started wearing reading glasses...

[MontyVeda]

...and my eyesight seems to be getting worse, quickly!

Over the last twelve months i've felt the need for reading glasses... just for the tiny writing on the side of a ping dinner, back of a DVD case, CD track listings etc. Any font smaller than about 3mm really. After using cheap reading glasses (+ 0.75), I decided to go to specsavers and get a proper eye test and a proper prescription, followed by a pair of 'proper' reading glasses (+1.00). I never needed specs for computer use as the font size was always big enough to see clearly... but after a week or so of using my new reading glasses, i now definitely need them for computer use too.

Since I'm new to spectacles... I'm completely ignorant. Have i simply realised just how much i need them or have i quickly forgotten how to focus without them???

 

[swee'pea99]

I think it's true that you get to rely on them and your eyes 'stop making the effort' - but having said that, I don't think you're actively causing any kind of damage by wearing them; nor (in my experience) does your prescription get worse over time as a result of wearing them; nor, really, do you have much choice. If you need 'em, you need 'em. I've been needing them for about five years now, and tho' I can just about read a paperback book without them, given a decent light source, it's a struggle.

FWIW, the best thing to do is pick pairs you like the look of off ebay - cuppla quid - then when you find one you like, and that really suits you, buy ten pairs. Then you can have a pair in the kitchen, a pair on the bedside table, a pair where you watch telly, etc etc, with a handful of pairs for backup when you lose/break them. I have about half a dozen pairs on the go at any one time - saves an awful lot of hunting around and faffing about.

 

[Smokin Joe]

Since I'm new to spectacles... I'm completely ignorant. Have i simply realised just how much i need them or have i quickly forgotten how to focus without them???

I think it's a bit of both. I've needed reading glasses for years but last year started wearing distance glasses and found I suffered the same effect.

 

[raleighnut]

You've simply realised just how much you needed them by now being able to see clearly, I have been slightly short-sighted all my life but can get away without glasses (although my sights never been good enough to read a numberplate without specs) but a couple of years back my close focus went, Its an age thing apparently. Now I carry 2 pairs around with me but still don't wear em unless I need to (I have now found out I suffer from 'Twylight Myopia' so need my distance specs to see at this time of day instead of avoiding cycling for that half an hour)

 

[byegad]

I started with reading glasses at 18 and progressed through bi-focals to vari-focals by the time I was in my 40s. I found bi and vari-focals much easier to live with than reading glasses. You are forever searching for reading glasses, my wife has 4 pairs of readers and can never find any of them , whereas with bi and vari-focals you put them on in the morning and take them off at night and can see all day, no matter what you want to focus on.

 

[MontyVeda]

...

FWIW, the best thing to do is pick pairs you like the look of off ebay - cuppla quid - then when you find one you like, and that really suits you, buy ten pairs. Then you can have a pair in the kitchen, a pair on the bedside table, a pair where you watch telly, etc etc, with a handful of pairs for backup when you lose/break them. I have about half a dozen pairs on the go at any one time - saves an awful lot of hunting around and faffing about.

Thats what i did last year... bought a 99p pair in town at +1.5... they were far too 'strong'... grabbed a couple of pairs of ebay for £3 at +1.25.. still too strong... got three pairs for a fiver off ebay at +0.75, which were ok, but maybe a little too strong (in my ingorant opinion). Then as soon is a got offered a job, I legged it to specsavers for my free eye test and free pair of 'proper' specs, which i guessed would be around +0.5... but no... +1.00. They do look a lot better than the ebay ones though.

 

[deptfordmarmoset]

I think that the worst factor in my eye deterioration was wearing the reading glasses when on the PC. The screen is typically further away than a book would be. If you've got fairly even eye strengths, you might be advised to grab a pair of cheap reading glasses at a low magnification. At least you'll be having to do a bit of focusing rather than training your eyes to rely on the lenses for magnification

 

[raleighnut]

I started with reading glasses at 18 and progressed through bi-focals to vari-focals by the time I was in my 40s. I found bi and vari-focals much easier to live with than reading glasses. You are forever searching for reading glasses, my wife has 4 pairs of readers and can never find any of them , whereas with bi and vari-focals you put them on in the morning and take them off at night and can see all day, no matter what you want to focus on.

Sean, a friend, had those but he seemed to spend a lot of time nodding as he altered the 'sweet spot' with them to focus on different objects/people.

 

[davdandy]

I had to start wearing readers about 8 months ago,though i have always been in denial about needing them but went to the opticians for confirmation.I only need 0.5 but as the OP said, it feels they have gotten worse.I do not use them in front of the telly or computer,i just use them to read small print.But i am one of those folk who does not want to rely on them,i would rather try to see without them if possible but obviously it is not always the case.

 

[stephec]

I used to wear glasses as a kid but stopped when I left school as the optician said it wasn't making much difference anymore.

A few years ago I was seduced by a Tesco free eye test and found out I could do with some for reading.

Up to then I'd always read a lot of books without any problems, but the first time I looked at my phone screen with them on I thought it was about six inches closer to my face than it actually was.

Mine were made specifically for reading as my distance vision is ok, but after using them for a while you will notice a big difference when looking at small print with and without them.

Funnily enough they are of no use to me when looking at a screen, and it's only pages of books that I use them for, with magazines I don't need them.

 

[BAtoo]

...and my eyesight seems to be getting worse, quickly!

It's probably your age, many normal-sighted people need reading glasses around the age of 40 or so. The muscles that alter your lens focus get a bit weaker and cant do the job properly.
I've been slightly short-sighted most of my life and aged 40ish my prescription changed quite dramatically too.

 

[MontyVeda]

It's probably your age...

 

[Smokin Joe]

My big problem with distance glasses is when cycling. My normal riding position means the top of the frames are in the way and a real distraction so I don't bother with them, the slower speed compared to driving mean they're not critical. However, on bumpy fast descents my aging eyesight has a problem focusing as the bike bounces round and that is when I could do with some optical help.

Anyone had prescription cycling glasses made, and do the big players like Specsavers do them?

 

[davdandy]

Here you go.

 

[cyberknight]

You've simply realised just how much you needed them by now being able to see clearly, I have been slightly short-sighted all my life but can get away without glasses (although my sights never been good enough to read a numberplate without specs) but a couple of years back my close focus went, Its an age thing apparently. Now I carry 2 pairs around with me but still don't wear em unless I need to (I have now found out I suffer from 'Twylight Myopia' so need my distance specs to see at this time of day instead of avoiding cycling for that half an hour)

+1
I have found the same, i can get away most of the time without glasses but the truth is when i put them on i can see to read properly .I was prescribed +1.5 recently so i bought a couple of botom of the range from them and now i have a couple of pairs of the cheap ones from poundland type shop which are fine for taking to work or leaving around.
I can read the pc screen ok but its at a bit of a distance, optician said as soon as i tried to read a card that she could tell i needed reading glasses by how far i held it away to see them and cooking instructions on the back of food i have no chance with without glasses .