Reader Amber describes what it's like to grow up with glasses... and how she made the transition to contacts!
Amber says:
I started wearing glasses when I was four years old. The pre-school eye test was when I was first told I was long-sighted and had astigmatisms in each eye (basically, my eyes are shaped like rugby balls rather than footballs!). I went to a very small primary school of only 28 students, so everyone was very understanding and this made me feel more confident about my glasses. To begin with I did not understand the issues with my eyes, but now I could explain it to anyone! I have been through several tests to try to improve my eyesight. I started out with an eye patch which slipped over the glasses on my right eye - the idea was to make my left eye work harder and become stronger. This is help, but it didn't make me look like a pirate at all - the patch was pink with a 3-D purple dog on it! Next came the eye drops, which I HATED. Every day I was pinned to the couch by my mum to get them in my eye. Nightmare! All of this did eventually make my eyes much better.
When I got to the age of wanting to wear make up, my glasses became a bit annoying. When I wore mascara my lashes would push against the lenses and if I wanted to wear eyeliner I had to take off my glasses to apply it - and then I couldn't see where to put it on! I suppose these small things were irritating, but I can honestly say that wearing glasses has never stopped me from doing anything. I've been doing gymnastics since I was young and haven't taken my glasses off once in class... if I did, I'd miss the vault! I did boxing for a year or so, too. You can even get prescription goggles for swimming if you want!
Although I like glasses, I have always wanted to try contacts. I found a great optician in the end, who spent several hours talking about them and taking the contacts in and out to make sure I could do them well and to make sure I felt confident with it all. I had almost forgotten the feeling of not wearing glasses, after ten years of having them! If you decide you want contacts, I can tell you they are definitely not as scary as they sound. You have to take your time with them and make sure you keep them clean - the optician will give you a special solution for doing this, and it's important as the last thing you want is an eye infection. Contact lenses do take a little time to get used to, but overall they are definitely worth it. I love them!
Cathy says:
Amber looks brilliant both with and without glasses... but her honest account of wearing glasses and making the change to contacts is brilliant. Do YOU wear glasses? Or contacts? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
I started wearing glasses when I was four years old. The pre-school eye test was when I was first told I was long-sighted and had astigmatisms in each eye (basically, my eyes are shaped like rugby balls rather than footballs!). I went to a very small primary school of only 28 students, so everyone was very understanding and this made me feel more confident about my glasses. To begin with I did not understand the issues with my eyes, but now I could explain it to anyone! I have been through several tests to try to improve my eyesight. I started out with an eye patch which slipped over the glasses on my right eye - the idea was to make my left eye work harder and become stronger. This is help, but it didn't make me look like a pirate at all - the patch was pink with a 3-D purple dog on it! Next came the eye drops, which I HATED. Every day I was pinned to the couch by my mum to get them in my eye. Nightmare! All of this did eventually make my eyes much better.
When I got to the age of wanting to wear make up, my glasses became a bit annoying. When I wore mascara my lashes would push against the lenses and if I wanted to wear eyeliner I had to take off my glasses to apply it - and then I couldn't see where to put it on! I suppose these small things were irritating, but I can honestly say that wearing glasses has never stopped me from doing anything. I've been doing gymnastics since I was young and haven't taken my glasses off once in class... if I did, I'd miss the vault! I did boxing for a year or so, too. You can even get prescription goggles for swimming if you want!
Cathy says:
Amber looks brilliant both with and without glasses... but her honest account of wearing glasses and making the change to contacts is brilliant. Do YOU wear glasses? Or contacts? COMMENT BELOW to have your say!
I used to need eye drops. I only vaguely remember having them put in at a hospital once but Mum informs me that it was a regular occurrence and that, as I hated it so much, she'd pretend to put eye drops in my favourite soft toy's eyes so I would see that it didn't hurt him (obviously, he was a toy so he wasn't going to freak out but kids have weird logic and it evidently worked!). I also wore eye patches after my operation. They were like stickers that went over the lens of my glasses. I wore my patches over my left eye so my right eye would work. There was a range of designs. I was a bit scared of the cartoon Frankenstein's monster, if I'm honest! But my eyes seem to function well enough now. I don't wear glasses because they pinch my nose and leave red marks and it actually kind of hurts plus I can't wear contacts because I find it impossible to put them in but I get on fine without them anyway. The last time I had problems was when I was in college and I sat at the back of the class so I couldn't see the board. My lecturers printed the PowerPoint presentations out on paper for me because no one wanted me at their table which was closer to the board and I was happier where I was. Problem solved! In my life at the moment, I'm never forced to focus on something far away so my short-sightedness is not a problem.
ReplyDeleteI wear glasses
ReplyDeleteIve been wearing glasses since i was about 7. i am thinking of getting contacts as glasses sometimes are annoying playing football.
ReplyDeleteCool article, I have to wear glasses all the time but I don't mind I like my glasses, sometimes it is a bit annoying though like she said. Im too afraid to try contacts (yet!!) I don't think i would be any good at doing them or cleaning them. maybe one day :)
ReplyDeleteI understand the eyeliner struggle- I can't see to put mine on when i take my glasses off!
ReplyDeleteWhen I was eighteen, and had been wearing glasses for about ten years, they found that i have a turn in my right eye. Its a bit like a lazy eye, and my brain doesn't use the sight out of it because its really bad, even with my glasses, so my eye just floats. You can't really see it, unless my hair flops in front of my good eye and my brain has to use the poor right eye to see, and to see straight it has to turn all the way into my nose. Sometimes it means i walk into door frames and walls because i can't see! :D
I wear both glasses and lenses! I started wearing contacts in the winter, and I use daily's, but maybe soon I will move on to monthly's! Contacts are very useful as I'm a dancer.
ReplyDeleteAwesome blog. I really enjoyed reading your blog.Amber glasses are nice and stylish. I love it.
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You look great with your glasses on and given glasses are so much more fashionable than they used to be I wear mine a lot more too now even though they're pretty strong and I feel like I have a set of magnifying glasses in front of my eyes (my prescription is +5.75, +8). so I also feel the pain of not being able to do makeup for my eyes unless I wear contacts. Don't get me wrong, when I wear contacts I love to get dolled up but to save the mascara smear on the top of the glasses I tend leave the makeup alone when wearing glasses.
ReplyDelete