Do you get a lot of headaches?  Do your glasses (contact lenses) include astigmatism correction?  Then you, kitteh, may have astigmatism headaches – and must read this post.  ;)

The endmyopia Facebook group has only two rules.

One of them, the more important one, is:  Don’t give diopter specific advice.  In other words, don’t comment “hey I think you should try a -4.50, that sounds about right”.  Why this no-diopter-advice rule?  Well, liability potential for one.  But also because in order for me to be your darling overlord eye guru, a shroud of mystery must be maintained.  Reader-kittehs must be intrigued and yet confused, never to be given straight answers.

I jest.

Understand Cylinder And Spherical Correction

Don’t just let somebody throw numbers at you (optometrist or otherwise).  You want to understand the underlying concepts, so you can make your own educated choices.

You want answers to help you find the diopter that suit you, all while realizing that the number isn’t the point at all.  You want to understand that your eyesight is like the tides of the ocean, visual acuity coming and going based on many factors, many of which are under your control.  You want to realize your eyesight isn’t static, and the numbers are just a crutch, an aide, a way to help you balance strain reduction, positive stimulus, and clear vision.

As long as newbies ask “but how many diopters?!”, you know they haven’t dug in enough yet, to understand what they should be looking for.  And you can’t shortcut that process for them, by giving them a cheat of an answer with a diopter number.

I get a lot of crap fort this.  Combine me often refusing to answer diopter questions with my generally elusive and sarcastic nature, and people should be forgiven for assuming I’m just being a jerk for no reason.

But here.  Let Dina tell you why I’m not the jerk you think I am:

You see it?

If Dina was fixated on numbers, looking for others to tell her the numbers, she wouldn’t have been empowered to look at the whole big picture.  She wouldn’t have looked at the results of her first focal plane change and had the tools to assess how and why those weren’t working for her.

(Original thread, here.)

Astigmatism Headaches: The Self Assessment Route

Dina knows what she’s doing.  She learned the basics and knew what to try next for a lens change.

And that’s how she figured out that she was getting astigmatism headaches, in retrospect, once she removed that cylinder correction from her lenses.  You don’t want to make these kinds of changes until you learn about a bit of vision biology and optics, and have enough knowledge to try this kind of change.

Usual heads up:  Don’t go monkeying with lens change.  Find a supportive optometrist.  You may suspect astigmatism headaches but don’t just go run out and change your glasses.  Also realize that most jurisdictions don’t allow for you to make changes on your own, because even if you learn everything there is to  know, you’re still not in charge of your own health.  (thanks, lens manufacturer lobby and nanny state)

So there you have it.  If at first my style may seem a bit long winded, a bit far reaching, a bit what-you-do-besides-stroking-your-beard-and-mumbling-Jake, then now you know why.

I want you to know everything relevant, so you don’t need me forever.  I want you to become your own darling kitteh eye guru.  Stroke your own beard, do your own mumbling, and make your own changes to your focal planes, figure out your own astigmatism headache (or more centrally to this resource’s topic, your myopia).  Lots more on astigmatism here as well, see the whole category of astigmatism guides.

Om shanti shanti, and whatnot.  

Cheers,

-Jake