I hadn't been for yonks although my eyesight is fairly decent - for my age. I am a little short-sighted but always wear my glasses for driving, and I can still read menus without having to ask the waiter to hold it two feet from the table. (Younger readers - many people start complaining that "the print's too small" when they reach their mid-40's.)
It was when I barely scraped through the vision portion of my driving licence/license renewal in September that I thought "Uh oh, better get them checked." So I popped in there yesterday.The nice lady eye doc complimented me, saying that my close-up vision (or whatever it's called) is very good - for my age. "That's nice", I thought, "Although it's not really a compliment seeing as how it's not really anything to do with me."
And that was my first error. It's all within our control. Taking care of your eyes, and wearing the correct correction (be that glasses or lenses) plays a huge part in keeping those muscles and nerves healthy.
She then asked me if I'd ever bought those over-the-counter reading glasses, and I had to admit that I have a pair. Not wanting to give my kids lethal doses of anti-histamine or expectorant, I have a pair to hand to read those pesky dosage instructions that, by rights, should be on the back of a stamp.
"OK", she said, "But never wear more than a 0.75 prescription".
Gulp.
"Er, why's that then?"
"Because it will negatively affect your distance vision. More so at your age." (Those bloody words again.)
So there you go. If you're wearing those fab over-the-counter specs, you may be able to read menus and pill bottle, but be careful that they're not too strong or you could find yourself getting hit by the bus you didn't see.
