The good, the bad, and the ugly.
Today I have the privilege of having an amazing blogger give her perspective on 30 years with vision correction and her take on the good, the bad, and the ugly of her life experiences. She will talk about her personal experience with vision correction in Broken Arrow. She is an awesome person and I am thankful to have her tell her experience. If you haven’t read any of her blog posts before I would highly encourage it and you can find a link to her blog at the bottom of this post. Her blog seeks to help people with frugality, homeschooling, and faith.
The Name Calling
Four eyes, nerd, geek, bespectacled.. just kidding on the last one.. but I would have liked that nickname a lot better 🙂 As someone who has had vision correction for the last 30 years, I have been called it all. And although glasses are now trendy, and being nerdy is now a compliment, if you, or your child are preparing for vision correction, there are a few things you might want to know.
Because I have lived with vision correction for almost the entirety of my life (I first got glasses at 4 years old), I have experience with glasses, contact lenses, and lasik correction. I would like to talk about each, what you can expect, and some helpful tips for parents.
My Glasses Experience for Vision Correction in Broken Arrow
Glasses- I wore glasses for 17 years, from the age of 4 to 21. As a kid, glasses were sort of annoying. I remember being so impatient waiting for contact lenses. But, it was important for me to start out in glasses because I was not ready for contact lenses until I was in middle school. Glasses have come a long way since then however. The lenses have gotten smaller and lighter, there are more frame choices, and even prescription sunglasses.
If you are a parent and your child is getting their first set of glasses, know up front they can break. Understand they may get lost. Know it is a new responsibility your child is learning too. And give them some grace. They will get more responsible with time.
Good- Getting to pick out frames was really fun. And now there are more stylish options than ever! There were no places with the selection of this vision clinic when I was a kid. Look at the images here.
Glasses can definitely be a fashion statement and really change your entire look in a great way.
They make you look more studious.
Glasses are easy to take on and off, great for kids and anyone who struggles with contact lenses.
Bad- Glasses are annoying when it comes to things like sports and swimming. They are also annoying right now by fogging up when wearing a mask.
Ugly- Glasses can break or bend if dropped or hit by say a basketball (this one I learned from personal experience, and let me just say, a basketball to the head is never fun, but with glasses it really stinks.)
My Contact lenses Experience for Vision Correction in Broken Arrow
I was super excited to get contact lenses. I was able to get them in Middle School, when my parents and eye doctor felt that I was capable of taking care of them and properly putting them in my eyes myself. From then, I wore contacts for 8 years. Bifocal Contact Lenses
Good- Contacts are great for sports! No more bent frames!
If you didn’t like how you looked in glasses, contacts are invisible to everyone else. No one knows that you need the vision correction.
You can get fun or colored contact lenses. These novelty contact lenses can change your eye color. They even have some that turn dark when in sunlight!
Bad- you have to stay on top of properly cleaning your contacts. You have to make sure and have cleaning solution and cases when traveling.
Ugly- if you do not properly clean your contacts, or you leave them in for too long, you can have serious eye discomfort or even infection.
What parents should know- sometimes your kiddo is going to get lazy or forget to take out their contacts. It can cause discomfort, it can make their eyes red, it can even lead to infection. It is very, VERY important that they follow the protocol their eye doctor gives them for the specific brand of contacts that they have. You can sleep in some contact lenses. Other contacts you can not. So, know the information for your contacts.
Both contact lenses and their cleaning solution (saline) come in many different brands. There is a reason your eye doctor recommends one over the other. The Eye Doctor wants to get the best fit for the eye and the lens that will best fit your child’s lifestyle. On saline, certain brands can cause discomfort for different people, so try what your doctor recommends, you can even ask for a sample, and be sure to let him know if it isn’t working. You do have some options!
My Lasik Experience for Vision Correction in Broken Arrow
Lasik- I opted to have lasik surgery at 22 years old. My eye doctor wanted me to finish college first because he didn’t want the extra reading to be a strain. It was a simple procedure and a quick recovery. I honestly would have done it sooner if I could have, although I am sure that his advice was good. But that is how life changing it was!! Sometimes I am still surprised when I wake up and can see without having to put on glasses, and it has been 12 years since my procedure!!
The Surgery
The actual surgery is an outpatient type thing. You just go in, they give you basically a valium to relax you, and you are awake for the entire thing. After surgery you have eyedrops to put in for the next several days and are a little more light sensitive, but that wears off very quickly. You do have a follow up exam where you will see how the surgery went and make sure everything is healing properly. These things are all typically included in the cost of the package.
Good- waking up and being able to see without having to do anything.. I cant even begin to tell you what it is like. Before my eye surgery, they would have me walk until I could read the big “E”.. it was embarrassing. Now it’s like I never had a problem! It really was life changing for me!! Definitely money well spent.
Bad- Upfront costs and having to wait. It is a surgery, it is more expensive than glasses, although check into payment plans and ask about discounts! On waiting, the important thing when considering lasik surgery is that you want your eye to be fully grown so that your prescription will not change, that way you hopefully will not need another surgery down the road. So for me, I thought I could do it at 18, but had to wait until 22. It did give me time to save though ?
Ugly- It is a surgery so there are always risks and complications. You should carefully consider these before this or any other surgery. Talk to your Eye Doctor and ask questions.
What you should know- even lasik is not a permanent fix. Reading glasses are a very real possibility for the majority of the population. You or your now adult child need to know what to expect. Do not think that after getting Lasik you will never need vision correction again. If you think this will make it to where you never need vision correction again you will be disappointed.
Some people will also say that you will experience starburst at night after lasik. I do have that. I can’t say that it was from lasik because I don’t remember what it was like beforehand. It is not a big inconvenience, but you should know that may happen to you as well. It is just where when you see a light at night there is a halo around it.
Summary
So what can I tell you about having vision correction for 30 years?? If you or your child is getting ready to need correction it isn’t the end of the world! The technology today is amazing! The options are endless! It is something to not be ashamed about, but just embrace it!
It’s funny, I couldn’t wait to get out of glasses in middle school. Now I have been without glasses for 12 years, and I am kind of looking forward to picking out some frames when it is time for me to get readers. Vision correction has been a great thing for me, at all the different stages. There was good about each step in that journey, and I am so grateful that is was available to me! I am super appreciative of good eye doctors like Dr. Thirion and the folks at One Vision in Broken Arrow who really care about their patients and work to find the best options to help people like me see!
Happy Seeing!!
Mandy
About Mandy
Mandy loves helping others lead an abundant life on less! She is a happily married, homeschooling mom to 5 kiddos. You can learn about homeschooling, find super frugal meal plans, and be encouraged in your faith at her blog simplewifehappylife.com
