Of all possible options There are two types of vision correction that are used most often: spectacle and contact correction. Both methods have their positive and negative sides, so they are used under different circumstances.

Many people with vision problems are familiar with all the methods, but try to focus on just one. In today's article we will look at whether it is possible to wear both lenses and glasses together, is such proximity useful or dangerous?

In what cases is it appropriate to combine?

All ophthalmologists answer this question positively. Really, you can wear both of these vision aids together. But not in every case. However, there are special circumstances in which such sharing especially appropriate. Let's consider each case in detail.

Protection from bright sun

Almost all modern ones have an indication on the packaging of the degree of protection against
ultraviolet radiation. These numbers indicate what percentage of harmful solar radiation will reach the cornea. But such lenses do not protect against direct bright light and the discomfort associated with it.

Many people wear contact lenses with sunglasses. Using these products in pairs perfectly improves vision in the light and at dusk and does not harm the eyes. In addition, you can choose the model that best suits your face. The range of choice for regular sunglasses is much wider than for similar ones with diopters.

IMPORTANT! It is worth choosing sunglasses from trusted optics - cheap plastic distorts the image. This will negatively affect vision if you have myopia or astigmatism.

When driving

A special need for sunglasses arises when driving. The blinding sun often becomes a provoking factor in minor and major accidents. Similar situations arise when you are blinded by the headlights of oncoming cars or glare from wet asphalt.

Several types of glasses have been developed for drivers to reduce the danger of the sun and headlights. These are special anti-reflective, polarized or photochromic varieties. Among them there are also models with diopters, but the price for them will reach high figures. It is much more convenient to wear corrective contact lenses with driving glasses.

More is better

For people with very poor vision, there is a way to increase the size of surrounding objects.

To do this, strong lenses with negative diopters are used simultaneously with “plus” glasses. In this case, the image that appears on the retina becomes several times larger. This effect is called telescopy.

Of course, in this case the field of view narrows and only objects in the center become clearly visible. But for people with very poor vision, such a correction becomes a salvation.

Special fashion

Most teenagers to whom an ophthalmologist recommends glasses categorically refuse it. The frames stand out strongly on the face, attracting attention. Previously, such children were laughed at because of their characteristics. Today there is a whole trend, whose adherents believe that the thicker the glass of glasses, the more attractive a person looks.

GOC – glasses over contacts or glasses over contact lenses. GOC fans are naturally good eyesight or slight refractive errors. For the sake of the desire to wear glasses with thick lenses, they purchase minus lenses and compensate for them with plus frames. This kind of love is considered a variant of fetishism - love for frames with the thickest lenses.

IMPORTANT! Wearing this together may cause pain in the head and eyes. You should regularly see an ophthalmologist, as vision may decrease towards myopia.

More options for changing eye color

Using a combination of two vision correction products, a truly new image is created. The range of colored lenses without correction is very wide: you can choose both natural colors and completely unusual, carnival colors.

If you wear them together with frames with the usual diopters, then the person will be completely unrecognizable!

Is it necessary to take turns wearing?

If contact lenses suit a person and do not cause discomfort, then it is difficult to refuse them. But even high-quality and expensive ones cannot be worn all the time. The thinnest porous hydrogel reduces access to the cornea of ​​oxygen and nutrients. She is experiencing nutritional deficiencies. As a result, this results in constantly red eyes and many blood vessels near the iris.

That's why In addition to lenses, you should always have a pair of glasses. After 8-10 hours, it is better to change contact correction to spectacle correction and give your eyes the opportunity to rest and eat normally. This will reduce the harm caused by long-term use of contact correction.

But if you need to choose just one, watch this video:

REFERENCE! The diopters of correctly selected glasses and lenses are not the same. This is completely normal and is due to different distances to the eye.

If you pay close attention to your vision, all eye problems can be avoided. It so happens that you have both glasses and contact lenses in your life - don’t give up either of them. Both of these tools, both together and separately, will be an excellent help in order to always see clearly and clearly.

Do you know how to wear glasses and contacts correctly? “Well, it’s easy,” you answer. In fact, in order not to spoil your vision instead of improving it, glasses and contact lenses must be worn and selected correctly. We will give you some tips on how to choose the right glasses and contact lenses.

Consult an ophthalmologist

Glasses and contact lenses can only be selected by a doctor based on the results of diagnostics carried out on modern equipment. Without examination by an ophthalmologist using modern methods diagnostics it is impossible to say with accuracy why you see poorly (farsightedness, nearsightedness, astigmatism). “Poor vision” is a fairly broad concept, the cause of which can be a variety of eye diseases. And only astigmatism can figure this out.

Buy glasses only in optics or special stores

If you want to buy a frame that you like (and, in your opinion, is of high quality) in the subway or a kiosk, do not deny yourself this. But you shouldn’t buy glasses there, even with lenses that match your diopters.

1. Firstly, are you confident in the basic quality of these glasses?
2. Secondly, remember that when making glasses, not only diopter is taken into account.

The distance between people's eyes is different, and it must be very accurately adjusted between the center of one glass and the other.

Otherwise, after a while you will feel discomfort, and without understanding why it arose, you may constantly wearing such glasses will cause new vision problems. Therefore, order glass installation only with a prescription from a pharmacy or specialty store.

Read the instructions

Under no circumstances should you violate the instructions for wearing contact lenses. And we, unfortunately, are not used to carefully following directions. But in the case of contact lenses, breaking the rules “slowly” can cause serious problems.

Improper processing and storage, exceeding the wearing period, sleeping in contact lenses not intended for this purpose lead to the ingrowth of blood vessels into the cornea, malnutrition of the cornea, and its diseases. Remember this!

Of course, you can become a “violator” unintentionally. Then, especially don’t wait until something starts to worry you, see a doctor! If you wear contact lenses and are planning to undergo excimer laser correction, please note that patients who wore contact lenses and did not take the necessary precautions before undergoing laser correction treatment is usually required. Moreover, the recovery period after correction in these cases is longer due to impaired nutrition of the cornea. Neglecting obvious things can lead to serious complications.

Get checked regularly by a specialist

Many people know that before choosing contact lenses or glasses you must visit a doctor, but they often simply do not know that then (also mandatory!) you need to undergo periodic eye examinations.

If contact lenses are of high quality and well selected, this does not mean that you no longer need to contact a specialist.

The lens is a foreign body for our eye; it can cause changes that are unnoticeable at first. This correction method should be handled with the utmost care, following all instructions. But even in this case, a doctor should monitor the condition of the eyes.

Glasses seem to us to be the safest and most proven method of correction. But keep in mind that over time, your vision may change, and eye diseases may appear. This will require a new approach to your problems. And the sooner they are discovered, the sooner their solution will begin. This means that the greater the likelihood of maintaining the maximum possible visual acuity in your case.

An annual vision test is mandatory for all people, even those with normal vision. If you wear contact lenses or glasses, be sure to ask your ophthalmologist how often you need to visit him.

The debate about what is better to use for vision correction - glasses or contact lenses - has not subsided for a long time. Some people prefer glasses exclusively, others choose only lenses. Each side has its own truth. But in some conditions (working at a computer, being in the sun, driving a car), the question arises whether it is possible to wear glasses with lenses and what you need to pay attention to when wearing them together.

For those who choose lenses for vision correction, ophthalmologists recommend not to forget about the existence of glasses and periodically replace the lenses with them. These little helpers are perceived by the eyes as a foreign body, so the eyes sometimes need rest. For myopia, the doctor will prescribe glasses with diverging lenses, for farsightedness - with converging lenses.

Regardless of what was preferred, it is important to remember that in both the first and second cases, the selection should be carried out by a doctor. Incorrectly selected visual correction products can lead to additional vision problems, which may become irreversible.

How to protect your eyes from ultraviolet exposure

Not many people think about this, but sun rays have an effect not only on the skin, but also on the cornea of ​​the eye. This happens not only in the summer, but all year round. There is a theory that the lens becomes cloudy, trying to protect the eye from exposure to ultraviolet radiation, and without surgery the consequences cannot be corrected. Therefore, it is necessary to protect your eyes from the sun and this can be done by choosing one of three options:

Contact lenses with UV filter. There are a sufficient number of them on the market: both vision-correcting and cosmetic color ones. Such lenses absorb up to 90% of ultraviolet radiation. But it is important to remember that they only protect that part of the eye that they directly cover;

Sunglasses. The fashion for them changes every year, read more about fashion trends in women's sunglasses at the link. It is a mistaken belief that the darker the glass, the better protection they provide. If you choose quality glasses, then pay attention to the lens category (from 1 to 4). The lower the category, the more ultraviolet light the glass transmits. Glasses of the second category are suitable for the city, and third for going outdoors. The fourth category is for southern latitudes and mountains, you cannot drive with such glasses. For those who suffer from visual impairments, you can choose special sunglasses with diopters.

Wearing sunglasses and contact lenses together is a good choice for people with less than perfect vision. The eye is maximally protected from aggressive sun exposure and, at the same time, there is no need to remove the usual contact lenses.

First aid for eyes when working at a computer

At the same time, you have to wear lenses with glasses when working at the computer. Glasses designed for computer use are not intended to correct vision. Their function is:

• relieving fatigue;
• improving performance;
• eliminating glare;
• filtering harmful radiation;
• increasing contrast and clarity.

Therefore, wearing such “second eyes” together with lenses is not only possible, but also necessary.

An indispensable assistant on the road

Separately, it is worth saying that special chameleon glasses will be useful on the road. The lenses in them darken depending on the amount of light. With their help, the eye rests, since it is protected for as long as needed at a particular moment. Due to their features, such glasses are not cheap, and if the driver needs additional vision correction, the price increases even more. In this case, wearing glasses before lenses is a smart approach that provides additional safety and savings.

Briefly about GOC

Having touched on the topic of wearing lenses together with glasses, one cannot help but mention the GOC (glasses over contacts) trend that has become fashionable abroad.

Young people there specially order glasses with a large minus to combine with plus lenses, creating a telescopic system to increase the optical power of the lenses. This practice has long been used in Europe to correct the vision of the visually impaired, but due to its high cost, it has not yet taken root here. However, young people belonging to the GOC movement set their goal not so much to improve their vision as to follow fashion trends.

Many will say: “Why? Isn't just one thing enough? It’s inconvenient and ugly!” However, abroad the concept of GOC is becoming very popular in certain circles. which can be deciphered as “glasses over contacts”. Translated from English, this means “glasses over contact lenses.”

The use of glasses and contact lenses simultaneously has been known for a long time. Their combined use forms the so-called telescopic system, which is used in the visually impaired, as well as in people with a combination of presbyopia and ametropia. This system magnifies the image on the retina. In this case, a negative contact lens with a large minus (–5.0 to –28.0 D) and a positive spectacle glass are put on. Using the described telescopic system, it is possible to achieve an increase in the image on the retina by 1.5 -2.2 times, and visual acuity increases by 1.5 -3.5 times. However, in the CIS this technique is practically not used due to the fact that glasses and contact lenses are quite expensive, and visually impaired patients, as a rule, do not have enough money, and besides, older people cannot use contact lenses.

From all this we can conclude: the use of glasses over contact lenses has long been known to correct low vision and presbyopia.

However, GOC fans strive for the exact opposite - they create a combination of contact lenses and glasses that will significantly increase the optical power of the lenses, making these lenses and glasses as thick and visible as possible. To do this, they typically use a combination of strong negative glasses on top of positive lenses. However, this leads to some undesirable effects - the size of objects is reduced, the periphery is blurred, but characteristically vision remains clear.

The GOC course is quite popular in Europe and the USA. There are clinics and companies that specifically select and manufacture high-power spectacle lenses. On the foreign Internet you can find forums and websites dedicated to GOC. These people are willing to spend a lot of money to satisfy their desire to wear thick and strong glasses.

Many people who wear GOCs experience great pleasure from using them. As they themselves say: they like to feel the weight of glasses on their face, to catch the gaze of people interested in them. They feel cool, stylish, relaxed and satisfied wearing these glasses.

Many who use GOC find girls with thick glasses sexually attractive, believing that glasses with thick lenses only enhance, emphasize their beauty and increase their sexual attractiveness.

According to psychologists, GOC refers to the so-called. eye fetishism. They call it eye fetishism strong desire wear sunglasses or corrective glasses, as well as a friendly attitude towards people who wear glasses. Some GOC fans are men who don't wear glasses, but like girls with very thick glasses (as some men prefer with a particular body shape, hair color, or eye color). Some GOC fans use properly fitted contact lenses that allow them to see clearly through thick glasses, and some wear overcorrected glasses for long periods of time hoping. that over time these glasses will fit them. Many GOC fans share experiences and photos of people wearing glasses.

The use of both glasses and contact lenses at the same time has been known for a long time. Their combined use helps to form the so-called telescopy, which is indispensable for the visually impaired and people whose vision pathology is a combination of presbyopia and ametropia. Such a system is capable of enlarging the image on the retina to a state of comfortable vision. The whole secret is that the contact lens you put on has a negative value with a large minus (5.0 to 28.0D), and the lenses of the glasses are made positive.

Using such a telescopic system, it is easy to achieve 1.5 -2.2 times magnification of images on the retina. Visual acuity improves by 1.5 -3.5 times. True, in the CIS this technique is used very rarely due to the fact that both contact lenses and such glasses are quite expensive, and patients who have become visually disabled usually do not have the necessary amount of money, and older people simply do not know how to use contact lenses.

However, GOC fans have slightly different goals - to make the glass of both glasses and lenses as thick and visible as possible. To do this, a combination of glasses and contact lenses is made, which allows you to significantly increase the optical power of the lenses. As a rule, a combination of strong negative glasses and positive lenses is used for this. True, this combination leads to some side effects- the size of objects decreases, the periphery blurs, but vision remains clear

According to psychologists, GOC is nothing more than so-called eye fetishism. Similar manifestations include an irresistible desire to wear sunglasses or corrective glasses, as well as a special affection for people who use such glasses. Some male GOC fans do not wear such designs themselves, but they are incredibly attracted to girls wearing glasses with very thick lenses (similar to fans certain type body shape, hair or eye color). There are even entire dating sites for GOC followers with an abundance of photos of young and not-so-young faces with massive eyepieces on their noses.

It is worth saying that not all GOC fans use systems with properly selected lenses that make it possible to see clearly through thick glasses. Some wear overcorrection, hoping that one day these glasses will fit them.

Why wear glasses over contact lenses?

In certain circles abroad, the concept of GOC, which stands for glassesovercontacts, is becoming increasingly popular. Literally translated, this means glasses over contact lenses. I wonder why such a cunning device is needed?

Use of glasses. and contact lenses at the same time has been known for a long time. Their combined use helps to form the so-called telescopy, which is indispensable for the visually impaired and people whose vision pathology is a combination of presbyopia and ametropia. Such a system is capable of enlarging the image on the retina to a state of comfortable vision. The whole secret is that the contact lens you put on has a negative value with a large minus (5.0 to 28.0D), and the lenses of the glasses are made positive.

With the help of such a telescopic system, it is easy to achieve a 1.5-2.2-fold increase in images on the retina, while visual acuity improves by 1.5-3.5 times. True, in the CIS this technique is used very rarely due to the fact that contact lenses are used. and such glasses are quite expensive, and patients who have become visually disabled usually do not have the necessary amount of money, and older people simply do not know how to use contact lenses.

Actually, the conclusion is simple: the use of glasses together with contact lenses as a way to correct low vision, as well as presbyopia, has been known for a long time.

However, GOC fans have slightly different goals - to make glass and glasses. and lenses as thick and visible as possible. For this purpose, a combination of glasses and contact lenses is made. which allows you to significantly increase the optical power of the lenses. As a rule, a combination of strong negative glasses and positive lenses is used for this. True, this combination leads to some side effects - the size of objects is reduced, the periphery is blurred, but vision remains clear

The GOC movement is quite popular in the US and Europe. There are even clinics and companies that manufacture or select lenses for high-power glasses. There are foreign Internet sites and forums dedicated to GOC communities. These people are ready to shell out a lot of money to satisfy their desire to hide their eyes behind thick glasses.

Many people who use GOC find great pleasure in wearing them. The main factors of the resulting pleasure are: the weight of this not light unit on the face and the interested glances of passers-by. According to many, GOC people look cool, stylish and confident, which brings them a certain satisfaction.

In addition, many GOC users find girls with thick glasses sexually attractive, claiming that glasses with very thick lenses serve as a real decoration, highlighting their beauty.

According to psychologists, GOC is nothing more than the so-called eye fetishism. Similar manifestations include an irresistible desire to wear sunglasses or corrective glasses. as well as a special affection for people who use such glasses. Some male GOC fans do not wear such designs themselves, but they are incredibly attracted to girls wearing glasses with very thick lenses (similar to lovers of a certain body type, hair color or eye color). There are even entire dating sites for GOC followers with an abundance of photos of young and not-so-young faces with massive eyepieces on their noses.

It is worth saying that not all GOC fans use systems with properly selected lenses that make it possible to see clearly through thick glasses. Some walk with hypercorrection, in the hope that one day these Best choice You will find sunglasses and contact lenses on our website Optic Land! will suit them.

You might be interested

Forum of the website “Leonid Nekin’s Educational Project”

I read in the next topic about the treatment of myopia with plus glasses. I tried my version of this method for three weeks without two days - I want to write my first impressions.
I do it simply - for several hours during the day I wear +1 glasses on top of my regular contact lenses (I wear undercorrected ones). In the morning I get up, put on contacts and glasses, and get ready for work. Then I go to work without glasses. Then I work for the first half of the day wearing glasses (at this time I don’t need to see very clearly), then for two hours without glasses, and then at the computer - again wearing glasses. I go home without glasses, and at home I take off my contact lenses and walk either with or without glasses. At first I wore glasses when I walked down the street, but now I’m kind of lazy.

Impressions. The result is almost immediate, literally in the first two days: it seems that some kind of spasm is being relieved. The improvement is not the same as with flashes, I still somehow don’t really understand whether the clarity has improved or not. Everything just becomes very bright, voluminous and real! There was a feeling that there was less fog between objects - on the sixth day of classes I just shook an ordinary bush! - I suddenly saw that each leaf in it was on its own, and there was space between them! The fields of vision have expanded, usually I see as if in a narrow beam, but here there is such space! The feeling that you are looking from the bottom of your eyes, and most importantly, it is the feeling of the extraordinary reality of what is visible. The impression that you can touch objects with your gaze. As if the eyes had come out of some kind of paralysis.
But in terms of clarity, I don’t understand. The general impression is that my vision has become much better, but I have my own test - at work, from the height of my considerable height, I have to see small and pale numbers in the printout lying on the table. So I don't notice any special changes. More precisely, in winter I wore lenses -4.75, and now -4.0. But in the summer I always lower the diopters in my glasses/lenses - the lighting is different and I see better in the summer.

Also on topic - I’m a little over forty, but I haven’t noticed any signs of age-related farsightedness yet (I knit lace from bobbin silk - no problem.

Maybe someone will also try this method - then write your impressions, please!!

I decided to continue - but not with just plus glasses, but with Ermoshin glasses (anti-glasses). I have these minus ones, I knitted in them for a while and felt comfortable in them, even when I was weak headache filmed. Maybe if I make a plus and put it on top of the lenses when working close, then I’ll get exactly what I need.

I studied for about a year according to Bates/Norbekova/their followers. The result was, my eyes adjusted, there were glimpses, I gave up glasses, I really began to see better, having reached a certain level everything got stuck, there was no progress - but I still came to the conclusion that it was just my eyes that had adjusted to the maximum possible. The results from the ophthalmologists showed that vision did not improve. I gave up on this matter. I began to see worse again (but my vision remained the same as -5).

Recently I casually read an article about how a Soviet scientist experimented and used reverse diopter to improve vision. Those. If you have myopia, you treated it with plus glasses. I took my mother’s plus glasses (+2) and sat in them for half a day at work. The next day, for some reason, I saw better - but then I didn’t understand what was the matter, I even forgot about working with plus glasses. A couple of days later I worked again for an hour or two in plus glasses, and oops - I saw better again.

And now it feels like it’s not at all like the glimpses of Bates and the semblance of their exercises. There are no glares here, I blink and objects that are blurry within 3 seconds gather in a heap and become clearer, and this lasts for a long time - until the next blink. I can try again and again wait 3 seconds. Then I started blinking and piecing together on purpose often (I overcame the desire to not be able to see or bleed!) - I blinked every 3-4 seconds and every time everything lumped together - even my eyes somehow got tired after these exercises - it was like after a long workout with a window with precise near and far. It lasts a couple of hours and seems to go away, but comes back again - and this is after just two days with glasses (every other day). I repeat, these gatherings in a heap are completely different from glimpses according to Zhdanov and so on.

I started digging around on the forums and saw the following review:

My vision was -2.25. This is my second month wearing +0.75 lenses. I can’t be happier, neither fatigue nor headaches after paperwork, and in general when you take pictures you see 2 lines better, but yesterday I was generally happy. I lost my prescription for contact lenses and went to write them out, supposedly for stress (in Lithuania this is the only way they give them, everything is strict), and so, after checking, the doctor announced that my vision was -1.75. I dropped half a diopter

I have corrected myopia.
Laser keratectomy was performed 15 years ago.
However, every year a new misfortune befell. Astigmatism.
This feeling began to develop that if you did not change your inner content, then your eyes should not see clearly.
From above, the task of the body is to blur its vision.
This is why most bespectacled people are either suspicious natures or lovers of self-examination.
Cheerful and energetic people always have good eyesight.

So, when progressive astigmatism began to greatly interfere with my life, I returned to searching for solutions.
It is useless to operate. Complex lenses are expensive and stupid. The problem is me. In my psychophysiology. In my worldview.
In addition to studying to change my worldview, I also began testing various methods on myself.

Blinking helps me with astigmatism. Butterfly exercise. Collect the blurry images for a short time.
Falling tears also tune the eyes. The effect is unclear. Here, it seems, both optics and bioenergy work in tandem.
Yoga and qigong have techniques aimed at developing vision.

I’m also trying plus points.
Indeed, small advantages adjust and train your vision.

Experiment. Monitor your mood and level of internal energy.
Smile. At least to myself. Habitual petty grievances and soul-searching ruin us and our eyes.

The English-speaking Internet is now awash with materials dedicated to GOC, which literally means “glasses over contact lenses.” What is the reason for GOC's popularity abroad? What are the prospects for the development of this trend in Russia?

From time to time, the Internet portal site gives us unusual topics for articles that have not previously attracted attention. This time, the reason for the “journalistic investigation” was the concept hidden under the abbreviation GOC, which stands for “glasses over contacts.” Translated into Russian, this means “glasses on top of contact lenses,” which is becoming increasingly popular in certain circles abroad. What made us think about this trend was a question from one of the forum participants, a site named Sergey, who asked: “What do you think of the huge English-language material about GOC, why is it so developed there and why is it not in Russia? For what purpose is this done in Europe and America, where there are special clinics specializing in and advertising GOC? Is this system constantly used for some specific purposes or is it a fashion, like piercing? Maybe it helps reduce overly large eyes or, for example, different pupil sizes, like mine? In this connection, I’m wondering if this would suit me, since it’s not pleasant to constantly explain that different sizes pupils are not dangerous to my opponent.” Let's try to understand this issue.

COMBINED USE OF GLASSES AND CONTACT LENSES

The practice of using glasses and contact lenses together is not new. Turning to the literature, in particular to the book by A. A. Kivaev and E. G. Shapiro “Contact vision correction”, in the section “Selection of telescopic systems with contact lenses in patients with low vision” we find the following recommendations for the correction of low vision:

“Patients with visual acuity in the better eye of 0.05-0.2 constitute a significant number. For the rehabilitation of low vision, optical means are used that magnify the image on the retina (telescopic glasses, projection devices, hyperoculars, etc.), which have a number of disadvantages that make their use difficult. Thus, the most common of them - telescopic glasses - are heavy, narrow the field of view, and are not aesthetically pleasing. Back in the thirties of our century, the combination “contact lens - spectacle glass” was proposed as a magnifying system (Dallos J., 1936). In this case, a negative contact lens was placed on the eye and a positive spectacle glass was used. When selecting contact lenses for emmetropia, as well as for small degrees of myopia and hyperopia, it is recommended to use lenses with a refraction from -19.0 to -28.0 D, for high hyperopia - from -5.0 to -16.0 D. Based on testing visual acuity, changing the optical power of the contact lens and spectacle glass, achieving maximum visual acuity. Hard ones are recommended as contact lenses, since it is difficult for the visually impaired to manipulate the lenses, and they often damage the more “delicate” SCLs. In addition, rigid contact lenses are better at correcting astigmatism and compensating for aberrations.”

IN methodological manual A. P. Lyutinskaya and S. N. Mikhailova “Principles of vision correction” in the section where we're talking about about the correction of presbyopia in patients with ametropia who present asthenopic complaints when using bifocal or progressive spectacle lenses, it is said that one of the most simple methods is the correction of refractive error with hard or soft contact lenses with additional spectacle correction for near.

Next, we decided to seek advice from specialists. Irina Leshchenko - Candidate of Medical Sciences, medical advisor for professional issues at Johnson & Johnson Vision Care, Associate Professor of the Department of Ophthalmology at the Institute for Advanced Studies of the Federal Medical and Biological Agency of Russia - said that the joint use of glasses and contact lenses has been known for a long time. Ophthalmologists use glasses over contact lenses in cases where the deficiency or excess of refraction cannot be compensated for by contact lenses alone; in addition, they are prescribed for the correction of presbyopia in nearsighted people with a high degree of myopia. These are isolated cases that do not occur very often, so when teaching contact vision correction, this possibility is simply pointed out. It is also possible to combine “minus” contact lenses and “plus” glasses for the correction of low vision; a similar technique is described in the above-mentioned book “Contact vision correction”. However, in Russia this method of correcting low vision is practically not used, since glasses and contact lenses are quite expensive, and visually impaired patients, as a rule, do not have sufficient income to purchase such expensive optics, and many of them are older people , and they cannot use contact lenses. In addition, low vision can become an obstacle to performing manipulations with contact lenses. Ulyana Dyadina - Candidate of Medical Sciences, ophthalmologist, medical optics consultant at Grand Vision Company LLC - noted that in addition to the correction of low vision, there are other indications for using glasses over contact lenses: for example, the correction of presbyopia, the correction of high ametropia degrees with astigmatism, prismatic correction. As for Sergei, who wants to reduce the difference in pupil sizes with the help of GOC, he will have to answer that this method is not suitable for him, it is better for him to try decorative contact lenses.

In general, it can be stated that the method of using glasses over contact lenses has long been known and is acceptable for the correction of some complex cases of ametropia, correction of presbyopia, and when correcting low vision, it allows you to avoid bulky telescopic glasses. However, GOC apologists and fans strive for exactly the opposite - they want a combination of contact lenses and glasses that will significantly increase the optical power of the lenses, making these lenses and glasses as thick and visible as possible.

FANS OF THICK spectacle lenses ABOUT THEMSELVES

If you dial at any search engine abbreviation GOC, you will find many links to forums, websites, discussions in “live journals”, where GOC fans talk about their needs and share their experiences.

So, a user under the nickname Karan, originally from India, asks: “How can you make the lenses of your glasses thicker? In an amateur play in college, I played a man with very thick glasses who couldn't see anything without them. My refraction is +2.5 diopters. And now I want to have glasses like these myself. I chose a plastic frame, lenses made of material with a refractive index of 1.56. But they are not thick enough. Are there lower refractive index lenses available in India? Does anyone have any ideas on how to make the lenses thicker?”

They answer him:
- If you are interested in thick glasses, then search the Internet for GOC (glasses over contacts). There are many people who use a combination of positive contact lenses with glasses, which allows them to achieve high refraction of spectacle lenses. Search and you will find a lot of advice.
- Try ordering framed glasses large size- in them your lenses +2.5 diopters will be much thicker.
- They can make your lenses as thick as you want. You just need to ask to increase the thickness in the center.
- Tell the optical salon that you do not want thin lenses. Today they make thin lenses for everyone without asking. But they should have thick lenses for those who can't afford thin ones.

And here is what Bobby Laurell from the Czech Republic writes: “I love wearing glasses, especially with thick lenses. I specifically purchased a pair of “plus” contact lenses to make my regular glasses stronger. On the Internet, this trick is called GOC, which means “glasses over contacts.” I knew that people like me existed, although I had never met a GOC user yet. I didn’t have a chance to see anyone who liked that their partner wore strong and thick glasses. I purchased some very strong glasses online from a company in Taiwan that provides a special service for GOC fans. It sells and installs lenses with optical refraction up to ±30 diopters into glasses. I was very happy when I received my order: a box of glasses, the lenses of which had a refraction of -16 diopters; they were very thick around the edges, but light. I immediately went for a walk in my new glasses, and noticed that people were looking at my glasses in a cafe in shopping center, where I stopped for lunch. I didn’t mind, but rather enjoyed being looked at by strangers. I don’t know what I would answer if someone I knew asked me why I wear ugly thick glasses instead of my usual ones with thin lenses.” This same Bobby Laurell runs his own website and blog, where everyone shares their experiences and talks about their successes in using GOC. The site contains many stories and recommendations on how to achieve the thickest lenses possible, and many photographs of attractive girls wearing glasses with high-diopter negative lenses that can be ordered.

To see clearly with GOC, you need to properly balance the power of your contact lenses and glasses, Bobby points out. This is not so easy to calculate, but for those interested, the website provides a table in MS Excel format that will help you choose what you need.

Here are some more quotes from Yahoo! Groups:

Not many people use GOC. Some do it for fun, satisfying their desire to wear thick and strong glasses. No one could explain how this desire arises and how it disappears. But the fact is a fact: among people there are those who want to wear very strong glasses and are willing to spend a lot of money to satisfy this need. Wearing well-fitted GOCs is a special feeling. You see everything quite clearly, but at the same time you feel the weight of the glasses on your face, and surrounding objects seem smaller or larger - depending on whether you use negative glasses lenses on top of positive contact lenses or vice versa. I have never tried wearing positive spectacle lenses over negative contact lenses, but a friend of mine described his experience. He said the image was like looking through binoculars.

When using my GOC with -20 diopter spectacle lenses over positive contact lenses, the size of objects is reduced, the periphery is blurred, but I can drive a car normally in them. When I wear GOC I feel cool, calm, balanced and very content. I feel that the person is strong glasses The one that others look up to is the true self. I know that many people don't like to wear glasses unless they have very strong and thick lenses. Some of them consider me unattractive and express regret that because of my weak eyes I have to wear such glasses. But I know that my soul and body were made for thick glasses.

Another aspect of GOC use is sexual. Like many GOC users, I like women with thick glasses. The fact that they wear such glasses does not detract from their beauty. On the contrary, their glasses and thick lenses only enhance their sexual attractiveness.

Thanks for the interesting topic. I have always been interested in strong positive lenses, although I am myopic -4 dioptres, but with the help of an optometrist I was able to choose GOC: contact lenses -10 dioptres and glasses +6 dioptres. I often wear this combination of contact lenses and glasses and enjoy the optical experience.

To conclude this section, we note that demand creates supply. Those who want thicker lenses can contact, for example, the Hong Kong company Optical4Less. The company guarantees customers special lens thickness, offers lenses for GOC and any special glasses. Nothing is impossible, as stated on the company’s website. There you can also see samples of spectacle lenses made from material with a low refractive index: -20.00 diopters with an edge thickness of 12 mm; -30.00 diopters with an edge thickness of 17 mm; -18.00 diopters with an edge thickness of 18 mm from a material with extremely low rate refraction; +16.00 diopters (lenses with rectangular frames) or +15.00 diopters (lenses with round frames) with a center thickness of 15 mm.

WHY IS THE OBSESSION WITH GLASSES?

According to experts, GOC is a type of fetishism that refers to the so-called eye fetishism.* Eye fetishism is an irresistible desire to wear corrective glasses or sunglasses, as well as attraction to people who wear glasses. Although eye fetishism is not a paraphilia, it sometimes develops to extreme cases bordering on it. Some fetishists use carefully designed contact lenses that allow them to see through very strong glasses - which is called GOC. Others use overcorrection for years in the hope that eventually they will need these strong glasses. There are those who actively participate in online communities, talking about their experiences of wearing strong glasses, exchanging them and reselling them, posting photos of people wearing such glasses. Some of the GOC fans are men who simply like women with very strong glasses, and this predilection is similar to how some prefer women with a certain color hair or figure.

Why do people have a strong obsession with glasses? An article by David Ryan entitled "Psychology", published in the American optical professional magazine EyeCare Professional magazine, discusses the causes of eye fetishism. It is difficult to name one - the only reason, the author notes. Some may remember when the obsession with glasses began, while others claim that it is innate to them. As a rule, interest arises at a fairly young age, when a person meets someone with glasses who makes a huge positive impression on him. At such a moment, what happens in the brain chemical reaction, releasing endorphins, which are often called natural opioids, and imprinting pleasure on the stimulus that induces it is formed. This imprinting is temporary, and if it is associated with something innocent, like admiration for a person with glasses, then the emerging obsession is quite harmless. Imprinting can become dangerous if it occurs as a result of addiction to pornography, drugs and other illegal activities.

PROSPECTS FOR THE COMBINED USE OF GLASSES AND CONTACT LENSES IN RUSSIA

Having interviewed a number of employees of optical enterprises, we were convinced that they had not heard about the fashion at GOC and they had never yet had orders from those wishing to purchase glasses with very thick lenses. On the contrary, when ready-made glasses are issued, there are many complaints that the glasses lenses are not thin enough. On a topic that interests us, we talked, in particular, with the production manager of the Optic Mekk St. Petersburg company, Alexander Ryabinin. He did not recall a single order for glasses with unusually thick lenses. All of the cases in which he had to increase the thickness of the lenses were due to the client having anisometropia, and increasing the thickness of the lens with lower optical power improved the cosmetic appearance of the glasses. The majority of opticians surveyed expressed doubt that the GOC fashion will take root in Russia: firstly, it is expensive, secondly, it does not provide high-quality vision, and thirdly, our people find other methods of self-expression. However, one of our interlocutors told a curious case when the employees of his salon happened to select a combination of contact lenses and strong glasses for a conscript, although they did not know that it was called GOC. U young man had a refraction of -5.00 diopters, he was prescribed +3.00 diopters contact lenses and made the thickest glasses with -9.00 diopters lenses so that visual acuity was not optimal. Medical commission declared the young man unfit for military service due to his eyesight...
************ Ryan, D. Pseyecology / David Ryan // EyeCare Professional magazine: [website]. URL: http://www.ecpmag.com/1webmagazine/2010/05may/content/far_side/optical-fetishes-psEYEchology.asp (access date: 02/16/2011).

Shcherbakova Olga, Veko 04, 2011