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Active: 1790 users

How do eye exams work??

Blogs > jjun212
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jjun212
Profile Joined December 2004
Canada2208 Posts
May 02 2009 16:44 GMT
#1
I went a couple of weeks ago to get my eyes examined and it ended up that I needed glasses to see far away. Like lecture halls or to see street signs from far away.

I wanted to find out whether I was 20/20, 20/40 or w/e
But on the piece of paper the doc gave me, it said

Left eye = -1.25
Right Eye = -1 or -1.35... something like that

What the heck does that mean?

*****
Xeofreestyler
Profile Blog Joined June 2005
Belgium6774 Posts
May 02 2009 16:51 GMT
#2
The minus means you have myopia (cant see well from a longer distance)
and the amount is just a way of measuring it

if you get around -2 you'll have difficulty distinguishing people's expressions from a distance for example
Graphics
jjun212
Profile Joined December 2004
Canada2208 Posts
May 02 2009 16:54 GMT
#3
ohhh thanks for the reply;;

i finally found a yahoo answers page where someone said that my myopia thing can't really tell my exact uncorrected vision.

and that i would need to use the eyechart with my optometrist? is that how it works? you judge the 20/20, 20/40 thing using that eye chart thing with the small letters
rgfdxm
Profile Joined December 2006
United States239 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-02 17:04:42
May 02 2009 16:59 GMT
#4
20/20 and 20/40 are measurements of "visual acuity." Your visual acuity was measured, so if you asked you could have found this out, but visual acuity is not very useful for much (except satisfying curiosity).

What you got was an eyeglass prescription, which is distinct from visual acuity (you can't convert from one to the other). The reason for this is that correcting your vision is basically a trial and error process of finding lenses that give you the best vision achievable. For a healthy young person with myopia and no other significant problems, usually your prescription will correct your vision to something near 20/20. But, for example, someone with other eye problems (macular degeneration, glaucoma, cataracts), may only be able to get 20/40 or 20/80 vision at best. Your -1.25 prescription doesn't guarantee any particular quality of vision, it is just the best correction they could find for your eyes.

Edit: yes, visual acuity is measured using an eye chart. Your prescription is measured by refraction, which also measures visual acuity (it has to in order to be able to compare between different prescriptions to decide which one gives you the best corrected vision).

Edit 2: the number itself is a measurement of lens curvature. The farther from zero, the more powerful the lens is. To understand the difference between the + and the - numbers, look up nearsightedness vs farsightedness (myopia vs hyperopia).
jjun212
Profile Joined December 2004
Canada2208 Posts
May 02 2009 17:06 GMT
#5
On May 03 2009 01:59 rgfdxm wrote:
20/20 and 20/40 are measurements of "visual acuity." Your visual acuity was measured, so if you asked you could have found this out, but visual acuity is not very useful for much (except satisfying curiosity).
.



Thanks for the reply! I get it now;

Also; I need to know actually in order to apply to my local police academy.

Police officers here need 20/40 uncorrected vision. I thought I could figure out my 20/40 shit by converting my exam paper but guess not.

I'll have to return and ask for that chart. Hope they don't charge me too much.
rgfdxm
Profile Joined December 2006
United States239 Posts
May 02 2009 17:08 GMT
#6
As I said earlier, in order to do a refraction they must have measured your visual acuity. As long as they recorded it (and they absolutely should have), all you should have to do is ask them to look in your records and tell you. If you need some kind of signed statement, which i guess you might if you're applying for something where it's important, just call and ask them to write one for you.
R3condite
Profile Joined August 2008
Korea (South)1541 Posts
May 02 2009 17:41 GMT
#7
wow i learned a lot today from reading this thread

haha
ggyo...
Navane
Profile Blog Joined February 2007
Netherlands2749 Posts
May 02 2009 18:00 GMT
#8
I'm not sure about it, but you can test it yourself. If you devide one by the number you got on your lens, you have the distance of the point from where you can't see sharp anymore. So 1 / 1.25 = 0.8 meters. At this distance the blur begins.

I have 3.something And my vision indeed starts to blur around 30 cm.
Kennelie
Profile Joined December 2007
United States2296 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-02 18:37:40
May 02 2009 18:37 GMT
#9
consider yourself lucky. I'm -4.00 in both eyes. Actually my left eye is .25 weaker but i just go with being even so I don't have to pay up the extra money for different strengths in lenses/contacts. Oh and I began losing my vision since I was 11. It started out around -.50 and shot up from there. I believe sleeping with contacts for 3+ years really hurt my eyes but oh wells. And like xeofreestyler said about noticing people's expression. It's very hard and I don't even attempt to drive without my contacts/glasses.
ya had ya shot kid!
Xeofreestyler
Profile Blog Joined June 2005
Belgium6774 Posts
May 02 2009 19:14 GMT
#10
wowow wait
you didnt take your contacts out for 3+ years?

I occasionally sleep with my contacts because I'm too lazy to take em out, 1 night max though
when I wake up my eyes look like those of a chronic stoner lol
Graphics
kOre
Profile Blog Joined April 2009
Canada3642 Posts
May 02 2009 19:16 GMT
#11
I'm fucking -4.25 and -4.75 lol TERRIBLE EYES!
http://www.starcraftmecca.net - Founder
Kennelie
Profile Joined December 2007
United States2296 Posts
May 02 2009 19:23 GMT
#12
On May 03 2009 04:14 Xeofreestyler wrote:
wowow wait
you didnt take your contacts out for 3+ years?

I occasionally sleep with my contacts because I'm too lazy to take em out, 1 night max though
when I wake up my eyes look like those of a chronic stoner lol


Yea between the ages of 13-15 I slept with them like everyday for 2 weeks at a time. Eventually I told my eye doctor and he told me not to sleep with them since the contact scratches the eye while sleeping. Since then my eye's get weaker by the year but I rarely sleep with them unless I party too hard and end up sleeping somewhere but even then I make sure I have a case at all my relatives/good friends crib.
ya had ya shot kid!
Durak
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Canada3685 Posts
May 02 2009 19:27 GMT
#13
If you don't qualify for the police and you really want to get in, you should consider lazer eye surgery. You'd have to make sure that it would qualify you for the police because it may not count as "uncorrected vision."

You probably only want to get it if you're 20+ because your eyes can still change quite a bit. One of the clinics will test you and give you specific answers to your situation.

It's not very expensive where I live (2-3k) and I know six people who've had lazer eye surgery. They all love it. Personally, I like my glasses because they are stylish but at least the option is there.
micronesia
Profile Blog Joined July 2006
United States24753 Posts
May 02 2009 19:51 GMT
#14
For those wondering, the units of the -1.25 stuff is diopters. Diopters are simply inverse meters (1/m).

I'm personally -1.75 diopters in each eye. I only know about how glasses work because I graded a course 'the physics of light' in college so I kinda had to learn the stuff :p
ModeratorThere are animal crackers for people and there are people crackers for animals.
GHOSTCLAW
Profile Blog Joined February 2008
United States17042 Posts
May 02 2009 19:52 GMT
#15
The problem eye surgery is that it tends to reduce your night vision in return for allowing you to see better. I would think that the police still wouldn't take you if they knew that you had laser eye surgery, as the decreased night vision could really hurt you.

And I believe that you need to be over 25 to get it, becuase of how your eyecs change.
PhotographerLiquipedia. Drop me a pm if you've got questions/need help.
Durak
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Canada3685 Posts
May 02 2009 21:38 GMT
#16
On May 03 2009 04:52 GHOSTCLAW wrote:
The problem eye surgery is that it tends to reduce your night vision in return for allowing you to see better.


Do you have a source for this? I have never heard of that.
jjun212
Profile Joined December 2004
Canada2208 Posts
Last Edited: 2009-05-02 22:02:41
May 02 2009 22:00 GMT
#17
On May 03 2009 06:38 Durak wrote:
Show nested quote +
On May 03 2009 04:52 GHOSTCLAW wrote:
The problem eye surgery is that it tends to reduce your night vision in return for allowing you to see better.


Do you have a source for this? I have never heard of that.


Its true actually; I was reading about it but the risks outweighed the benefits for me since my eyes are not THAT bad.

Also; I won't throw out the idea of Laser Eye surgery though. I am 21 years old and will wait to see the optometrist again and see where I am at. The police academy allows people who have done eye surgery to enter but only after like 3-6 months or something after their surgery because there have been reports that people's results backfired and actually get worse than before.

Risks of Laser Eye Surgery - Canadian Gov
Durak
Profile Blog Joined January 2008
Canada3685 Posts
May 02 2009 22:25 GMT
#18
Thanks for the link. I didn't know much about it before except that quite a few people have had it done and have had good results. I'll be able to ask more pointed questions now.

Good luck on becoming a police officer. It's a really tough job.
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