Friday, December 28, 2007

Monovision: Eye can see my brain.

The reason I am more frequently compelled to dramatically stare off into the middle distance is that, as a sufferer of progressive physical decrepitude, my view of both the distant, blue horizon as well as the teeming microcosm just inches from my nose has become increasingly blurry over the last couple of years.

This is, of course, due to the ravages of time and that fact that we live in a fallen world ruled more by entropy than by justice. Like most manly men, I scoff at my own geezerly weaknesses, squint, set my jaw, and just lean into the wind.

All of that to say this. Yesterday my optometrist said that I am becoming increasingly presbyopic, whereupon I snorted in denial and told him that I was, in fact, a member of the Wesleyan church just north of town. Anyway, he recommended something that sounded totally whacked at first, but I decided to give it a try since he is a doctor and all. We had been discussing my desire to wear contact lenses again and the possibilities for those occularly impaired at both the near and far reaches. He suggested a solution that he called "monovision".

So I now have a contact lens in my right eye that is optimized for distance and a lens in my left eye that is designed for reading and other nearfield activities. The doctor says I'll get used to it, that my brain should be able to adapt. And I'm always up for teaching my brain new tricks.

So far it's not really too uncomfortable, just a little weird. Honestly, it's like everything I look at is both blurry and focused at the same time...which it is, I guess. Anyway, I've been reading about it online today, just to be sure it wasn't something my eye doctor made up to get me out of his chair. This funny little article is by an optometrist who recently "went mono" himself.

Has anybody else out there tried this? What do you think?

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

bifocals? you're old.

Barry Pike said...

Yeah,I know. But I've got one focal in one eye and a different one in the other...that's weird to me.

DaveG said...

Monovision was an option when I got my Lasik surgery, but fortunately the doctor was well enough versed in the ways of the FAA to know that the FAA doesn't approve of it for pilots.

Now I have Lasik, but where bifocals when working/reading. There's just no way of aging gracefully, is there?