WDB
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Post by WDB on Nov 4, 2017 17:51:23 GMT
I'm not yet 50. Not even this year. I've worn glasses - or, more recently, contact lenses - for distance since I was 18, but I've never had a problem with reading.
The contacts mean I see my optician more frequently than most, typically at 12-18 month intervals, and each time recently he's gently probed about how I find reading. "Fine," I tell him, "even with the lenses in."
"Well, if it does start getting uncomfortable, just get some off-the-shelf +1 readers and wear them over your contacts.”
Well, now it is getting difficult and I've given in. Ordered a £6.99 pair of +1s from Amazon and they arrived today. They're not things of beauty - you certainly wouldn't mistake them for the Lindbergs I wear to work - but boy, do they make a difference! I'm wearing them now to look at the MacBook on my lap.
They're just for contact days, you understand - for now, anyway. But what I'd like to know from the, erm, senior members, is: do you make do with off-the-shelf cheapies, or is it worth getting a pair made up properly? I can feel these are a little narrow for my big head, but they generally don't feel too bad.
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Post by Hofmeister on Nov 4, 2017 20:07:40 GMT
Had crap eyesight since puberty. Tried contacts in my teens and then again early 20s, but excessive alcohol and no sleep are not conducive to that regime, and now too late set in my glasses ways.
At 63 I now have varifocals for distance, mid and reading. My glasses are rimless, very thin lenses and very light - Cost an arm and a leg.
Reading glasses are very simple and very complex. Simple in that you chose a diopter (strength) and thats it. Complex in that usability and convenience are paramount, in that they are not on your head all the time, but you need them lots of times during the day, so they need to be carried. So major on that.
You can get ones that fold into a tiny pouch, ones that fit into a thin tube, ones that hang round your neck, magnetic ones that come apart, some you wear all the time (half glasses) a monacle or even pince nez. I would pay a few quid for a nice pair of half glasses to wear for PC work and reading, and a cheaper pair that fold small for carrying around (menus and stuff)
The half pair might even make you look intelligent and give you some gravitas and presence.
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Post by Hofmeister on Nov 4, 2017 20:10:17 GMT
Oh and if your work involves a lot of PC work, get your company to pay for your eye tests.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2017 20:42:47 GMT
WDB. I'm a bit older than you but have the same problem except I can't do contacts. I coped for many years with narrow frames for distance and looked under the lenses and down my nose to read when I wore glasses (like in the car) but always threw them onto the desk or table when I didn't need them. But now I realize that there times for small writing I need help.
So, I have also just moved to varifocals. They took some time to get used to and it is critical that they decide where the boundary is between pure reading and distance. Not sure mine are perfect as I need to move my head up and down sometimes to see clearly.
They are not cheap but do work. As Nogbad said - get work to pay for the test if you spend much time in front of the computer.
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 4, 2017 21:17:48 GMT
Had crap eyesight since puberty. What caused that? |
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Rob
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Post by Rob on Nov 4, 2017 21:24:13 GMT
I need glasses for short sightedness and until about 12 months ago I'd keep them on for reading or using the computer without a problem. I now need to take them off for that but don't need glasses for reading. Still a pain because I'm not that short sighted but will then find myself away from my desk without the glasses and need them.
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Post by Humph on Nov 4, 2017 22:22:34 GMT
Had crap eyesight since puberty. What caused that? Kevin, you are totally responsible for me almost choking tonight ! 😂 |
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Post by Hofmeister on Nov 4, 2017 23:06:15 GMT
Had crap eyesight since puberty. What caused that? Puberty. And all that goes with it. |
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Post by bromptonaut on Nov 5, 2017 16:50:05 GMT
Worn glasses for distant vision since age 11. By late forties began to struggle with close work. Setting year on office franking machine die was the point I accepted I had a problem though I'd been taking glasses off to read long before. First set of varifocals did the job but became less effective over time. Second set never hit spot, possibly badly set up.
My current paid work is 100% telephone and computer and I simply take the glasses off when I sit down for my shift and put them on again when I leave.
Volunteer advising face to face I'm further from PC and need to alternate between reading the screen, the client's expression/non vocal communication and any documents they've got. Plus seeing people across the office. 'Varifocal' contacts, one eye set for close other distant, work OK for most of those scenarios. Issue though is that paper is going out fast and people want me to read email or text/whatsapp type stuff on their phones. Can just about squint my way through, I'm going to need reading correction over contacts soon though.
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Nov 5, 2017 18:06:45 GMT
'Varifocal' contacts, one eye set for close other distant... That sounds horrific. Don't you get a headache? I do, even if I'm just interrupted and try to do something else before putting the second contact in, and that's only a 2.5 dioptre difference between the eye with the lens and the one without. I think varifocals are some way off for me, but I'll probably take Sven's advice and get a couple of comfortable pairs made up for different situations and degrees of portability. I'll be seeing my optician again in a few weeks anyway, so I'll see what he suggests too. I suspect my interpupillary distance is on the wide side, and may be too much for cheapie ready-mades, but there's probably someone with a solution to that. |
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Post by bromptonaut on Nov 5, 2017 18:12:06 GMT
'Varifocal' contacts, one eye set for close other distant... That sounds horrific. Don't you get a headache? I do, even if I'm just interrupted and try to do something else before putting the second contact in, and that's only a 2.5 dioptre difference between the eye with the lens and the one without. I think varifocals are some way off for me, but I'll probably take Sven's advice and get a couple of comfortable pairs made up for different situations and degrees of portability. I'll be seeing my optician again in a few weeks anyway, so I'll see what he suggests too. I suspect my interpupillary distance is on the wide side, and may be too much for cheapie ready-mades, but there's probably someone with a solution to that. The difference is something to do with 'reading adjustment' and causes me no problem. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 5, 2017 19:09:52 GMT
My wife has varifocal contacts. However she hasn't really got to grips with them. She had a short period of glasses again, but seems to be retrying the contacts, but a different version. Its a pain growing old isn't it... I try to keep it at bay, by long walks and swimming. Maybe I can emulate that Canadian dentist who at 95, held lots of records for running and weight lifting.
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Post by Humph on Nov 5, 2017 19:54:05 GMT
I'm a firm believer that you are as old as you choose to be. I stopped counting or recognising birthdays, other than for official purposes, a long time ago. In my head I'm about 35, and if I avoid mirrors I can more or less believe myself. I have no intention of ever slowing down, I shall just carry on doing everything I do now, and no doubt, just keel over and let the lights go out one day while doing it.
😎
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WDB
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Post by WDB on Nov 17, 2022 20:04:29 GMT
I'm a firm believer that you are as old as you choose to be ... I have no intention of ever slowing down, I shall just carry on doing everything I do now, and no doubt, just keel over and let the lights go out one day while doing it. 😎 How's that been going for you, Humph? I found this from five years ago because this afternoon I went to see an optician. (The dispensing kind; I have an appointment with my optometrist next week.) And yes, I think it's varifocal time. Bugger. And it's because I'm back in a classroom. Tuesday night German is now in person again, and this means alternating my vision between a Lehrerin and screen about 6m away - which is fine with my distance glasses on - and my textbook and notes on the table in front of me, which isn't. So I'm constantly shuttling the glasses on and off, which isn't good for me or for them. And it's a half-hour drive each way, in the dark, for which I find my glasses more comfortable than my contacts, so the half-glasses dodge isn't going to work. I have a nice frame with plenty of life left, that I haven't used for years, and Vision Express tell me it's suitable for the varifocal lenses I need. Which makes it a £300 job rather than the £500-600 other people tell me they've spent. Does mean I'll have paid more for glasses to wear in the classroom than for the course itself, though. |
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Deleted
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Post by Deleted on Nov 18, 2022 8:42:26 GMT
Crumbs. That sort of money does not compute with me. I get a free eye test at Specsavers through the company every 2 years, then I get a pair of their frames from the under £99 range for "best", and buy a pack of cheapo Amazon reading glasses to dot around the house/cars for daily use.
On another subject, recently I've been finding my eyes getting increasingly dry and sore, with my eyelids getting quite red. I've found that using the tinted pair of readers in the cheapo amazon pack whilst working at the computer screen has pretty much eliminated this.
And now I understand 2 things which confounded me as a youth: Why do people look over the top of their glasses, and why do some people wear tinted lenses indoors, making them look like wrong 'uns.
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