Through my eye infection episode, I started looking at vision correction options. I am not a candidate for Lasik because of some astigmatism or other issues I don’t remember. Besides, I’m a little concerned about cutting up the cornea to correct vision. I’ve heard stories of eyeballs bursting in car accidents because of the Lasik procedure. Not sure if there’s any validity to the stories, though, just rumors.
I’ve been wearing contact lenses since high school but now with current technology, it may be time for some other options. There seem to be two. Here they are according to Hauser Ross Eye Institute.
- Implantable contact lenses from Visian. From what I know, they implant a squarish-looking lens behind the iris and in front of the eye’s ocular lens. H-R claims to have great success with the procedure. Only thing is it will not of course prevent the stiffening of the ocular lens with age to the point of requiring reading glasses. But I think I could put up with a life of reading glasses if it can eliminate the problems of contact lenses. I know not everybody has problems with contacts, but I can’t wear disposable. My lenses are specially made and are quite uncomfortable at times.
Cost is $3000 per eye.
- It used to be that the only replacement for the eye’s ocular lens, e.g., in the event of cataracts, was a solid lens that would hinder close up seeing. It would require one to wear reading glasses. Now they have an alternative in adjustable replacement ocular lenses. Looks very promising and I’ll have to look into it more. Cost is $4000-$6000 per eye.
In the grand scope of things, the cost is a minor issue if the correction lasts me a lifetime. Has anyone else had experience with any of these procedures?
Somewhere in the cacophony of commercials I’ve heard on the radio, I remember hearing about corrective eye therapy that could free one from the need for glasses. I dunno if this works for people with astigmatism, though. Sorry that I can’t provide you a URL but you might ask around.
I have heard from several sources that corrective lenses enable the eye to continue deteriorating with age - that if one can lose the lenses that they have a much better chance of maintaining good eyesight through old age.
Not that you’re old, or anything, Bruce 
what about regular glasses?
Mine are made out of Coke bottle bottoms, which can make certain things somewhat difficult throughout the day. I’m about a -12 diopter. I started wearing glasses in 4th grade.
You could try Pepsi… 
Jacquie has pretty severe vision problems. She wore glasses from the age of six months, and almost got put into a blind school, but her first grade teacher insisted on giving her a chance. She doesn’t like to drive as she has very limited/no depth perception. This also keeps her from riding singletrack trails. 
Recently she looked into lasik and found out it was not an option for her eyes either. Because she’s not crazy about contacts (or maybe they’re too cumbersome to work with her perscriptions), she decided to buy the coolest glasses she could find. She found a very cool store in downtown Sacramento that has all these interesting frames, and has built up a small collection of different ones. They always attract attention. I don’t have any handy examples, but you would probably pick different ones anyway. If you want info on frame designers let me know; they should have web sites.
Sounds interesting. I am at the age where I now need glasses for reading, especially for menus in dim restaurants. Give me enough light and I can still see just fine, but that amount of light keeps getting more and more… so now I have my own pair of reading glasses. I usually don’t have them with me when I need them…
I have wondered if there are exercises you can do with aging eyes to make them focus better. However if you’ve only heard of something in a cacophony of radio ads, it sounds a little dubious. I should look this up.