Dr. Steinmetz prescribing bifocals

amother

Papaya

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 12:25 pm

I was given his name as a reference from my schools Kriah director and my child's ot. I've brought a few children to him and he prescribes bifocals for all. I've heard from other patients that he does that very often. This seems odd that every kid needs bifocals. I've been to other doctors before him who did not think they needed it but he was the 2nd opinion and came with high recommendations. My dd hasn't adjusted to using bifocals correctly for 3 years and doctor claims she is hurting her eyes and using her top of glasses for reading is why her vision is deteriorating. I don't understand. Every other person in the world who is nearsighted uses their glasses for reading and don't ruin their eyes. Can someone help me understand this?

ra_mom

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 12:48 pm

I don't know who Dr. Steinmetz is or where he is located, but it sounds like it's time to move on to someone else.

amother

Pewter

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 1:44 pm

I've needed bifocals since 5th or 6th grade, I had glasses just for distance (nearsighted) before that. I don't know this doctor. But I can tell you about being a kid (and adult) with bifocals.

Before I had bifocals, I had 2 pairs of glasses, one for reading (far sighted) and one for distance (near sighted). IN class, I basically spent all day switching my glasses on and off (distance glasses to look at the board, 5 minutes later reading glasses to read in my text book, 5 minutes later distance glasses for the board, 5 minutes later reading glasses to write notes, and on and on and on). Basically, aside from driving me crazy, the clakcing of the glasses going on and off all day made every other kid crazy as well. So I got bifocals - I was 12. I had to learn how to use them properly - you have to train yourself to use the bottom part (the reading glasses) for reading and close up work, because your natural inclination is to use the top part (distance glasses). You can still see with the top part when you read, it's just not as clear and strains your eye muscles even more than without any glasses, because they have to way overcompensate from the farsightedness (which is not the same as the average person who sees fine and uses their glasses for reading) - even today, after more than 20 years with bifocals, I still slip up sometimes, but I usually correct it quickly. On the flipside, when looking down (think walking down steps, or glancing down at something), you have to train yourself to move your head down to use the top part of the glasses, because your natural inclination is to shift just your eyes down, not your whole head - this one was much easier to train myself to do because it is SO disorienting to use the bottom part of your glasses to see distances. Bottom line, it's easy to use bifocals incorrectly, particularly reading with the top part, and mess up your eyes even more.

Before I needed bifocals, I was just nearsighted for a few years, and I kept complaining I couldn't see and they kept making me stronger and stronger glasses - but, I had astigmatism and they missed it or underestimated it, and that was why I couldn't see, and the stronger the glasses were, the worse my astigmatism got. I had been seeing a ophthalmologist up until that point, and someone suggested we switch to an optometrist, because they specialize in vision correction (vs. an ophthalmologist who may not about vision correction but is specialized in eye diseases and isn't usually as knowledgeable or good at it)- he figured out my astigmatism, lowered my prescription but changed the lenses to correct the astigmatism, and I could see much better. Also, if you are seeing an ophthalmologist, I recommend switching to an optometrist. But, I always recommend a second opinion, even from one optometrist to another.

I hope some of this was helpful.

amother

Papaya

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 2:57 pm

Thank you pewter for your detailed response. My dd is 11 and has been using her bifocals incorrectly for 3 years. Is it possible at this point to change the habit? She is also pretty absent minded to begin with and not focused on what she's doing. It makes me crazy to see her bend her head down to read from the top. I remind her to use her bottom but I'm not always around. I feel like if she hasn't gotten it til now she never will. I'm not sure how to handle this.

tweety1

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 9:19 pm

Dr. Steinmetz is a phenomenal Dr. He's top of the line. I would say to stick with him. I use him for dh and myself, as well as my kids. I particularly loved his honesty. Honesty?? Yes honesty in an eye Dr.

yogabird

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 11:10 pm

I agree with the recommendation to see an optometrist as opposed to apthalmologist if you are not already doing so.

What is your daughter wearing glasses for? Have you ever considered progressive lenses? They are like bifocals in that they correct both nearsightedness and far sightedness, but instead of the lense being split their is a subtle progression from top to bottom, this is supposed to be much easier on the eye, easy to use, and mimics now the eye sees naturally.

miami85

Sun, Aug 06 2017, 11:36 pm

When I first got glasses when I was 9, I was diagnosed as far-sighted, and my eye doctor prescribed bifocals--bottom reading and top plain glass so that I wouldn't have to constantly be taking them on and off and therefore bending the glasses out of shape, not losing them, and always having them handy. I've been a full-time glasses wearer ever since--except by some weirdness that was never explained to me, now I'm technically near-sighted with horrible astigmatism. My 6yr son was diagnosed as needing glasses for "distance" by an opthamologist, and he's taken a long time to get used to them b/c in his classroom, hardly anything was done at a "distance" (the lesson was done in a meeting area as opposed to from his desk) so I asked his opthamologist if she'd recommend a bifocal situation as I had, but she declined. Even now he says that for small print, he has an easier time with reading when wearing his glasses, but we were told that he should only wear them "As necessary". Not sure I understand this myself. I thought the "Bifocal" solution was great in my case, but I was a bit older"

amother

Cerulean

Mon, Aug 07 2017, 12:01 am

Have you ever thought to look into prism glasses? What you discribed sounds like it would correct the problem and you could get rid of bifocals.

amother

Crimson

Mon, Aug 07 2017, 12:35 am

No experience with bifocals, but I personally did not have good mazel with him, although he is considered a top doctor. In my case, he was unable to get an accurate prescription. He kept on having me come back to try again, and with different lenses, until we both gave up, and I had a better experience with the next doctor I saw. If you are not confident, maybe get a second opinion.

amother

Pewter

Mon, Aug 07 2017, 3:48 am

amother wrote:

I don't know if I have great advice here. My eye doctor gave us practice exercises to do consciously several times a day - he said to build up slowly - 3 times for 2 minutes each the first few days, next time 3 times for 3 minutes for a few days, then 4 times for 3minutes for a few days, and systematically increase the number of times and the number of minutes.. This helped it become second nature, though my mother had to practically sit on top of me to do them. It was worth it though.

You could also switch to 2 pairs of glasses, one for distance, one for reading, but she'd have to remember to switch them, so I don't know if that's better.