First ever pair picked up yesterday. My prescription means they were, to me, jolly expensive at a shade under £500 (the frames were "only" £80 of that). Yes, I did shop around, and no, nobody was any cheaper. They just are. It's true I deliberately picked "the thinnest possible please" as otherwise it's like milk bottles so I guess that's it.
Anyway, inevitably I hate them immediately and the bin is beckoning. Can't see distance things at all well, can see middle things ALMOST as well as my three year old pair I just changed from, can't quite get the tv in focus across the room,close distance and reading is much improved. No amount of positioning and/or head wobbling will get improvement on the above.
Optician says stick with them for a couple of weeks, can be changed back to single vision if I want but then it's multiple glasses required.
So - some of you must have been down the varifocal route. Encourage or discourage me as you will?
Last edited by: Crankcase on Wed 10 Sep 14 at 07:54
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I am a varifocal user, quite bad eyes but I get on with them well, you automatically learn to use the correct part of the lens, and you soon mentally correct the "falling down the converging stairs" thing. To make them work however, you can't choose a frame with lenses that are too mall.
BUT
You sound like nicole, she has shocking eyesight and has to pay a fortune for lenses to stop them looking like beer bottles and her varifocals are crap. I think if your eyesight needs massive correction Varis don't cut it. I don't think the ultra thin lenses for massive correction cut it either.
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Ta for that. Be disappointing if the supposedly reputable optician (it's not a chain) gave me poor advice, but hey, you never know who you can trust in anything until you try, do you.
As an aside our spanky new kitchen has developed in the space of weeks efflorescence and some staining on the walls in a number of places - builder took a look and said "rising damp mate" before making a quick exit. Clearly he doesn't feel this is anything to do with him, or being expected to notice anything before getting the plastering done. So now it's hunt down someone who will do anything about it that isn't a cowboy. Again.
Sigh.
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I read Crankcase's post to my partner who said, "That's exactly how mine felt when I first got them". She's used to them now, but it took "months".
I wear them too and it took me about half a day to adjust, but I agree with Zero - if you want specs like Eddie Irvine, forget varifocals. That's based on the experience of two of my friends.
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20 yrs on varifocals and they work for me. it took ages say 6 weeks - to really get used to them (+ 1 x wing mirror glass reversing car into garage).
My prescription is fairly modest and therefore probably much easier to adjust than OP...keep trying before you bin the lenses.
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I'm now on my second pair. Realised I needed them seven or eight years ago after struggling, in my unofficial role of office techy, to re-set date on the franking machine's die.
Similar experience to Zero except that my eyes are not too bad. With a bit of squinting I could probably read a number plate at the statutory distance though the idea of driving with uncorrected vision would terrify me.
Both times I've gone for an aviator style lens, which would be my preference anyway. They're not always easy to find but the lovely lady in Boots in Northampton persevered and discovered a Rayban design that suited. Cannot imagine how I'd use a varifocal lens in the letterbox lenses that seem to be fashion today.
The distance and mid range segments work fine for me but I struggle with the reading bit. Suspect I'd come to terms with it if I persevered and certainly if I really needed a reading prescription. I don't though and have developed a habit of removing glasses for close work.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Wed 10 Sep 14 at 08:40
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Rising damp? Never sure what people mean by that. If you have damp walls the mostly likely cause is condensation. Have you got enough ventilation?
Do you have a modern house with a damp course? Check that there is no soil piled above that level.
If you have solid walls and are in an exposed position you could be experiencing water penetration of driven rain.
My bet is on condensation. It nearly always is.
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If this gets any more interest I'll start a new thread, but
Have you got enough ventilation?
In spades. Large wall vent in corner, gap under back door big enough for Jupiter to get through, similar to door to next room which is never closed and that room has air bricks and a draught from them if you put your hand over them...
Do you have a modern house with a damp course? Check that there is no soil piled above that level.
No, old house, can't even see if there IS a damp course, so could well be an issue - except it's been like that for nudging 175 years now and not fallen down...
...driven rain.
A possibility for one wall, but it's also on an interior wall, on the other side of which is modern and working well radiator (which hasn't yet come on since the work was done, it's true).
I'm hoping it's a brush it off and wait and see if it comes back answer, and then repaint where it's burst through in due course (six months maybe?)
I don't even begin to trust the "rising damp" guys and their solutions, pun intended, I'm afraid.
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>> If this gets any more interest I'll start a new thread, but
Assuming its never had any damp issues before, whats changed, what work has been done? Plumbing? Plastering? New Gas hob? Pipes moved? (inc waste)
Rising damp on internal wall? unlikely unless its caused by plumbing issues to or under the floor. Condensation issues, would have thought unlikely in this current weather, and specially to an internal wall in this weather (unless its to the adjoining corner of external wall)
Last edited by: Zero on Wed 10 Sep 14 at 09:29
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>Be disappointing if the supposedly reputable optician (it's not a chain) gave me poor advice,
>but hey, you never know who you can trust in anything until you try, do you.
Mrs K's eyesight started giving her problems about five years ago. She'd used reading glasses for about 10yrs but she started having problems with mid and long distance as well. Two "reputable" opticians just kept changing her prescription and selling her new £500 varifocals whenever she went back. She was getting extremely P'd off having difficulty reading her screen at work and losing her enjoyment of snorkelling on holiday.
Her company medical scheme then changed allegiance to a national chain* who did a complete examination and spotted that she was developing the first signs of cataracts and varifocals weren't the answer.
Within about three months she'd had eye surgery for multifocal lens implants.
Luckily, her scheme paid for everything but we'd have paid for it ourselves if we'd known how good the results would be.
If anyone is thinking of eye surgery I can recommend an excellent surgeon.
* Should've gone there first.
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Run the WHOLE Kitchen thing by me in detail. Your "New Kitchen has in the space of weeks efflorescence and some staining on the walls in a number of places".
Detail is all important. Plasterwork? Sand used? Background substrate? Ventilation? And so it goes on. There is likely no quick answer. Give it a try though.
Regards...........MD.
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Thanks MD old chap! I'll start a new thread, then those that aren't interested (everyone else) can skip it.
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The boss has horribly short sight, something like -11 I think, and has worn varifocals for years. They can take a bit of getting right, and when she finds a good optician she sticks with them until they die or retire.
Keep going back if you have to, and be prepared to change opticians.
She and I have both tried the local branch of one well known franchise, utterly hopeless. They missed my astigmatism in the eye test, and got nowhere near dispensing usable varis for her. She's now using an independent in Tring who is very good. I have my eye tests at Costco in MK, and order the specs from glasses direct - but mine are easy, almost perfect sight apart from the age related presbyopia.
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>> age related presbyopia.
Yes our local church is full of olds as well.
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Very good, so early in the day:)
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Try bi-focals? I have just ordered a pair from Specsavers, £85 all-in but more if you want extra-thin lenses.
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>> Try bi-focals? I have just ordered a pair from Specsavers, £85 all-in but more if
>> you want extra-thin lenses.
The sharp divide in bi-fos can cause some issues. IIRC HJ has a bit of a bee in his bonnet about driving in them.
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I've been wearing varifocals for some years, well over 10. I put the first pair on and drove home in them, they just felt right. I didn't find out until afterwards that I shouldn't really have done that!
My prescription is around +5 for both eyes, and like others I have had issues in the past with thin lenses. Unless you look straight through them, which means looking directly at the object you are looking at, then the view can be unclear - a problem with my latest ones, as looking in the rear view mirror when driving is not as clear as it used to be (e.g. I can't always read registration numbers in the mirror). Not really an issue, but noticeable.
If I were you, I'd be inclined to stick with them for a couple of weeks. One thing worth checking is that they are the right prescription, and the lenses in the right way round (i.e. the correct side). Yes, unbelievably my optician in the UK once fitted new lenses, with a revised prescription, in my existing frames incorrectly. They had managed to leave the old prescription in one side, and fit the new prescription for the wrong eye in the other side! I knew they weren't right before I left the shop, but I got the "you just need to get used to them" story. I collected them on the friday and spent the weekend struggling, eventually had to go back on the monday when they discovered their error.
I still have multiple glasses, as I have a pair of sunglasses and a pair of normal specs, which is a pain. Single vision (long distance) sunglasses are a pain because I can't then read the instruments in the car clearly. You can't win!
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>> Single vision (long distance) sunglasses are a pain
>> because I can't then read the instruments in the car clearly. You can't win!
They're also a problem, particularly in France, driving into unlit tunnels. I've got a pair that came in a 2 for 1 deal with the varis but don't wear them much as the reactolite tint in my ordinary glasses provides sufficient comfort.
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My optician recommended varifocals, but after several weeks of perseverance I just couldn't get on with them. I found I was only using two parts of the lens, near and distant, the vari bit between was of no use.
I reverted to bifocals, but the near lens stops short of the outside edge. Means I can glance at the car's door mirror through the far part of the lens.
I'll agree with the comment about 'letter box' type frames with narrow lens. A superb example of form over function. I've got aviator type.
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I have near-letter-box varifocals and like them - I don't have to move my head so much to look through the right bit. They do need to fit well though.
It does help that I have a non-extreme prescription.
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When I first got varifocals the optician advised me to point my nose at what I was looking at. I found it helped until their use became automatic.
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"When I first got varifocals the optician advised me to point my nose at what I was looking at."
And therein lies the big disadvantage of varifocals for driving, at least for me.
The area of maximum distortion is when looking down to the left and right of the lens, even though the distance area in the middle is relatively distortion free. This means you need to move your head to get the clearest view to the left and right i.e anything not straight ahead. I found this unnerving when driving and indeed a little dangerous.
I returned my very expensive varifocals after 3 weeks and reverted to simple distance lenses (two pairs in Specsavers for £85).
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2 for 1 deal. Clearly quality then.
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>> 2 for 1 deal. Clearly quality then.
They were effectively free single vision/single tint sunglasses. I don't think the price had any bearing on issues with glasses of that type plunged into sudden darkness.
They're OK for cycling or lounging on the campsite/beach.
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"I did shop around"
Including online? I get my glasses from these guys
www.goggles4u.co.uk/
and their most expensive lenses are 1.67 index progressive (varifocal) at £135. The frames are mostly free if you buy those lenses, but few are more than £20. My present glasses from them have 1.56 index photochromic lenses (single vision) and cost £30 all in. You have to wait a couple of weeks, as they come from Karachi (!) but I've had a new pair a year from them over seven years and have had no problems at all.
You can also tweak the prescription to suit your intended use (eg. computer work) without having to get it authorised by your optician...
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I have a "mild" prescription, but couldn't get on with varifocals. Tried with them for a couple of months but gave up and went back to separate reading and distance glasses. The only problem I have is that with the distance specs on for driving is that the instruments are a bit blurry. Have used spex4less many times as I have a habit of loosing/sitting on them etc and would recommend them.
Last edited by: Skip on Wed 10 Sep 14 at 19:14
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I've got the varilocals not cheap.Soon got used to them.most of the time I have the tinted glasses on.Have to go for a new prescription next month.
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Have bought varifocals from www.optical4less.com three times, but decided to take SpecSavers up on their 2 for 1 last time.
They took my specs off me and after testing them said they couldn't identify the lens manufacturer but it was a very good one (they said) - and they complimented the frames quality too. They also could not identify what level of indexing I had.
So I got the middling expensive ones from them, think the two pairs were around £350.
The field of view is MUCH narrower, such that I'd never been aware of it before.
I am getting on Ok with them but I really need to go back and get them refitted as they slip a bit and therefore are in the wrong place.
Will most likely go back to optical4less the next time though. Much cheaper... and, it seems, better quality
Last edited by: smokie on Wed 10 Sep 14 at 23:00
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Thanks for the input all. I had a look (well, a squinty peer) at smokie's web link and put in the details. It came out at $375 plus shipping, so about $400. So about £250 - about half what I paid - but not sure I'd feel comfortable if anything was wrong or didn't work and I have to liaise with a mail order company in the States, or indeed anywhere else! I prefer having a real person in a white coat prod me on the nose.
First night drive last night. LOT of light scatter, and found although it was okay and I felt safe, it was a bit of a struggle to see signs and so on at the distance I would expect to - they needed to get a bit nearer before I was happy. As it was (unfortunately) on a new route I'd never driven before that would have required a bit of concentration anyway, the added tiny bit of strain made it quite tiring.
Lots have said about the distortion when looking down at stairs and so on - I get none at all, so I suppose that's good. But I do notice, for some reason, the tiniest smudge or mark seems to make things really blurred, so I'm cleaning them every ten minutes, which I didn't do before. No idea what that's about.
Can't wait weeks to decide - there's only a 30 day window - so am seeing optician in under two weeks now and will raise whatever points still are there then.
If you asked me today I'd still say "bin".
Last edited by: Crankcase on Thu 11 Sep 14 at 09:23
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You mention a problem with glare at night. I have early stage cataracts and although they don't seem to effect my sight yet the optician advised an anti glare coating on my specs.
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I have found that the full set of coatings gives the best result, and AFAIK I don't have nascent cataracts.
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>> You mention a problem with glare at night.
>> I have early stage cataracts and although they don't seem to effect my sight yet the optician advised an anti glare coating on my specs.
>>
I get some glare from lights at night and have been told by opticians and Moorfields that it is due to slight cataracts.
I have anti glare coatings on my varifocals. They do seem to need very regular cleaning.
I have a very small spray cleaner and a cloth in my car so that I know I can ensure I keep the lenses clean especially at night.
Specsavers sell the small pump spray cans.
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>> I have a very small spray cleaner and a cloth in my car so that
>> I know I can ensure I keep the lenses clean especially at night.
>> Specsavers sell the small pump spray cans.
Lidl is your friend, I can recommend W5 Glasses wipes, box of 50. They are the dampest most cleaniest things I have ever used. Excellent!
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Lidl's W5 products have in the past had good reviews made about them.
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>> Lidl's W5 products have in the past had good reviews made about them.
Similar and very effective product in Aldi.
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I just use the same cloth I clean the windscreen with.
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I ..um..use my shirt tail..
Oh.
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"anti glare coating"
Worth having under all circumstances, IMO. Cuts down on reflections and improves light transmission, hence use in cameras and binoculars.
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I started using varifocals some 6 or 7 years ago. At first, I found it trickier when driving because I was having to turn my head further to look sideways/behind. I also found it trickier to walk downstairs or on uneven ground because I had to tilt my head further down in order to focus higher up the lens. The other thing that I have to watch is sitting down at the computer while wearing them. In order to focus on the screen, I find that I have to tilt my head back further, thus straining my neck leading to painful neck ache. I have to say that I fairly quickly got used to wearing the varifocals, however, and recognising their limitations. On balance I would certainly go for them again as a general purpose lens, retaining simple cheap glasses for computer use/reading, or long focus for the cinema.
There was some discussion about varifocals on the HJ website just after I'd bought mine. I think something had been mentioned about 'getting used to varifocals when driving/trickier to look sideways/backwards'; nothing offensive/unreasonable was mentioned, but the thread was closed down and all further discussion halted. I can only assume that someone associated with the website had some sort of legal thing going on at that time.
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I'm wearing them now.If I look down the writing is blurred on the laptop.You've just got to get the balance right takes practice.Also I wear tinted glasses all day. I am prone to migraine spoils the day.Driving I have a few pair of glasses in the car when it is dark the tinted glasses are taken off.
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New varifocals - Zero
