Perfect vision, corrected vision, contacts, glasses, etc.?

Discover Your Odds of Getting into Medical School
This forum made possible through the generous support of SDN members, donors, and sponsors. Thank you.

What sort of vision do you have?

  • Perfect vision since the day you were born.

    Votes: 31 18.2%

  • Lasik Surgery.

    Votes: 8 4.7%

  • Contact Lenses.

    Votes: 83 48.8%

  • Glasses.

    Votes: 82 48.2%

  • Something else. Please post your response below.

    Votes: 12 7.1%
  • Total voters
    170
J

JohnnyQ

Full Member
10+ Year Member
15+ Year Member
Joined
Nov 5, 2006
Messages
61
Reaction score
0
What are your experiences with Lasik, contacts, glasses, etc.? Maybe you have 20/20 vision without any sort of treatment? What % of pre-meds do you think have some sort of visual impairment?
Members don't see this ad.
 
I have been wearing glasses/contacts for about 8 years now. I HATE contacts. I cannot wear them more that 5 hours without them being annoying. I wear glasses most of the time....

There is a thread on this in the allopathic forum, do a search.

I have read a few places that your eyes could unpredictably change prescription anytime until you are 24. This scares me so I'm sticking to glasses until then. Even then, I fear that my eyes might be damaged and that could hurt me if I one day decide to become a surgeon.... J
 
You shouldn't get LASIK at this time in your life. I'm a glasses/contacts guy and I normally wear my contacts over my glasses (95% vs 5%). Acuvue Advance with Hydraclear for the win.
 
Members don't see this ad :)
Bacchus said:
You shouldn't get LASIK at this time in your life.
Click to expand...

Why?!! I got lasik in 2000, best money ever spent. Seriously. I went from blind as a bat, nearsighted with astigmatism, to 20/20, still holding strong 8 years later. I'm an athlete, and not having to deal with contacts (much less glasses) has been fantastic.

PS. Don't forget to add your grade on this to your mdapps, everyone! :p
 
Contacts since I was 12. I got glasses at age 4 but really wanted contacts for sports.

Man, I need them too. My optometrist told me I was 20/200 without any correction.
 
Ooooh I so win this.

Totally blind in one eye, seriously near-sighted in the other. No depth perception AND I squint all the time.

Booyah.
 
Intraocular contact lens implantation, it's basically the same as cataract surgery, without removing the eyes natural lens. I now have 20/15, before I was unable to clearly see my hand at arms length. The surgery is also reversible. I wasn't a candidate for lasik, my eyes were too bad, and the Doc. said it wasn't a good idea for people as young as me with eyes as bad as mine.
 
Contacts most of the time for a good 1.5 years now. Glasses for when I'm lazy (they're 6 years old). I probably need a new pair sometime.
 
My ophthalmologist is performing lasik on me in the next few weeks.... My eyes have not changed in two years, so he's comfortable correcting my vision

-3.25 in both eyes :-/
 
Members don't see this ad :)
I wear daily disposable contacts most of the time (though they do make me feel a little wasteful) and glasses on occasion.

This kind of reminds me of an old Rocko's Modern Life episode...

Heffer: Hey, I think I might need glasses, too...
Rocko: Why, Heff? Do you have trouble seeing things?
Heffer: No, I have trouble not knowing who Nietzsche is.
 
Kinda off topic but kinda not, in your opinion, should people wear glasses to their interviews?

1) is it true, in your opinion, that however subconsciously, glasses-wearing folk seem smarter or more "intellectual"?

2) if it is true, do you think interviewers expect it to some extent and think you're trying to trick them if you wear glasses?

3) as a rule, I'd think it's better to wear the glasses than squint at your interviewer....

4) but maybe if you dont see the interviewer all that clearly you're less likely to get nervous...

5) i'm talking in circles, someone please stop me
 
LET said:
Kinda off topic but kinda not, in your opinion, should people wear glasses to their interviews?

1) is it true, in your opinion, that however subconsciously, glasses-wearing folk seem smarter or more "intellectual"?

2) if it is true, do you think interviewers expect it to some extent and think you're trying to trick them if you wear glasses?

3) as a rule, I'd think it's better to wear the glasses than squint at your interviewer....

4) but maybe if you dont see the interviewer all that clearly you're less likely to get nervous...

5) i'm talking in circles, someone please stop me
Click to expand...

1. No
2. i doubt it
3. Yes
4. I suppose
5. /Slap/
 
Take this FWIW:

In my public speaking class the professor told us that if we have contacts in, take them out for our planned speeches and put the glasses on. He claimed that eyewear makes you look more authorative and knowledgable. He's been doing this for a long time and is one of the head trainers for PR and HR at GSK.
 
LET said:
Ooooh I so win this.

Totally blind in one eye, seriously near-sighted in the other. No depth perception AND I squint all the time.

Booyah.
Click to expand...

Haha, I tie you here!! Totally blind in my left eye, -3.25 in my right. Oh, and the blind one gets seriously lazy if I look too far to the right...it almost disappears. The no depth perception really sucks, makes me a horrible athlete at anything that involves a ball! I kept this totally hidden during application season, and am deciding if I should let the office know in case I need any special accomodations (usually just involve things like scopes, but who knows).
 
scowdeva said:
Haha, I tie you here!! Totally blind in my left eye, -3.25 in my right. Oh, and the blind one gets seriously lazy if I look too far to the right...it almost disappears. The no depth perception really sucks, makes me a horrible athlete at anything that involves a ball! I kept this totally hidden during application season, and am deciding if I should let the office know in case I need any special accomodations (usually just involve things like scopes, but who knows).
Click to expand...

Haha alright I think you might actually beat me. I don't think I'm quite as blind as you in the non-blind one. And my blind one also gets super-lazy.
My main issue has been with orgo- anything that moved in space made me scratch my head in confusion. Ah well.


And DrYoda, thanks for the slap. So very necessary.
 
-5.75 and -5.25 for me, along with astigmatism in both. I am contemplating lasik but am hesitant because I'm not sure if my vision will continue to change over the next few years. The thought of never having to put contacts on my eyeballs ever again gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. In fact, I think it's about that time of night where I will retire them to there resting case.
 
I can't beat Bacchus, but my eyes are crappy too: -4.25 and -4.00. I wore contacts for 25 years, but now I'm so old I had to get bifocals.
 
Contact lenses/glasses. -4.25 in both eyes and continually getting worse. Everyone in my family has terrible vision, so it's not exactly unexpected. I just got my glasses a year ago and they feel a little blurry now. I'll live.
 
Bacchus said:
LASIK/Surgical eye correction is discouraged for people who have "changing" eyes. That'd be us in the 18-24 bracket.
Click to expand...

Your "changing eye" status is determined by your prescription history, not your age. I was 21.

My prescription before correction was -8 in one eye, -8.25 in the other. I couldn't make out a face at a seated distance without my contacts, had been wearing glasses since I was 5, and let me tell you - not needing to deal with contacts or glasses for the first time since preschool was AWESOME. I am so grateful it was correctable!

As for contacts v. glasses in interviews - whichever you feel more comfortable and confident wearing.
 
God I'm glad to have been born with perfect eyes. Hopefully all the reading in the dark I did as a child isn't gonna screw em up too bad.
 
-7.5 in both eyes. Really want to get Lasik done before medical school, but I'll settle for during.
 
UTnut said:
-5.75 and -5.25 for me, along with astigmatism in both. I am contemplating lasik but am hesitant because I'm not sure if my vision will continue to change over the next few years. The thought of never having to put contacts on my eyeballs ever again gives me a warm fuzzy feeling. In fact, I think it's about that time of night where I will retire them to there resting case.
Click to expand...
We're eye twins, exactly. My prescription is too fluid for me to get lasik, my eyes actually got better the last I got them checked. My dad's has changed every few years forever (and we have similar eye-histories), so I don't think I'll ever be able to have it surgically corrected.
 
-11.00 in both of my eyes. I wear contacts because I am Asian and my eyes are already small. With glasses, my eyes disappear completely.
 
Been wearing glasses or contacts for 16 years. Contacts are -6.75 now. Intend on getting lasik, but am waiting until I am 24, since that is the age that eyes are considered "completely matured" and vision "stable."

It's tempting to do it now though. First year of medical school was hell of my eyes. (My 'scrip was stable for 5 years and then tanked during this past year... interesting) Got an appointment with my ophthalmologist next month so I'll figure out how bad its gotten in a year, but all I know is that I can't even watch TV from my couch now without squinting. When I suture in the OR, everyone laughs because I have to squint and lean over the patient (considered horrible technique) in order to see where I am driving the needle and if I'm hitting the proper tissue planes. And that's with my contacts in.

Bacchus said:
Take this FWIW:

In my public speaking class the professor told us that if we have contacts in, take them out for our planned speeches and put the glasses on. He claimed that eyewear makes you look more authorative and knowledgable. He's been doing this for a long time and is one of the head trainers for PR and HR at GSK.
Click to expand...

I do this in clinic a lot. Of course I suffer from a notorious case of babyface, enough so that the white coat isn't enough to stop some patients from asking if I'm still in highschool. So the glasses help. Get some really nerdy academic frames.
 
Last edited:
-0.5 in both eyes... I don't wear my glasses as often as I should because I can get by with out them... Only is a problem if I am trying to read signs or what not!
 
My vision was stable all through college. Got to med school and it changed (probably from staring at a computer all day long). Also, now that I'm on the wards, I can't wear my contacts b/c they irritate my eyes. I've worn them all day everyday for 10 years, and now I can barely tolerate putting them in for a couple of hours. I wish I had gotten lasik BEFORE med school so I wouldn't have to wear my glasses everyday.
 
LASIK.

Was so scared of it at first but 45 seconds later, I couldn't be happier! Total pain that I felt lasted maybe 2.5 seconds.
 
I wear contacts and glasses. Lately I've been wearing glasses more than my contacts (because I'm too broke/cheap to buy new ones). Plus I think I look "cuter" with glasses than contacts.* I'm scared to have lasik but I can't get it now anyways because my eyes are getting better prescription wise. Uhm I wore glasses since the 4th grade I finally, ok my teacher finally, convinced my mom that I actually needed glasses after I spent the entire year sitting on the floor in front of the board because I couldn't see. It's horrible when your parents can't afford glasses for you or a visit to the eye doctor so they're hesistant to take you. Got contacts my senior year of high school for my 18th bday. I only wear my contacts if I'm swimming or cheering.



*Yea yea yea I know my post is worthless without pictures. Ya aint gettin any.
 
Got glasses in 3rd grade and contacts in 9th. -4 and -3.75. With astigmatism. Sigh. Hope to have that amazing eye surgery one day, although my optometrist said women's eyes can change during pregnancy, so to wait until I was finished having babies. At this rate with med school and residency, I'll be 40!!! :rolleyes:
 
Had PRK done when I was 26. I couldn't have LASIK because the combination of really bad eyesight (-8.25, -8.5) and thin corneas. PRK just slices the top off rather than creating that little flap like LASIK. Also means it feels like you've dipped your eyes in acid until the conjunctiva heals over (2-3 days).

I had naturally dry eyes so I couldn't wear contacts for more than 6-8 hours at a time. Couldn't wear them at all out here in arid Colorado.

Eye surgery was the best possible thing I could have done. I don't even care if my eyes get a little worse over time and I need glasses again. Almost anything is better than having eyes worse than -8.
 
bioteach said:
I had naturally dry eyes so I couldn't wear contacts for more than 6-8 hours at a time. Couldn't wear them at all out here in arid Colorado.

Eye surgery was the best possible thing I could have done. I don't even care if my eyes get a little worse over time and I need glasses again. Almost anything is better than having eyes worse than -8.
Click to expand...

Yup, yup, yup, and yup.
 
Lasik in 2001 - Went from super crappy w/ astig (but not as bad as some of you) to 20/15 in both eyes.

Cannot believe the difference. It was a shocker just getting up and doing whatever I wanted, instead of finding my glasses to help me put my contacts in.

Fast forward to April 2008 - 5 years sitting in a forsaken cubicle staring at computers, and now I need a light pair of glasses to read fine text...not too bad I suppose.
 
-3.25 in both eyes with astigmatism.. been wearing glasses since freshman year of college.. Cant wait to get Lasik, but my eyes have been getting worse over the years.. so i have to wait.

I cant for the life of me put contacts in my eyes.. i tried many many times.. i just cant get my finger close to my eyeball.. i even have a hard time putting in eye drops.. sad i know..
 
All you twentysomethings longing for LASIK, keep this in mind: you may well need reading glasses when you reach your 40's. And even if you get LASIK at that point, they are going to give you "monovision," meaning that one eye will be corrected for distance vision and the other for near vision. Your brain gets two conflicting visual inputs at first, resulting in double/blurred vision, but over time it is supposed to learn to ignore the unwanted input so that you see a single image.

Trouble is, monovision doesn't work for everyone. I wasn't even considering LASIK, but when I hit the reading-glasses stage a couple of years ago, I wanted to keep my contacts, so the opthalmologist gave me monovision correction with contacts. Despite wearing these nonstop for about 6 months, I never lost the blurred image and poor focus I started out with, so I capitulated and went with the glasses. I'm very happy with my vision now, although glasses are more of a hassle than contacts were for me.
 
Until 7/16/08, I had been in contacts or glasses since I was like 13 or 14, I can't remember. I'm 32 now, and had Wavefront LASIK 9 days ago. I'm 20/15 in both eyes and doing fine. The optometrist I see for follow ups said yesterday if he didn't know I had the surgery, he wouldn't even know I had the flaps. That's how well they've healed. (He said he barely saw them at the one day check).

Dr. Woolfson of Woolfson Eye Institute has changed my life. It's a weird feeling.
 
-2.25 in the left, -2.00 in the right. It's not too bad, but I almost always wear my glasses or contacts. I actually go through stages where I'll wear my contacts for like 6 months, and then glasses for 6 months. I hadn't even considered wearing my glasses to med school interviews, but I guess now I'll have to think about it a little bit more.
 
I will never forget the day I went in for my first eye exam as an adult. I thought my vision was fine, and then they put the lenses up, and I was like, "Holy ****, I'm BLIND!" I'm really farsighted. In fact, my physics professor used my glasses to demonstrate focal point during the lens lecture.

I don't wear my glasses nearly enough, and quite frankly, my vision is way worse since having the baby, so they don't really work that well anyway. I keep meaning to have them checked again...
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Next unread thread

Similar threads

GoSpursGo
Accepted student Group Me/Facebook/etc
Replies
0
Views
544
GoSpursGo
GoSpursGo
N
Contact for activity
Replies
2
Views
101
Mr.Smile12
Mr.Smile12
Proconsul1981
Is 20/20 vision required to become a surgeon?
Replies
14
Views
2K
Banco
Banco
N
Are there any vision requirements to become a physician?
Replies
6
Views
864
efle
efle
chilly_md
  • Sticky
*~*~*~*2023-2024 Med School Applicant Sticky (PS, AMCAS, Secondaries, Interviews, etc)*~*~*~*
Replies
0
Views
11K
chilly_md
chilly_md
Top