[Closed] Talk to me about varifocals

I find them a pain in the arse unless for some reason I don't want to use Contacts. They give me a headache for a period of time until I'm used to them - a week or two. Generally I use my contacts and wear a pair of cheap £10 reading glasses over the top when I need to.

I suspect if you use them all the time you get used to them, but I wasn't prepared to invested in glasses, sunglasses etc every time my prescription change which ion your 40/50's is quite a lot as your eye lenses harden.

I've had a pair for about 10 years, I'm now 56 - I only really need them for close / computer work with my distant vision OK, so I invariably find they slide down my nose so I end up peering over the top of them. Took a while to get used to them - not sure I'd get another pair when some inexpensive reading glasses will do the same job.

I wear "occupational" lenses - varifolcals for reading / monitor to TV distances.

I find them great things, barely notice them at work.

I find them great - relatively mild prescription, one short, one long sighted plus astigmatism.

I've used Specsavers - once good, once bad, local optician which was excellent but expensive. I was short on money last time so tried Asda - excellent and very cheap.

I wear them all the time including on the bike and just forget about them.

Specsavers optician here...
For you it’s just convenience. I have the same type of prescription and have varis. If I pick up my old distance only specs, it’s such a ballache taking them on and off.
You need to decide whether it’s worth it, for some jobs and lifestyle it is, for others not so much.
With most peoples lifestyle there is so much more near vision going on, computers and phones that they are useful, but if you constantly only do close stuff at work and you can see it, it might not be the only option.
The other thing is getting them early on means they are easy to get on with.
If you want to PM me with your prescription and job details I can give you more in depth advice.
To give context to the price you can spend double that in an independent and some of the other multiples.

I'm kinda blind but couple of years ago I was struggling to see things close up (I'm short sighted). I could have gone with two different pairs and it would have been a lot cheaper but went with varifocals because like above it is much more convenient. Took me a few days to get used to them but happy I got them. Unfortunately I'm needing another pair (2 years) as my close up vision has changed again.

I got the more expensive type varifocal lenses and I recommend you get those if you go down that route.

They are worth a try in your case but as mentioned above look at Asda, there is no defendable reason for them to cost four times as much as normal glasses in an opticians

If you use a computer you need occupational or reading lenses, varifocal don’t have the field of vision.
As general glasses they are good but get good lenses that have a wider field of view.

I need glasses for distance and close up and I got fed up with carrying 2 pairs of glasses around with me.

Haven’t looked back since I got varifocals. They took a week or so to get used to, and at first I wasn’t happy driving with them on, but now I wear them all of the time. Even on the bike they seem ok.

They took a week or so to get used to

good point, some things take getting used to especially looking downwards for steps - that uses the near vision part of the lens so isn't where you think!

Also a good reason to wear them all the time - your brain will compensate really well if it is constant. See George Stratton's work for more extreme versions

I’ve been wearing varis for over 20 years & couldn’t do without them. I’m both long & short sighted with astigmatism AND dry eyes, which means using contacts is a pain.
You pay more for varis with a wider field but being a tight git I soon got used to the cheaper version & now wouldn’t pay a fortune.
I concur with jp-t853 about Asda being pricing cos that’s where I go.

Thanks all

@jkomo - thanks, will DM you tomorrow

On Asda pricing, had a quick look online, seems to say £120 for a premium pair with everything included, even "high spec varifocals lenses if required". Is that right and if so anyone know what the varifocals lenses they provide are like? At that money worth trying out I think

You can also get “multifocal “ contact lenses. I understand they have multiple concentric rings of differing focal length, somehow your brain works it out. I had them for a couple of years, £39 for 20 lenses each eye per month.

Eventually my prescription changed again & I found they didn’t reall6 work well enough at either distance or close up, so I switched back to single vision (distance) lenses & a set of reading glasses. I’m pretty sure with the help of a good optician we could have got the righ5 prescription bu5 in the end I figured I’d rather save the money 😉 well, I am from Yorkshire...

Anyhoo, I’ve now had cataract surgery in both eyes & I can see distance again, unaided, for the first time since about 1981. I still need reading glasses but I would anyway if I had single vision contact lenses

I got a 2 for 1 deal at Specsavers on varifocals at about £280. They work fine for general use around the house, driving etc. I also got some 'Computer specials' at ~£20 which is what I am wearing now. I am going to get a pair of reading glasses for when in the sauna and reading close up, again for about £20.

Varifocals are your basic do it all glasses that you wear all the time. Get good ones. The reading and computer glasses are for specific tasks. Computer glasses are like reading glasses but the focus point is about 60cm rather than 30cm.

I went for the Asda 2 pair for £120. Got some Adidas "sports" frames with a mid tint, for the bike, and every day frames with the reactive lenses. I probably paid a little more for the reactive lenses.

The only problem I have is when glancing into the door mirror when driving. I have to turn my head instead to get the focus right. Probably down to the shape of the lenses, but it's not really a deal breaker. definitely getting another set when they're due

I went to Specsavers and for last few years went in and basically told them “I need varifocals as I’m having to take my glasses off to read stuff close up” but they were, in fact, brainless robots trained to sell cheap stuff quickly and I was obviously too much hassle.

Went into an independent place in Leeds last November and was so pleased with the service I paid for top of the range (in fact so top of the range they didn’t even have them on their list of options) and they have been absolutely amazing. Great quality, I wear them all the time, absolutely no complaints at all, worth the £700 or whatever they were.

Sat reading this on my phone through mine. If you need glasses for daily use, buy the best. Mine are titanium oakleys, with £260 per lens very high index lenses with +1 above my normal +3.5/5 and astigmatism correction. Metal lenses fit better and are more adjustable than plastic. I’ve worn glasses for 49/53 of my years. With contacts too.

I need them for everything but I will now be ordering a set of computer glasses for the +1 across wider field of view. This allows for better reading of a screen in lower light. Otherwise it’s laptop on the desk rather than screen at eye level and read through the bottom of the lenses.

The wobbling verticals took no time at all. I also switch back to ordinary for sunshine use and I have an older pair for emergency use.

Before I had varifocals I regularly used to break my reading glasses because I mostly kept them in a pocket. I never broke my varifocals because I mostly kept them on my nose.

I tried ordering varifocals through my local optician, but as I like reasonably curved/sporty glasses, they reckoned their lab couldn't do them. In fact, having taken several different sports glasses down to them, they admitted defeat and gave me a pair of reading glasses FOC.

In retrospect, I usually need computer glasses and I need riding/driving glasses. My desktop screen is big and in front of me, rather than down by my hands, so reading glasses work better for that - It's only menus and phone that I need close up lenses for apart from that. Currently I live in reading glasses as I never go anywhere, but that may change and I might have another shot at them.

I've now got varifocals as my astygmatism means I can't focus properly at any distance.

Local optician did at first suggest a lens that made specs nearly £300 but a lens swap to a merely good one so 10 year old technology knocked off £100 and they've been fine. They go on my face as soon as I'm washed in the morning and stay there until I go to bed.

To give context to the price you can spend double that in an independent and some of the other multiples.

My experience of Specsavers is that my local independent is better at the care taken with my eyes and one pair of specs is more or less exactly half that of Specsavers 2 pair deals unless you get very cheap setups. Don't even get me started on Boots and Dollands, just avoid them. They made Specsavers look like gods.

I'd not heard of "occupational" lenses but they should like the sort if things I might need.

(52 and wondering if a Guide Dog might be a cuter solution....)

"The only problem I have is when glancing into the door mirror when driving. "

This was the deal breaker for me when I tried varifocals. I drive on and off all day at work. You don't realise how often you are checking mirrors until you need to turn your head every time you check the rearview and wing mirrors. Allegedly more expensive lenses have a wider field of view though.

I went back to bifocals. My distance sight is near normal in fact my far distance sight is clearer with my glasses off than on. I need specs for reading - around +1.75. Stable for the last 10 years.

I wear my bifocals 95% of the time and forget I have them on. With bifocals there is a wide field of view so driving mirror checks mainly by eye movement and not head movement.

I'm reading this thread with my normal glasses balanced on top of my readers.
It's a look. It's not a good look, but it's a look.

Having been short-sighted since forever, in the last year or so I've started struggling to read very small print through my distance lenses, but fine if I look around them or take them off.

I decided that I didn't switch between distance and near enough to get varifocals at the moment. At work I'm either teaching to a whole class or reading/marking, but rarely back and forward.

I have been wearing them for about 4 years now.
Just don't do DIY in them - you will never draw a straight line ever again ...
Buy a good set of readers for that

My wife does exactly what the OP suggests. Standard glasses for most things and takes them off to read holding the document closer to her face. Works well for her. I’m on varifocals because I can do the same thing as I need a prescription for both!

The only problem I have is when glancing into the door mirror when driving. ”

This was the deal breaker for me when I tried varifocals. I drive on and off all day at work. You don’t realise how often you are checking mirrors until you need to turn your head every time you check the rearview and wing mirrors

When I first got my vari-focals, I kept my regular glasses in the car for driving. At some point I swapped over and it now feels completely normal. I guess I must be turning my head a lot more than before, but I don’t notice it. Helps, I guess, that I’m never in the car for more than an hour these days.

My desktop screen is big and in front of me, rather than down by my hands, so reading glasses work better for that

I upset my HR bods at work after I put my monitor lower than the recommended height. Not easy to read a screen with varifocals if the screen is too high.

I went for a wide coverage on varifocal area, pricey but worth it. Even then I would switch between varifocals and regular for driving etc but have just stuck with the varifocals for everything. Occasionally the edge effect is noticeable but that's usually when they have slipped down my nose a bit. At the moment I'm thinking about getting a pair of sports glasses for riding. The loss of close focus with contacts is now getting a bit too much of an inconvenience for maps and repairs.

The new generation of ‘smart readers’ (vocational or VDU specs)are also worth considering. For office work I made myself a pair- I can see up close- phone, paperwork etc, and look at two big monitors as well as a laptop easily. Looking acooss the office is fine to talk to a colleague, but not clear enough to see print at a distance.
It’s a useful way of using a ‘Two for one’ deal.