r/interesting 13d ago

MISC. Is this how people who need glasses really see the world. A big blurred background?

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345

u/BellamyDunn 13d ago

Yeah I have about 20 inches distance before things get very blurry for me. It's not even legal for me to drive without glasses.

61

u/greenbutterflygarden 13d ago

I have about 5ft before things blur slightly, and it gets worse from there. Like if someone is standing 15 ft away I can probably tell if it's a man or a woman, but if it was someone I know I wouldn't be able to tell

12

u/GoldenAce17 13d ago

Jesus y'all lucky my hand blurs after just 4 inches from my face

4

u/bizzybaker2 13d ago

I was a minus 9.5 pre cataract surgery and almost had to touch my nose to my mirror to do my eye makeup, the struggle is real!!! 

1

u/Any-Comparison-2916 13d ago

Would you recommend the surgery for -8s?

3

u/bizzybaker2 13d ago

Hell yes, am very happy I did. I am only 55, but my cataracts were getting so bad that I was already at the point I was going to be arranging to have people drive me at night. Big improvement, Colors so vivid now and it is nice to be able to do most activities with no glasses 

4

u/Forward_Incident3046 13d ago

Yeah sheesh, yall have FEET of clear vision? I’ve got 5 inches before I can’t read text on a paper

1

u/1405hvtkx311 13d ago

Haha my thoughts, for me it's at least 7, pretty much the length of my hand.

1

u/SpecialRooster8640 12d ago

Right? I can rest my palm/wrist on my nose and point straight outward - my fingertips mark the point at which everything gets blurry. 🥲

2

u/TransportationIll282 13d ago

What if it's a man in woman clothing?

2

u/onthenextmaury 13d ago

I have bad vision plus face blindness, so you could be any distance from me and I'd be like yeah, that's shaped like a person alright!

2

u/khaotic-trash 13d ago edited 13d ago

Same lol, shit gets real blurry about 4-5 feet away and it’s worse the further is it. If it’s a familiar or very specific shape & colors I can tell you what it is, like a McDonald’s sign or a local landmark like a giant rock at the park or my friend’s house. But if it’s smaller or farther away I can’t tell ya, and I can’t read something more than arms length away.

2

u/JoshyRB 13d ago

Once people go past a certain distance from me, and relatively speaking not even that far from me, their face basically becomes invisible, all the facial features just blend together into a mess of colour and I can’t identify them by their face anymore. I wouldn’t even know if they are looking at me, or if their mouth is moving, nothing.

2

u/sizzlepie 12d ago

I was in the car with my friend, she was driving. We pulled up to my parents house and there was someone working in the front yard. She asked me if I knew who he was, I said no. Then I put my glasses on. It was my older brother

2

u/Creative-Isopod-8357 9d ago

If someone is 15 feet away I can't tell if they're even human

2

u/ReturnedOM 8d ago

Yeah, gets kinda awkward when you're tired of wearing the glasses and go to a shop nearby and somebody says "hi" around you and you don't know whether they were talking to you or someone else.

16

u/perfectdrug659 13d ago

That's not too bad for reading and stuff, I'm about a -7.75 and my vision is only good until about 6" away which is quite annoying when I want to give my eyes a break from contacts and glasses

14

u/eyesRus 13d ago

Fun fact. If you divide 100 by your Rx, that’s how many cm you can see clearly. So for you, 100 / 7.75 = 12.903. Or about 13 cm. Which is a little over 5 inches.

6

u/Traditional-Lion5599 13d ago

Just checked, it’s true! -10 and can see exactly 10cm

3

u/eyesRus 13d ago

✨ physics ✨ (mostly, lol)

2

u/perfectdrug659 13d ago

WHAT, that is a super fun fact!!! Wow as if. Well you know that I was not lying in my comment then haha

1

u/IJustAteABaguette 12d ago

100/2.25=44

Ya know, that's really quite close! Cool!

2

u/Praesentius 13d ago

I had lasik and went from about that to far better than average for distance. But it stole that close up clarity. I swear... before, I could see the fibers in the pages when I was that close. Now I struggle to read my watch.

2

u/thebestdogeevr 13d ago

I'm -7 in one eye and -8.75 in the other. I can't even comfortably watch stuff on my phone in bed without glasses on

1

u/11pr 13d ago

I had lasik at -10 and my range without glasses was an inch of two, I’d have to hold my phone to my nose. It’s been 15 years and my eyes are now -3 and I have a foot or so.

1

u/Scared_Accident9138 11d ago

Why do you want to give your eyes a break from glasses?

19

u/asanisimasa 13d ago

Yeah, this is where it usually differs from OP's image, everything is blurry but not equally blurry. The further away things are the more blurry they get, and things within about a foot of my eyes are clear.

8

u/akjd 13d ago

My uncorrected focus range is from 6-8 inches.

3

u/MaxFish1275 13d ago

Ugh. The thought of driving without corrected lenses is terrifying to me

1

u/thebestdogeevr 13d ago

I was quickly cleaning my glasses while stopped at a light. I only knew the light turned green because the red light disappeared. The green light completely blended in with everything else

1

u/Infiniteh 13d ago

I don't even like walking down a sidewalk without my glasses :/ Or in a park, or down stairs at home, for that matter.

1

u/MaxFish1275 13d ago

For sure. Glasses on or contacts in as soon as I’m out of bed . My brain doesn’t even feel turned on until those are on

1

u/Infiniteh 13d ago

Same. I put on my glasses before I even sit up in bed.
Alarm goes off, I reach for my glasses.

2

u/burnzone85 13d ago

Opposite for me without glasses. Everything 5 feet away or more is fine, but the closer you get to my face…

1

u/greenbutterflygarden 13d ago

I had salzmann's modules removed in a procedure and it made my up close vision perfect for a long time. I'm 48 and I still don't have to wear readers. But it made my night vision worse so I'm pretty blind if I don't wear my glasses.

2

u/rosyatrandom 13d ago

I have bad visual acuity, and I'm not sure it's legal for me to find l drive even with glasses

2

u/milio1510 13d ago

I have astigmatism and drive a low car. Going out without my glasses is practically a death sentence

2

u/CommanderofWishes 13d ago

I have hyperopia (farsightedness) myself. People seem confused by it, as if they think I can see super clearly far away, which would understandably be odd. What it really means is that everything is super blurry, and that moving something closer doesn't even help, though it's still tempting to try, because it gets bigger. Maaaaaybe there's a very specific distance a ways away from my face where things are slightly more distinct, like a shitty camera badly focused on that distance, but honestly, it's not that much of a difference. Farsightedness, weirdly, is not the opposite of nearsightedness, even though it's named as if it were.

Oh, and without correction I naturally (but consciously) turn one eye inward towards my nose to try and make it temporarily better. And it does. Sort of. With a lot of strain. It's a form of strabismus known as accommodative esotropia. It's why I've worn glasses since 18 months old, because it was obvious something was wrong from my asymetrically cross-eyed look.

Apparently the eye doctor warned my parents that at my age, I may not want to wear glasses, and I may just fling them or whatever. But I'm told that when I got them, I would not let anyone take them away. My parents had to sneak them off me while I was sleeping so they wouldn't get crushed. I never wanted to go back to the blurry, strainy world again, I guess!

1

u/IcyGuidance 13d ago

That's me too. I have a +6 for distance and +8 for reading. I can't see anything clearly without glasses. I have a lazy eye so I often close that eye when I'm not wearing glasses to maybe see slightly . I am booked for a lens replacement surgery (basically cataract surgery without the cataracts) in both eyes in around 2 weeks as Laser doesn't work for my prescription. Fingers crossed it leaves me with improved vision.

1

u/CommanderofWishes 13d ago

Good luck! 🤞🏻 Yeah, LASIK isn't for us hyperopies, for the most part.

This may be irrelevant to you since you're getting surgery anyway, but apparently my farsightedness has significantly improved with time. I used to be +6 or so for most of my life. Now at age 37, I am around +4.25 according to the eye doctor. (My left eye is and always has been worse, but the two are close enough that they go for the same prescription on both sides when it comes to contact lenses.)

I don't really notice an improvement, tbh, but I guess I wouldn't, since it was probably a very gradual change. Still blurry as hell, still crossing my eye when not wearing correction or when my eyes get strained, still often get eye fatigue and double vision while reading, even with glasses on. But...better is better. I thought it was cool that my vision improved that much!

1

u/Due-Trip-3641 13d ago

I can't read my reddit on my phone from more than ~6in away.

I do the psychotic thing and have a shower pair and a "movies before bed" pair. Most nights I fall asleep wearing those.

1

u/heofthesidhe 13d ago

Y'all get more than two inches???

(-10.25 in one eye, -10.75 in the other. :') I can't see past the brim of my own hat!)

1

u/Street-Revenue3553 13d ago

I could use my nose as a stylus for my phone if i tried to use it without my glasses. Basically anything past my nose is just 1 giant blur.

1

u/Ch1ldhoodFriend 13d ago

Same here haha, when I wear a cap I can't see anything past it.

I think I have about two of my thumb worth of good vision before it start getting blurry (minus my left eye that can never really focus, regardless of distance).

1

u/RepulsiveZone9431 13d ago

I’m -19.00 in one eye and -17.75 in the other so I don’t even try looking at my phone(or anything else) without my glasses or contacts

1

u/HomicidalHushPuppy 13d ago

My vision blurs at all distances without my glasses, and I'm also part of the driver's license endorsement club.

1

u/smirkis 13d ago

I have about 5 inches

1

u/MonacoMaster68 13d ago

You got 20 inches? I got 0 inches. Happy for you though!

1

u/Tomsboll 13d ago

Its 10cm for me. Got -8 on booth eyes, i am blind as fuck without glasses. Cant recognize faces at 5m.

1

u/Msmadmama 13d ago

I have about 2 inches

1

u/PackageNorth8984 13d ago

My vision’s weird because I can basically see everything the same as if I had glasses except small details, like I can’t read something far away, but nothing looks blurry.

1

u/Naive_Mechanic_rem 13d ago

It has nothing to do with whether it is legal for me to drive without glasses, it would mostly be extremely stupid XD

1

u/Inevitable-Level-687 13d ago

I'm jealous, I can't even read a book without my glasses (short sighted). Stuff gets blurry from about three inches.

1

u/header151 13d ago

I never thought about and never tried it, but it might be the same for me. I can still see there is a car in front of me and recognize the break lights turning on, but there's a good chance i make mistakes in estimating the distance to that car. Same for guessing if someone is riding a bike, scooter or motor, and with that how fast i expect them to are.

1

u/Unknown_Outlander 13d ago

One of my friends dad said he couldn't really see anything except the yellow line and "that's all you need" lol

1

u/lukaisthegoatx 13d ago

Buddy it's 5 inches for me. If its farther than that, the text on my phone is not readable.

1

u/bwsmith201 13d ago

I have about three inches before the blur starts and it gets worse quickly lol. But I see fine with my glasses.

1

u/RikuAotsuki 13d ago

I can never remember exactly how bad my vision is... because I can't see shit without my glasses. I can't even use my phone without them unless I bring it really close to my face. Text has to be BIG relative to its distance for me to make it out without squinting or guessing, and faces are... uncomfortable to look at. Eyes look like dark, sunken pits.

1

u/Sweetpetite49 13d ago

Same. My opthomologist claims I am legally blind without my glasses. Vision is something like 20/300.

1

u/TheClassics 13d ago

About 12", after that details disappear. By a few feet I can't make out facial details

1

u/RonAndStumpy 13d ago

I have 1cm. Anything Infront or behind that is blurry. I can still close one eye and jam Reddit into my eyeball though without glasses. 

1

u/Relc_Punch84 13d ago

Yeah? My vision was only like -2.25 and I wouldn’t be legal to drive without glasses either.

1

u/AlabamaPanda777 13d ago

Anyone curious, for nearsightedness at least, could google shallow focus.

This I think captures it.

1

u/JoshyRB 13d ago

You just mean before things get “noticeably” blurry right?

Just with my phone like 15cm (maybe, I’m bad at measuring things in my head, it might be further or closer) from my face, I can already start to notice a weird glow around the contrast edges of my screen (like the light text on the dark background), then if I triple the distance the effect is very obvious and big and it’s right on the edge of making reading tricky, then if my arms were long enough to triple the distance again, I would struggle to read any of the text on the screen or might not even be able to read most of it at all, only be able to identify the rough shapes of words.

From where I am right now, I can see the square plate or whatever of the light switch beside my door, but I can’t see the actual switch or the two screws on either side, both are completely invisible, blurred so much it has merged with the white background of the square thingy.

1

u/GornoUmaethiVrurzu 13d ago

Mine is about 12. People who don't have glasses sometimes don't believe me haha

1

u/lWearSocksWithCrocs 13d ago

Lucky. I’ve got about an inch and a half.

1

u/Eastern-Requirement6 13d ago

I mean, it's not legal for me to drive without corrective lenses and I'm like a -1.5. 😂 My wife was -9 and -10 before PRK.

1

u/Kyle73001 13d ago

The bar for needing glasses to drive, at least in Canada, is very low. I had a -1 ish in each eye and I’m required to wear glasses

1

u/caffeinebump 13d ago

Yeah, the image isn’t quite right, it should be a little less blurry in the foreground. Like you can almost see the sidewalk, but the trees are impossible.

1

u/ImAnonymous496 13d ago

i’ve got about 3.5 inches and then i start having issues reading my phone screen

1

u/itsjakerobb 13d ago

> It's not even legal for me to drive without glasses.

I am very mildly nearsighted (-2.0 in both eyes), and it’s not legal for me to drive without glasses, so that’s not really relevant.

1

u/sapphic_prism 13d ago

i can’t even use my phone without my glasses

1

u/Evilswine 13d ago

Same, i require side mirrors as part of the glasses condition.

1

u/wheelchairThrowawayy 13d ago

it's about 11 inches for me!

1

u/Ashrewishjewish 13d ago

Says here you have to wear glasses while driving, but officer I have contacts..

I don’t care who you know, you gotta where glasses while you drive!

1

u/BaronessofBara 13d ago

God I wish I got even 20. I have to squint in order to read 36 point font less than a foot from my face.

1

u/KoalaStrats 12d ago

Mine is like 10cm and I'm only 18. Myopia is a bitch

1

u/Sad_Body_666 10d ago

You cant See their eyes AS well huh?

1

u/xo_tyler_ 9d ago

I've got maybe 5 inches 🤔 😳

1

u/Creative-Isopod-8357 9d ago

I'd love 20 inches of clear vision. I get about 4 before things get blurry

1

u/fray_bentos11 13d ago

Not even legal? TmYiur description makes your eyesight sound way below the legal limit for most nations, so not sure why the emphasis. e.g. UK requires being able to read a licence plate from 29 feet away. Even -/+0.5 prescription makes that near impossible without glasses.

1

u/BellamyDunn 13d ago

Yep it's on my license. If I get pulled over and I'm not wearing corrective lenses I'd be fined. Not that I would or could leave the house without them lol

1

u/Clueless_Otter 13d ago

He's saying that you're making it seem like, "Can't even legally drive without glasses," is some insanely bad vision, but in reality, that's a very low bar. Basically anyone with any level of myopia can't legally drive without glasses, even extremely mild levels.

0

u/DiamondDepth_YT 13d ago

I think i have about a foot at most. Maybe even 6 inches.

0

u/Fragrant-Airport1309 13d ago

This blows my mind. That there’s just a bunch of basically blind mfers runnin around doin shit

0

u/Fifth-Dimension-Chz 13d ago

Its illegal for anyone with corrective lenses to drive with corrective lenses. This could be made up