(no subject)

[oakenguy]

I think it's time to get my eyes checked, and probably get glasses or contacts.

Boston-folk, can you recommend a good place?

Everyone, what do you think: glasses or contacts? And, if glasses, round lenses? Those little rectangles?


Gah. One of the reasons I've put this off for so long is how much I hate making decisions like this.

Comments

[xcentrikka.livejournal.com]

Contacts make life soooo much easier. You don't have to worry about any parts falling off of them (in grade school, I was always loosing the arms of my glasses and it was SO annoying) and you get peripheral vision which is always fun. Of course, it's good to have glasses as a back up.

[enidenvy.livejournal.com]

i need new glasses too *squint*

glasses are hot. you should get glasses =) teehee

[daemionfox.livejournal.com]

Glasses, definitely. The rectangles more than the rounds, definitely rectangles for sunglasses if any. The round ones always reminded me of befuddled english professors in tweed jackets and bow ties.

[malterre.livejournal.com]

For roundy-faced folks like us rectangles. And if you don't have to wear them all the time,(read: physical activity) rimless is stylin'

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

If you have AAA, you get, like, a 30% discount or something equally wondrous at Lenscrafters, IIRC. You can check on that. I got my glasses via said discount there and am relatively happy with them -- they did them within an hour (important: my last pair broke badly) and the frames have held together (the enameling came off my last pair) although I note that the UV film is starting to come off one of my lenses. That may just be my body chemistry, however.

Pearl Vision was my favorite back in Delaware, but the only Pearl I could find up here was over in a scary shopping center not nearly close enough to the Cambridgeside Galleria.

Having had contacts for many years in college and grad school, I find that I now prefer glasses. One big reason: low maintenance. Also, if you have an astigmatism, you may find that you prefer glasses too; the astigmatism can cause your contacts to not adhere as nicely to your eyeball as you'd like, making them easy to pop off or fold in your eye if you blink wrong or don't blink enough. If your eyes are dry, you may want to avoid contacts. I had to learn a whole new blinking frequency to keep them wet when I got mine because I was working on a computer all day long (which was mighty unusual and hard to explain to my ophthamologist back in 1986, lemme tellya) or doing microscopy, which was nearly as bad. (Although I lurved the contacts for microscopy purposes.)

If you get contacts, get yourself an inexpensive pair of glasses that you don't hate as backup for when (note that I say "when") you damage/lose/run out of contacts.

Also, er, you're approaching your mid-30s. Given a choice, I go to an actual ophthamologist (MD) rather than an optician (not MD) because I'm now in the age bracket for risks from glaucoma and diabetes and Other Stuff, and I'd rather have an MD looking at my eyeballs for signs of Bad Things, and who can, if there's something weird, just order up the appropriate tests rather than getting me all alarmed and having to wait for an ophthamologist to have a chance to look at me, blah blah blah.

For me, in the end, the only big advantages on the contacts side of things are: 1) able to see the clock in the middle of the night, 2) less in the way of dark circles under my eyes. But I'm blind as a bat without corrective lenses. You, however, have your theatrical pursuits, which may make contacts a must. (Although, hum, hrm, fire-eating in contacts? Fire-eating in glasses? Hrm. Me, I'd rather have the safety glass between me and the fire.)

See? I'm all opinionated and stuff about eye correction. Comes from wearing glasses for the past... er... 28 years or so.

[empheliath.livejournal.com]

The only place I've been to around here is For Eyes, in Harvard Square. I was pretty happy with them.

As for the glasses vs. contacts debate...it's so personal. I used to wear glasses, not because I preferred them, but because I was too lazy to take care of my contacts properly. Back then there was all the solution, rinse, repeat, once a week do an intensive cleaning thing...Now, however, I use the rub-free saline and it's a piece of cake.
For myself, I much prefer contacts. I find them more comfortable, less intrusive, and I have peripheral vision. And I don't have to decide between doing a faire in glasses or doing it half-blind.

[chickenfeet2003.livejournal.com]

Definitely contacts (preferably continuous wear disposables) but you will need glasses as a back up anyway. Investigate radial kereotomy. lemur_catta had it done and I wish I could too but I'm not a good candidate. FWIW I've been wearing glasses since 1962 and contacts since 1974.

Re:

[heavenscalyx.livejournal.com]

Oog. I've heard so many horror stories about the surgery option that I cringe whenever anyone mentions it. I'm glad that there are some successes too!

Re:

[lemur-catta.livejournal.com]

I dont think what I had was radial kereotomy. I think that was an old-fashioned early version of a similar operation. What I had was entirely done by a laser that could track the slightest movement of my head or eye and stop without screwing up. It involved no cutting and lifting a small layer of the cornea (an old technique that may still be practiced). There was essentially only one day of healing time and my vision , formerly in can't tell the eyechart from the wall territory plus astigmatism, is now better than 20/20 in both eyes three years later. Best money I ever spent. My brother had the same operation before me with equally excellent results. Just be sure you get the state of the art procedure from a clinic that specialises in it and has done tens of thousands of operations.

[snowwand.livejournal.com]

I personally can't stand touching my eyes, so I go with glasses, but if you don't have that problem and can remember all the care and stuff that goes with them, maybe contacts!

If you want to have some fun, check out this site: http://www.eyeglasses.com/information/using/index.page

you can upload a picture of yourself and then try on various shapes and makes of glasses.

BTW, thanks for writing this cause you reminded me to set up my next appointment with my doc :) Maybe i'll go back to purple glasses this time. Hmm...

[aquagirl.livejournal.com]

For Eyes, near South Station/Downtown Crossing, Federal street, etc...

Contacts. You'll wonder why you didn't get them sooner.

[flynngrrl.livejournal.com]

I got my eyes done at the eye place in the CambridgeSide galleria. The girl who saw me was great.

[bootsvalentine.livejournal.com]

If you get contacts, you need glasses too. There are just some times that you can't put those suckers in. I went for almost two years barely wearing my contacts, but then I lost my glasses for two months (they were under the dresser) and had to start again.
Anyway, yeah, both. :)

[kittybrat.livejournal.com]

it all depends on your face shape. i can't suggest anything without knowing what your face looks like.

[malinaldarose.livejournal.com]

Contacts are a wonderful thing. I have worn contacts since 1985 and recently went through a couple weeks of wearing my glasses again -- I hated every minute of it. Glasses can pinch, they slide and mine are getting to the point where they're so thick that there is a definite distortion unless I look directly through the center of them. And there's no peripheral vision with glasses, which is an absolute pain in the tuckus.

That said, you will need to have glasses as a backup to contact lenses, especially if you don't get constant-wear disposables, which is what I have. They're supposed to be worn a week, even during sleeping, taken out once to be cleaned and then worn another week. And then, thrown away. Mind you, I'm cheap, and I'll wear them for a couple of months before I throw them away -- as long as I'm careful to keep the cleaning schedule, they're fine.

[mr-teem.livejournal.com]

Glasses. Contacts are high maintenance and, for me anyway, squicky. Just can't deal with them. Definitely look into a second pair of glasses when/if you can afford it for backup. I've sat on mine far too many times. :-(

[eroika.livejournal.com]

Both! I don't know what I'd do without both. Taking care of contacts is no more or less difficult than taking care of glasses (especially if you go for the disposables, which I recommend). As far as style of glasses, that would depend entirely on your face...in other words take someone you trust with you and try on different styles in order to get their opinion. I personally prefer ovalish shaped glasses. My eye place is still on the Cape but they may have places off Cape and offer discounts based on what insurance you may have...it's called Cambridge Eye. Good luck!

[lilacsinmarch.livejournal.com]

Contacts are much more convenient than glasses but glasses can become a fashion declaration,I wear contacts because my glasses makes me look like a school teacher and I can't stand it when the rains stains the glass.

[silveroak.livejournal.com]

think outside the box, get a monacle! ;) seriously though, I think you are more of an oval frame favce.