5
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I've been wearing glasses for near-sightedness for almost my entire life but only yesterday got glasses to correct my astigmatism. The world now looks rather distorted. To name two examples, my computer monitor appears to be a trapezoid (long side on the left) and table and desks appear to be tilted at nearly a 30 degree angle. Covering one eye or the other provides a view not subject to this distortion; everything is very clear.

I've been wearing these glasses about 3 hours now (on and off with my old ones as I feel eye strain and headache) and the distortion has not lessened.

Is this normal to this degree? Should I return to my optometrist immediately or should I wait a few days?

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    From experience: I had the trapezoid thing at the beginning too, and it settled down. But I have a very low dioptre number, even though the rotation angle is high, so it was a small change for me. So I can't give you a full answer with citations, nor can I say what happens with such a high tilt. Watch out for seasickness in daily life!
    – rumtscho
    Sep 17, 2015 at 18:47

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4
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According to my eye doctor, this much distortion is not normal.

He checked the strength of my glasses and they were not made according to the prescription: the OS astigmatism correction was -0.50 rather than the written -0.25. Getting the glasses remade now.

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    I'm glad you posted this question. I don't have near nor farsightedness, so I've never worn glasses, but a few years ago I went for a checkup and it turns out I have a slight astigmatism. Things definitely look sharper with the glasses I got, but the distortion is so severe that I never wear them. I get the trapezoid thing, and strange perspectives, like my floor or ceiling is a steep slope but also not sloped at all, in my car it feels like I'm sunken into the road (only peripherally), it's so weird. Since I don't strain without the glasses I haven't bothered replacing, but maybe I should.
    – briantist
    Sep 18, 2015 at 16:50
  • Did you still see distortion after correction?
    – user541686
    Aug 12, 2019 at 2:36
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    @Mehrdad I did see minor distortion temporarily until my eyes adjusted.
    – Mooseman
    Aug 16, 2019 at 21:42
  • Ah okay, thanks!
    – user541686
    Aug 16, 2019 at 21:43

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