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.
Ophthalmologist here. The myopia epidemic is real thing. The advice given in this post is not a dangerous thing to try. However, I doubt that the theory is true, and I doubt that following this method will really help myopic patients. Let's try to justify this point :
"The long-term use of over-correcting glasses induces myopia"
This is quite true. But it induces a myopia which is reversible. Overcorrection (which we try to avoid) leads to ciliary spasm. When the patient gets older, the lens gets less flexible (for everyone, this is what leads to presbyopia) and the myopia, if it was overcorrected, diminishes. It is common to reduce the correction for patients around 40.
We have a good, natural model in nature for over-corrected myopic eyes: hyperopic patients. They don't become myopic with time. Around 40-45 years, their hyperopia becomes clinically significant (they didn't need glasses before and they progressively need to have their hyperopia corrected at 45, or a little bit later if the hyperopia is slight).
"Repair is fast at first as you clear the ciliary spasm, and then slows down as you work on shortening the eyeball itself."
No. Clearing the ciliary spasm (which is not present in every myopic patient, only the overcorrected ones) will indeed reduce the amount of myopia (the eye will return to its normal state: less myopia). However, we happen to have a very precise way to mesure the axial length of the eyeball (interferometry). While we commonly observe a lengthening of the eyeball in high, pathological myopia, I've never heard of an eyeball which shortened, nor read any paper which related this phenomenon.
We don't know why the eyeball elongates in high myopia. But, as far as I know, eyeball never shorten.
"If you are considering laser eye surgery, please skim Lasik Complications."
Yes, please do. You must be informed and your surgeon must inform you. However, you could also look at the number of refractive surgeons who underwent themselves this surgery, or operated their family. It is a common thing to operate our residents at the end of their internship because they saw the outcomes and want the procedure.
Please note that any serious refractive surgeon will perform a refraction after cycloplegia, to remove any ciliary spasm and correct only the "real" myopia.
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.
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.