Fishing with Aging Eyes

[Poodroo]

My goodness I am not alone here am I? It sounds like this has been a good topic because eventually we all face losing our vision to a degree at some stage in our lives if we haven't already started. As mentioned I am sure that computer screens are not helping the cause either. We take our eyes for granted a lot of the time I think. Thanks again everyone for replying to this thread. It's been most helpful and if the Ausfish member who is an Optometrist does read this thread feel free to send me a PM.


Regards,

Poodroo

[FNQCairns]

Hi Poodroo,

I had laser correction done about 3 years ago now and loving it.

My history

I started having to wear glasses from my mid 20s, I had typical male short sightedness. It was then a case of new glasses every couple of years. I had prescription sunnies made up and they were good, but did lose the odd pair overboard (hot sweaty face in a Qld summer does not help them stay on!). Bought some Lanyards ("those cords that clip onto your glasses and hang around the neck") and that solved the lost sunnies problem pretty well!

As I got older I developed a stigmatism as well and eventually had to go to graduated lenses. I found them a bit of a bugger out fishing but put up with them for a few years. Good quality prescription sunnies with graduated lenses were starting to get pretty pricey as well ($600 or thereabouts).

I always had my eyes checked every 2 years or so, so asked about the laser option and my optomistrist said I was a candidate and referred me to a Laser Centre. She had had the surgury herself which gave me lots of confidence.

The Surgery

As I said laser correction done about 3 years ago. The procedure is quick and painless. Costs between $4,500 and $7,000 for both eyes depending on what type of surgery is involved. Not covered by Health Funds or Medicare but you can get a 20c in the dollar tax rebate for out of pocket health costs over $1,000 in any year.

My eyes could not be completely corrected because of the stigmatism, so I ended up with one eye for long visison and one for short (it is called Monovision). Works surprisingly well (they give you contacts to try beforehand to simulate the surgery outcome). And finally being able to use off the shelf non prescription sunnies and not having to worry about glasses is such a great freedom after over 20 years of wearing them I can tell you.

Ask your optimistrist all about it at your next visit. They are getting more and more sophisitcated with their surgery techniques all the time. They can correct lots of eye defects now that they would not even touch 5 years ago.

Cheers

Dave

Well there you go! the things a person stumbles over, my sight has been going downhill slowly, 10 years ago I visited the optometrist for a checkup after a few months of becoming conserned as I was noticing a change from what I considered perfect and he commented most people couldn't tell at the stage I was at, I was able to tell him which eye and how much at the time, for whatever reason i got it right.
Since then I have not visited one again but I do have your mono vision, right eye ok for long distance, left eye best for up close, but neither wonderfull at either. With tired eys I need to read my novel in bed with one eye closed.

Possibly if mine had not gone this way, I would all ready have specs.

cheers fnq

[disorderly]

Guys..After reading some of the replies I think I will be driving with one eye on the road and the other firmly on all the half blind drivers around me...

Seriously though poodroo ....just get a pair of specs..once you get used to them you will be wishing you got them earlier.

I wear them all the time ...prescription sunnies in the daytime and normal specs at night....although it can be funny sometimes if I end up at night with only the sunnies on and my glasses are at home or in the car...

As for breaking or losing them ..well when you are as blind as me I tend to treat them with kid gloves.I wore contacts for years for reasons of vanity but soon tired of the hassles.

Scott

[castlemaine]

Poodroo
I was trying to convince myself that 48, nearly 49, was nothing to be worried about until I saw everyone elses posts.
I had a friend who had laser corrective surgery but he was one the very few that had complications and there's was a bit of a panic that he may lose eyesight in one eye, all ended up good though but as he ages he'll still eventually will need reading glasses.
I love my polariods when I'm fishing; so to tie knots or read my sounder, etc I put one of those cheap +1.5 on the bridge of my nose in front of my sunnies. I must look a bit of a dork but it works.
You can get bifocal polarised Maui Jim's in different strengths but around $250-300. I hate to lose one those overboard. Considering bifocal inserts of Fugglies or Barz around $50-70. Has anyone tried them and how have you found them?
Here's to growing older gracefully. Cheers

[revs57]

G'day Castlemaine,

I've had a set of Barz that I use when riding the harley, had em for 5 years, not a bad lense, but they are a polycarb lense in the pair I have - I do prefer my maui's or makos with a polarised glass lense for fishing - dunno about the bifocal mauis, recon that could give me the irrits not yet haveing to wear magnifiers, maybe one day soon I'll have to though

Cheers

rhys

[castlemaine]

G'day Castlemaine,

I've had a set of Barz that I use when riding the harley, had em for 5 years, not a bad lense, but they are a polycarb lense in the pair I have - I do prefer my maui's or makos with a polarised glass lense for fishing - dunno about the bifocal mauis, recon that could give me the irrits not yet haveing to wear magnifiers, maybe one day soon I'll have to though

Cheers

rhys

Thanks Rhys
I assume your Barz are not the bifocal type. I was wondering if the inserts that are not polarised can be annoying, as they are inserted into the polarised lens. I agree the Maui and Makos are ace. Thanks again

[cajunnsw]

Poodroo,

A visit to the optometrist is definitely in order. In many cases the script is different for each lens ie +2 and +.75, which means the cheapies won't be a great help.

I have prescription spotters and love them, though they are exxy - I definitely use a strap

Hope this helps

[jimbo59]

There's a pair of mako's at the sea-mount off port-vila,just ask the crew of yemer to put you onto them ...jim

[Dug]

I LOVE my contact lenses they are just wonderful.

Find a really good optometrist who understands contact lenses I use John Mountford in Brisbane.

I leave mine in for a week at a time and sleep with them in I got sick and tired of losing glasses and getting them covered in salt spray.

Mine are different strengths for my left and right eyes so I can read with my left eye and use my right eye for distance vision.

I would never ever consider laser surgery as I have heard some really bad stories about the risks and results.

[BigE]

Same here poodroo, I started fishing more panoster rigs (can tie em in the dark ) usally tie heaps of them and wind them on a hand line ready to use. Been looking for a couple for white rods for years, cause there easier to see at night but no one seems to make em any more. Guess it all just part of growing old.

BigE

[PinHead]

I have never had a problem with glasses falling off...if they do then they mustn't be fitted properly. I wear mine all the time and don't have that problem.

[cogswell]

I'm an optom, actually, and can't see too much wrong with most of the above advice. The lens in the human eye gets progressively less flexible with age -basically a bad design[even a 15 year old has less focus changing ability than a 5 year old].
If it's just simple presbyopia [reduced ability to change focus] and there is no distance correction factor present then you will get by with over the counter cheapies. There is no quality regulation with these cheap chinese produced products so try before you buy, the quality of the lenses can vary. A really good option is a pair of progressively powered polarised prescription sunnies. Take a week or so to adjust to but then they will be magic. Polarised option a worthwhile thing on water as it significantly reduced the reflected surface glare. Other really important thing to note is that the optom does far more than work out your visual needs. The most important part of the exam is the internal and external health check for things such as glaucoma which are potentially blinding if not detected and treated early. So even if you get by with cheap over the counter spex get your eyes checked every couple of years or so. Covered under medicare so minimal or no out of pocket costs.
Contact lenses are more suited to those with distance vision problems, if you just need near they can be sometimes adapted but needs to be analysed on a case by case basis. Same applies to surgical and laser correction options.

[sparkyice]

in industrial safety catalogs you can buy little plastic stick on bifocal lenses. select your diopter (1x, 1.5x, 2x) and fix them to your sunglasses. works great for me!!


http://www.mcmaster.com

keyword- bifocal. page 1773, "magnification inserts for safety glasses"