Varifocal glasses

[idun]

I don't always need my glasses, says she who cannot always read properly, but honestly I don't.

I have varifocals and when I wear them I often bump into things, what with the reading glasses bit being on the bottom half of the glasses. I have just skittled a small coffee table with half a cuppa on it. Not the first time and surely not the last with my specs on.

 

Does anyone else have this 'little' problem when wearing varifocals

[EuroTrashII]

I've found with varifocals that it's best to wear them all the time so your eyes get used to them - you seem to adjust automatically and start moving your head more so you look through the right bit. If I don't wear mine for a while I feel disorientated for an hour or two when I put them on but if I wear them day in day out I'm fine with them. I don't think varifocals are right for occasional use.

What I hate is going down flights of steps in them, I can't judge the distance.

[cooperlola]

I have a standing argument with Mr C about these things.  He wears glasses all the time and I don't - I have one pair for reading and keep my distance pair in the car.  If get up for any reason with my reading glasses still on and accidentally look through them at the ground then I get quite dizzy and certainly lose all sense of perspective.  Mr C, like Eurotrash, tells me that it's just a matter of getting used to them but I'm afraid I'd find them unsafe since I walk so badly and definately need to see where I'm putting my feet at all times.  He gets very miffed because if he ever tries to show me something written I have to toddle off to get my specs and thus he's always trying to persuade me to get varifocals.

I had an eye test last week and could read the line of letters which the optomotrist asked me to straight away and without specs, plus the line underneath, so I'm happy doing it my way and will continue to resist wearing specs all the time.  And then I haven't even got to the cost aspect!

[andyh4]

I now wear varifocals all the time - having previously worn "normal" glasses all the time except when reading.

 

The first pair were a nightmare and went back 64 hours after they were bought- similar symptoms to Cooperlola.  Diagnosed as prescription not correct (I think the centre of vision was incorrect on the lenses).  Anyway the replacements were much better but not perfect and I gradually got used to them wearing them all the time.  I do however still have problems with walking into low objects and banging my head - low doorways, car tailgate not fully open etc..

[idun]

Glad it's not just me.

I don't like wearing my glasses all the time and will hold off as long as I can.

[Patf]

Like Coops, I have a pair of reading glasses - cheap, - and distance ones in the car. I only bought them to keep Eddie quiet, as they don't make a scrap of difference, and the frames get in the way when checking left and right.

And coming downstairs, wearing reading glasses, downright dangerous.

[Alan Zoff]

My optician says people fall into 2 camps - those that can wear varifocals and those who can't. I found bifocals impossible but have had no problem at all with varifocals (which I have worn for several years).

My only other specs are some cheap ones from Specsavers which I have specifically for focussing on objects between a few inches and about four feet away, mainly for use when working on or under the car. They cost about £25 and have thick plastic frames. They are not pretty(!) but do the job perfectly, survive bashes and end up covered with oil and muck anyway. Saves risking my more expensive normal specs.

[powerdesal]

I go along with that Alan, my wife wears vari-focals all the time, I use reading glasses. I decided to get some really wizzy vari-focals, autochromatic, titanium frames but I cant wear them. I went back to the optician time and time again but still no.

When I wear them and move my head from side to side I get distorting verticals, it's very disconcerting, I now have a very expensive pair of ''white elephant'' glasses and multiple pairs of cheap reading glasses.

[Alan Zoff]

Just shows how different we humans can be.

When the windscreen was replaced in our last car, my wife couldn't drive it as she said everything was distorted. But it looked fine to me. We simply couldn't see things the same.   Hang on, I see a pattern developing here....

[YCCMB]

It wasn't one of Billy Connolly's "prescription windscreens" was it?[:D]

I had varifocals for a couple of years. No problem wearing them, but they didn't really help me. Wearing them all the time was out of the question, as there seems to be an optimum distance (e.g. when using the computer) where I don't need glasses at all, and even the varifocals made everything fuzzy. Also, trying to do really close work like threading a needle, the varifocals just didn't cut it. I could see better with a pair of non-prescription reading glasses from the pound shop.

I've recently replaced my glasses and opted not to have varifocals again. The downside is that (even if I wanted to) I can't wear them all the time, because I can't see to read close-up. However, I can read close-up (well, not THAT close, I'm very much in the squinty long-arm club now) without any glasses.