Eyes Going Bad -- Need Advice

I am 42, and my eyesight is starting to become less than perfect. I recently got a pair of glasses. I would love to be one of those guys who are 80 and have perfect vision, but I fear that thats not me. Any "tips and tricks" from AMers who have deteriorating eyesight?

Peter, Hello. I'm sorry to hear about your eyesight. There is some good data about the use of Astaxanthin Supplementation in preventing age related deterioration of eyesight. It isn't that expensive (available at most health food stores) and you can also eat blueberries and carrots for other carotenoids. If nothing else, I believe it will slow down any loss of vision. You can do some research on it through google. It's difficult to prove anything with one person's experience, but I'm 63 and have 20-15 vision with a 7mm dilated pupil, according to my eye doctor. I eat tons of berries and carrots and supplement with astaxanthin.

George

Does your eyeglass prescription have astigmatism (I think it is referred to as "barrel" or "cylinder" or something like that)? If no astigmatism is involved or it is a low 0.25 or 0.5 in value, then you just need to refocus the eyepiece to adjust for near-sightedness or far-sightedness. The only grief is that parfocal sets of eyepieces are no longer exactly parfocal. You do not need to wear the glasses when observing.

If you do have significant astigmatism, then you may need the glasses, especially for larger exit pupils. (exit pupil = eyepiece focal length divided by f/ratio of scope). Large exit pupils mean that more of the eye surface is involved and the non-symmetric distortions of astigmatism are more noticeable. The televue dioptrix can also be used instead of your glasses. But you need a dioptrix level that is close to your astigmatism correction level.

If you need the glasses for astigmatism you then may be forced to go to long eye relief eyepieces like the Delos.

I needed glasses for near-sightedness starting at about age 35. Astigmatism has been low for me, 0.25 to 0.5. I don't normally wear glasses observing, but have to put them back on when using the Telrad.

Just recently (age 58) I suspect astigmatism is getting to be a bigger problem, because I'm seeing the oval shapes when out of focus with the larger exit pupils. I may be facing some of these issues soon.

If you have simple near or far-sighted, then you probably have many years to go before astigmatism is an issue.

Mike

Peter Glus said:

I am 42, and my eyesight is starting to become less than perfect. I recently got a pair of glasses. I would love to be one of those guys who are 80 and have perfect vision, but I fear that thats not me. Any "tips and tricks" from AMers who have deteriorating eyesight?

older eyes = larger aperature

Keep the exit pupil from being too large or too small will help.

Jim J

Decades ago I switched to contact lenses specifically because they are more compatible with eyepieces. There are some that correct astigmatism. I preferred rigid gas-permeable lenses.

More recently I had cataract surgery (I'm 64) and the implanted lenses fixed my eyesight for good. At least one thing to look forward to in old age!

42 is a bit young for presbyopia, the need for reading glasses usually doesn't kick in till the late 40's, early 50's. Did you see an ophthalmologist or an optometrist when you went to get glasses or did you just buy a pair of reading glasses in the store? If you haven't seen an ophthalmologist it is worth your while to have a thorough exam to sort out what is really happening with your vision.

"M-a-l-l-i-n-c-a-m"... that's what I did.

Peter Glus said:

I am 42, and my eyesight is starting to become less than perfect. I recently got a pair of glasses. I would love to be one of those guys who are 80 and have perfect vision, but I fear that thats not me. Any "tips and tricks" from AMers who have deteriorating eyesight?

That fact that you now need glasses is not a serious issue with your eyes, it just means you need a little help focusing. At the scope, unless you have astigmatism, any focusing issues are easily resolved with the focuser. I consider serious eye issues to be things like cataracts, detached retinas, macular degeneration, glaucoma, things that really affect your vision... Glasses? everyone should wear glasses just for eye protection...

You are 42, enjoy it while you can, the next 20 years are the best and they go by fast. I am 64 and in reasonable health with reasonable vision, not perfect, floaters, a tad bit of astigmatism, a significant amount of presbyopia...

Forget perfect vision, my goal is just to be one of those guys who is 80, still alive an kicking and hopefully still able to get out and do some observing...

Jon