Eyes And Stamps

For months now I have had very sore eyes from long periods of stamping.

My left eye is red and both eyes are very sandy when I woke in the morning and they are now weeping very often.

I am using magnifying glasses. With close work I am using 3x and when I am working with stamps and packing stamps for mailing I am using 2x magnifiers.

Have had no trouble I can remember until about 3 months ago. Have perfect vision with both glasses.

Am using glasses for up to 8 to 12hrs per day.

Has anybody had the same sort of eye trouble?

Very Interested. KGV

Hi,
I (and the wife) have spent more than our share of time at the eye doc. I'm no expert on the subject, but have "been there"......

You apparently have some allergies - and/or "dry eye". My first suggestion is to go to the drug store and get allergy eye drops (have an "A" on the label). Ask the pharmacist what they recommend. This will help with allergies and "dry eye".

Also, you may want to use a warm wet compress over your eyes each morning (help clean off "stuff", and it feels good).

Using cheap eye stuff like Visine can eventually aggravate the situation.

One thing I noticed (took me a bit) is that when I was taking apart old smelly albums, my eyes got much worse. Obviously there is dust/mold/allergens present in those old books.

If the above pretty much takes care of your problem, that is great. If not, get in to an Ophthalmologist - for you might have something much more serious than what I described.

Hey, let us know how things work out!

Mobilman44 (living in the allergy capital of the US - southeast Texas)

This question really needs to be directed to an optometrist or opthamologist. I assume that you are not using the magnifiers to study details of individual stamps but that you need them to distinguish relatively gross features that, normally, you'd be able to see with the unaided eye or aided by regular eyeglasses.

I imagine use of magnifying glasses for such long stretches could certainly cause problems--one has to focus/refocus constantly within the field provided by the magnifier and that's different from normal vision. This certainly could affect the muscles around the eyes and who knows what else. Peering through magnifiers for hours on end cannot be good for the eyes.

But the underlying question would be what was happening that pushed you to use magnifying glasses for all day long for tasks that really ought not require magnification.

Or, perhaps I have misunderstood how you are using magnification. Are you wearing magnifying eyeglasses? If so, then the focus/refocus issue would not apply. Still, packing stamps for shipment would not ordinarily be detail work--unless you mean sorting/distinguishing stamps, Type I from Type II etc. (I'd normally not call that packing, but perhaps I've misunderstood.)

I'd think you would want to ask a professional to prescribe regular eyeglasses that work. If the initial problem was difficulty focusing at, say 18 inches, this is a relatively common problem as we get older and often bifocals (today the graduated version) are needed. Using magnification when bifocals are needed might lead to other problems. But that's for a professional to decide.

I'm sure everyone on SCF wishes you well.

"using glasses for up to 8 to 12hrs per day."

If this is just a hobby and not a business, then an easy solution might be to get involved with another hobby. If that proves undoable, then take a break now and then, don't spend more than 2 hrs. at a time and start limiting yourself to 4-6 hrs. a day. If that is undoable or its a business then you have a real dilemma.

I wear trifocals due to me sitting in front of a computer screen all day at work, that's around 9-10 hrs. a day for the past 45 years. When I do go home I rarely turn on my computer. I also take time away from the screen during the day in the normal course of work.

My other hobbies include the shooting sports, fishing, tube radio repair and/or refurbish, cow tipping and time with my grand children. OK, no cow tipping. The point here is, I have other interest that can fill out the remaining hours of the day & night that take me away from the computer.

Art

ArtLanier,

It's a business for KGV Collector--modern kiloware, if I recall correctly.

Hieronymus,
The 1st sentence of your reply is the best answer of all.

KGV Collector,
See your eye doctor ASAP. Eye health should not be put off.

Art

Thanks for the all replies it is very helpful!

Off to the eye doctor!

After thinking about it I can chase the eye trouble back to a certain batch of kiloware!


I have to use magnifiers to read. When on the computer and catalogue at the same time I need to use 3x on the end of my nose and look over the top of the glasses to see the TV clearly 8m or 25 feet away.

At 52 all of a sudden I could not read. It sort of crept up on me. For the last 3 years my eyes have been at the same level. I use 3x up close and at arms length 2x works well.

Thank you very much for your help again! KGV

So the answer to can you catch a sickness off stamps is totally Yes!

Had a bug from the dust on stamps living in my eyes!

A few eye drops and back to normal!