198

Air puff
Posted on January 4, 2021 by David M Willis

198 thoughts on “Air puff”

  1. Ana Chronistic

    my first time was like that, too

    after a while, it’s sorta, “that’s it?”

    of course I’ve also had to become accustomed to getting blood drawn like once a month and a 24-hour urine collection every six (yes, that’s as terrible as it sounds but at least I’m not (yet) to dialysis)

    1. Mydnyt

      I wish you all the good vibes and hope your kidneys behave themselves. My late wife spent her last two years on 3/week dialysis. It was a rough time. She still had her humor though and would joke that she was glad they couldn’t send her to labs for blood draws anymore. Her veins were so bad labs could barely get anything. But once she started dialysis they would forward all blood draw requests to them and the techs would do the draws right off the dialysis port.

    2. Dave Van Domelen

      After forty years of eye tests, I still find that puff of air super annoying. (But then, I have such a strong flinch reflex I get mentally worn out walking in snow blowing towards me, and I can’t do contacts.)

      1. JaneDoe

        Yeah, I’m 35 and the last time i got my eyes checked they had to do the air puff test at least a dozen times between the two eyes because my blink reflex is too strong. There is no medical test I’ve had done that I hate more than that stupid puff of air.

      2. JA

        I briefly worked at the base eye clinic when I was active duty. I tried putting on (in?) a contact lens one day when it was super slow, and gave up after 10 minutes of trying. My blink and “nothing goes in the eyes!” reflexes are way too strong.

      3. JetstreamGW

        I can deal with the air puff. The new ultra bright green light bullshit, however, can fuck right off.

        I don’t miss the eyedrops, but… Christ.

    3. brionl

      Yeah, I don’t mind the air puff that much either. Although they haven’t done it the last couple of years. I think they one they replaced it with is the thing where you have to move your whole head back and forward while staring at the tiny circle that changes colors.

      The most annoying one is when they dilate your eyes, then shine that super bright light in while you have to look in all weird directions and try not to blink.

      1. Cholma

        Oh yea, that super bright light HURTS.

      2. Chris

        Last time I went in, they’d gotten rid of the dilation. The replacement is still painfully bright, but when it’s over, it’s over.

      3. Needfuldoer

        The old slit lamp always feels like it’s searing a trench in your retina. At least the flash photo machine’s a one-shot deal that just leaves a round green afterimage for a couple minutes.

    4. Geneseepaw

      You have my total sympathy on all points. I used to hate having my blood drawn, I mean “awake in terror the whole night before” hate. And then I needed to have a Whole Bunch 5-7, every week for 16 weeks, only THIS time at a Big City Hospital. OMG, not only did they find the vein every time, but it didn’t hurt! No bruises! I love Big City Medicine!

      1. Ana Chronistic

        Blood draws haven’t hurt lately! I guess I’ve had so many the feeling is dead there ??

        1. Geneseepaw

          They just doing one bottle? Or 2? … or 4? 5? or 7? I think they did seven vials, because drawing a half pint all at once might have put me in the hospital.
          HemoTech: all most done, just one more!
          Me (using teach voice)> you just put that right back where you got it.

        2. Allen

          I donate plasma twice a week for many years now, and never even felt it for most of that time; but for the last year or so it’s like they are jamming a blunt pencil into my arm.

    5. poofdepoof

      I don’t remember my first time, but I’ve had glasses since early childhood so I suppose I’ve been accustomed to it for quite a long time

    6. HeySo

      ” my first time was like that, too
      after a while, it’s sorta, “that’s it?” ”

      By my experience, the force of the puff varies by doctor [ie, machine] (for whatever reason- I’ve no ideas on that, and google isn’t coming up with anything for me). Some feel like getting a squirt of water in the eye, others are completely ignorable, to the point of making you wonder if it even completed at all. In the end, it’s the anticipation+uncertainty that gets to you, making further tests worse than early ones..

      Well, I haven’t had any such experiences in a good while, so maybe it was just an issue with earlier machines being too forceful? I gotta agree with Needfuldoer above, though- the light test at its best is still way worse than the puff test ever is.

  2. Doctor_Who

    Fudge-A-Mania!

    1. clif

      Amazi-Fudge!

  3. Sirksome

    Needles in your eyes! Just kidding but I do hate that thing.

    1. Jeremy

      True story: I’ve recieved 4 injections in my eyeball over the past few months. It’s weird, but it’s not actually that bad. I’ve had worse in-arm vaccinations. The anxiety leading up to it SUCKS though. And the next 24hours or so of your brain saying “THERE’S SOMETHING IN YOUR EYE, DIG IT OUT DIG IT OUT!” and having to go “Hey, brain chill, it’s FINE” is annoying.

      1. Geneseepaw

        Total sympathy on this, too.

      2. Chris Phoenix

        I had LASIK. They actually take a blade and cut your cornea and fold it back, then blast a laser into your eye, then fold your cornea back over to close the incision.

        But if you’re of a very scientific mindset, you can be so curious about everything that you don’t have time to feel too weirded out about it.

        1. Bogeywoman

          Mnnoooooope

        2. Ana Chronistic

          Hahahaha glasses are BIG OK

        3. Ana Chronistic

          Oh yeah SO WEIRD STORY:

          Me: aagh I can’t do contacts, I hate things touching my eyes

          Husband: LOL *sticks finger right on eyeball*

          Me: ?

        4. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

          His eyeball or yours?

        5. Opus the Poet

          I actually won free LASIK for both eyes, but I have both a super strong correction and extreemely thin corneas, so no LASIK for me. In the meantime I will endeavor to not run into doorframes without my glasses. Those seem to be my weakpoints, doorframes.

        6. Blindness

          You aren’t alone…my niece has this issue and it sucks. Add in that she has mobility issues due to neuro issues makes her a walking catastrophe

        7. Needfuldoer

          Nope nope nope nopenopenopenopenopenopenopenope nnnnnnnnnnooooooooope.

          I’ll just wear glasses forever. That’s fine.

        8. Blindness

          Refraction…that’s basically what that is: they have to move the cornea to allow the laser to hit the right spot to change the angle of light so your vision is clear, like moving the knob on a telescope. With the cornea in the way, the laser would be refracted causing more damage to your vision making it worse than your pre-surgery vision had been

          It sounds bad, but it isn’t actually that bad once you know the science behidn it.

        9. Needfuldoer

          So they fillet your eye and then zap it with lasers, and you have to watch.

          That’s still a big ol’ nope from me. Eye stuff is my body horror weakess.

        10. ProjectXa3

          Wait, you’re AWAKE during that?!!

  4. Xccj

    Oh yeah, I hate the eye puff machine; I was wondering if Joyce was going to make it that far in.

  5. LiterallyJustSomeGuy

    Oh noes! The air puffs! I hoped Joyce could be saved, but they come! They come!

  6. AntJ

    this is what I thought of when Becky said “no needles in her eyes”

  7. DailyBrad

    I hate this test, too.

  8. cmasta1992

    The air puff machine is the worst.

    1. woobie

      No. The laser.

      I don’t know about cornea or lens lasers. I mean lasers to the retina.
      The anesthetic wore off while headed home and it felt like my eyeball was being boiled.

      1. woobie

        ps

        Especially if only one eye is having degraded vision, don’t let the optometrist tell you “you’re just getting older”. Insist on an opthamologist. Some damage is not repairable.

        1. Geneseepaw

          Yeah, this is the best advice. Ophthalmologist. All the way.
          And eat your leafy greens, avoid Mac.Degen.

        2. Clif

          Areds 2

        3. Geneseepaw

          Also an alternative.
          But I likes my meat, and my vegetables. Seriously addicted to FOOD!
          Trying to cut back, cause 2021 has not shown any change yet. Still eating Real Food. Where are my flying cars and meal in a pill? I was promised flying cars in the 21st century.

    2. Delavan

      Y’all clearly never had glaucoma tests. Those drops are way worse than the puff machine 🙂

  9. BBCC

    Yeeeeeaaaaaahhhhh, that’s the only way that was gonna go.

    1. BBCC

      Awwww, Lucy is a great temporary grav!

      1. Kyrik Michalowski

        Good luck on your continuing quest to find Sal.

        1. Kyrik Michalowski

          I’m also on a quest to find a new gravatar but every combo I try seems to be either Ruth or Joyce.

        2. HeatherJean

          Now I’m confused. People can’t get the gravatars they want?

          I’ve never problems with mine, and I’ve used it for nearly 20 years.

        3. thejeff

          They’re playing with the random gravatars, not trying to set custom ones.

        4. woobie

          Hi!

        5. BBCC

          *glares at your gravitar jealously*

      2. JBento

        I mean, you got the colour and gender right, at least. Getting closer?

        1. Zee

          Well, right race, colour is off

  10. Proto_Eevee

    Last time I got the air pump I was expecting to cry my eyes out like when I was a kid, but when it happened I was strongly disappointed

  11. K. Ivan Ruppert

    This is true!

  12. Jupiterror

    They stopped doing this at my optometrist and I appreciate that greatly

  13. Jude Deluca

    Jean Shepherd voice: Except it wasn’t “fudge” I said.

    1. Ryek Hvek

      “…THE word, the big one, the queen-mother of…”

  14. Cattleprod

    Sometimes I get it done in under 10 attempts.

  15. TrueVCU

    First time: THIS IS HORRIBLE
    Now: w/e

    It’s like having a really soft contact lens suddenly blown into your eye

  16. Stephen Bierce

    *plays Quicksilver Messenger Service’s “Fresh Air” on the hacked Muzak*

  17. Gizen

    I read this comic and was like… I don’t get it? And I had to look at the comments to see everyone else agreeing with the comic to realize I was the weird one. I’ve had my eyes tested multiple times and wear glasses but I’ve never even heard of this test before.

    1. Agemegos

      It’s a method for measuring intraocular pressure as a screen for glaucoma.

    2. Mr D

      I’ve never understood why people get so upset about this test, it isn’t any different than someone blowing on your eyes, if you had any childhood other kids did that to get you to close your eyes.

      1. woobie

        Maybe it’s the anticipation.

        I bet there are things you don’t like that other people are fine with..

        1. Peter

          I have it regularly, since I’ve had extensive eye surgery. You do get used to it, but it’s never fun.

          Let’s hope that Joyce’s “fudge” referred to how it felt, and did not refer to the result of that particular test — since a bad result in that test is always bad news.

        2. Regalli

          Yeah, the anticipation of any of the ‘and now we need to look inside so don’t flinch while something comes DIRECTLY AT YOUR EYE’ ones is always a delightful experience. Even knowing the test itself is fine, keeping yourself from moving or blinking reflexively takes some effort.

        3. Demoted Oblivious

          I had surgery _around_ my eye (removing bumps on eyelids interfering with field of vision). When I went in and the surgeon settled in to work I asked, because I know how bad my flinch reflex is, “aren’t you going to strap my head down?” He says ,”nope. That would be unethical.” My answer was, “isn’t it unethical to leave me freaking out about flinching and getting stabbed in the eye?” But they still would strap my head down. I damn near pulled my neck muscles I was so seized up trying not to move. Seriously, my neck was still sore well after the eye bandages came off.

        4. Demoted Oblivious

          *still wouldN’T strap my head down.

        5. Regalli

          Ugh.

      2. Huttj

        I have a strong eye flinch reflex. For me to keep my eye open, instead of the headrest “look at the blue light” thing I have literally had to use both hands to hold my eyelids apart while the doctor switches to a handheld probe.

      3. Rowan

        I think this might be specific to your childhood. Unless I’m the weird one. I’ve never heard of this being a thing people do to each other outside of eye tests.

      4. Blindness

        the puff is actually the least-harming of the tests: the older versions of the tests used mechanical machines that were easy to poke your eyes out with!

    3. Regina phalange

      I’ve never had it either, and I go in yearly because I am legally blind and wear glasses and contacts. I imagine it has something to do with age and symptoms when you go in for initial diagnosis—not a lot of reason to give it to a young child who just has to squint to read the blackboard (nor is there reason to give it to the same person on their yearly check-up when there aren’t new symptoms).

      1. Blindness

        I started getting it in my 30s due to family issues and having high blood pressure/morbidly obese making me likely to end up getting it. I’ve had three different versions of the tests, it’s really the best one and unless you hate dry eyes(I hate them due to winter being a pain!) it’s no big deal. The excess fluid used to clean the eyes to give an accurate reading was the worst part, gunk plus saline is not fun!

    4. TheLurkerAbove

      Yea, me too; have been wearing glasses for 30+ years, never heard of this test until today. xD

      1. Rectilinear Propagation

        I’ve had the one where they place something on your eye (actually had a couple different versions of that one) but I don’t think I’ve ever had the puff of air one.

      2. Minim

        I’ve never had this one either, and I used to have eye exams twice yearly. The only thing even mildly uncomfortable was getting a flash of light in the eyes, and that’s barely even a problem.

      3. Blindness

        it’s replacing the older versions of the tests, the equipment must cost a pretty penny so probably isn’t getting used by older doctors until it’s too expensive to repair the old stuff…

    5. Mra

      Same, apparently it is just one of the methods for measuring eye pressure. The one my eye doctor used was a probe that they would give you numbing drops for because it had to make contact with the surface of your eye and rest there for several seconds. I would have to stare at the narrow cylindrical tip as it was slowly eased onto the surface of my eye. I assumed that is what Joyce was referring to when she mentioned needles going in your eye because it can look kind of like that.

      1. Demoted Oblivious

        Based on my own squeemishness about my eyes, I don’t think Joyce is thinking about any real-world needle in the eye scenarios, but more like the crazy things hollywood portrays to give us the willies. Like this:

        https://www.joblo.com/horror-movies/news/lists-top-10-eyeball-horror-scenes

        1. Demoted Oblivious

          Today’s word of the day (from the above… source):

          Ommetaphobia. The fear of eye-trauma.

    6. Keulen

      I’m 32 and I’ve never had this air puff test done either as far as I can remember, and I’ve worn glasses since I was about 3 or 4 years old. Though I also haven’t gone to my local eye doctor place in a few years, since vision isn’t covered in my current insurance plan, so maybe they started doing this air puff test in the last few years and I’m not aware of it.

    7. Sunny

      This comic is the first time I’ve even heard of it. I had to look up on the internet what it is and what it’s supposed to do.

    8. Zee

      Same, i didn’t know about it until a few days ago when it got brought up in the comments

    9. HeatherJean

      I’ve never had this test either, as far as I can remember, and I’m old enough to have voted for Nixon for President….

      Something new? The glaucoma test at my ophthalmologist involves eyedrops and sticking something in my eyes.

    10. Jenny Islander

      Same here! My eye doctor uses the horrible eye drops and actually touches something to my eyeball. I bet the air puff would be less nasty.

  18. bootshivers

    Gravitar check post:

    1. bootshivers

      Oh yes, oh HELL yes

      1. Chris Phoenix

        Congratulations! (I have the only gravatar that’s better than yours, and I’ll even accept debate on that point.)

        1. Schpoonman

          *ahem*

        2. Lordhaw

          LOL! That gravitar goes so well with your *ahem*

        3. Deanatay

          It’s OK, Schpoon, they mean ‘better’ in terms of the default “too lazy to get a Grav” avatars. Ours are OBVIOUSLY better.

  19. Spookyfox

    oh but the second puff of air is simply the worst. the anticipation. *shudders*

  20. Golden Yak

    Also would’ve accept “Aaiigh!”

  21. crow

    I wish my eye doctor gave me fudge after uncomfortable tests.

    1. Geneseepaw

      Take your +1.

  22. MrSmith

    Worn glasses for over 30 years, had lasik, gone through contact lenses yet I’ve never heard of this test, an American thing maybe?

    1. Agemegos

      It is a non-contact tonometer, used to measure intraocular pressure. They are certainly used in Australia, and have been for nearly twenty years.

      They beat the hell out of their predecessors, which involved pressing on your cornea with a little probe.

      1. TheKelliestKelly

        I think I’ve had both done. The puff test at the normal optometrist and a probe thing at my retina specialist (I see them to monitor thinning I have on the sides of my retina). They numb my eyes before they probe them but it really freaks me out to have a tool so close to my eye.

      2. jmsr7

        I’d never heard of this air puff thing either, and i get my eyes tested every year. WITH that contact probe, which i don’t feel since they give me numbing eyedrops ~15minutes beforehand.

        1. Mra

          I had the probe too, I figured that was what Joyce was referring too when she thought of needles going into your eye, since while it is not a needle can look similar. Maybe it is something that performs the same function as the probe, but is quicker so they don’t think it’s necessary to numb you up?

        2. Blindness

          a couple of drops to clean the eyes of mucus and any dust/tears, getting the head placed just right, and then the actual test took a lot less time than waiting for the eyes to numb for the old pressure test…

        3. Blindness

          this superseded the probe, electronic air pressure vs. mechanical pressuse.

        4. Holly

          I’ve never heard of it, nor any other ‘probe’ tests, either. I can only assume they only do it after they’ve ascertained you need some form of eye correction then? Up til now I’ve not needed glasses.

    2. LiamKav

      They do it in the UK too. I’ve had it in every eye test I’ve done for a good few years now.

    3. Blindness

      if you’ve had a glaucoma test, you’ve had it done with the mechanical version instead of the electronic version…it’s a common test, but it’s also specialized so I don’t think that your doctor would have done it without reason

  23. WanderingLynx

    Nothing interesting for me to say about this strip (except that– What kind of eye exams do y’all have, seriously? I’m from Chile, myopia + astigmatism combo so I take an eye exam every year, and though I’ve been strapped to machines like the one in this strip, there’s never been any puffs of air o_o)

    Let’s go Gravatar Roulette! Let’s go!

    1. WanderingLynx

      OH SWEET. I was crossing my fingers for Booster but Ruth is my fave~

    2. John Smith

      There are a bunch of ways to do this, but the air-puff machines are a simple and non-invasive way of measuring the internal pressure of the eye. Mostly this is to see if you’re developing glaucoma, which will lead to blindness and is actually quite difficult to detect.

      Despite what everybody else seems to be saying, I’ve never minded this test.

      1. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        Likewise, I am not terribly bothered by either the air puff or the probe versions. It isn’t pleasant, but not horrible for me. And since my dad had glaucoma, I certainly want it.

        The other one mentioned, where they dilate your pupils and then shine a superbright light in your eyes is nasty, though.

    3. Blindness

      this replaced the older machines that you likely had used on you…it’s electric, non-invasive, and takes a lot less time to use. And if there’s a slipup, you don’t accidentally blind the patient!!!

  24. BlackScarabFilmZ

    I hate that test. But at least it isn’t the A-B test where you have to say when you see Point A cross over Point B.
    (Context: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NfZcv5ePscI)

  25. Diane

    I will take them puffing air in my eyes over dilating my eyes on a bright day any day of the fricken week.

  26. arcum42

    I hate that test. I remember having to have it done around three times because my head involuntarily jerked back twice…

  27. Kyrik Michalowski

    How is Joyce going to react to her eyes being dilated? Will Willis have her eyes dilated? Stay tuned to find out. 😛

    1. Bicycle Bill

      Your eyes return to normal in a relatively short period of time; like getting novocaine when they work on your teeth, the duration of the effect varies from person to person.  They also will sometimes give you a cheesy pair of sunglasses stamped out of a sheet of smoky-dark plastic to wear until your eyes do return to normal.

      1. Bicycle Bill

        And her eyes are already dilated. Look how huge those blue circles are for being in a darkened exam room!!

      2. Khyrin

        For the record, with admittedly anecdotal evidence: Depending on your personal biology and what prescription drugs you’re on, ‘relatively short’ can mean up to 3 days. The drops interact with one of my meds to make my eyes dilate VERY quickly, stay dilated longer, and when I was younger it obviated my need for glasses enough that close-up work was slightly blurry.

      3. Slartibeast Button, BIA

        For me it always takes 4-6 hours for them to return to normal. I generally come home and try to take a nap while I am waiting.

        1. Clif

          Similar for me. My wife takes a full day.

    2. King Daniel

      Her eyes will be a solid mass of blue.

    3. Hilzabub

      If she’s getting the air puff test, I doubt they’ll dilate her pupils. I get the eye puff done each time, and have never had my pupils dilated by my optometrist.

  28. TheKelliestKelly

    Argh, I hate this test. I’m overdue for my own eye exam, too, so I guess I’ll feel Joyce’s pain soon enough (it’s not actually painful in my experience but it’s very uncomfortable.)

  29. Luno Inverse

    I call this the legalized and socially accepted torture device.
    Been using glasses for at least 15 years and it’s still WHY MUST I ENDURE THIS I N S A N I T Y

  30. Johan

    Fuck that stupid puff

  31. Jaime

    Checking gravatar…

    1. Jaime

      I approve.

      Although, despite my best intentions, I have NEVER been able to be as consistently focused and productive as Dorothy. True story: in graduate school I once wrote a final paper in less than 8 hours the night before it was due. I should note that in Ph.D. English programs, final papers are expected to be 20 pages long minimum and have an *extensive* works cited page (bibliography). At one point during the night I literally forgot how to spell “of.”. I sat there in front of the computer going: “Uv? Wait, that’s not right…uf? No, that CAN’T be right! Ov? What’s wrong with you, Jaime, that you can’t remember how to spell a *common two-letter word* and WHY ARE THERE PURPLE ROACHES UNDER THE DESK?!?!”

      (Spoiler: There were no purple roaches. I tend to see them out of the corners of my eyes when I am dangerously sleep-deprived.)

      Anyways, I finished the paper on time and landed up with an A on it and in the class. However, I’d much prefer to have Dorothy’s steady work ethic then and now.

      1. crow

        Dorothy has to work hard every day. You got an A in a night, and probably spend the rest of that week doing fun grad student stuff. I say you win.

      2. Plain Marie

        I once had the same weird experience of forgetting how to spell the word “of.” I couldn’t find it in the dictionary, so I read a book, figuring that I’d run across it sooner or later. That worked! No hallucinations though.

  32. Reaver

    I hate this machine so much

  33. Kella

    I frickin hate that thing. My flinch reflex is super strong to begin with and then ten times stronger around my eyes, so trying to not shut my eyes in response to the puff is pretty impossible, which of course means they often have to REDO the test several times. Gah.

    1. Kella

      Oooh! I’ve got an Amber gravatar now! Fitting.

    2. Jordan

      Big mood right here.

  34. Andy

    My optometrist recently (in the past 5 years ish?) got a new version of this test hat doesn’t require a puff of air, but I can’t actually recall if I had it done last time I was in.

  35. Rose by Any Other Name

    … well today’s comments section is basically entirely Eye Scream.

    Gonna not be here.

    Kay thanks bye!

  36. Romanticide

    this brings memories of my oftalmologist, who died last year and I will miss him, he was kind good man an always made this tests the most confortable posible.

  37. BenRG

    That ‘puff of air’ really is more shocking and surprising than you might think. I wonder if Joyce had fallen out of her chair or something?

  38. LazyReader

    “RAPEEEEEEE!!!!”
    “uuggghhhh, these patients”

    1. Delicious Taffy

      Username checks out.

  39. bcb

    I’m never able to hold my face still long enough to do this.

  40. Bagge

    Synchronous Becky and Dotty are my new favorite Becky and Dotty

    1. Jhon

      Support team!

  41. Rainhat

    For me, the worst part was the “wait for iiiit…” bit. It seemed like it was about to happen way longer than necessary.

  42. DarkoNeko

    I never heard of such test ?!

    1. Valerie

      It’s to test for glaucoma, I believe. They don’t do it anymore where I go, so I guess they’ve found a new way to check.

  43. Kaffeeteria

    “Fudge”? Ist that Joyce’s way of saying FUCK? And why? I don’t think a little air blast to the eye ist THAT bad.

    1. Schpoonman

      I expect by the end of the week for her to have dropped her first (if only on-screen) “fuck”.

      I’m only gonna be a little miffed it’s over an eye exam.

    2. thejeff

      I thought that the fudge was from getting the results and learning she did need glasses, not from the test itself.

  44. LadyCaramel

    Omg I will never forget the very first time I had to do the air puff test. I wasn’t even given a warning! I was told to put my face up on the thing and keep my eyes wide open. The puff of air startled me because I didn’t expect that at all. “What did you do?!” I asked the lady who doing the test and my tone was like “what did you do to me?!” Then she explained it. I wish she did that before giving the test cuz I was not happy.

  45. Keulen

    One of these days Joyce is finally going to say “fuck”.

  46. Christophe Carpentier

    My last time was like
    *PUFF*
    Ooh. That was not so bad!
    – Excuse me mister, the results are not very good, we need to double check.
    *PUFF* *PUFF*
    Nah definetely not good. We’ll have to check.
    WITH A FRIGGIN’ LENS WE’LL STICK ON YOUR EYBALLS.

  47. Nazmazh

    Last time I had my eyes checked was the first time I got to experience the joy of that particular test. It definitely was a jolt.

    Admittedly, I’d been putting off getting my eyes checked for quite a while before that test. And really only got this test done once I moved back in with my parents, again…

    I could complain about being a Millennial in this economy and such, but I was actually ahead of the pandemic this time – Chronic migraines took me out before the whole world fell apart – The tail end of 2018/early 2019. I got a year’s head-start on this whole isolation thing.

    So, in addition to the eye appointment being long overdue, part of the reason for finally going was to see if anything vision-related was contributing to my migraines. My brother was absolutely convinced that it *had* to be a factor, despite my own tracking that I’d been doing pointing to the most likely culprit being weather/barometric pressure changes. But, y’know, everyone likes to insist that someone with a chronic condition surely must not being doing *absolutely everything* in their power to manage it, therefore it’s their own fault they’re suffering, right?

    I of course would have gone to an optometrist sooner to definitely rule it out, if I could have gotten there under my own power, but that really wasn’t a feasible option most days before I moved back home. Once I had a support system again to help me get to an optometrist and back, it really wasn’t that big of a deal.

    Turns out my vision is quite fine, thank you very much, 20/20 in right eye, 19/20 in left eye, so no issues there. The only vision issue, which I realized I had shortly before going to the optometrist is the relatively benign and almost-wholly untreatable Visual Snow Syndrome, which has a high co-morbidity rate with migraines, but there hasn’t been any sort of causal relationship found between the two otherwise. And the optometrist’s advice for the VSS is that as long as it’s not interfering with my day-to-day activities, don’t worry about it for now.

    I was kind of satisfying to say “Told you so!” in that I knew my migraines weren’t caused by that. Yet, on the other hand, still looking for a way to *actually* manage them. So, y’know, that’s somewhat less satisfying.

    1. Nazmazh

      It* was kind of satisfying. I can words good.

    2. Sam

      Welcome to the club of realizing they likely have Visual Snow Syndrome, which I myself noticed when apparently no one else I know sees a TV static effect over everything and were baffled by my mentioning it.

      1. Nazmazh

        Right?!

        Like, I didn’t even realize it wasn’t normal. My cousin also realized that she had it around the same time. It was weird trying to explain it to members of our family that don’t have it.

        1. Sam

          Honestly for me, I can mostly tune it out as long as I don’t focus on it so I didn’t notice I had it for a long time, but I was aware of a couple of ‘bad days’ where nothing looked like a solid colour, everything looked like it was broken into dots and it was difficult to focus on anything else. Images trying to convey it don’t work well for me because for me personally it is like I have a dot filter set to like 10-20% opacity so if I’m not looking directly for it, it is difficult to really see, and then on bad days which are very rare it spikes to like 80%. It is never ‘solid’ like in images and mine is also coloured so I see white, green and red mostly – I know there probably also is blue but I have low sensitivity to blue so I never notice if there is or not. But it is like TV static – it is like seeing all the dots of light that make up solid images on top of those solid images I can see perfectly because my vision is otherwise stellar.

  48. Opus the Poet

    Harmless, but not painless. I know it doesn’t really do anything but it does sting for just a second.

  49. Valerie

    The air poof! ? I got my first eye exam when I was 23 (I had badly needed glasses my whole life but never had insurance until the ACA) and they didn’t tell me it was coming!!!! They just said to look straight ahead!

    As of my last eye exam, they no longer do the air poof.

  50. Mira LeLian

    I’m usually good for the first 2 puffs. But if the technician catches me in the middle of a blink or something, and we have to go beyond one per eye; that’s where things get dicey. Because now I’m ANTICIPATING it, and I’m not only trying to keep from blinking again, but I am fighting the totally normal compulsion to protect my eyes from gusts of wind.

    Now the “press the button when you see a wavy lines while staring at the dot” test? Years of video game training, and I got THAT one on lockdown.

  51. Nenja

    There’s no air puff at my eye test. I live in Norway, so maybe it differs from country to country.

    1. Lamppost

      I live in Norway too and I have had to do it. But I have really bad anxiety about sudden shocks AND things coming close to my face, so the last few times I’ve done an eye check, I haven’t been able to do it. It would probably be easier if the puff came sooner, but I always freak out about the wait…

  52. Carla's #2 Fan

    I feel like the Optometrist needs a name.

  53. Needfuldoer

    I skip the glaucoma check when possible, or take the air blast when not. The alternative is numbing drops and that instrument they physically press into your eyeball. No thank you.

  54. ValdVin

    I quite enjoy Joyce’s tensing up in panel three.

  55. Daibhid C

    Title Drop! We have a title drop!

    And, yeah, I hate that as well.

  56. Rosicrucian

    That air puff is the devil.

  57. EyeDoctorhere

    Cornea, not pupil. The pupil is inside the eye

  58. Hydrohead

    I have not had an eye exam that used the air puff in over a decade. Now they do some numbing drops and press a pressure gauge against your eyeball. I like that method so much better.

  59. raultsi

    air puff. that’s nothing. try having to watch the scalpel come down to your eyeball when you have to have retina surgery and get back to me.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Take it away Lana!

      Nope. Nope nope nope NeeeeeEEEEEEEE-OPE.

  60. Smooti

    doesn’t matter that ive had eye exams since i was in fifth grade, the anticipation of the air puff is one of the scariest things every. single. time.
    once it’s over it’s fine, but the waiting, knowing it’s coming, but not quite when… urgh.

    1. Smooti

      oh. huh. amber. lemme try again here.

      1. Smooti

        …nah, i’ll stick with ambz

  61. Zee

    My doctor’s always just gave me numbing drops and poked at my eye with a thing. I don’t feel anything except suddenly being very aware of my own eyeballs which is weird. Sounds way more pleasant than air being blown in my eyes tbh

  62. Antonio Tyler

    Of all the Dumbing of Age comics, this is by far the *most* unrealistic. No one who gets that puff that first time would say “Fudge” that quietly.

  63. Ziggy78eog

    Silly Joyce, thinking she can anticipate when the puff of air will come. No one can anticipate when the puff will strike, no one.

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      I wonder why they don’t include an audible alert? Or a countdown? I mean, if the test is about deformation of the eye then “knowing it’s coming” shouldn’t affect it, should it?

      1. Hopeluminous

        I’d guess there are plenty of people who would blink then.

        1. Clif

          I blink anyway. They have to do it repeatedly. Which isn’t much of a problem with the new little tubes, but was a real pain with the old cylinders.

    2. Diane

      That really is the worst part, not knowing when the puff will come. So you just make panel 3 face forever until *puff*.

  64. The Nerd

    I have a condition called keratoconus (basically, corneas that bulge out and give me astigmatism on crack and steroids). So for the last 12 years, I’ve worn “scleral lenses” – custom hard contacts about the size of nickels that cover the entire cornea and part of the whites. At first, it was a bongo getting them in and out. Now I can touch my eyes with fingers and not even feel it.

    As an aside, I get to freak my kids out by tapping the eraser end of a pencil on the part of the eye covered by the contacts. That, and go without blinking for a minute at a time.

    1. Mel

      You’re freaking ME out and I can’t even see you doing it!

  65. Pinkie

    Just wait until Joyce has to go to the dentist and get a cavity filled.

    1. Needfuldoer

      *shudders* I don’t know what’s worse, the gigantic Novocain needle, or just going without Novocain and just waiting for the dentist who’s done this thousands of times before to flinch or sneeze or something and ram the drill straight into the pulp because shut up that’s what’s going to happen.

  66. Sloegin

    Would you like a puff-puff? No. I would not like a puff-puff.

  67. Borg

    Ugh, the air puff.

    I mean, it’s not that bad, but the idea of the air puff haunts me inescapably. I can barely even do the test that measures eye shape with lasers because it’s the same machine that does both and it is unavoidably all infected with the idea of the air puff.

  68. Wakeangel2001

    so she’s going full on Rachel Green now…

  69. Hacksaw

    The eye puff thing makes me twitch violently, so I started refusing it. The anesthetized eye pokey thing is much better in my opinion. Even the unanesthetized pokey thing is better. (NOT a needle, btw, it’s blunt)

    1. Demoted Oblivious

      Does it poke the cornea? (over the pupil or iris?) Or is it just the whites that get poke?

      Due to allergies I used to rub my eyes, a lot. So I’m weirdly ok with touching the whites of my eyes, but anything on the cornea invokes a massive NOPE response.

      1. Hacksaw

        The anesthetized one is on your cornea. The other one wasn’t. I’ve only had one so I’m not sure if that’s usual or not.

  70. GeekRyuu

    Um, are they worried Joyce has glaucoma?

    1. Hacksaw

      That’s what the test is for, but they’re not worried, everyone gets it every time. The thing about glaucoma is that it’s symptomless until it’s bad, at least according to my eye docs.

      1. GeekRyuu

        I’ve worn glasses since I was seven and they’ve never given it to me.

  71. Leila

    i HATE the air puff so much

  72. me

    They did this to my nephew(didn’t tell him what would happen), and he almost punched somebody. I told the tech testing my eyes about it, and she said,”Yeah, little kids can be pretty startled.”
    “He was thirty.”

  73. Toes14

    Seems like Joyce needs a Doctor with a bit more caring bedside manner.

  74. Aneras713

    Joyce is me. Everytime.

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