Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

Speedy said:

Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

Scratched or dirty lenses?

Speedy said:

Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

I’ve had optometrists wrongly diagnose floaters as astigmatism, prescribing glasses with a correction for astigmatism when I don’t need one.

I’m not at all sure that that’s the problem in your case. Could be something completely different.

Michael V said:

Scratched or dirty lenses?

could do it

SCIENCE said:

Michael V said:

Scratched or dirty lenses?

could do it

On glasses, hopefully.

Michael V said:

Speedy said:

Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

Scratched or dirty lenses?

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

dv said:

SCIENCE said:

Michael V said:

Scratched or dirty lenses?

could do it

On glasses, hopefully.

LOL

:)

I’m stigmatised. And molecular degenerated as well.

Speedy said:

Michael V said:

Speedy said:

Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

Scratched or dirty lenses?

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

That’s by far the most likely explanation. Try immersing in soapy water for two minutes. Dry with a tissue, gently dabbing it not rubbing it.

mollwollfumble said:

Speedy said:

Michael V said:

Scratched or dirty lenses?

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

That’s by far the most likely explanation. Try immersing in soapy water for two minutes. Dry with a tissue, gently dabbing it not rubbing it.

I’ll give it a try before driving tomorrow night and will report back.

mollwollfumble said:

Speedy said:

Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

I’ve had optometrists wrongly diagnose floaters as astigmatism, prescribing glasses with a correction for astigmatism when I don’t need one.

I’m not at all sure that that’s the problem in your case. Could be something completely different.

Um, it’s very unlikely that floaters would be diagnosed as astigmatism. Floaters are a physical blob in the vitreous. Astigmatism refers to the shape of one of the refracting surfaces, usually the front of the cornea, but sometimes the front or back of the lens. The effects are completely different. Floaters, well, float and are the shadow of the blob projected onto the retina. Astigmatism mucks up the focus, it’s refractive.

Speedy said:

Michael V said:

Speedy said:

Here is an interesting picture showing what night vision with astigmatism can look like. The one on the left is with astigmatism and the one on the right without.

https://www.insightvisioncenter.com/viral-tweet-suggests-vision-with-astigmatism-versus-clear-vision/

For me, this is a good representation, and the picture which I saw only recently, today made me try to compare my night vision in traffic, with and without my glasses. Strangely, with my glasses on was the left pic, and without my glasses was the right pic. What is going on with that?

Scratched or dirty lenses?

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

If the lenses have an antireflection coating on them (a green or purple bloom on the surface), this can craze over time, like pottery clear glaze crazes. It’s not always easy to pick up but if you hold the lenses up to the light you may be able to see the crazing. I always used the blue sky behind a window. The crazing can then give light lines like that left hand picture. But as someone else suggested, if the lenses are smeared with oil from cooking you will get the same effect. That would need a smidge of soap or detergent to remove the oil.

buffy said:

Speedy said:

Michael V said:

Scratched or dirty lenses?

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

If the lenses have an antireflection coating on them (a green or purple bloom on the surface), this can craze over time, like pottery clear glaze crazes. It’s not always easy to pick up but if you hold the lenses up to the light you may be able to see the crazing. I always used the blue sky behind a window. The crazing can then give light lines like that left hand picture. But as someone else suggested, if the lenses are smeared with oil from cooking you will get the same effect. That would need a smidge of soap or detergent to remove the oil.

Thanks buffy. Yes, they have the anti-reflective coating and they are now quite old and also have some light scratches. I really should replace them, but despite numerous shopping trips, I have not found frames that I like as much as these old ones and my prescription has barely changed.

Actually I have just remembered that I bought a pair of “non-as-good-as-these-but-they-will-do” glasses a couple of years ago to keep as a spares just in case something happened to these ones. They have not been worn and are still as-new, so I will take them with me tomorrow night to compare.

Speedy said:

buffy said:

Speedy said:

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

If the lenses have an antireflection coating on them (a green or purple bloom on the surface), this can craze over time, like pottery clear glaze crazes. It’s not always easy to pick up but if you hold the lenses up to the light you may be able to see the crazing. I always used the blue sky behind a window. The crazing can then give light lines like that left hand picture. But as someone else suggested, if the lenses are smeared with oil from cooking you will get the same effect. That would need a smidge of soap or detergent to remove the oil.

Thanks buffy. Yes, they have the anti-reflective coating and they are now quite old and also have some light scratches. I really should replace them, but despite numerous shopping trips, I have not found frames that I like as much as these old ones and my prescription has barely changed.

Actually I have just remembered that I bought a pair of “non-as-good-as-these-but-they-will-do” glasses a couple of years ago to keep as a spares just in case something happened to these ones. They have not been worn and are still as-new, so I will take them with me tomorrow night to compare.

Do they have your particular prescription?

Michael V said:

Speedy said:

buffy said:

If the lenses have an antireflection coating on them (a green or purple bloom on the surface), this can craze over time, like pottery clear glaze crazes. It’s not always easy to pick up but if you hold the lenses up to the light you may be able to see the crazing. I always used the blue sky behind a window. The crazing can then give light lines like that left hand picture. But as someone else suggested, if the lenses are smeared with oil from cooking you will get the same effect. That would need a smidge of soap or detergent to remove the oil.

Thanks buffy. Yes, they have the anti-reflective coating and they are now quite old and also have some light scratches. I really should replace them, but despite numerous shopping trips, I have not found frames that I like as much as these old ones and my prescription has barely changed.

Actually I have just remembered that I bought a pair of “non-as-good-as-these-but-they-will-do” glasses a couple of years ago to keep as a spares just in case something happened to these ones. They have not been worn and are still as-new, so I will take them with me tomorrow night to compare.

Do they have your particular prescription?

The new ones? Yes they do.

Interestingly, while similar, the left photo is not what I experience. I have different astigmatism in both eyes. Point sources of light (eg: looking at stars in a night sky) become ellipses – different for each eye without glasses. If I look at those point sources with both eyes, they become a fuzzy blur.

Another interesting thing: when I got my first spectacles (age 20) colours became more vibrant. The astigmatic blurring gave a greyness, which was corrected with spectacles.

Even reds and greens were more vibrant – and I am somewhat red-green colourblind.

Speedy said:

Michael V said:

Speedy said:

Thanks buffy. Yes, they have the anti-reflective coating and they are now quite old and also have some light scratches. I really should replace them, but despite numerous shopping trips, I have not found frames that I like as much as these old ones and my prescription has barely changed.

Actually I have just remembered that I bought a pair of “non-as-good-as-these-but-they-will-do” glasses a couple of years ago to keep as a spares just in case something happened to these ones. They have not been worn and are still as-new, so I will take them with me tomorrow night to compare.

Do they have your particular prescription?

The new ones? Yes they do.

Good-oh. I await the experiment.

Michael V said:

Interestingly, while similar, the left photo is not what I experience. I have different astigmatism in both eyes. Point sources of light (eg: looking at stars in a night sky) become ellipses – different for each eye without glasses. If I look at those point sources with both eyes, they become a fuzzy blur.

Another interesting thing: when I got my first spectacles (age 20) colours became more vibrant. The astigmatic blurring gave a greyness, which was corrected with spectacles.

Even reds and greens were more vibrant – and I am somewhat red-green colourblind.

Wow, that is really interesting about the colours becoming more vibrant. It’s amazing how well we adapt to gradual changes in our vision so that we are unaware of what we have lost. I remember the first time I wore hard contact lenses that returned my keratoconic vision to 20/20. I felt so overwhelmed that I cried for what I didn’t realise I had lost, but also by what technology could offer.

FWIW, my corneas on examination are almost identical in shape, but the vision in my right eye has always been much, much worse than in my left.

I have to report to the police weekly since my laser eyes were classified as a weapon.

wookiemeister said:

I have to report to the police weekly since my laser eyes were classified as a weapon.

I’m not going to get my eyes lasered. It’s not much of an imposition to wear spectacles, especially as I have done so for more than 46 years…

> Even reds and greens were more vibrant – and I am somewhat red-green colourblind.

I have the opposite problem. Without glasses all colours are most vibrant. With every layer of glass (house window, windscreen, glasses) the colours become much less vibrant. With anti-reflection coatings this problem was terrible, now I refuse to wear glasses with anti-reflection coatings.

Speedy said:

buffy said:

Speedy said:

Could be, I’ve had these same glasses for a long time now.

If the lenses have an antireflection coating on them (a green or purple bloom on the surface), this can craze over time, like pottery clear glaze crazes. It’s not always easy to pick up but if you hold the lenses up to the light you may be able to see the crazing. I always used the blue sky behind a window. The crazing can then give light lines like that left hand picture. But as someone else suggested, if the lenses are smeared with oil from cooking you will get the same effect. That would need a smidge of soap or detergent to remove the oil.

Thanks buffy. Yes, they have the anti-reflective coating and they are now quite old and also have some light scratches. I really should replace them, but despite numerous shopping trips, I have not found frames that I like as much as these old ones and my prescription has barely changed.

Actually I have just remembered that I bought a pair of “non-as-good-as-these-but-they-will-do” glasses a couple of years ago to keep as a spares just in case something happened to these ones. They have not been worn and are still as-new, so I will take them with me tomorrow night to compare.

Hopefully Speedy will recheck the thread. Old frames, if they have been looked after, can have new lenses put into them. Particularly if they are a titanium pair. Plastic ones are riskier, they don’t take well to the reheating involved. I know the chain shops don’t like it and often say the frame can’t be re-used, but we did it all the time. Occasionally they were simply too battered/bent etc to use. But mostly they are not. If you can find a small independent optometrist the chances are better that they will do it for you.

Michael V said:

Interestingly, while similar, the left photo is not what I experience. I have different astigmatism in both eyes. Point sources of light (eg: looking at stars in a night sky) become ellipses – different for each eye without glasses. If I look at those point sources with both eyes, they become a fuzzy blur.

Another interesting thing: when I got my first spectacles (age 20) colours became more vibrant. The astigmatic blurring gave a greyness, which was corrected with spectacles.

Even reds and greens were more vibrant – and I am somewhat red-green colourblind.

What happened with the first pair was that you were used to the blur. It was your normal. So when the lenses pushed all the colours back inside the object outlines and removed the blur, the colour looked more intense. Once your brain had got over the “wow” bit, it doesn’t happen much again because the experience is already there. One of the absolute best things about my job was watching a young patient walk out the door onto the street with new glasses. They invariably gaze around in wonder. And on one memorable occasion had to be grabbed by their parent to stop them just wandering across the road because they were so awestruck.

:)

buffy said:

Michael V said:

Interestingly, while similar, the left photo is not what I experience. I have different astigmatism in both eyes. Point sources of light (eg: looking at stars in a night sky) become ellipses – different for each eye without glasses. If I look at those point sources with both eyes, they become a fuzzy blur.

Another interesting thing: when I got my first spectacles (age 20) colours became more vibrant. The astigmatic blurring gave a greyness, which was corrected with spectacles.

Even reds and greens were more vibrant – and I am somewhat red-green colourblind.

What happened with the first pair was that you were used to the blur. It was your normal. So when the lenses pushed all the colours back inside the object outlines and removed the blur, the colour looked more intense. Once your brain had got over the “wow” bit, it doesn’t happen much again because the experience is already there. One of the absolute best things about my job was watching a young patient walk out the door onto the street with new glasses. They invariably gaze around in wonder. And on one memorable occasion had to be grabbed by their parent to stop them just wandering across the road because they were so awestruck.

:)

I noted that walking out the door into bright sunlight after being inside under fluro lights and concentrating on tiny things, I found it difficult to see well or focus on anything. Had to do it slowly.

buffy said:

Speedy said:

buffy said:

If the lenses have an antireflection coating on them (a green or purple bloom on the surface), this can craze over time, like pottery clear glaze crazes. It’s not always easy to pick up but if you hold the lenses up to the light you may be able to see the crazing. I always used the blue sky behind a window. The crazing can then give light lines like that left hand picture. But as someone else suggested, if the lenses are smeared with oil from cooking you will get the same effect. That would need a smidge of soap or detergent to remove the oil.

Thanks buffy. Yes, they have the anti-reflective coating and they are now quite old and also have some light scratches. I really should replace them, but despite numerous shopping trips, I have not found frames that I like as much as these old ones and my prescription has barely changed.

Actually I have just remembered that I bought a pair of “non-as-good-as-these-but-they-will-do” glasses a couple of years ago to keep as a spares just in case something happened to these ones. They have not been worn and are still as-new, so I will take them with me tomorrow night to compare.

Hopefully Speedy will recheck the thread. Old frames, if they have been looked after, can have new lenses put into them. Particularly if they are a titanium pair. Plastic ones are riskier, they don’t take well to the reheating involved. I know the chain shops don’t like it and often say the frame can’t be re-used, but we did it all the time. Occasionally they were simply too battered/bent etc to use. But mostly they are not. If you can find a small independent optometrist the chances are better that they will do it for you.

Thanks buffy. I was told by an optometrist that they could replace the lenses in my old frames as they are still in good condition, but I am reluctant to do this as I feel the frames will fail as soon as I spend more money on them. I should take another look in the stores to see whether there are frames available that I like.

As for my experiment, I forgot to take my “new” glasses out with me today, but I will do so tomorrow. They have now been placed with the things I will take with me, so hopefully I will remember to try them out.

I tried my “new” glasses at night in traffic tonight and they were so much better than my old glasses. It seems that the scratches or the old coating were the issue afterall.

Speedy said:

I tried my “new” glasses at night in traffic tonight and they were so much better than my old glasses. It seems that the scratches or the old coating were the issue afterall.

You see…science works!

buffy said:

Speedy said:

I tried my “new” glasses at night in traffic tonight and they were so much better than my old glasses. It seems that the scratches or the old coating were the issue afterall.

You see…science works!

Yes it does :)

I will continue to wear my new glasses now until I can sort out something else. In the meantime the roads will be safer at night.