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Aging Eyes Need Glasses, Contacts or Surgery

Most people that have healthy eyesight in their youth will notice that it begins to degrade as they age. Many choices are available today to keep your vision in top shape.

Author: S Porter
Date: Apr 19, 2009 - 3:23:27 AM

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The third decade of my life has been very interesting with all of the bodily changes that are taking place.   I never used to even think about my teeth or my eyes, but these days invincibility is starting to slip away.   My eyes have always just worked for me and I took for granted the 20/20 vision I was born with; but now things are starting to get a little fuzzy if they are too small or too far away.   I know it's only a matter of time before I have to get an exam, and eventually join the less than perfect portion of population.   Vision correction has advanced a long way in the last 100 years, and today we have many choices to fix the problem.   It's a matter of opinion which is the best but I've been told that the solution depends on the person.

Glasses are the oldest form of vision correction, but they don't really correct vision; they just alter the light that reaches the eye.   People do judge you, at least a little, based on what you look like, and glasses alter how other people see you.   Good or bad depends on how you want to be seen, and you can change your glasses to be seen a little differently.   Glasses are easy to put on and take off, and they don't need to be sterilized; they are also inexpensive and don't need to be thrown away like contacts do.   On the down side, glasses make your field of vision smaller and they can fog up in colder weather.

Contacts are a newer technology that basically put glasses directly on your eyes.   The principle is the same; alter the light that reaches the eye so the picture is in focus.   Unlike glasses though, contact don't alter your natural appearance to other people.   Some people look very good in glasses, and other people just can't find a set that look right on them.   Contacts need to be sterilized frequently and putting them in and taking them out is more of a hassle than glasses.   They won't fog up or shrink your field of vision, but they are more expensive because they need to be thrown away and replaced.   I don't know how I would react to contacts because I have never been comfortable with things in my eyes, but I suppose everyone says that until they try them.

LASIK eye surgery is the newest form of vision correction and it actually permanently corrects eyesight rather than just temporarily altering it.   It's able to fix most common vision problems, but it is surgery and carries a small level of risk.   Corrective eye surgery is also expensive compared to glasses, but some insurance plans and discount plans like Ameriplan can help lower the cost.   Eyesight continues to degrade as we age, so an option like surgery is best used after your eyesight has gotten bad enough to no longer be ignored.   If you have it done early in your life, you will most likely need to have it done again later on.   There is also a period of down time for your eyes while they get used to the changes and heal from the surgery.

View all articles by S Porter

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