I got shingles in 2003 and it got into my left eye. I’ve been seeing an ophthalmologist ever since. I was using prednisone drops and he monitors my eye pressure.
We got to talking about bifocals. I’ve never used them. I started removing my glasses to read about 5 years go. Put them back on after reading.
Turns out my sixty year old ophthalmologist removes his glasses too.
He explained we are in a category that probably wouldn’t do well in bifocals. My eyes adjust quickly when my glasses come off. I can read fine.
Someday, I may need reading glasses. But not right now.
My poor dad required trifocals. I’m hoping I’ll never require bifocals.
When my eyes first nosedived about a decade back, I had two sets of glasses, one for reading and one for working on PCs, driving etc. For most of that year, I needed to rest my eyes after a day at the office. Then I went over to varifocals, and no more eyestrain. Wonderful.
Walking down steep stairs can be a problem though.
Really, no one needs bifocals - unless they get to the point where their arms aren’t long enough to allow them to read, or the font on the printed item is too small at the appropriate distance from the face.
Well, yeah. If you can read fine without correction, it would be pretty damn dumb to make you wear glasses that correct your vision for reading. My ophtho assistant textbook says that it’s relatively common for near-sighted patients who develop presbyopia to see fine at reading distance without their glasses. At least, for patients whose myopia isn’t so severe they lose clarity closer in than reading distance. Me, I get blurry about six inches out, so when I lose my ability to accommodate I’ll just have to have bifocals.
It is strange how aging works. I wore glasses since I was 12. I needed them to read sheet music when I was in the orchestra. Gradually I depended on them for any distance reading. Especially street signs when I drove.
They never interfered with my close up reading until I hit 43. Removing my glasses to read quickly became second nature.
That’s because the lens inside your eye used to be able to change shape and adjust to accommodate the different optics of focusing on something close up. But as you got older, it stiffened up just like your joints did/will, and now if you’re wearing glasses you’re stuck with the optics of your corrected distance vision.
Heh. After much nagging on my part, my husband finally went for an eye exam yesterday.* At a distance of two meters, his vision is 20/20. Anything closer or farther away is, to use a technical term, craptacular. So he’s going from no glasses at all to bifocals, in one fell swoop. Ought to be a fun adjustment! Unfortunately, it will be about two weeks before his glasses are ready, but I already dread the whining.
*Sadly, I anticipate that he’ll now start nagging me to go. Fine, mild astigmatism, I already know that. But I can still read these forums on my phone, and dosage directions on medicine packages, and ingredient lists without stretching my arms!
when you have myopia you are very, very, accustomed to bringing items closer to you. bifocals kinda go against that. most just move glasses out of the way, and peer at the item hovering at the edge of their eyelashes.
Oh, yes, and thanks for the reminder. When my mom switched to bifocals, it was tough to adjust, and she’d worn single vision lenses for a couple of decades. Hubby usually doesn’t even wear sunglasses, so the adjustment is going to be really tough for him!
That’s pretty much what my optician told me, aceplace57. He said if taking off my glasses to read stopped working for me, then it would be time for bifocals. He was right. I still take off my glasses for a lot of stuff, though – my beadwork, for one.
So, what is it again? I wear bifocals but take off my glasses to read. So when I go to get my eyes examined, what should I ask for? Reading glasses for reading? Varifocals? Should I have two, three different kinds of glasses?
I have mild myopia and usually only wear my glasses for driving. If I am wearing them, the car instruments start getting blurry. Without them, the instruments are fine, distance a little blurry but still clear enough for daylight driving. I do have a pair of low magnification glasses for reading. Most print is readable but it causes a little bit of a strain so the glasses make it that much more comfortable.
So, no bifocals as they’d be awkward for most situations. Glasses on for reading, different ones for driving at night.
This!
I didn’t need any sort of glasses until I was 48, then I started using drug-store readers. Two months ago I went for an eye exam and got talked into gradiated bifocals. Holy crap. I am still not used to them…I still use my basic one-dimensional readers when I have to walk or climb stairs and only use the prescription ones for computer or reading.
Thank goodness he listened to his mother and mine, and didn’t order the no-line bifocals. Mom had few problems adjusting to standard bifocals, but the graduated ones made her dizzy all the time, and MIL managed to break her wrist when she misjudged a stairstep with her no-lines on. Both Mamas switched back!
I’m thinking of getting my tri-focals redone to just…whatever would be considered ‘normal’ for my prescription. The center of the lens, which is supposed to be mid-field, is what gets used 99.9 percent of the time, including for the computer. I’d have to have my nose to the screen in order for the lower, ‘near’ portion to be of any use whatsoever in ANYthing. I hate them.
I was mildly near-sighted (20-40 and 20-50) and after I got to mid 40s, I had to take my glasses off to read and eventually stopped wearing them except for driving and movies. Twenty years later, I had to start using reading glasses. Eventually, I got progressives (I need a middle distance for the computer screen) and it took all of 30 seconds to get used to them. Love 'em. But my wife got progressives and hated them. But I can no way in which you could harm your vision by taking off your glasses to read. Or by using drug-store reading glasses for that matter.
(Bolding mine)
Speaking as a (former) optician, this irritates me. Even 20 years ago normal turnaround time was 3-4 business days unless it was a rarely used specialty lens. Two week turnaround usually means a high-volume cut-rate lab with poor quality control.
Two things possibly going on here. Progressive lenses (not no-line bifocals; there is such a thing, but in 15 years I only knew of one person who used them) are harder to fit correctly. All too many places are too cheap to hire real opticians, resulting in poor measurements and poor frame fit. The fact that they use a supplier with a two week turnaround time is a BIG red flag.
The other thing is that progressives are usually harder to adapt to for people who have worn lined bifocals or trifocals. People have gotten used to the image “jump” that happens when you cross the lines, and the gradual change in magnification feels “swimmy”.
The opposite is usually true for new presbyopes. The image jump from lines can be jarring, so between that and the fact that you can fine tune your focus with progressives just by moving your head a little it’s usually easier for new wearers to go with progressives. That’s why progressives have a non-adapt warranty and lined lenses don’t.
Let me chime in on the “don’t get cheap lenses” above. I pay a mint for my progressive lenses. They’re worth it. I have myopia and presbyopia and astigmatism. I got lower priced ones once – ONCE! The focus was never quite right, although I went back for rechecking twice. And the far-distance area was so small I had to tilt my head to drive. I only get the Varilux now.
My husband’s vision problems are far less severe than mine. He gets his exams and lenses at places like K-Mart and Sears. They are never right the first time and sometimes not the second time, either.
