At my last eye examination the optometrist gently suggested I look into getting bifocals. I was 39. In the words of my daughter, I flipped a tit. No, no, no too young! Bifocals are for old people!
I used to work in an opthalmic lab, and I know poor vision is not necessarily age related, but it’s one of those things I can’t delete from my brain. Old = bifocals. My (non-bio) parents got bifocals when they were in their 50’s. My friends in their late 40’s are now starting to have to move up to bifocals. Dammit, I’m 40.
I’m near sighted, have single vision glasses, not a super heavy prescription (L -1.5, R -1.25). I can do okay without them if necessary. However, I do a lot of fine work, such as cross stitch, and I must take off the specs in order to see what I’m doing. Without my glasses I can see close up very well. Doing the specs on/ specs off thing triggers headaches, and I’m not adept enough to wear my glasses down my nose so I can look over them. They fall off.
Thanks to a screw up with my flex medical account, I have a decent chunk of money that will end up going to my buying new glasses, and I think I have to get over my ageism and get bifocals.
How old were you when you had to ‘move up’ to bifocals? Are the difficult to get used to?
I’m in my late 30s (and work in ophthalmology!) and have worn progressive bifocals for a decade or two, not for presbyopia but to reduce eyestrain when I do close-up work. It did occur to me recently that I will probably not notice presbyopia when it starts since I already have bifocals! I am nearsighted and have a strong prescription.
You do have to get used to holding your head a certain way/looking down when you’re reading/doing close work; you can’t just put your head down and look straight ahead. It also helps to have a slightly larger than usual lens to give you more of an area to look through, and certain extremely narrow glasses cannot accommodate a bifocal or progressive bifocal lens. I’m very much used to it after all of this time.
I’d recommend one of two options (speaking as a glasses wearer, not as someone in ophthalmology). Either get progressive bifocals so you don’t have that line and the quick change in prescription, or if you think you can cope with swapping out glasses, go to a pharmacy and check out their reading glasses, and buy the one that suits you.
Yeah, the doctors I work with always say “Oh, you’re 40/almost 40” when someone complains about trouble reading print. You get the ones who don’t need them until late 40s or so (like my dad, who never needed any glasses until that point), but +/-40 isn’t odd.
I was in my early 40’s. On the other hand, I’d been wearing glasses since I was 12, so it wasn’t that big a shock.
Of course if you only need biofocals for a few specific things, you can always get half-glasses with your distance prescription and look over them for the close-up work.
I started using reading glasses in my mid-40s, but didn’t need bifocals until I was over 50. I probably will need tri-focals in a few more years. Not crazy about the progressive lenses, I can tell you.
I got my first set 4 years ago at age 43; no problem adapting to them. Just got my second set about 8 months ago – the distance prescription is basically the same as it’s been since I was in my teens, but the near vision has gotten a bit worse over the last few years.
I tried regular bifocals and almost killed myself; literally. For the things I do and how I do them I took the bullet and went “no-line” or “progressive”. It still took me about a week to fully adjust but at least it didn’t involve any more stitches or trips to the ER.
I can see close up just fine without glasses at all. That is how I sew / read / do anything close up. I just cannot do any of that with my glasses on.
I find I’m doing like my dad did - if TheKid brings me something to read, I have to hold it out arms length if I’m wearing my specs, as it’s slightly blurry. If I take them off, all is dandy.
I figure I would go with progressives, FWIW. They seem to be the rule, not the exception nowadays.
I got bifocals when I was 40. I’m 50 now. I found it very easy to get used to bifocals. Progressives, on the the other hand, drive me nuts. I cannot wear them (although now that I seem to be headed for trifocals, maybe it’s time to try again).
You can get bifocals with an invisible line (not progressives - I forget what they’re called. A “blended” bifocal? Not sure), or you can refuse to give in to vanity and get the kind with the line in the lens. I’ve had both, and I find the line a little bit easier to deal with. What Ferret Herder says about narrow lenses is true in my experience – you need room for both parts of the bifocal for them to be comfortable.
Really, once you’ve worn them for a week or two, you’ll forget all about them. They’re much better than switching glasses for distance and reading or close-up work. I wear my glasses from the minute I wake up until I’m about to go to sleep. No problem.
I started wearing glasses when I was 10, for myopia.
I started wearing bifocals at about 40. Tried progressives first, but couldn’t stand them. Bifocals were a great relief, and took no time to get used to. Really not a big deal at all.
Seven or eight years later I had to move to trifocals. They took a little while to get used to, because you lose much more of the distance lens area. They never become as non-intrusive as bifocals, particularly when dealing things at different heights on grocery shelves, or when looking at paintings in a museum. I find myself constantly moving my head trying to get things right. But bifocals are just not enough for me anymore.
Face it, you’re getting older. You have to do things to make life easier; once you get bifocals you won’t have any desire to go back, I guarantee.
I have the same problem, nearsighted and doing things like watching tv and doing something up close meant lifting up my glasses to see up close and I also got a lot of headaches. I got progressive bifocals and I never got the hang of them so I usually just don’t do up close stuff while watching tv anymore. So my next glasses will just be my nearsighted prescription. If it turns out I need reading glasses I’ll just get separate glasses. But apparently I am an exception and bifocals aren’t really that hard to adjust to.
I noticed that I couldn’t see as well up close through my glasses the day I turned 40 - yup, right on schedule. At 43, I was supposed to get bifocals last year, but I didn’t bother. I think I will get them this year - it’s starting to get bad enough that I want my glasses to work better for me. I’m a little concerned that I’m going to have a hard time getting used to them - I can only have plastic lenses, nothing fancier than that because I’m extremely sensitive to chromatic aberrations, I think it’s called - I tried the new Featherwates® a couple of years ago, and my response was, “GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF GET THEM OFF!” I got massive headaches and disorientation from them. You know, I can’t see those 3-D pictures and the 3-D glasses at the movies really bother me, too - I think I’m seeing a pattern here.
Anyway, I think I’ll try progressives first, then go to the hidden line ones if those don’t work. Or just the regular ones with a line - what the hell. I’m not looking to impress anyone with how young and beautiful I am.
For a long time, Lou Reed wore glasses with flip up lenses. I’m not sure where he got them, but apparently they’re available.
Like the OP, I’m nearsighted enough that I can read closeup without glasses. So, usually I take off my progressive lenses when I want to read. That way I can move the book around, rather than always peering downward through the close-focus part of the glasses.
However every year my eyes get a little less flexible and now my depth of focus is limited to about 2". If the book is closer than 5 inches, it’s too close. If it’s further than 7 inches, it’s too far.
I’ll be unhappy if/when my little focus spot goes away.
At my last eye appointment the doctor told me I needed bifocals but I could wait another year if I wanted. I gave into vanity and I’ve regretted it ever since. I’m so tired of putting my glasses on my forehead. And I’d like to be able smoothly switch between watching TV and reading. Bifocals here I come.
Sorry if I’ve missed this above, but is it true that some people simply cannot get used to bifocals? I’ve heard that, and if it’s true, I suspect I could be one of them, as my eyes are so sensitive.
Mid-forties here and have worn bifocals for twenty-something years.
My first pair took a couple of days to get used to (stairs were my big adjustment) but nothing that sent me to the ER. My second pair were the then new progressives. I hated them and immediately went back to the ones with lines. YMMV.
I am one. An optometrist once persuaded me to buy a pair but I just couldn’t adapt to them. All my life I have simply taken my glasses off when reading and I can’t see any reason not to keep doing it.
