outside a lot more, hence not as many myopic.

Myopia in virtually most kids is developmental, not genetic.

 

[Toddy]

In the 1960's my friend was wearing glasses at five to correct a lazy eye. Her specs cost half her Dad's weekly take home pay.
They were in the same class as jewellery re price.

 

[Chris]

It seems that I know more people who wear glasses now, who previously wore contact lenses, due to glasses being more ‘in fashion’ now. Is it possible that it’s down to trends (and more people existing in general) rather than a higher percentage needing vision corrected?

 

[Pattree]

In the 1960's my friend was wearing glasses at five to correct a lazy eye. Her specs cost half her Dad's weekly take home pay.
They were in the same class as jewellery re price.

I don’t think need has changed, just recognition of need and availability.

Agreed @Toddy , my long distance glasses in the ’60’s were a complete rip off. I didn’t have an eye check for many years because we couldn’t afford to replace my specs. There were national health ones but they carried a stigma.

There were plenty of folk wearing glasses back then. Proportionally there were only a fraction of the car drivers that there are today. If you add those who should have worn them but just got on with it, I imagine that the proportion is much the same as today.

 

[grainweevil]

Might be a touch of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon - you could be more aware of glasses being worn because you're having to wear them.

 

[nigelp]

So do people think there maybe something to it?

Old age! You run out of ‘long arms’ to see things.

 

[TeeDee]

Might be a touch of the Baader-Meinhof phenomenon - you could be more aware of glasses being worn because you're having to wear them.

Could be

I just can't think the muscles in the eyeball will be improved if all we ( mostly the sedentary office workers ) are focusing on a computer monitor set a few foot in front of them or the fixation alot of people have with being glued to the comparatively tiny screens of mobile phones.

I know on occasion I need to go take a break and stare at something far off ( Like retirement payouts - ha-ha-ha ) and let my eyes reset.

 

[Stew]

Could be

I just can't think the muscles in the eyeball will be improved if all we ( mostly the sedentary office workers ) are focusing on a computer monitor set a few foot in front of them or the fixation alot of people have with being glued to the comparatively tiny screens of mobile phones.

I know on occasion I need to go take a break and stare at something far off ( Like retirement payouts - ha-ha-ha ) and let my eyes reset.

I have a friend that is an optician. He is very clear that a change of focal distance regularly is important for eye health. I can't remember how regularly he thinks you should change from staring at a screen, monitor or other fixed distance but it is important.

 

[nigelp]

Could be

I just can't think the muscles in the eyeball will be improved if all we ( mostly the sedentary office workers ) are focusing on a computer monitor set a few foot in front of them or the fixation alot of people have with being glued to the comparatively tiny screens of mobile phones.

I know on occasion I need to go take a break and stare at something far off ( Like retirement payouts - ha-ha-ha ) and let my eyes reset.

I have glasses just for the computer. Same prescription as the readers (I suppose) but focus at 50/60cm. Also good for woodwork and those types of tasks where the object you are looking at is a good arms length away.

 

[Turkthruster]

I have a friend that is an optician. He is very clear that a change of focal distance regularly is important for eye health. I can't remember how regularly he thinks you should change from staring at a screen, monitor or other fixed distance but it is important.

I attempt to use the 20:20:20 rule - after every 20 minutes of screen time focus on something at least 20 metres away for a minimum of 20 seconds

 

[TeeDee]

 

[nigelp]

Until someone snuck up behind me, and…..

 

[Silverclaws2]

Yeah I do think monitors have screwed with our vision as I have noticed with myself it's not so much I lack the vision as it does sort itself out in time it's that my focus motor appears to be sluggish as if it's got used to focusing my peepers at a constant set distance, perhaps monitor distance.

And so I use UV reactive varifocals when am out or crafting and readers when am in and staring at the puter as the varifocals are ' tuned ' for enabling focus on stuff lower than eye height, not close in front

 

[Laurentius]

I did not start wearing glasses till I was fourteen, that did not mean I was not far sighted then just that my youthful muscles were more able to adjust for it, every decade since then the prescription has got stronger and stronger, but at my last eye test in spite of having cataracts my vision with correction was better than 2020 . What was special about age 14, well it was the headaches, and also the fact that I was by then seriously studying for my O levels so a lot of eye strain.
I also have a photograph from around the 1920s of my grandad who was born back in the reign of Victoria and he is wearing glasses so I expect it runs in the family.

 

[Broch]

I am not convinced by the 'screen' theory to be honest. Not long ago our ancestors would have been straining their eyes in poor light to get any job done; we at least have very good lighting to work with.

All my grandparents wore glasses from an early age, both my parents wore glasses from their thirties, I had to start wearing glasses from the age of 45 to read. My prescription is still only the equivalent of +1.5 so it's not as though I've fallen off a cliff edge despite a lot of computer work.

It's possible that more people are having to wear glasses because more jobs and activities require people to be able to work at screens rather than the other way around. People's eyesight probably deteriorated just as much in the past but if your job didn't require close work you didn't bother with glasses. I knew a number of older people in the past who wore glasses at home to read the paper etc. but wouldn't be seen dead wearing them to church!

 

[nigelp]

Probably more to do with screen quality than using screens! I notched I needed reading glasses when I bought an iPad with a retina screen!

 

[Toddy]

I usually use a Macbook pro but family bought me a tablet to use when I wasn't at home. Honestly, there are times when it's a struggle to read on it. I had thought that it was just the background lighting.

 

[TeeDee]

I am not convinced by the 'screen' theory to be honest. Not long ago our ancestors would have been straining their eyes in poor light to get any job done; we at least have very good lighting to work with.

All my grandparents wore glasses from an early age, both my parents wore glasses from their thirties, I had to start wearing glasses from the age of 45 to read. My prescription is still only the equivalent of +1.5 so it's not as though I've fallen off a cliff edge despite a lot of computer work.

It's possible that more people are having to wear glasses because more jobs and activities require people to be able to work at screens rather than the other way around. People's eyesight probably deteriorated just as much in the past but if your job didn't require close work you didn't bother with glasses. I knew a number of older people in the past who wore glasses at home to read the paper etc. but wouldn't be seen dead wearing them to church!

But they would have spent much of their time outside - looking and scanning longer distances , exercising their eyes.

 

[Broch]

I'm not sure that's true TBH. Anyway, why is looking in the distance more eye exercising than looking close? I was under the impression that changing focus between a 30-50cm, then to a few meters, was all that was needed to 'exercise' the eye and that the 'relaxed' mode was 'staring into the distance'.

Actually, I have to take it all back - Having just questioned the oracle, apparently myopia rates have increased considerably over the last 50 years. Partly caused by close work and less time outdoors. Though it's possible that should be that 'detected myopia rates' have increased.

However, the increase in glasses use is partly that and partly better access to eyecare and, of course, an aging population.

In summary, ignore everything I've said in my previous posts on the subject