Reading glasses

[Tom Godley]

Well at 49 I had to get them.

They are driving me crazy! I need them on then off ---- then on again.

Work on the computer is a real pain. My typing skills are marginal at best even when I can see!

I bought one of those round lighted magnifying lights with the movable arms-- they are a big help with really small work.

But it is a real pain - especially with safety glasses!

I am also having some trouble playing golf

Maybe my eyes will settle down -- but it can be dangerous when tools are involved!

Thankfully, everything else seems to be working!

[Ken Fitzgerald]

Tom,

That is why I wear "No-Line" tri-focals....progressives is what it's called. I don't need glasses for driving or walking and yet.....depending on what I'm working on, I might need varying amounts of magnification.

When wearing my progressive tri-focals, I can tip my head to get the amount of magnification I need for the job at hand. Takes a little while to get used to walking up and down stairs with them but eventually you get used to them.

When I was shooting bench rest competition, I went to an eye doctor who was also a shooter. He wrote a prescription for my glasses that changed the vertical alignment of the prescription within the lens. When I was bent over the bench sighting through a scope, I had virtually no magnification and the mag portion stayed out of my way. They worked great for shooting benchrest competition.

[Bob Ross]

You hung in there longer than a lot of us....40 is more common. When I started needing them, I thought I had a brain tumor. I learned watching "Northern Exposure" on TV that it is normal aging.

I have progressed to 2.75 diopter in the shop and I bought some safety glasses from a WW supply house that have built in bifocals. For reading I use the half-glasses and I can look over them for normal vision.
For the computer I use full-size reading glasses in 1.75 diopter. These allow me to tilt my head to a comfortable angle and to back up a bit so my belly is off the keyboard

It ain't all fun anymore, but it beats the alternative.

[David G Baker]

I was at 3.75 diopter prior to cataract surgery. I am now at .50 in one eye and .75 in the other. The doctor messed up on the implanted lens in my left eye so I still need glasses for some things other than driving.

[glenn bradley]

This is one of the reasons I stick with hard line bi or tri focals (depending on use). The so called "soft focus" area (read blurry as in it is neither of the actual Rx strengths) between the actual RX areas of your lens on no-lines is larger than the usable area. I tried them, I even tried the "computer" version that has the largest "non-soft" focal area available. Hard lines exceed this usable area by a large amount. Any credible optometrist (hi Dad) will tell you this.

I wear trifocals for life in general and enjoy knowing which part of the lens to look through to get a solid clear focal point for 'near', 'just within reach' and 'way over there'. Bifocals at work (desktop distance below and computer screen distance on top) and in the shop (4" to 16" below, everything else on top to the limit of my old unassisted eyes).

The shop glasses are actual Rx safety glasses, not "readers" like you pick up at Wal-Mart. They make my shop time a joy as opposed to trying "big-ole-goggles that fit over my regular glasses but get in the way of respirators and all that" sort of fun. Have some made, it is money well spent. . . . Can you tell I'm sold on them?

[Joe Pelonio]

Tom,

That is why I wear "No-Line" tri-focals....progressives is what it's called. I don't need glasses for driving or walking and yet.....depending on what I'm working on, I might need varying amounts of magnification.

When wearing my progressive tri-focals, I can tip my head to get the amount of magnification I need for the job at hand. Takes a little while to get used to walking up and down stairs with them but eventually you get used to them.

Same here, they take a few weeks to get used to but are then great. I have the most magnification at the bottom for reading, the middle for computer, and the top is slightly corrected for far sight. I can wear them all the time if I like or not. I ordered them with the anti-glare coating and also polycarbonate lenses so they also function as safety glasses.

[Jim Becker]

Welcome to my world...

I used to be nearsighted...very nearsighted for most of my life. Now I'm farsighted (since LASIK) and have age-normal presbyopia and have to use reading glasses. It's particularly bad when my eyes are tired or dry and/or when the light level is low. 2.0 diopter at this point, recently moving from 1.5 dipoter. So there is a pair by the bed; a pair in the "library"; a pair on my desk; and a pair in my pocket when I leave the house. And two pairs of "cheater" safety glasses in the shop. For those, I will only buy them if the reading portion covers the entire bottom of the lens...I cannot stand the cheap ones that give a tiny area for the magnification. I don't wear them for the computer, however...and if I needed that, I'd get some made that are correct for that particular distance as it's not the same as for reading.

[John Keeton]

I became nearsighted at about 24 and started progressing quickly until my glasses were so heavy I started wearing contacts. As I reached my early 40's, had to start wearing reading glasses WITH the contacts to see up close.

Then, my eyes became too dry to support the soft contacts (old age!) Just couldn't go back to full time glasses, so had RK surgery done about 13 years ago. Had perfect vision at a distance, but still had to have the reading glasses.

Now, my vision has changed and my distant vision is not as sharp as it once was, and what's worse, I am up to 2.75 on the reading glasses, can't see real well at 6', and really need those trifocals you guys are talking about. I notice those people in the choir at church are all a little fuzzy around the edges.

I just have a hard time wearing glasses all the time - but it looks like it won't be long! As Bob said, it ain't fun, BUT!

[Michael Weber]

You hung in there longer than a lot of us....40 is more common. When I started needing them, I thought I had a brain tumor. I learned watching "Northern Exposure" on TV that it is normal aging.

Sigh. I still miss Northern Exposure. It was the best television show ever, bar none up until Fleishman (sp) left. Nothing like it before or since.
As far as keeping reading glasses handy, I have opted for that sophisticated Librarian look. A little black necklace string thing that attaches to the ear pieces with rubber loops. Always there when needed and never misplaced. Of course my long term goal is to become harmlessly eccentric Couple of bucks at Walmart.

[Tim Morton]

Sigh. I still miss Northern Exposure. It was the best television show ever, bar none up until Fleishman (sp) left. Nothing like it before or since.
As far as keeping reading glasses handy, I have opted for that sophisticated Librarian look. A little black necklace string thing that attaches to the ear pieces with rubber loops. Always there when needed and never misplaced. Of course my long term goal is to become harmlessly eccentric Couple of bucks at Walmart.

I have been watching it on utube lately ....not quite the same but its a great way to get your "adam" fix

[Ken Garlock]

Hi Tom. I have been using tri-focal glasses for at least 10 years. They are very easy to get used to, IMO. Most recently, I got a pair of "computer glasses" that have the tri-focal in the top half, and the reading lens in the bottom half. I use them primarily for reading, and with the tri-focal I get an additional range of vision such that I don't have to hold the book/paper in a specific place all the time.

My wife wears the progressive lens and can't(will not learn to) wear the lined tri-focal. I tried the progressive lens, to me it is just they like the politics of the same name, I can't stand them.

[Michael Weber]

I have been watching it on utube lately ....not quite the same but its a great way to get your "adam" fix

Yeah, a great quirky show. I have the CD's. Favorite show was when they flung Tooley. Loved the "Last Supper Club" scene. I love that old fashioned rock and roll

[Mitchell Andrus]

..... but eventually you get used to them.

Now THAT is an understatement!!!!!! Took me about a month.

Twice I got in the car to go take them back, and my dead-blow hid for about a month thank goodness.

Now, I wouldn't be without them.

[David G Baker]

I am one of the lucky ones when it comes to the Verilux type lenses. I had trifocals with the reading lens at 3.75 diopter and it took a very short time for me to adjust. I did have some fun times trying to walk up steps at first due to the way I had to adjust my head to get the steps in focus.
On my third and final set of glasses the lenses were very heavy and if I would sweat the glasses would slide down on my nose and I would have a heck of a time trying to work on a project while always adjusting my glasses to the correct place on my nose so things would be in focus. It wasn't the optics, it was the design of the frames that caused the problems. Cataract surgery took care of all of that problem.

[Lee Schierer]

I have worn glasses since I was 16, first for reading then working toward full time. At about age 50 I found it hard to see the saw blade from the edge of the saw table when lining up extra precise cuts, checking angles, ec. My Opthamologist suggested tri-focals. Call it vanity or whatever, but I wasn't ready for trifocals. So as an option. He suggested trying Zeiss Gradal lenses. They were a variable focus lense with the widest bifocal and center vision area on the market. At the time there was a get any pair of regular bifocals free if you didn't like them offer. I've had them for over 9 years now and wouldn't be without them. I work at a computer much of the day and whether sitting up close or lounging back in my chair I can focus the screen by slightly tilting my head. They also work great for woodworking and reclinging watching football games. Now if I just had a pair that were made upside down for working under cabinets and under the car where I need to look up and see things that are close. I can't tilt my head back that far.

LOML was extremely frustrated with her glasses and trying to do sewing and needlepoint. She would often take off her glasses for close work as it was better than the glasses. I convinced her to try the Gradal lenses and she is now quite happy with them and no longer screams at her glasses.