Do I need Varifocals?
Discussion
I currently have 3 prescriptions, but my distance vision is fine. One for close up, fine work (I like to make models amongst other things), one for normal reading and then one for using my monitor at work which is a bit further away than reading distance. I don't wear glasses for driving or anything distance.
But, I have a number of frustrating problems. When driving, especially at night I struggle to read the instruments and sat nav. I'm fed-up of juggling the different glasses and ending up with the wrong ones in the wrong place and deciding which ones I need with me. Constantly carrying as pair in my pocket just-in-case is a royal pain in the summer when I rarely have a jacket and i don't posses a man-bag.
So would varifocals solve this. Could I have a single pair of glasses to stick on my face that would do it all? I could possibly forgo the close-up work element as that is only generally needed at home so could keep my specific pair for that.
But, I have a number of frustrating problems. When driving, especially at night I struggle to read the instruments and sat nav. I'm fed-up of juggling the different glasses and ending up with the wrong ones in the wrong place and deciding which ones I need with me. Constantly carrying as pair in my pocket just-in-case is a royal pain in the summer when I rarely have a jacket and i don't posses a man-bag.
So would varifocals solve this. Could I have a single pair of glasses to stick on my face that would do it all? I could possibly forgo the close-up work element as that is only generally needed at home so could keep my specific pair for that.
In theory yes but speak to your practice in depth about what you want them to do.
Bear in mind good varifocal brands (essilor, nikon, hoya - not exhaustive) will offer an adaptation guarantee for about 60 days. If you don't get on with them then the manufacturers will swop the lenses out for whatever else you need, usually 2 pairs, possibly even bifocals. Again speak to your practice.
Bear in mind good varifocal brands (essilor, nikon, hoya - not exhaustive) will offer an adaptation guarantee for about 60 days. If you don't get on with them then the manufacturers will swop the lenses out for whatever else you need, usually 2 pairs, possibly even bifocals. Again speak to your practice.
The PH answer is surely buy a new car with a head up display so you can read the satnav directions at a distance.
Specsavers are fine for the majority of people but if you have a slightly more niche requirement go get a second opinion from another optician. Word of warning though, I went varifocal some years ago (distance and reading) and it took me a few weeks to get used to it without feeling a bit of motion sickness.
Specsavers are fine for the majority of people but if you have a slightly more niche requirement go get a second opinion from another optician. Word of warning though, I went varifocal some years ago (distance and reading) and it took me a few weeks to get used to it without feeling a bit of motion sickness.
blueST said:
Unfortunately, my practise is a Specsavers seemingly operated by teenagers who struggle with listening skills. I need a new Optician I think.
I couldn't possibly comment, but you might be right. It will cost you more but there is a reason for that especially for good quality, well fitting and functioning varifocals.Assuming your distance vision is fine as you say then you need to get a tape measure and measure the distance between your eye and the instrument panel in your car, usually around 65cm
Also put on a pair of specs and try to judge where down the lens the top of your dashboard lies when you are driving.
You need to aim for your near sight correction (which will be a positive number) to come in half way between this point ad the bottom of the lens. If it comes in too high up then your distance vision will be blurred. You may need to do this with late print at that distance. What you are looking for is sharpness not the ability to read tiny print at that distance
Give all this information to your optometrist and make sure they assess your near sight correction at that distance and you should be good.
What a lot of people do wrongly is to get reading glassses designed for holding a book which is much closer than car dials and it’s all wrong. These glasses are two strong for driving
Ask me how I know
Also put on a pair of specs and try to judge where down the lens the top of your dashboard lies when you are driving.
You need to aim for your near sight correction (which will be a positive number) to come in half way between this point ad the bottom of the lens. If it comes in too high up then your distance vision will be blurred. You may need to do this with late print at that distance. What you are looking for is sharpness not the ability to read tiny print at that distance
Give all this information to your optometrist and make sure they assess your near sight correction at that distance and you should be good.
What a lot of people do wrongly is to get reading glassses designed for holding a book which is much closer than car dials and it’s all wrong. These glasses are two strong for driving
Ask me how I know
blueST said:
So would the varifocals just cover the driving/dashboard situation, or would they be good for reading and close up too? If it doesn't cover at least reading as well this makes things worse as I'll now have a 4th prescription just for driving the car.
Depends how bad your presbyopia is but yes, you may well need a second stronger pair for reading.I think the key here is a good/great optician who can listen and ask the right questions.
I have varifocals in fact two pairs now as my first pair are great, but when I'm driving signs were slightly blurred, turns out you can set the height of the transition in the lens and driving a sports car means my head angle is different to your usual run of the mill car.
Thus my second pair which works perfectly for driving etc and I can use then for reading and typing on a computer, but I still prefer the first pair for that exercise.
I also wear contacts and now I have a prescription that provides distance and reading by having one eye/lens prescription for distance and one for reading, it took a while to get used to but it's not a bad compromise.
I have varifocals in fact two pairs now as my first pair are great, but when I'm driving signs were slightly blurred, turns out you can set the height of the transition in the lens and driving a sports car means my head angle is different to your usual run of the mill car.
Thus my second pair which works perfectly for driving etc and I can use then for reading and typing on a computer, but I still prefer the first pair for that exercise.
I also wear contacts and now I have a prescription that provides distance and reading by having one eye/lens prescription for distance and one for reading, it took a while to get used to but it's not a bad compromise.
I use varifocal/progressive contacts. so each one does both distance and reading - very clever and doesn't require moving your field of vision like varifocal spectacles do.
Edited to add that the benefit of this is that I can wear regular sunglasses too.
Edited to add that the benefit of this is that I can wear regular sunglasses too.
Edited by Zaichik on Friday 8th November 12:25
Specsavers had 8 attempts to get varifocals to work for me! Complete failure, I usually felt sick within 10 seconds of putting them on and couldn't read the whole width of a page
I gave up, went to an independant well reviewed optician that could supply Varilux lenses - fantastic at the first attempt - downside, 1 pair with Starck frames cost £800
I gave up, went to an independant well reviewed optician that could supply Varilux lenses - fantastic at the first attempt - downside, 1 pair with Starck frames cost £800
It definitely depends on how interested you optometrist is. Some will use a distance prescription and a near prescription and a single transition point, while the better way is to have three different strength, far, mid and near and then usually a single transition point.
The problem I had was that with a very reclined seeing position in a race car style cockpit, the transition point needs to be much lower than usual os it is definitely worth sitting in your car and working out which bit of your lenses you look through for the various distances and giving this info to your specialist.
The problem I had was that with a very reclined seeing position in a race car style cockpit, the transition point needs to be much lower than usual os it is definitely worth sitting in your car and working out which bit of your lenses you look through for the various distances and giving this info to your specialist.
blueg33 said:
I gave up, went to an independant well reviewed optician that could supply Varilux lenses - fantastic at the first attempt - downside, 1 pair with Starck frames cost £800
I pay that much with Specsavers! It's the high index thinned lenses that cost the money, I'm -6.25 for distance so standard lenses are very thick. I use specsavers for the second pair deal and get a "free" pair of sunglasses in the same prescription, but it only counts as 1 pair for my health insurance. Probably, but If you get your distance and near prescriptions and IPD then you can order frames with lenses online for about £150, you don't really need to pay that much and at that price you could get several for your different uses.
I went to glasses direct and the quality is excellent. All they are doing is taking the readings you give them and feeding them into a machine after all.
I went to glasses direct and the quality is excellent. All they are doing is taking the readings you give them and feeding them into a machine after all.
I’ve had glasses for computer / close-up for the last 4 or 5 years, my prescription has got slightly stronger over the years. Went to Specsavers earlier this year and asked if there's anything they can do for me watching TV as I noticed I was now struggling to read small text on screen such as F1 time gaps. So came away with a cheap pair for watching TV as well as my 2 pairs for close-up, problem solved.
I then found that I'd spend the evening swapping between TV glasses and reading glass to see my phone so decided to use the half price golden ticket you get from them to try some varifocals, I thought it would possibly be easier trying to get used to them now whilst my prescription isn’t that strong. No additional eye test was required, just eye measurements once I'd picked the frames. I went for their decent (2nd most expensive) varifocal lens to give myself the best chance with them.
They’re great, I now use them all the time including for driving meaning I can read the dash easily. The only time I revert to my close-up glasses is for computer work, as with the varifocals I find I’m moving my head side to side a lot to see the edges of the screen clearly. With the half price ticket they came to about £160 for one pair, without the ticket you'd be looking at double the cost but would get 2 pairs on their 2 for 1 offer.
I then found that I'd spend the evening swapping between TV glasses and reading glass to see my phone so decided to use the half price golden ticket you get from them to try some varifocals, I thought it would possibly be easier trying to get used to them now whilst my prescription isn’t that strong. No additional eye test was required, just eye measurements once I'd picked the frames. I went for their decent (2nd most expensive) varifocal lens to give myself the best chance with them.
They’re great, I now use them all the time including for driving meaning I can read the dash easily. The only time I revert to my close-up glasses is for computer work, as with the varifocals I find I’m moving my head side to side a lot to see the edges of the screen clearly. With the half price ticket they came to about £160 for one pair, without the ticket you'd be looking at double the cost but would get 2 pairs on their 2 for 1 offer.
Edited by jfdi on Friday 8th November 13:19
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