Varifocals

[formoverfunction]

Hi everyone, I hope this is the right place.

I recently went to my optician, told them I'm having problems reading very small print and cutting vegtables in the kitchen.

Also told them, that I receive on average 80 emails a day, plus lots of txt messages from friends and I use the laptop, iPhone, smart TV and good old Raspeberry Pi pretty much all day from 5.30 am till 9.30 pm.

Their suggestion, varifocals! Yes you guessed it.

I went on to say that on an average day I'm reading at least 2 R&A's, 1 Propspectus (that might be several hundred of pages) and potentially several updates from start-ups etc.

I suspect the optician doesn't really understand and thinks I'm reading these in print format.

I began my retirement wind down at 42. I haven't had a full time job in the last 10 years and retired at 50! This is what I do, run my own book. My friends think I'm living the dream and I watch Netflix all day and potter round the garden. If they only knew.....

I now find I can only see a very small part of the screen with the glasses on and so I'm zipping my head around like anything when I'm speed reading.

Even looking for back files in my extensive document history is taking me for ever.

In fact any reading has become like a word search!

(I can see the whole screen without them and scan across, read without glasses and without any problem)

The consequence is that I'm feeling very sick.

In fact I've been sick and fallen over in the garden grazing my arm. I live on the edge of woods and the garden runs into the tree line. It's almost in darkness in the summer months, is very steep and uneven. It's just overwhelming in there with the varifocals. Going for a walk today on the steep wooded valley was just hell.

So, I've only had the glasses a few days, they cost me over £700, but that include a pair of varifocal sunglasses. For the main glasses I used my existing very expensive frames. Which are quite small and Nordic.

I just can't help feeling that what they've suggested would never work for me. I'm struggling with my entire day, just so I can chop vegtables every few days. I can read most book I purchase, but occasionaly I get one that's got very small type. We are talking like 8pt.

I've emailed them saying I need some ugent help.

I am short sighted, but I went for an eye test becuase I was having difficulty with my existing 10 year old driving glasses. I just mentioned the issue about the veggies and having to take me old ones off to now do certain jobs was a pain....for the majority of my day I dont wear any glasses and I also said that.

Do you think they've advised me badly?

I've now got all my glasses as varifocal and wearing them "all day" and "you might be a nodding dog for a few days" sounds like utter tosh.

Moderator Message:
Split off from similarly themed thread as this is a new question. - Chris

[bungeejumper]

First-timers find that varifocals will very often mess up your sense of balance when you're on steep slopes, etc. Going upstairs was fine for me, but coming downstairs was hell. I got used to them in time, and so will you, probably. Do you have an astigmatism as well?

But I still wouldn't want to wear varifocal lenses for everything. I much prefer my plain distance lenses for driving, because they don't play about with my peripheral vision. (As an ex-biker, I'm a bit fussy about that.) And there are days when my distance lenses are better for other purposes. I've been attending art classes for the last year, and my drawing is better without the varifocals.

Hay fever, headaches and sinus troubles can mess with your vision, and those will be difficult times. Do any of these apply?

I'm sure a proper oculist will be along in a moment. But how far is your screen from your nose? Mine (24 inch screen) is 30 inches away, and I find it's essential to tell the optician that, or my prescription is bound to be wrong.

Random thoughts, anyway. Best of luck.

BJ

[Bminusrob]

Hi formoverfunction. You don't say how long you have had the varifocals, but they DO take quite a while to get used to, and your symptoms are quite common, I am told.

As my eyes have gradually deteriorated over the years, I wear +2 correction most of the time, but for very small writing, or very close-up work, I wear +3. If I forget that I am wearing my +3 glasses, and start to walk about, I get similar symptoms to you, and I have had the +3 glasses for over a year (but I don't wear them that often).

Bungeejumper. I didn't quite see the relavance of an occultist to the conversation. Then I thought, maybe I should change my +2's to +3's

[bungeejumper]

Afterthought: Opticians know that varifocals take a bit of getting used to, and that some people can't ever settle to them at all. If you're not happy after a couple of weeks, go back and ask them to sort it out. Even if it means going back to plain lenses, they'll be fine about it.

I assume you're keeping your old specs? But my driving glasses are the £29 a pair jobbies from Glasses Direct. (I don't really care that much about wearing a sharp style when I'm in my car.) You can buy them with the info on your prescription. Not a lot of money to risk for the benefit of having an alternative on your desk.

BJ

[formoverfunction]

Hi BJ

In answer to your questions "Hay fever, headaches and sinus troubles can mess with your vision, and those will be difficult times. Do any of these apply?"

I explained after getting pneumonia I'd developed a very senistive chest and wondered if the difficulty I was getting with me eyes was basically hey fever. That's what I told the optician, just incase. I live on the very edge of woodlands, so tree pollen is everywhere.

I use a laptop, so distance varies by what surface I'm using to some extent. I never have a problem seeing the screen. At home, I use a laptop in conjunction with a second screen and iPhone. At the moment I can glance/read from all of them with very little movement of my head. With the varifocals on I can only see such a small about of text, I have to keep moving my head! Without them no problem. The type I find difficult reading is 8pt. I told the optician that was the type size. At home the laptop is 24 inches away. It's further when I use it in to garden. At 36 inches I can read the text without glasses.

I usually don't wear glasses for much of the day, maybe 2 hours a day. I drive perhaps 30 miles per week.

I really went in for prescription sunglasses. The advice was that I should condiser using varifocals. So, I ended up changing the lenses in my "best" glasses, my garden "trashes" and bought some basic varifocal sunglasses. I usually wear contact lenses (non varifocal) with very expensive sunglasess and just accept they aren't good for reading. I can still see the dashboard for driving etc.

Perhaps I'm just expecting too much, but I was expecting to spend £160 plus eye examination. Went to great extent to explain, but expected them to not "up sell", maybe I should have just ignored their advice.

[formoverfunction]

No, I can't keep my old specs. They've all got these varifocal lenses in! I've got a really old pair. My garden glasses that I use like safety glasses! You know the sort of thing. I use the with the shredder, repairing the dry stone walls etc. They ain't pretty! I think there's some paint left on them somewhere.

I'm not sure I'm going to try for a couple of weeks. They've told me to wear them all the time. So, now I'm feeling sick at me desk, and then I'm mainly getting any benefit from them for a very small part of the day. Maybe an hour a day or even less.

It feels like a terrible trade off, sickness for 12 hours a day. The amount of time I spend at work, agaist the 30 minutes I might spend reading very small type or chopping up veg!

I wish I'd never bothered thinking about prescription sunglasses.

[production100]

If you usually wear contact lenses then another solution is to have one eye correct for distance and one eye correct for reading. I know it sounds mad, but it is quite a standard solution and it works well.

P100

[Bminusrob]

Talking of prescription sunglasses, I got really nasty fly in my eye a few weeks ago, while out running, so I went round various opticians to look for some sort of eye protection. The cheapest I could find (for my +2 prescription) was about £52 from Specsavers, so I went to my local pound shop, and got a couple of pairs of really quite smart glasses - one with clear lenses and one with dark lenses, for £1 a pair.

[formoverfunction]

OK, so I've left a message for them to call me and tell me how I use them with laptop, computer, monitor.

I've also called Amex to put a flag on the payment as I'm might be asking them to place it in dispute.

They should have asked me more about my lifestyle/needs or listened/communicated what I told them.

I suspect that it's one of those "older" things, they make assumptions about you and that's the defining issue.

The suggestion they would replace the lenses with standard non-varifocals is possible, but that still doesn't mean I've just paid for an expereiment at their suggestion. They give me back my original lense prescription and I pay them for the privilege!

[Howard]

My experience of varifocals is that there is a dramatic difference between cheaper lenses around £100 and expensive lenses around £400. I tried the cheaper variety from a high street supplier and hated them. Peripheral vision was horribly restricted, making driving and playing sport a nightmare. I was then persuaded to try Zeiss lenses by an Optometrist and they were brilliant. Not only did they offer "perfect" vision but were incredibly light in weight. They eliminated the dizzy feeling from cheaper lenses, gave me back my peripheral vision, were no problem for stair descending and allowed me to play sport as before.

I've never been tempted to economise since then and have enjoyed the freedom which good varifocals give.

Whilst the Zeiss lenses are expensive, they have a coating which reduces glare, so since using them I haven't needed sunglasses. (One would in extreme situations like skiing or sailing in bright sunshine of course.)

So the best advice might be to avoid cheaper varifocals and look for a different solution.

I couldn't find one, because when driving with distance glasses I couldn't read the dials on the car dashboard. Zeiss Varifocals solved that problem for me and are excellent for computer work.

I do find that it is helpful to wear the lenses pretty close to my eyes which means adjusting the frames to achieve this. As a side benefit it has stopped me getting flies in my eyes when cycling - particularly important at this time of the year!

regards

Howard

[Watis]

About ten years ago, I switched to varifocals overnight without any issues at all. I'm wondering whether your issues might be explained by an error in the fitting. Specifically, whether the lenses are the correct distance from your eyes and whether the centres of the lenses are the same distance apart as the centres of your pupils.

HTH,

Watis

[tjh290633]

I've been using varifocals, ever since I moved on from half-moon reading specs over 20 years ago. I found that I had a considerable range in which nothing was in focus. The only solution was varifocals which do exactly what I want.

What you have to get used to is using the appropriate part of the lens for what you are doing. The bottom part for close work, the top part for distant work and the relatively narrow centre part for intermediate work. Some of the time you have to move your eyes, some of it you have to move your head. Going down stairs, for example, needs you to lower your head so that you can see the stairs with the distant part. Working on your laptop requires you to look through the bottom of the lens where the close work part is.

If you have fashionable narrow depth lenses you may be in trouble. I found that the aviator style work best for me.

Keep at it.

TJH

[formoverfunction]

So in terms of price:

The sunglasses were £160.00 (including the frames) those are the best ones. I've been using expensive premimm sunglasses with contact lenses for year. I thought these might be useful for a back up. I wear contact lenses maybe a few days a month. More in the summer because I dislike bright light, hence wanting some prescription ones for day when I'd likely to read. It's easy to lift glasses than contact lenses

I have no problem reading the typical 12pt type used commercially without reading glasses. It was the tiny 8pt that's used in a journal I read that was causing me a problem.

I went to see the optician because of the issue of summer bright light, just mentioned the 8pt jourmal and that I find working in the kitchen making dinner a bit of a struggle. It's like the 12 hours a day I spend working on a computer has gone over their heads.

The other glasses I provided my own frames. One a cheaper frame, the other Air Titaniums. Both are narrow lozenger style glasses. It wasn't suggested that might be an issue.

In the cheaper frames I had them put in the basic lense. I've dismissed them as useless. The field of restriction is too small. Especially mid length.

The total bill came to £700 including eye test.

The main glasses I had "elite" the second best lense, on a scale 1-4. So, I'm guessing those were around £360.00 Can't remember off the top of my head.

Interestingly I suspect the sunglasses are better becuase they are "aviator" style and I'm not using them to read in. I don't expect I'll ever use them working at my computer. Althought that might look a little 'gansta' and be fun LOL

It's the horrible process of reading word to word on the computer and moving my head that's killing me, besides the terrible sea sickness. I suspect I'm one of those people who moves their eyes more than their head. I read complex long documents, whislt using a 2nd and 3rd monitosr. I have to move my head all the time. I didn't have to do that before. I can read everything on the screens without the glasses.

I guess the advice to wear them all the time might be the problem. I wonder if i just wear them an hour or so a day if that process is going to take for ever, and if it takes months, will I end up getting stuck with them if i still dont like them.

[formoverfunction]

"Working on your laptop requires you to look through the bottom of the lens where the close work part is"

When I do that, I have to hold my head at an uncormfortable angle and most of the screen is blurred.

So, in the top sentance above I can only see "where the close work part is" without using moving my head. Is that normal, the way it's supposed to to work?

Take them off and I can read the whole sentance without moving my head.

On Sunday I read around 600 pages of financial documents. Reading the left hand column for the section description and then the right hand column for the abreviated legislation, making a note for the corresponing page number to the extended explanation. Some pages I read in depth, others I scrolled through. Not an unusual volume of reading for me.

I used the second monitor, running off a mini computer to scroll Bloombergs/Reuters news, as I would in a normal day.

I kept my iPhone on the bottom left of the laptop to see who and what messages I was receiving. Again normal for me.

Without the glasses I can see all of those without moving my head or using glasses, now with them on, I have to move my head all the time.

I can't think for a moment that's going to get better with time.

I'm sure it might be easier if you've got the "computer" in one fixed position, but that's not how I live. I always use at least 2 devices at the same time, and not always at a desk.

I think I'm going to give up them. i know some people have a second pair of varifocals for comptuing time. Not sure I want to have more glasses.

That's me done. I've got terrible should ache now from sitting this head raised position.

[sg31]

I've been using varifocals, ever since I moved on from half-moon reading specs over 20 years ago. I found that I had a considerable range in which nothing was in focus. The only solution was varifocals which do exactly what I want.

What you have to get used to is using the appropriate part of the lens for what you are doing. The bottom part for close work, the top part for distant work and the relatively narrow centre part for intermediate work. Some of the time you have to move your eyes, some of it you have to move your head. Going down stairs, for example, needs you to lower your head so that you can see the stairs with the distant part. Working on your laptop requires you to look through the bottom of the lens where the close work part is.

If you have fashionable narrow depth lenses you may be in trouble. I found that the aviator style work best for me.

Keep at it.

TJH

I had the same experience of adapting immediately.I also favour the bigger lens I presume the variation is over a longer length. It works for me.

[Hardgrafter]

I think TJH has the answer for you. You need deeper lenses, so that the central area where you are reading mostly is bigger. Mine are 32mm top to bottom, and work just fine.

My optician prescribed the style that would suit computer use. With photochromatic coating, they are ideal for everything.

[formoverfunction]

Thanks for all the comments.

I've made arrangements to take them back tomorrow.

I only went in for prescription sun glasses, all this other stuff was the advice of the optician. The same optician who didn't go into in enough detail or suggest that my frames could be a problem.

If nothing else, I'd like to take the easy option, remain as I was. Carry on with the sun glasses and contacts, and the pesky journal with the 8pt type, I'm going to change my susbcription to email delivered pdf. Problem solved.

If I'm honest, I've lost condifence in the practice. And those £160 sun glasses, just found the same ones online for £49

I know everyone has to make a buck, but I feel like they've just tried it on. Stupid really, I've been a customer with them for years.That's new managemet for you.

[jonesa1]

It took me about 6 months to become comfortable with my first pair of varifocals and I need to wear my specs pretty much all waking hours. If you only wear yours for a couple of hours a day and you're not adapting easily, it might not help that you don't wear them full time. Several pairs later I still have some issues, such as not recognising people I pass in the street. My optician thinks it's because (as you suggested for yourself) I don't naturally move my head to look at things, just my eyes, which means anyone not directly in line with the correct part of the lenses will be slightly out of focus. I'm fine looking at things that I intend to look at! Sometimes small print in poor light can be a problem, but that's easily fixed by taking my specs off (I'm extremely short sighted, but can see things very clearly if I can get within 6 inches).

I have a pair of cycling wrap-around specs with a prescription insert, for these I've gone for bifocals - most of the lenses focus on far distance (which is what you need when cycling), with a narrow strip that allows me to read the Garmin fastened on my handle bars. Using the varifocals on the bike is not ideal because of the loss of peripheral vision.

[formoverfunction]

It took me about 6 months to become comfortable with my first pair of varifocals and I need to wear my specs pretty much all waking hours. If you only wear yours for a couple of hours a day and you're not adapting easily, it might not help that you don't wear them full time. Several pairs later I still have some issues, such as not recognising people I pass in the street. My optician thinks it's because (as you suggested for yourself) I don't naturally move my head to look at things, just my eyes, which means anyone not directly in line with the correct part of the lenses will be slightly out of focus. I'm fine looking at things that I intend to look at! Sometimes small print in poor light can be a problem, but that's easily fixed by taking my specs off (I'm extremely short sighted, but can see things very clearly if I can get within 6 inches).

I have a pair of cycling wrap-around specs with a prescription insert, for these I've gone for bifocals - most of the lenses focus on far distance (which is what you need when cycling), with a narrow strip that allows me to read the Garmin fastened on my handle bars. Using the varifocals on the bike is not ideal because of the loss of peripheral vision.

"If you only wear yours for a couple of hours a day and you're not adapting easily, it might not help that you don't wear them full time"

When I went in for the consultation I told the optician I've never worn my glasses all day, as most I wear them a few hours a day when I'm not at my desk. So their suggestion is that I wear them all day, but (and it's a big but), I cant see my laptop in them which I use all day. So, I tried wearing them all day to work ( my normal daily routine) but with just the ability to see a couple of words before moving my head it was terrible. I also told them I pretty much read all day on a multiple screens. Laptop, 2nd monitor, smart TV, iPhone. I oftern use 2 screens at the same time. So, the process of moving my head in a constant scanning movement, with the edge blur, was sickening. Actually I did throw up after a couple of hours reading at speed, a few hundred pages later. I'm finding it that difficult to read small print, just very small print. A normal book, newspaper etc no problem at all. I even asked if the issue I had might be down to hey fever. I asked a friend yesterday who works in the City about how they cope with people working in a similar way to me, on the trading desks, he said they don't recommend people wear them for extended periods on computers. They use "computer glasses" instead. She's deals with HR in a global bank, I think they have 8000 people in London who mostly spend their long days working on screens. Anyway, that's enough from me. I've just placed 7 buy orders this morning. I can hear my iPhone telling me emails coming in and I've got 30 all ready in my inbox.
My take on it: wrong shape frames, not suitable for extended computer use, I'm not a head mover, at weekends I wear contact lenses, I spend alot of time in very uneven, sloping and dark woodlands (my house stands on the edge of 300 acres of woodland), so they aren't great for my lifestyle.
- except the head moving bit! I dld them all this, so I'm not sure why they thought this would work.
My lesson: don't take advice until you've done your own research. I wouldn't for investments, wish I hadn't for my vision!

[formoverfunction]

After going throught my work/lifestyle AGAIN, the optician has decided it's COMPLETELY the wrong solution for me.

They might have suggested "occupational glasses", but said they really aren't appropriate becaue my near sight doesn't warrant it.

Suggestion was to go back to normal lenses for long distance and buy a pair of cheap reading glasses for the few occasions I can't read super small print.

I've had a very large credit that I'm planning to spend on sunglasses. It really is the bright summer light that causes me the most problems.

Thanks for all the help and suggestions. I'd offer to buy a round with the pile of cash I got back, but those Maui Jim's are calling.