Patti S. is a member of VSP's Ophthalmic Services team.

I had a friend tell me once that she found eyeglasses egodystonic .  “That’s unfortunate,” I thought, “because, you’re getting old and we all know that like hairy ears and sagging buttocks,   presbyopia is but one harbinger of our gradual physical decline.”  I didn’t say it out loud because a tendency for over-emotionalism also often accompanies the plight of the aging.  At any rate, I put on my optician’s hat and advised her of her options: mono-vision contact lenses or laser surgery, a secret stash of reading glasses, refraining from anything requiring near vision, or sucking it up and getting a pair of specs.

With long teeth, she saw her eye doctor and then embarked upon a tear-laden journey to find frames that would not disrupt her lens-free self-image.  Naturally, I assumed she’d find something nearly invisible, like a pair of drilled rimless mountings that would perch imperceptibly on her petite little snout.  That was not to happen.  Miss Egodystonic found the haute couture equivalent of the optical world and availed herself of their exotic wares.  Not only was she old, but she was bold as well.  As an added bonus, she could read again.

What happened with my friend is what generally happens with most people in the process of getting new glasses.  They think of the frames and how those frames will mesh with their own self-perception.  In the preceding case, that self-image was satisfied by disguising the clinical nature of the lens problem with wild and crazy frames.  (Either that or she was lying, and a genuine lens prescription brought to fruition her secret lifelong desire to sport tacky eyewear.  I can’t be sure.)

Although she voiced objection to glasses, citing her “egodystonic” thing, she really did have an idea about what her personality and personal style could tolerate—and then she sought and found it.  Fortunately, her prescription worked with her eccentric style and a heavenly match was made.  Sometimes, though, personal tastes and function are incompatible, but I’ll talk about that later.