Varifocals

[Tengu]

Specsavers thinks its time I had short and long distance glasses.

They are keen to get me into varifocals...In spite of my protests regarding money.

It might be for the best but some time back a relative got a £300 pair and didnt get on with them at all.

So, any of you lot use varifocals? or should I have two separate pairs?

 

[oldtimer]

Get varifocals, less to carry, less to worry about. And cheaper that two pairs. It is the frames that are expensive. If they offer two for the price of one, get second pair tinted for sunglasses. Also makes driving easier in that one can see the road ahead and the instrument panel.

BUT take care on stairs and when descending mountain slopes. I had to learn the hard way to look out of the top part of the lens when looking at my feet.

 

[JohnC]

My wife, Jane wears them and is very happy with them.. Agree with the downhill part! She had issues hill running till she got the hang of it..

 

[Nice65]

I have a pair. I never got used to them and peer out from underneath my regular glasses for reading. Or typing this for instance.

If I'm sitting still then I like the varifocals, but moving about is a bit disorientating. I must persevere I think, I'm sure my brain will make the necessary adjustments over time.

My my wife has contact lenses to correct her long sight and a pair of reading glasses, it suits her needs better than permanent glasses.

 

[rik_uk3]

Mine cost £350 and I can't get on with them

 

[Macaroon]

I've worn varifocals since they first became available and couldn't imagine being without them; It's as close as you can get to 'put them on when you wake up and take them off when you go to sleep'. As close to maintenence free as you can get and you always have the precise focus needed for any specific need. Very important to get frames with the optimum shape for the lenses to work well, be sure to get good advice on this aspect.

It's worth spending as much as you can on the lenses, the new generation are superb, wafer thin and very light, which makes them very easy to wear. I have mine coated with the photochromatic stuff so they adapt in shade to the ambient light without me being aware of it, works great.

If you approach the first wearing period with an open mind your brain will make all the adaptations, there's no moving your head up and down depending on what you're looking at, I've never been conscious of any head movement at all.

Again, the main thing is to get advice about the size and shape of the frame to suit your head shape and prescription, and buy the best you can afford - it works out much cheaper in the long run as you get what you pay for, as with so many other things.

 

[Robson Valley]

Didn't take me 20 minutes to get used to them.
Two points:
a) I can't read whatever somebody is holding beside me (eg a map) = has to be straight in front of me.
b) the transition zone from long to short vision needs to be at the right level in the lenses for what you do.
Must admit, the guy got it right but we had a discussion of habits, hobbies and activities before they were made.
Now, I can look straight ahead then glance down at a book without the normal head bob.

Please do guard your vision.

 

[Toddy]

I wreck specs. It doesn't matter what they cost, I mangle them.
They get caught on things, they get put down and forgotten until something goes crunch, they get splattered with stuff, (managed to spark a burn on a pair of plastic ones !) and they are generally a pest. I hate the necessity of them.
In the end I have one pair long-ish distance for driving when I'm tired, or on long journeys, though I am still legal without them (checked last week ) and otherwise I take the free eyetest prescription and I either buy online (cheap, easy, no fuss or bother) or just use the reading glasses from the assortments in the shops. Last pair cost me £1.99.

The lady in the Opticians actually agreed with me last week, buying varifocals wasn't really a good investment for me. I can literally buy 300 pairs for the price of one set of varifocals. So, even buying 'expensive' £9.99 reading glasses three or four times a year is worth it.

That said, I think this is utterly dependent upon your vision, and that's a very personal thing.
Himself wears the varifocals and gets on very well indeed with them (why I even considered them, tbh) while I have glasses beside every desk and in handbags and kits

Each to their own. I did ask when I had to have my eyes checked (pills, RA, can damage them) and the Opthamologist said that the reading glasses would not damage my eyesight in any way. So, no worries.

M

 

[Nice65]

It's very dependent on how much you rely on your glasses Mary, Madam was like you, pairs everywhere. My eyesight is hopeless so I'm very careful with my glasses, wary of the fact that should I lose or break them I would be helpless. When something becomes invaluable, like a crutch, stick, wheelchair, hearing aid, prosthetic etc, it becomes a different matter. If it's not looked after, it affects your life in a very direct way.

I remember how panicked I've been waking up in a tent and checking the usual stash place for my glasses, my boot (protected from harm) and finding they're not there. Then checking bag, etc. All the time unable to see. Then asking for help only to find I clipped them to a loop in the tent, but couldn't see them.

 

[Nomad64]

I've worn varifocals since they first became available and couldn't imagine being without them; It's as close as you can get to 'put them on when you wake up and take them off when you go to sleep'. As close to maintenence free as you can get and you always have the precise focus needed for any specific need. Very important to get frames with the optimum shape for the lenses to work well, be sure to get good advice on this aspect.

It's worth spending as much as you can on the lenses, the new generation are superb, wafer thin and very light, which makes them very easy to wear. I have mine coated with the photochromatic stuff so they adapt in shade to the ambient light without me being aware of it, works great.

If you approach the first wearing period with an open mind your brain will make all the adaptations, there's no moving your head up and down depending on what you're looking at, I've never been conscious of any head movement at all.

Again, the main thing is to get advice about the size and shape of the frame to suit your head shape and prescription, and buy the best you can afford - it works out much cheaper in the long run as you get what you pay for, as with so many other things.

Spot on advice.

I used to be able to get by just wearing glasses for close work but about 8 years ago had to come to terms with the fact that I needed something full time. I had a free trial of varifocal contact lenses but didn't get on with them and still needed reading glassses for close work which still meant rummaging around in a pocket for reading glasses (which would promptly steam up) every time I wanted to check a map, take a compass bearing etc.

I got fed up of getting lost and having an increasing collection of cheap and some not so cheap reading glasses in every pocket, drawer etc. and bit the bullet and tried a pair of Specsavers varifocals (the independent optician I used to go to had retired).

As Macaroon recommends, I paid the extra for the lenses with the bigger "sweet spot" and honestly, it was probably the best £300 I have ever spent - I paid a bit more than I needed to for larger rimless frames. I was genuinely very impressed with the service from Specsavers - for the money you get two pairs (last time I chose a pair of sunglasses to the same prescription) and a trial period so if you don't get on with varifocals, you can swap them for two pairs of conventional glasses.

I can see how negotiating steep steps could be an issue for some but not experienced it myself.

£300 seems a lot but works out at less than 50p a day (assuming a worst case scenario of changing prescriptions every couple of years - as I seem to have to at the moment), but IMHO is a small price to pay for really sharp vision and a no-faff regime where I just put them on in the morning and take them off for shower or bed.

Highly recommended and good luck with whatever you choose. 😀

 

[rancid badger]

I've got a pair of varifocals from specsavers through work. They're safety glasses so came with side guards which made them 10 times more dangerous because you lose a lot of peripheral vision!.

That aside, I cant use them for extended periods as the plastic lenses make everything bloomy, with a slight rainbow halo and the inherent mishmash when going from near to far viewing is awful.

They're actually not too bad for driving though and for seeing small stuff they're okay apart from the already mentioned blooming.

I don't like them but they're handy and in my case free so........

 

[BJJJ]

Get varifocals, less to carry, less to worry about. And cheaper that two pairs. It is the frames that are expensive. If they offer two for the price of one, get second pair tinted for sunglasses. Also makes driving easier in that one can see the road ahead and the instrument panel.

BUT take care on stairs and when descending mountain slopes. I had to learn the hard way to look out of the top part of the lens when looking at my feet.

agree entirely. My varifocals are on in the morning and off at night. The only thing I find with the tinted ones is when walking into the sun if you don't shade the glasses you can't see ahead. (I know, peaked cap)

 

[bobnewboy]

I'm on my first set of varifocals too. Working at a keyboard weekdays, and shooting field archery, photography etc weekends, I cant be without them now.

 

[pentrekeeper]

I wear varifocals, and the optician said start wearing them for short periods each day and lengthen the time until your brain adjusts.
So I ignored that advice as I was going to wear them all the time anyway.
When you first put them on moving your head from side to side is an issue as it will make you feel dizzy in no time, moving up and down is no problem at all.
I am sure it is the side to side dizziness that people say they can't get on with them, you just have to wear them long enough for your brain to adapt and then there are no issues at all.
I wear mine all day every day.

 

[bilmo-p5]

Specsavers gave me 2 prs of varifocals (I took one pr as sunglasses) for £158 last year. I love 'em and have had them for the last half dozen yrs or so. Once you get used to moving your head instead of just your eyes, you won't look back (pardon me, ).

 

[Tengu]

Thanks for the advice guys. I will have a think

 

[rik_uk3]

Wait until a nine year old grandson wants a set set of Wayfarers sunglasses ... he looks so good even age nine