Vision Questions Megathread, Categories, Problems etc.

[medicineman]

You're a V1.

V3 or better for combat arms, V4 for most support trades.  V5 is outside common enrollment standard and below all trade specs - if you were trying to get in as a V5, you'd be the proverbial ice cube in Hell.

Mods - locker up.

MM

 

[ComplexR3TRO]

Thank you everyone! 

 

[joseph63000]

Hello everyone!
Right now I'm seventeen years old, and in school hoping to become a Construction Engineer Officer in the Canadian Forces after University. I'm fit, I have perfect health, except one thing, my eyes. I have been wearing glasses since 2006, and as of now I'm wearing -3.25 glasses, but my prescription is -3.5, -3.75. As I discovered this thread 3-4 months ago, I've been trying hard to use preventative measures to try and prevent, or even decrease myopia progression, and it seems to be working as my vision has been stable for this quarter.
My worry is, will I be able to join the trade I would like to join with my vision? I'm almost positive it won't go below -7, since I started at -2.5, so in 5 years I had -1 jump, in another five years (when finished university) I may have reached -4.5 if I did not find good ways to prevent or decrease myopic progression. So will that be enough to join my trade? It seems like I qualify for V4, but I don't know. If I don't qualify with vision can anything else make up for it? I'm an excellent student, if I show the CF my achievements will they let me in in my trade? Like, who wouldn't expect the CF to reject a Doctor of Engineering with like -6.5 vision but needs V2 (let's say), but he's the best engineer in the country? lol, I'm not that guy. I'll just be an engineer. What does everyone think? This is worrying me, because I'm good in everything else, It would really suck.
Thank you

 

[aesop081]

. If I don't qualify with vision can anything else make up for it?

No.

 

[medicineman]

If your vision really sucks, you can enter the CF after havng undergone LASIK or PRK.  We don't make exceptions to the Commmon Enrollmnent Medical Standard.

Read the thread now that you have found it - it'll tell you how to figure out your vision category (ie - figure out your visual acuity first  ).

MM

 

[joseph63000]

Thank you all, I will see what happens when I actually join because I'm 20/100 vision according to my personal assessment. In the regular Snellen test, from 20 feet away I can see the first 2 or three rows of letters. But my prescription is so strong. We'll see when I join. Thank you all for your words and the answers to my questions.

 

[aesop081]

We'll see when I join.

You will see when you apply.

 

[joseph63000]

You will see when you apply.

Yes of course, Excuse me. Anyhow, I will look for a V4 Alternative if i turn out to be V4 and I need better. Hopefully the career I want works with V4 but we'll see then.

 

[reboog]

I just wanted to mention that my eyeglass prescription is -4 on my left and -3.5 on my right. I applied for Engineer Officer without really knowing the vision requirements and was told that you need to be at least V3 for any combat arms trade.  I thought I was V4 for sure and was considering dropping my application once I learned this but in the end I stuck with it. Last month I was merit-listed for the job.

So your prescription does not directly correlate to your vision category and you never know what might happen. Never give up.

 

[SoldierInAYear]

That is good news, my eyes are crap. Thanks for posting this.

 

[joseph63000]

Just want to mention in this thread that I did LASIK last year. My eyes were -4.25. I have had no problems while swimming, getting shampoo in my eyes, or with hurting my eye. I'm glad I did it, everything looks HD vision to me, night vision is great (no halos), and best part is my eyes were corrected to 20/15.

I would definitely do it, and they have a good financing plan. One of my best investments in life so far.

LASIK is risky after completed for the following reason:

LASIK does not shape the eye to the correct shape. LASIK eye surgery is a procedure where eye doctors slice off the top layer of the cornea and then use a powerful laser to reshape (disintegrate tissue) of the cornea to form sort of a lens type shape looking like a concave lens. Then they put back on the cornea layer and it heals. It's like having glasses built into your eyes. Now it may seem good, but what is risky is not the procedure or the initial prospects, but the further progression of your myopia. Remember your eye itself is still long, and if strain and the strengthening of the longitudinal muscles of the eye continues from accommodation (focusing too much), the eye may get more myopic and even longer. To you it may seem like your vision is slightly worse, and you may even get back to glasses (low powered) or have another operation. The more myopic you are the more risk you have of having retinal tears which could cause total blindness in the select eye.

Obviously the eye will stay stable at your LASIK corrected setting if you take care of them and don't focus too much and too long on near objects without rest.
Don't think your problem is over yet, now you have 20/15 vision without glasses, keep it that way and protect your vision. Try not to induce any more myopia and you'll be fine, that proves that it was a great investment in your life, but remember, you wouldn't of had to make that investment if you weren't myopic. Eye doctors are taught that there are no cures (without surgery) or preventative measures for myopia. Personally, I have stabilized my vision using some of my methods, which work. Unfortunately though I learned them too late and my vision is already bad enough (-3.25), but my career path aims toward being Construction Engineer Officer in the Canadian Forces, so vision matters, as it does for almost all the users here on Army.ca forums.

Thank you

 

[PanaEng]

Remember your eye itself is still long, and if strain and the strengthening of the longitudinal muscles of the eye continues from accommodation (focusing too much), the eye may get more myopic and even longer. To you it may seem like your vision is slightly worse, and you may even get back to glasses (low powered) or have another operation. The more myopic you are the more risk you have of having retinal tears which could cause total blindness in the select eye.

Hi Joseph, do you have any reference material on that statement? and the one on "preventing" the progression of myopia?
Nothing personal, I'm just naturally sceptic.. 

cheers,
Frank

 

[joseph63000]

Hi Joseph, do you have any reference material on that statement? and the one on "preventing" the progression of myopia?
Nothing personal, I'm just naturally sceptic.. 

cheers,
Frank

Well, I found some rather hidden articles on the internet and decided to try them out and they seem to be working. My vision was -3.5 my last eye exam, it is still -3.5. (I wear -3.25)

http://www.chinamyopia.org/stopmyopiaenglish.htm

That's about stopping the progression of myopia using + lenses.
Just Google Myopia and accommodation and you'll get results, I'm busy with my essay right now so have a nice day. But bio guys should know that muscles control the shape of the eye and if you strain to much the muscles will become imbalanced.

 

[ModlrMike]

But bio guys should know that muscles control the shape of the eye and if you strain to much the muscles will become imbalanced.

No they do not, nor will they become "imbalanced". Eyestrain gives you headaches, it does not change your vision.

Your eye basically contains three sets of muscles: one to change the shape of your lens, one to control the amount of light entering the eye, and one to control movement of the eye. It would be the lens muscles that need working out to change your vision, and I'm at a loss to determine how one does that. As we age, our lens gets more stiff, and our vision stabilizes while our ability to accommodate is reduced. It may be possible to help correct myopia in very young children with aggressive changes in prescriptions, but the evidence is not clear that this works. Children have a great deal of accommodative power. With respect to teens and adults, this would be nearly impossible. The lens is too stiff to accomplish what you propose.

 

[medicineman]

Well, I found some rather hidden articles on the internet and decided to try them out and they seem to be working. My vision was -3.5 my last eye exam, it is still -3.5. (I wear -3.25)

http://www.chinamyopia.org/stopmyopiaenglish.htm

That's about stopping the progression of myopia using + lenses.
Just Google Myopia and accommodation and you'll get results, I'm busy with my essay right now so have a nice day. But bio guys should know that muscles control the shape of the eye and if you strain to much the muscles will become imbalanced.

Strangely enough, alot of myopia stablizes as you age - I've had only minor tweeks over the years...come back when you're myopia is reversing and maybe we'll be less skeptical.

MM

MM

 

[joseph63000]

Strangely enough, alot of myopia stablizes as you age - I've had only minor tweeks over the years...come back when you're myopia is reversing and maybe we'll be less skeptical.

MM

MM

I didn't say reverse completely, I said stop the progress.
@ ModIRMike - Are you sure it's the lens that causes myopia? Last time I researched It was the shape of the eye.

 

[ModlrMike]

Not the shape so much as the length. Myopia has two basic variations:

Axial myopia occurs when the physical length of the eye is greater than the optical length;
Refractive myopia is when the light is collimated by the lens too far in front of the retina.

As children, we can usually compensate for small differences. As we age, the lens gets too stiff to overcome the defect. We are usually born with a small amount of hyperopia, which as the eye grows, changes to normal or myopic vision somewhere about 8 to10 years of age. It is this delayed onset that has caused some to think that myopia is acquired. Myopia has a genetic component. In families where one parent is myopic, there is a 20-30% chance the child will be as well. Where both parents are myopic the rate rises to 60%.

The muscle theory proposed by the link you posted is pure hogwash.

 

[joseph63000]

Not the shape so much as the length. Myopia has two basic variations:

Axial myopia occurs when the physical length of the eye is greater than the optical length;
Refractive myopia is when the light is collimated by the lens too far in front of the retina.

As children, we can usually compensate for small differences. As we age, the lens gets too stiff to overcome the defect. We are usually born with a small amount of hyperopia, which as the eye grows, changes to normal or myopic vision somewhere about 8 to10 years of age. It is this delayed onset that has caused some to think that myopia is acquired. Myopia has a genetic component. In families where one parent is myopic, there is a 20-30% chance the child will be as well. Where both parents are myopic the rate rises to 60%.

The muscle theory proposed by the link you posted is pure hogwash.

I'm the only myopic guy in my entire family, the entire family tree on my side is either normal or hyperbolic vision. I completely disagree with the genetic component. It is acquired here is why I believe so: The first glasses I got was -2.5 at around 12 years of age. I became very eye concerned and did many things like improve  my diet, amount of computer use and better overall lifestyle and to my surprise my vision stayed stable until 16. At 16, after my trip to Australia and using an LCD monitor for the first time, my vision deteriorated to -3.25, it was stable at that until now, where it has slightly chaged as I got an LCD monitor. Now it's -3.5. I will switch back to my CRT because from experience my vision gets worse my LCD use. Still, I was surprised to have been stable for around 5 years at -2.5. It has to be environmental factors.

 

[medicineman]

Weird, your eyes were stable until 16...let me guess, you had a growth spurt?  Your eyes won't stay the same size - as you grow, your eyes change size and shape.  Oddly enough, I've worn glasses since age 9, and my biggest change in Rx was in my teens and early 20's when I was growing the most.  In my 40's, the distance vision only gets tweeked, but I'm expecting bifocals soon, as I'm noticing my near vision is starting to get affected, as is NORMAL as the lense stiffens with age.

Orthoptics have a place for treating eye issues - exercises to improve vision - but they're most effective with issues like strabismus.  If these exercises are so effective and you feel you can reverse your myopia, why don't you open your own optical chiropractic clinic and sell this stuff?  You'd probably make a killing, at least for the first little while.

:2c:

MM

 

[joseph63000]

Weird, your eyes were stable until 16...let me guess, you had a growth spurt?  Your eyes won't stay the same size - as you grow, your eyes change size and shape.  Oddly enough, I've worn glasses since age 9, and my biggest change in Rx was in my teens and early 20's when I was growing the most.  In my 40's, the distance vision only gets tweeked, but I'm expecting bifocals soon, as I'm noticing my near vision is starting to get affected, as is NORMAL as the lense stiffens with age.

Orthoptics have a place for treating eye issues - exercises to improve vision - but they're most effective with issues like strabismus.  If these exercises are so effective and you feel you can reverse your myopia, why don't you open your own optical chiropractic clinic and sell this stuff?  You'd probably make a killing, at least for the first little while.

:2c:

MM

And my eyes are stable at -3.5 for the past 4 months. My 'excercises' (wearing + lenses, taking glasses off often, focusing and straining on extreme distances), only reverse myopia at like -2 power or under (proof, my brother, he's 20/20 but was 20/70, got -1.25 glasses, now he can't use them they don't work and his vision is perfect, I use his glasses for reading, so to not overkill on short sight seeing, or I take off my own glasses in all). At over -3 vision, I don't think you can reverse myopia but you can pause it's progress. And I won't sell it, I'm not the business type.