Fuzzy Balls: Glasses, Contact Lenses, Lasik

issycue

issycue

can't get enough
Silver Member
Hey everybody... I wear glasses with moderate vision correction. Without correction, I can see the end rail and a fuzzy object ball (that really looks like 2 or 3). Generally speaking, my glasses get in the way, and I end up playing without them. Has anybody else had the same problems? and if so, what was your solution? Contacts? Bigger eye glasses? Lasik surgery?
 
I used to wear contacts when playing, but went back to glasses. Even tho' rooms in our area are now smokeless, you will find that the climate control systems used in many of these places will dry out those contacts pronto...and there is nothing worse while your shooting than dry contacts!!

If I could afford Lasik and it worked (I have astigmatism), I would...but never again with the contacts.

Lisa
 
Hi Paul,

I had the same problem years ago and had to give up pool until I discovered contacts and now at least I can be competitive as long as they don't dry out especially with air conditioning, I carry eye drops with me whenever I have a problem with dry eyes.

John
 
I finally found the solution. Regular prescription glasses, rimless, decent-sized lenses (but not "frog-like"), super light frames, set nose pieces so they ride high (up to, or just above eyebrow level). I have progressive bifocals, the reading portion made fairly narrow and low, the top portion set for 2-10 foot focus (not infinity). All I can say is WOW, the visibility and comfort are unbelieveable, and most people don't even notice them.`

I also got the UV protective, anti-glare coating. I didn't do the high focal center thing (just made sure the entire usable upper area is for 2-10 foot focusing, only the very bottom of the lenses is for progressive bifocals, so there is great focus anywhere above the bifocal line).

I also was unable to get any "cable" attachments for the ear pieces. Does anyone know where I could get some; the glasses would be perfect if I could convert (they're pretty nice already).

P.S. - I HAD to get the progressive bifocals at the bottom of the lenses for scorekeeping and tip grooming purposes. I'll be playing breakup soon and he cheats like crazy, I'll have to be able to watch the scoresheet.
 
It depends on how long you have worn glasses!

I've worn glasses since I was six years old and thus, despite playing for over thirty years, I've never played a game without my glasses. For someone like me, or for anyone who simply prefers glasses to contacts, the solution is to get glasses with high rims and/or to wear a strap to keep the glasses from slipping down your nose. This will work even with an extremely low stance (my very short beard brushes my cue when I'm down on my shot). Otherwise, I'd say go with contacts as long as you're prepared to deal with them drying out under climate-controlled conditions.

By the way, Lasik is always an option. I know that Buddy Hall, for one, has had excellent results from it.

Good luck, and let me know how it goes!
 
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I have seen a nose piece that elevates the level of the glasses higher up the nose. I couldn't even begin telling you how to find them. It does look odd when you first see them on someone but I'm sure they are effective. I use contacts and I carry around rewetting drops at all times in my case. I also have a pair that is just for the pool halls and a pair for everyday use. My pool hall set are cleaned daily and haven't had too many problems, my brand is O2optix, they are a breathable contact lens. I wish I could afford lasik as it would correct my astigmatism, balls are always fuzzy. (no pun intended) LOL
 
You can certainly have Lasik with Astigmatism, I know this because I had it done just 20 days ago.

My left eye had a large astigmatism and my right eye had a very small one.

They corrected both of my eyes and did a wonderful job. My right eye sees 20/15 now and my left eye sees just a tiny tiny bit under 20/20. With both my eyes I can see 20/15 clear as day now.

Before the surgery I would see double images, much like you described, one bold and solid and 2 others that were transparent images.

The reason my left eye is not as good as my right eye is because it turned out I suffer from amblyopia, basically meaning one eye never became as strong as the other when I was young. Luckily it was a mild case, some people wind up basically blind due to it. Lasik cannot exactly cure the amblyopia but it can get rid of that eyes astigmatism and enable it to see to the best of it's ability, which in my case was slightly worse than 20/20.

There are some halo's around lights at first after the lasik, they told me it lasts from a couple of months to a year usually but it's only been 20 something days for me and they are virtually gone already for me.

For me it has worked out wonderful of course not everyones results will be identical but at the moment I'm very happy with the lasik results and if your not suffering from something like amblyopia, then many many many people wind up with perfect 20/15 after the surgery.

There is also something new called IntraLase , which basically means that everything is done with a laser now from the cutting of the flap to the actual procedure, this is what I had done and it was easy, fast and seems to have healed up really fast.
 
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For Me it is a combination

I am near sighted and with recent onset of Diabetes I found my vision changing to not being able to see clear even on the bottom rail of bar box so I tried the acuvue bifocal contacts and they improved it a lot now I wear bausch and Lombs multifocal lenses with great success! the one proble is , as you mention some rooms are so smoky they have your eyes drying out quickly!:)
 
Cool! Thanks everyone... I have tried contacts in the past too, but my doc suggests not wearing them (my eyes are on the dryer side). I will look for bigger glasses (those ones on eBay are BIG!). I think I saw Karen Corr with big lenses that were rimless. Has anyone tried those special sports goggles? They seem to be small (like the SCUBA gear type, but I would think they would have to a large viewing area.

And, Lasik here runs about $2000 at min, and about $3500 for the full-meal-deal. I have friends who recently had surgery and their results were similar to the above-poster's...but I could buy one or even two nice cues for that.

We'll see. :eek:
 
Lasik can run anywhere from $600 for both eyes all the way up to $3000 or so depending on the options you choose.

I had my surgery done in Bellevue, WA, which is very close to you, at Luna Eye Center.

Mine cost $998 per eye but that's only because I paid the extra money for the Intralase laser to cut the flap.

I could have had traditional lasik done without the intralse for $998 for both eyes including all followup visits, etc, complete package.

Traditional lasik with the micro blade doing the flap I have seen offered as low as $295 per eye. Luna Eye Center is also having a 50% off sale at the moment, THey will cut any quote/ad you bring to them.

Things such as wavefront, intralase, etc all raise the price but you don't have to do those things.
 
After studying the threads on AZ related to the topic, I bought large frame 3-10 foot focus glasses. I wear them for pool and to watch television, and they work great.

...however, since I normally wear 'distance only' glasses, I've found that when I walk up to the pool table it takes a couple of games for my eyes to get adjusted. Best to wear them for 30 minutes or so before playing.
 
I wear contacts and I carry eye drops in my case but I still have problems with them drying and getting blurred vision.

If you ask Efren Reyes he will recommend lasik.
 
5 years ago, I was tested to see if I could have lasik done and my left eye was too poor to fix. I just had the tests done again and they said with the advancements made since then, I am now a candidate for a 95% left eye and 100% right eye.

I know my game will fall for a while after being able to see the balls 100% of the time. When I first got glasses to shoot with-that happened. There were still times I would have to look over my glasses for long shots and seeing colored ear-muffs instead of balls made me really rely on feel instead of vision. Being able to see the balls all the time will really change things.

I worked it out with the local doctor, so I could have one eye done Dec 28and the other on Jan 2. The reason for doing this may help some of you on the financial side of things. Like some people, my insurance from work gives me a spending account each year. By doing the surgeries in 2 separate years, I could use both years spending accounts to help pay for it.

I will post my progress if anyone is interested.
 
lasik can be good but if your eyes get dry after lasik they can get blurry too.......i know i always to keep drops for my eyes.......and smoke can make them a little blurry
 
I have chronically dry eyes and wear contacts, and I always carry a little dispenser of saline solution. I refill them a few times and get a new container.

When I used to use "rewetting drops" specifically for contact lenses, the relief was always temporary and my eyes eventually become more irritated. Saline is natural, and you can use as much as you want w/o worrying about chemical irritation.

-Roger
 
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Theratears in the tablets is the best thing in the world for dry eyes, unless you want to pay $1500 for the eye plugs (yuck).

These tables have fish oils, omega 3 fatty acids, etc. which are also very good for the heart.

I had lasik and love it, but due to the dry eye syndrome which some people like myself get, your vision may suffer. In the cold winter my right eye is 20/13 and my left eye is 20/15, but in the summer with all the pollen and dry eyes my left eye turns to mud if I don't use the drops.

If your eyes are super bad like mine were, wearing the coke bottle glasses makes the balls much smaller and distored if you have bad astigmatism. In those cases I don't think that having the big big glasses would help. If you must shoot with glasses however, I would get the big glasses.

Finally, they recommend getting lasik at an older age as your eyes are less likely to change, but I know some young people who have been very successful with it.
 
If you get oversized lenses, that have the side bar to your ear attached in the middle or lower part of the lenses, your vision should be fine. This is the only set up I have seen that unobstructs your vision when bending over and shooting.
 
Glenn Atwell called me yesterday to tell me he had LASIK done and he said he has never made a better decision. He said he could see edges on the balls so crisp and clear, like he hadn't seen in 15 years.

This news came right on the heels of being in a tournament and right while I was down shooting, my right eye felt like it got a rock in it. I asked to take a break and laid my cue on the table and ran to the bathroom. I couldn't find my contact, it was up underneath my eyelid. I got it out and started to clean it, stuck it back in my eye and it promptly went back up under my eyelid.

So I took it out and looked at it, and there was a half-moon chunk gone out of the whole thing! I threw it in the trash and from then on, it was totally a blur. I called Mike and had him bring down an extra pair, and he was halfway into baking a cake, so it fell in the middle. :(

But meanwhile, I had to finish the game. I missed 3 easy shots in a row to let the guy win. It was embarrassing! I was just kind of pointing my stick where I thought it should be. This guy ended up winning the tournament. :mad:

Asians have a hard time wearing glasses at the table, since we have no bridges on our noses to hold them up. I tried it and you need to have huge glasses, otherwise you get dizzy looking from the OB to the CB.

I was always chicken to have LASIK, because Geiler told me he saw halos, plus I saw the operation online and it was scary! Also, I remember getting contacts that cranked me too far out and I couldn't see anything on the table, so I wanted to make sure I could see at least 2 feet away as well. Maybe I will look into the wavefront thing. :o
 
I have worn glasses for the last 45 years, and have a pretty strong correction prescription. Several of my friends (pool players) have had Lasik, and are very happy with the results. I finally checked to see if I could have it, but with my diabetes, and some other factors, the doctors would not do it for me. I didn't have a problem with vision except on the long table length shots where I had to get down on the cue. I had taken a course with randyg, where he told me about the sportglasses he markets; I contacted him and ordered a set in my prescription. I couldn't belive how much better the sight picture was with these glasses; no problem maintaining view of the cueball, opject ball, and target pocket while down on the shot. Large lenses, adjustable nose bridge, and cable earpieces make all the difference. I consider the price as money well spent. Check out Randy's website www.poolschool.info
 
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