Could contact lenses have possibly made my eyesight better?

[Sukhoi]

For the past 3 years my prescription not changed at all. Not one bit. 2004 and 2005 were with one doc, 2006 with a different one (due to moving).

2004
SPH---CYL-AXIS
-5.25 +0.75 160
-5.25 +0.50 050
2005
SPH---CYL-AXIS
-5.25 +0.75 162
-5.25 +0.50 052
2006
SPH---CYL-AXIS
-5.25 +0.75 160
-5.25 +0.50 050
2008
SPH---CYL-AXIS
-4.50 +0.75 075
-4.75 +0.50 145

What the hell happened in 2008? The only thing different from 2004-2006 is I now wear contacts 99% of the time. But obviously I had them out for the eye exam. Could the contacts have started to somehow fix my vision? I'm thinking that my new eye doctor is terrible and I should go elsewhere.

To clarify, those are glasses prescriptions, not contacts. I just started wearing contacts this year for the first time.

 

[Ika]

Well, if your vision with the new contacts isn't as good, you have your answer...

but I think it might be possible for contacts to "squish" your eyes back into place, even slowly. I'm no optometrist, though...

 

[OverVolt]

They lower your prescription a couple notches when you switch to contacts.

Just like pushing your classes closer to your eye helps you focus further away, wearing contacts brings the lens right against the eye, so the prescription is not as strong.

 

[Sukhoi]

Originally posted by: OverVolt
They lower your prescription a couple notches when you switch to contacts.

Just like pushing your classes closer to your eye helps you focus further away, wearing contacts brings the lens right against the eye, so the prescription is not as strong.

This is for the glasses prescription though. My contact prescription is lower (-4.25 I think), which is to be expected. What I don't understand is why according to my glasses prescription my vision is improving. Either as Aflac said somehow the contacts are squishing my eyes into shape (they are soft contacts BTW), or my eye doc is stupid.

 

[Zee]

it is theoretically possible for contacts to improve your vision but not by squishing your eyeballs or anything ridiculous like that but by providing a steady and consistent optical lens that decreases any "stress' on your eyes as compared to when your glasses can shift around on your face.

 

[Thorny]

I was given hard contacts in middle school to slow down the changing of my vision. It worked, my prescription hasn't changed much since. It did not get any better by wearing contacts, but it seemed to stop them from getting much worse. It had to be hard contacts though, they said soft wouldn't help.

Edit: My contacts are -7/-7.25, glasses are in the -10 range I believe

 

[ScottMac]

"Contacts this year" ... that is (probably) the explanation.

Some / many of the lenses (like AccuVue versus Night & Day, versus "hard contacts") can shape the cornea after a period of extended use. It can take a day or two after you stop wearing them for the cornea to return to it's natural shape.

There was (and may still be) "orthopedic" lenses that you wear at night while you sleep that are made to shape your cornea, then you take them out for the day, and you can still see well.

Before your next eye appointment, go back to glasses the week before and see if your vision reverts.

 

[cjmtfd102401]

Is you 2008 RX for contacts only? Your glasses RX and c/l RX are not always the same.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: ScottMac
"Contacts this year" ... that is (probably) the explanation.

Some / many of the lenses (like AccuVue versus Night & Day, versus "hard contacts") can shape the cornea after a period of extended use. It can take a day or two after you stop wearing them for the cornea to return to it's natural shape.

There was (and may still be) "orthopedic" lenses that you wear at night while you sleep that are made to shape your cornea, then you take them out for the day, and you can still see well.

Before your next eye appointment, go back to glasses the week before and see if your vision reverts.

orthokeratology i have had ortho-k lenses for over 7 years now, and my prescription has changed very little.

i wear them at night to bed, take them out in the morning, and have ~24 hrs of 20/20 vision

 

[Savij]

You realize that youre vision continues to change as you get older, right? Even if you never needed glasses and had 20/20 vision, your eye's lense becomes thicker as you age. This can sometimes lead to your perscrition becoming slightly less negative.

 

[Kaieye]

Going more plus(or less minus) is usually a sign of premature cataracts. Talk to your Optometrist to double check.

 

[ShinmenTakezo]

Actually if it was cataracts you would get generally get a myopic shift, or increase in minus power.

It's possible that the contact lenses you've been wearing have an inappropriate base curve that have reshaped the cornea to some degree. Even more unusual than the change in spherical power is the significant change in the astigmatic axis. This tends to remain the same unless there has been some change in the corneal curvature.

Has it been the same person doing the refraction each time? Depending on the skill of the person doing the refraction, there can be a tendency to over minus the patient if they are relatively younger, due to the ability of a more flexible crystalline lens to accommodate for the extra minus.

The most important thing is how well you see with the new prescription. If you can see fine and do all the things you want to do, I wouldn't worry too much about the change. If you aren't seeing as well as you were with your old prescription, I'd go back for a re-refraction.

 

[Sukhoi]

Interesting responses. I'm 24 so hopefully I don't have cataracts. I'll ask though.

2004 and 2005 were the same person, 2006 was a different person, and 2008 was yet another different person. The 2008 prescription is for glasses, I didn't bother to list the contact prescription. I actually haven't bought any glasses on the 2008 prescription, partially due to the fact I'm worried that they will be too weak.

They are soft lenses so I doubt they have reshaped my cornea but I suppose it is possible. I'll make sure to wear glasses a couple days before my next exam and see how my prescription changes.

 

[alkemyst]

Lenses have nothing to do with 'shaping your eye'.

Your eyes do change though, sometimes drastically...however this usually includes some other condition.

The whole prescription is different though, not only in power but in axis.

It could have been over correcting the astigmatism or under correcting it was affecting you.

 

[bobdole369]

Only RGB lenses acutally change your vision (the so-called "hard" lenses). And then its done on purpose - as one poster mentioned, usually before or during puberty to keep a deteriorating condition from getting much worse. It is also possible for adults to get a script that they sleep in RGB lenses and take them out during the day.

Soft lenses simply don't do this, and other than starving your cornea of oxygen and perhaps increasing the number of capillaries in the cornea - have no effect when removed.

The change mentioned isn't that wild, less than a diopter on either eye over 2 years isn't terrible. You probably wouldn't notice a difference except on an eye chart.

Your eyes change, everyones do - even after you grow up. Its a fact, they can and do get better and worse over time, like..... snowflakes.... LOL

It doesn't explain the axis though. Thats a wild change.

 

[ConstipatedVigilante]

How old are you? A good friend of mine used to wear glasses/contacts all the time when we were kids. During our early/mid teenage years his eyes somehow healed (he attributed it to his faith, to each his own) and he doesn't need them anymore.

 

[Shawn]

The eyes can change over time. When my dad was my age he was far sighted. As he got older his vision kept getting better and better until he no longer needed glasses. Now that he's 50 his eyesight is starting to get worse again. Pretty weird.

 

[Fenixgoon]

Originally posted by: alkemyst
Lenses have nothing to do with 'shaping your eye'.

Your eyes do change though, sometimes drastically...however this usually includes some other condition.

The whole prescription is different though, not only in power but in axis.

It could have been over correcting the astigmatism or under correcting it was affecting you.

read about orthokeratology and then get back to me. lenses *can* reshape the cornea if designed to do so.