I'm getting old :-(

[Julia9054]

Could do, I'm around -2/-2.25

Thing with varifocals presumably is once used to them, it's hard to go back to single vision? I have prescription sunglasses and expensive direct glazed cycling glasses. Wouldn't want to replace all!

I know I'm only a week in but I'm finding it fine. (I can read perfectly with no glasses on). I have single vision prescription cycling sunglasses which i ride in to work then swap to my varifocals when i get there

 

[vickster]

Are varifocals those glasses that very old people wear and the lenses are different at the bottom compared to the top?

Not exactly, no

 

[gbb]

Just a fact of life I'm afraid. I started to struggle, particually driving in poor light when I was around 45, things just weren't as sharp.
I use one pair for driving and a cheap pair for reading, both completely different lenses.
90% of the time I don't need anything...not too bad at 59 I guess.

 

[Julia9054]

Are varifocals those glasses that very old people wear and the lenses are different at the bottom compared to the top?

Rude

 

[Dirk]

Is it the case that the £20 ones from Boots etc are better than the £1 ones from Poundland?

No. I had a pair of Foster Grants from Boots at about £18.
I found them no better than the Poundland ones for reading. The only difference seemed to be that the frames were a bit more robust. They lasted about a year before I accidently broke them.
I now buy the cheap ones and leave pairs all over the place - car, caravan, living room, garage etc. Never at a loss for a pair and it's cheaper than buying one pair of expensive ones.

 

[Dirk]

Are varifocals those glasses that very old people wear and the lenses are different at the bottom compared to the top?

Those are bifocals.

 

[cyberknight]

I have been wearing +1.5s for a couple of years for reading and i have noticed i need them for more and more things close too, its like my eyesight is not getting worse for magnification but how close i can see without them.

 

[NorthernDave]

Could do, I'm around -2/-2.25

Thing with varifocals presumably is once used to them, it's hard to go back to single vision? I have prescription sunglasses and expensive direct glazed cycling glasses. Wouldn't want to replace all!

I've worn varifocals for about 4 years now for every day stuff and just have my sunnies and cycling specs with my distance prescription in as I can cope when wearing them.

Other thing the optician said, is for varifocals, you need quite a deep frame to accommodate the lens variation. I've worn a narrow one for years, not sure I'd get on with a deep one for all day wearing (ok for sunnies)

You do need slightly bigger lenses (although they don't have to be too big) - this was one of the problems with Specsavers, they sold me a pair of varifocals with lenses that were "quite unsuited" to them according to another optician. That was when they told me that my prescription had changed and after months of me going back and saying everything with the new specs was blurry, they finally retested me and decided that my prescription hadn't changed at all. But I'd already spent £400 on some new specs because they'd told me I needed them...

 

[Hacienda71]

Having turned 46, I realised I had to bite the bullet. I now have three pairs of Poundland jobbies. OK looking with minimal wire half frames. One pair for the office, one downstairs and one on the bedside table. Nothing to compare them to, but allow me to read small print in darker light conditions.

 

[srw]

it's hard to go back to single vision?

Not really. I happily drive or ride in single vision sunglasses.

quite a deep frame

Not very. About an inch and a half? I don't have a ruler with me

 

[Heltor Chasca]

In the winter I had a minor accident with a chainsaw (wood chip got under my visor and safety specs) our local surgery is hopeless so I fast tracked straight to the opticians.

All ok but it was discovered I had 1.5 and 1.75 short sightedness. Minor but illegal to drive. Long story but I didn't get on with glasses at work so I've gone down the contacts route. The quality to my life has been staggering even with just a very slight correction. Cycling included. I recommend a test to anyone.

 

[snorri]

I had a problem with the cheapo specs. Due to my eyes wearing out at a different rate I needed different lens for left and right eye, but the supplier(Specsaver I think) wouldn't give me glasses with different lens at their cheapo rate. Their advertising didn't tell me that!

 

[Supersuperleeds]

I need to go get my eyes tested again. In the last few months I have had to start taking off my specs to read.

 

[Mo1959]

Not noticeably.

If you don't have astigmatism and can cope with switching you should be fine. I used astigmatic correction and distance correction contacts for a while and wore reading glasses, but I'm now happy with a single pair of varifocals. They are not cheap, but if you get to that stage it's worth paying for a decent pair rather than Specsavers specials. Which aren't.

I went for my first ever eye test last week and discovered I have astigmatism too plus distance vision is starting to go slightly too now as well as close up so I've ordered varifocals to be picked up on Tuesday. Hoping I get on ok with them.

 

[craigwend]

Embrace how many years you didn't need them