As one meta-analysis put it:

It’s estimated that an increase of one hour per day of outdoor time could reduce the occurrence of myopia in children by 45%.

Make sure your kids spend time outside, folks!

  • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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    11 hours ago

    My eyes have been terrible since 1st grade. My prescription got as high as 9s.

    Then I got cataract surgery on one eye, and I can see nearly perfectly without glasses for the first time in my life. This summer, I’m getting the other one done, and I won’t have to wear glasses anymore, for the first time in my life.

    Anyway, the point is: As I was talking to the eye surgeon, and mentioned my bad eyesight, he told me why: I have the eyeballs of a man who is 7’2" tall, jammed into my 5’11" skull. Apparently, I have enormous eyes, which nobody has ever mentioned to me, other than one brief girlfriend who used to comment on my gigantic green eyes.

    If I had to get something big from a 7’2" inch man, why did it have to be eyeballs?

    • RebekahWSD@lemmy.world
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      10 hours ago

      If we take your eyeballs and take my teeth (“You have the roots of a 6’5” man" inside my 5’4" female body) we have the start of a good build!

      Which of us is Doctor Frankenstein though?

    • a_gee_dizzle@lemmy.caOP
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      10 hours ago

      Wow I didn’t realize that cataract surgery can improve your vision that dramatically. I thought cataracts surgery was something typically reserved for seniors to prevent foggy vision

      • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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        7 hours ago

        Well, yeah, I’m old, and there were cataracts in both eyes, but one went bad real fast, over the course of a few months. The doc told me that it’s kinda rare, but it happens. What was weird is that it only happened in one eye, so at least I could see with my one good eye, but if it happened to that eye too, before I could get the surgery, I’d be screwed. I literally wouldn’t be able to see well enough to drive, read, anything.

        So the new lens corrected for any bad eyesight, more or less. I haven’t had it tested now that it’s fully healed, but it probably isn’t perfect 20/20, but it’s close. I have a contact in my other eye, which is still at a 9, so very bad. It also has a light cataract.

        Now I can see the difference between the two eyes. In my new eye, colors are brighter and sharper. In my other, cataract eye, colors are slightly, but noticeably muted. I probably wouldn’t even have noticed it, if I didn’t have the new eye for comparison.

        I’ve also noticed that late at night, when I’m tired but still watching TV, I get double vision. I have to consciously focus. The doc warned me that having a good eye, and a contact lens eye would mess with my vision, and I think this is what he was talking about.

        The doc said that now that I’ve had one done, the insurance will probably spring for the second one, even if it isn’t necessary yet. That means I’ll have nearly perfect vision, and maybe need reading glasses. I use reading glasses with my new eye, but if I don’t have them, it isn’t a big deal, I see well enough for most stuff.

        Sorry to yak so much about it, but It’s kind of exciting, being able to see so well for the first time, as an old person, and I don’t really have anyone else to tell it to that would care.

        • a_gee_dizzle@lemmy.caOP
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          1 hour ago

          That’s fascinating. Is it typical for cataract surgery to cause near 20-20 vision or is this something that just happened to you because you have a unique eye shape?

          • BarneyPiccolo@lemmy.today
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            46 minutes ago

            No, the doc said this would get pretty close. I don’t think they can ever predict exactly where your vision is going to land, but he knew it would be close enough for reading glasses, which I never go anywhere without anyway, even with contacts. They are replacing your lens, so why replace with just a clear lens that is the same as your poor vision, that has to be corrected with supplemental lenses, when you can just replace the lens with a correct one, and fix the entire problem at once.

            Of course, an immoral eye doctor might want to fix the blurry cataract, but keep your eyesight poor so they can continue to sell you glasses and contacts.

            So I was expecting an improvement, and it certainly got darn close. Closer than I’ve experienced for most of my life.

            BTW, it also wasn’t really painful at all. It was uncomfortable the first day, but not itchy or painful, much less so the next day, and was pretty normal in 48 hours. I took a Tylenol/Advil combo, and drops they gave me.