If you’ve known me and my eyeball musings for a while, you probably already know that you can live in rural Russia and get solid myopia prevention advice from Russian opticians (though maybe that doesn’t necessarily mean you should move there immediately).
Likewise in various other countries, especially ones not dominated by Essilor and their cohorts lens rep locusts. Locusts, those company reps. Basically wherever there isn’t a strong financial motive to sell lenses, or a general lack of lens availability, or little presence of lens company representatives, miraculously, you can get decent myopia prevention advice.
Go on and figure this riddle out, darling kittehs.
What I didn’t know, was that Italy might be on that list, for ‘eye safe’ countries. Check out this Youtube comment on the esteemed and influential @endmyopia channel:
There we have it.
And as we all know, Youtube comments is something you can take to the bank. Wikipedia or better, Youtube comments. Or maybe not, but anecdotal is where you have to start out, when little else is available. It does go with my own experience that myopia advice tends to vary greatly by country, as well as specialization. Until Google decides to make @endmyopia the only and de facto resource for myopia, this is what you’ll get – region specifically variable quality of myopia advice.
While I personally may feel a little hesitant about rural Russia (except the girls, some wow-ness happening in some places), Italy sounds great. Food and Vespas and good opticians.
Should we move? Make Youtube videos featuring Italian opticians, gesturing with their arms, in their Italian optics shops, with their Italian accents? “Ohhhah, stupido! Qual cosa! Of cours-eh, you don’t-ah need-ah de glasses-ah!”
Wine bottles lounging about, Vespa rides into the cobble stone square, talk about myopia by the old fountain next to the Catholic church.
How about it, gattinos?
On the flip side, if we can be serious for a moment, take a look at this e-mail:
Yikes.
While he’s clearly smarter than the average bear for 17, Colin is still in a world of potential shiz. Nevermind becoming a Navy Seal or playing sports, worry about having any eyesight at all, kid. There’s something afoot there that you don’t want to take lightly.
Unusual that, on various fronts. Where’s he going to get good advice though, your darling honors? I don’t like these kind of situations, I’m clearly not the guy to ask, this is the Internet, kiddo needs a serious ophthalmologist to dig in and figure out what in the world is going on there. Yea sure, axial elongation and myopia reversal, but you want to monitor everything in a proper office, with proper gear, stay seriously on top of that fairly uncool situation. That’s not a scenario where you solely rely on some dude who calls himself eyeguru, on the friggin’ Internet.
Honestly though, which ophthalmologist can I call up and say, hey help this kid out. Because who is going to agree with me on the axial change bit, that it is reversible and must be addressed, along with everything else?
That’s the fu##’d part in today’s world, the disconnect between @endmyopia and Jake and natural myopia control, and the mainstream. If that was my kid I really would be hoping for some dialog, have the sides come together, propose solutions that are both scientifically sound, and also relying on some very worthwhile ophthalmology practices.
We’re nowhere near there, yet. But hey, Italy, though?
Cheers,
-Jake
