Friday 10 November 2017

Weekly Update #208: How's Dave's Wrist & Other Questions...


10 comments:

Michael Grabowski said...

Even seeing his hand-lettered notes to Carson provides a geeky joy. New Dave Sim lettering! Maybe someday any hand-written notes of his to other will be like the notes Alex Toth wrote by hand. Great to look at and instructive as well.

Unknown said...

Dave buy an eink reader. You can enlarge the text and read your Bible without the magnifier..they're cheap, don't damage your eyes.

Glen said...

(sigh)

What is the difference between using a magnifying glass & buying a pair of prescription reading glasses?


Apparently your eyes will get use to later but not to the former according to Dave.


I've been wearing reading glasses since I turned 40. They don't damage my eye site. They correct my vision so that I can enjoy reading books.

I'll never understand Daves thinking.







Anonymous said...

While resisting the urge to correct your spelling and grammar, Glen, I have to say that I had the same question. That got half an eye roll from me.

Steve said...


Hi Dave -

So I've posted before on printing press subjects because, well, it's something I know a bit about, having run sheet-fed presses for 15+ years.

And I now know a bit about our eyes and eyesight: I'm an ophthalmic scrub tech, which means I participate in eye surgeries, preparing the sterile surgical field, instrumentation, and patient before surgeries.

The idea that our 'eye muscles' have a direct effect on our vision (or at least on focusing) is a myth. There are six muscles which attach to the globe of the eye, and they control ocular motion. They do not contribute to the ability to focus, to adjust focal distance to near or far objects (known as accommodation).

The two focusing lenses of the eye are the cornea (clear front part of our eyes) and the lens, which is positioned just behind the iris.

The lens is supported by ligaments known as zonules, and these zonules are able to constrict or relax, which changes the shape of the lens, which leads to our ability to focus near vs. far.

As we age, two things happen: the zonules can weaken, and the cellular structure in the lens capsule itself becomes more dense, and consequently less apt to accommodate.

As we age, we are welcomed into our dotage by Mother Nature / Father Time with a birthday gift known as cataracts. You will get them if you live long enough. I am more likely to get them at an earlier age than average because I live at a higher elevation (5,500 ft above sea level) and in a bright climate.

When we are young, the capsular lens is quite flexible and not dense, so our visual acuity is greater than as we age. Also the capsule has the unfortunate quality of continued cell growth all our life: the cells propagate with no where to go, the lens becomes more dense, and the ability to accommodate drops.

You are of course welcome to use a handheld magnifying glass; it will limit you to only having one free hand, but such is the cost of personal freedom in this instance.

Or you can get a set of 'readers' as mentioned, or prescription glasses with magnification built in - only use them for your Scripture reading, it'll be the same as only using the magnifier only for your Scripture reading.

I hope you find this information helpful, Dave -

Steve

Carson Grubaugh said...

Steve,
I am going to fax this to Dave. I doubt he reads these comments any more.

I was already considering trying to describe the problem of the issue of trapped cells in the lens to him, but obviously am not the expert you are, so this is great! Thank you.

Steve said...


Carson -

I was thinking too of trying to give Dave a call some weekend; if you haven't already sent that fax and you happen to see this post, please also ask Dave if he's interested in talking to me about this.

And for such a tiny member of our body, it's amazing how many different things can go wrong with the eye, and the surgeries which have been developed to accomplish some level of correction.

Steve

Glen said...

@Steve @Carson

Dave doesn't see a contradiction using a wrist brace to help with his hand & wearing a pair of prescription reading glasses so I'm afraid your wasting your time trying to reason with him.

An e-reader like a Kindle would be a great idea but it's hard downloading the Quran or the Bible with a fax machine.

Carson Grubaugh said...

Steve,

Sorry, I hadn't seen that when I sent it.

I agree with Glen that all of the information in the world is unlikely to change his opinion, but it was worth a try.

When Dave posted about his wrist getting slightly better I called him and explained that the point on the wrist he identified as being a problem sounded a lot like where I was experiencing pain by the end of the bridging sequences on SDAOR. Some research about wrist and pain led me to the conclusion that I was pinching my Ulnar Nerve; cubital tunnel syndrome. I started doing Ulnar Nerve glide exercises and things got a lot better.

Dave's response was a slightly confusing story that led me to understand he thinks a bone chipped, or a small bone came loose, in his wrist and has now started moving away from the initial area of pain to a point further up the arm. Zero interest expressed in trying some of these simple wrist exercises I was trying to tell him about.

But, call anyway. Never hurts.

Glen said...

@Carson


I can't remember if Dave had an Ultrasound, MRI or X Ray (or all 3) for his wrist a couple of years ago in the US.

But an MRI or XRay would show bone chips.

Of course Dave didn't have a local doctor/surgeon look into these test results so no one including Dave knows the extent of the injury.

My head is exploding.