gdebel

Hi, ophthalmologist here :-) The good news is that if there is no underlying pathology (such as keratoconus, which should be sought in case of progressing astigmatism), every ametropia can be corrected with the right glasses and allow a good working comfort.

First, check your prescription with an ophthalmologist (or optometrist, depending on your country). You may benefit from a cycloplegic refraction, to ensure that you don't have an undercorrected hyperopia.

Then, always wear your glasses when working.

Your floaters don't have a direct relationship with your astigmatism and you may need a fundus examination, which will be done at the same time as your cycloplegic refraction (pupils will be dilated using eye drops).

Reducing the screen light and using a blue filter may also help. But good prescription is key.

I had the opportunity to taste this berry where I live (French Polynesia) and indeed very surprised by its powerful sweetening effect. It looks like an under-exploited potential to me.

I'm genuinely interested in your testimony. Did you, by any chance, underwent a refraction after cycloplegia (cyclopentolate) anytime in your life? Cyclopentolate suppresses the ciliary spasm and allows to measure the real, residual myopia.

I would be very impressed if I had the opportunity to observe a myopic regression in a patient after cycloplegia (for both exams, of course).

Yes, hyperopia is a very ungrateful condition... The usual situation is patients which had a perfect vision all their life, and, around 40, lose their near vision, and their far vision a few years later. This is always a little bit depressing. My only advice for hyperopia would be (I'm sorry for that) to not wait too long to wear a correction for near vision. Sadly you won't heal hyperopia by training your eyes to look closer, but you will certainly be very tired at the end of the day if you need convex glasses and don't have them.

There is indeed much more evidence for this advice. This is my I do with my kids. Using your far vision a lot I childhood, with enough light exposure, could be a real preventive habit.

No you can't do that, because the patient must look at a target. There is an eye tracker in the laser but you have to look in the right direction. The surgery is much less impressive that you can imagine. Take an advice with a reputable, trained surgeon which will carefully look for any contraindication !

The problem is that you can't measure axial length with an autorefractometer. You need a biometer. The autoref will tell you the objective refraction of the patient (which is quite imprecise).

The eyeball gets longer with time in high (pathological) myopia. Serious surgeons will check that the myopia is stable (1-2 years) before doing a surgery. The eye doesn't, usually, gets longer in patients with moderated myopia. All the work, in refractive surgery, is in good patients selection. It is very unusual to observe a significant myopic regression in patients with a stabilized myopia after 21 years. Of course the eye is an organ, there is no absolute rule in the human body. However, patients which were correctly selected for surgery don't, usually, see their myopia coming back with time.

Well, by looking at all the answers, I obviously missed my point. Sorry for that :-) (I'm not a native english speaker as you noticed so it may also explain the misunderstanding ?)

Of course this is not how I talk to my patients... I usually explain the cataract surgery procedure as follows : "the only thing you will feel is water on the side of your face, and the only thing you will see is a very powerful light. You won't see anything scary and you won't feel any pain. We will talk during the surgery and when it will be over, you will tell me that you shouldn't have been afraid". And that's how it goes.

The eye injection procedure is even faster and painless.

Sorry for the gruesome details I gave.

Also, yes, don't look any Youtube videos, because your experience will be totally different than watching the procedure. Youtube videos are scary.

(Ophthalmologist): To any future HN reader scared by those intraocular injections: don't fear them. I'm on my way to the operating room and going to perform cataract surgery under topical (=eyedrops only) anesthesia, as I always do, and as most surgeons today do. Patients won't feel anything except water slightly flowing on the eye surface. The surgical knife is 2.2mm wide : the 25 Gauge needle is 0.260mm wide. Anesthetic eyedrop work amazingly. Patients can actually feel the eye speculum (pro tip: open wide both eyes++, it will be less disturbing) and the itchy feeling of Betadine, and the touch of the needle : that's usually all.

Don't postpone eye injections because of fear: if it is indicated, there is usually some degree of emergency.

This is infuriating. This is why I always comment when I see people talking about KC on HN (guess what? There is a lot. I won't do the research but I'm almost sure that this is the most frequent pathologie people here talk about. Lots of computers, lots of concentration, lots of eye dryness,lots of eye rubbing).

There is more and more evidence to support the fact that KC is purely induced by eye rubbing.

Don't rub your eyes !