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  • Hello and welcome to the TranslatorsCafe.com Channel!

  • In this video I am going to explain how to determine the optical power of your new eyeglasses

  • without visiting a doctor.

  • Do you know that you can determine the optical power (diopters) of your next pair of prescription

  • bifocal or progressive eyeglasses by yourself?

  • How?

  • By using inexpensive glasses from a drugstore and several trial lenses.

  • Why do you want to do it yourself?

  • Because an ophthalmologist to whom you pay your hard-earned $100 or £100 for a visit

  • has only about 10 to 15 minutes to help you and that's simply not enough time.

  • By the way, I do it not only for yourself (I am a presbyope), but also for my wife,

  • who has myopia.

  • She's been wearing glasses for about 30 years and all this time she was could not

  • distinguish between birds.

  • Only after I tested the lenses for her and ordered her a new pair of glasses, she began

  • to recognize the birds from large distances not only by their voice, but by their appearance.

  • Before that, like many short-sighted people, she simply believed that it wasn't possible

  • to improve her vision to 20/20.

  • Now, wearing the correct pair of glasses she can see again like a ten-year-old kid and

  • during our daily 10-kilometer walks she constantly shows me all kinds of hawks, woodpeckers,

  • cardinals, blue jays, finches, and other large and small birds.

  • Interested?

  • Watch this video, and you will learn how you can help yourself to improve your vision!

  • I made this video for people like me, who are in their forties, fifties of sixties.

  • As most people after their mid-forties, I started experiencing presbyopia at about age

  • 45.

  • I had to hold books and magazines farther and farther away from my eyes to be able to

  • read them.

  • I had to move away from the computer monitor.

  • At the same time, I could see things that were far away just fine.

  • If you are younger, you can continue watching just to be prepared for the future.

  • These problems will appear anyway and you cannot avoid them, like you cannot avoid gray

  • hair or wrinkles.

  • I did not start wearing glasses until I realized that I couln't work without mistakes anymore.

  • I worked as an English-Russian translator and started wearing glasses at work only after

  • I made a scandalous mistake on the first page of my translation and the client who understood

  • English well enough noticed it and kicked up a big fuss.

  • I tried several over-the-counter glasses, found most suitable for my work and then went

  • to the ophthalmologist to get a better pair of glasses.

  • I remember how hard it was for me to persuade her to prescribe me glasses that I needed.

  • I needed +2 to view at the monitor and paper original simultaneously and she wanted to

  • prescribe me +1, which I knew and checked was not suitable for my daily work in front

  • of the monitor.

  • Now I know for sure that if you are well prepared, if you did your homework, then most probably

  • you will know about your problem more than your doctor does.

  • I am not talking about prescription or give medical advice here — I am not a doctor.

  • In this video I will talk only about eyeglasses with spherical lenses.

  • We will not discuss astigmatism here simply because I don't have it and don't have

  • experience correcting it.

  • Remember that if you are past sixty, regular eye exams are the only way to catch diseases

  • like glaucoma that develops slowly over time without any pain.

  • Though the name presbyopia looks like a disease and it is even called a disorder in various

  • classifications, it is not a disease.

  • It is a natural part of ageing.

  • Presbyopia is the gradual decline of eyes' ability to focus on close objects causing

  • those objects to appear out of focus due to hardening of the crystalline lens of the eye

  • because of its aging.

  • The ability to focus on nearby objects declines throughout person's life.

  • Small children can accommodate to 20 or even more diopters (that is from +20 to 0 diopters

  • or from 5 cm to infinity).

  • A young adult can have the amplitude of accommodation of only 10 diopters (from +10 to 0 or from

  • 10 cm to infinity).

  • Senior persons at age 60 and over have the ability to view clearly only from one or two

  • meters to infinity or only 1 or even 0.5 diopter.

  • If you are past age 60 and you want to feel that your vision is still like that of a 10-year

  • old kid, you will need different pairs of eyeglasses depending on whether you are sitting

  • in front of a computer monitor, driving down a highway, replacing a battery in your watch

  • or reading a book on a tablet, or do all the above in different lighting conditions.

  • It is impossible to use a single pair of eyeglasses for every activity.

  • Example of activities at your home or workplace.

  • Working in front of the computer monitor and paper document reading.

  • When you are working in front of a monitor, you have to remain focused on the screen and

  • often change focus to look at your keyboard, you smartphone or paper documents printed

  • in small type.

  • And in the window to reduce eye strain.

  • Properly selected computer glasses should provide the best possible focus of the image

  • on the screen, which is usually positioned 50 to 64 cm (20 to 26 inches) from user's

  • eyes as well as of other things surrounding the user (books, documents, your keyboard

  • or smartphone), on which the user usually look at much less distances (usually 25 cm

  • or 10 inches).

  • For persons past age 45 the best choice is either bifocals (less expensive) or progressive

  • (more expensive) with diopter values selected for distances stated above.

  • I will later explain how you can select yourself the best possible optical power of your new

  • glasses.

  • If only close objects are blurry and far objects appear normal, then you need simple reading

  • glasses for this kind of activity.

  • If, however, far objects are also blurry, then for this kind of activity you will need

  • bifocals or progressives to view very distant objects (at infinity) as well as your smartphone

  • or other objects at about 20 cm (8 inches) from your eyes.

  • Polarized magnetic clip-on filters are preferred for glasses used for this kind of activity

  • it is more convenient and much less expensive than photochromic lenses, which are optical

  • lenses that very slowly darken when exposed to UV radiation.

  • Good vision acuity and wide visual field are crucial for safe driving, therefore don't

  • rely on someone elsecheck your vision yourself and order appropriate glasses.

  • Remember that photochromic (transition) lenses will not work in your car because they are

  • activated by UV exposure and your windshield and closed side windows actually block almost

  • 100% UV rays.

  • Progressive lenses have reduced visual field and therefore bifocals are much

  • better for safe driving.

  • Progressives are unsafe for driving because of reduced clear vision field.

  • For driving, especially for night driving, you need anti-reflective coating on your eyeglasses.

  • What kind of frames do you need for driving eyeglasses?

  • When choosing the frame style for driving, select a frame with thin rims (eye wires)

  • and thin temples that will not block your peripheral vision.

  • That's all.

  • You can select big name frames for several hundred or even thousand dollars if you like

  • paying for pure air (which, as everyone knows, is free) or no-name frames for one dollar

  • it simply does not matter.

  • All of them are equally good.

  • What matters is only the thickness of their rims and temples.

  • You will need bifocals with upper lenses for infinity and lower lenses for viewing your

  • GPS receiver and dashboard instruments.

  • Polarized magnetic clip filters are not suitable for using conventional GPS receivers because

  • any navigation device contains its own polarizer and if two polarizing filters are combined,

  • the visibility can be reduced to zero.

  • What you will need for checking; I will remind one more time that here we are talking only

  • about glasses with spherical lenses.

  • Your old eyeglasses with known optical power of both lenses or if this is your first pair

  • of eyeglasses, you will need a cheap pair or two pairs from a drugstore or dollar store.

  • Measuring tape.

  • Several trial lenses: Because your vision is changing, you will

  • need these trial lenses for a long period to be able to check your vision and order

  • your new eyeglasses.

  • You can buy trial lenses on eBaythey sell spare trial lenses for opticians' test

  • kits at approximately 6 dollars per piece.

  • Another, cheaper option, is buying two pairs of one-dollar reading glasses +0.5 and +1.0

  • and only two negative trial lenses on eBay.

  • You can also order simple prescription glasses with one lens –1 and another –0.5 in an

  • online optical store.

  • Determine the type of activity for which you want to order your new glasses.

  • For exampleglasses for driving with a GPS receiverorcomputer glasses”.

  • Using a measuring tape, measure the distance from the bridge of your nose (or your eyes)

  • to the objects you work with.

  • For a driving glasses example, the first distance will be infinity; to determine the second

  • distance, while sitting behind the wheel, measure the distance between the bridge of

  • your nose and the GPS receiver screen.

  • For computer glasses, sit comfortably in front of your monitor and measure the distance between

  • the bridge of your nose and the screen.

  • Then measure the distance between the bridge of your nose and a document you want to read

  • while working on a computer.

  • Now you have the two necessary measurements.

  • One for the upper lens (distant viewing) and another for the lower lens (near field).

  • If this is the first time you are going to order your glasses, it would be better to

  • visit an ophthalmologist who may determine that you have astigmatism.

  • However, don't trust his or her prescription.

  • Most probably it is incorrect: your doctor has spent only 15 minutes on you!

  • Don't order your glasses at this time!

  • Go to the drugstore/dollar store instead and purchase one or two pairs of cheap eyeglasses

  • depending on the type of eyeglasses in your prescription.

  • Check if you can view objects at the working distance.

  • For example, if this pair of glasses is for driving, check if distant objects are in focus

  • while wearing the glasses for distance and if the smartphone screen at the same distance

  • as in the car is sharp while wearing glasses for near field.

  • If not, use correction lenses and correct the doctor's prescription as described below.

  • Test your distant viewing first.

  • For driving eyeglasses, it is better to test in the evening looking at distant signs.

  • For example, I test my vision from the balcony while viewing the names of stores across the

  • plaza.

  • If you found the optical power under poor lighting conditions, the glasses will definitely

  • work when the sun is shining because your pupil, which works like a camera aperture,

  • is contracted in good lighting and hence the sharp focus of the image in the retina can

  • be obtained from various distances.

  • When the pupil in your eye is dilated, a sharp focus can be achieved only for light rays

  • coming from a certain distance.

  • Exactly like in a photo camera.

  • Now test the sharpness of the documents (near vision).

  • Place trial lenses (–1.0, –0.5, +0.5, +1.0) near eyeglasses lenses and determine

  • if you can view sharper with one of the trial lens on the required distance.

  • Do this check for both eyes.

  • Write down the results.

  • Note that if relatively thin lenses are placed together, their powers approximately add.

  • For example, if you determined that with your reading eyeglasses +2 you need an additional

  • +0.5 lens, that means you need a +2.5 lens.

  • Now you have two or maybe four measurements if you eyes are different and you are ready

  • to order your new eyeglasses.

  • Of course, don't forget to measure your pupillary distanceyou can do it yourself!

  • Where to buy eyeglasses.

  • Even two different pair of glasses, let alone three or four, can be very expensive at a

  • brick-and-mortar optical store.

  • To save a lot, you can purchase inexpensive pair of prescription glasses online.

  • Examples of good online stores are zenni.com or goggles4u.com.

  • A pair of bifocals will cost about $40 to 60 there.

  • Don't forget about all possible coatingsyou will need them all: anti-scratching,

  • anti-glare, and oleophobic.

  • In conclusion, I would like to tell you that my experience shows that if you used to do

  • everything yourself, you can do anything you want and often better than the professionals

  • do.

  • Of course, you will have to spend your time to study theory and to prepare everything.

  • However, if everything described above seems too complicated, then you will not be able

  • to help yourself and you will have to rely on prescriptions given to you by ophthalmologists,

  • which will most probably beincorrect.

  • If you think I am wrong, please share your experience in your comments.

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