I realise I could ask an optometrist, but rather than appear a total idiot in front of an expert I thought I'd start here.
I need glasses for long distance, and really really need glasses to read. Essentially I cannot read without glasses, though I can manage without them for long distance.
Currently I use varifocals which work fine but irritate me for a whole bunch of shallow reasons.
Is there any reason I cannot get lenses for long distance and then use reading glasses for anything closer than 1 metre without needing to take the lenses out?
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Not really an 'idiot' question I think.
Mrs K had cateract surgery and was given a choice of monofocal intraocular lenses or multifocal ones. She went with the multifocal* and hasn't needed any specs at all since then. Have you tried multifocal contacts?
* In certain light situations you can see the lenses in her eyes. Looks like a spider's web.
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>>Have you tried multifocal contacts?
No.
When I last asked about options, around 2012 in Oxford, I was not offered such a thing. Their offered solution was a lens suitable for long distance in one eye and a lens suitable for short distance in the other.
It was not a successful approach
Asking in Chile is pointless.. It took me 10 years to get them into the swing of varifocals.
But multifocal sounds exactly like what I want.
Would you ask Mrs. K. if she'd kindly share the highs and lows of getting used to them and using them?
I shall also research multifocals. Thank you for the advice, the experience and the link.
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Just a few years ago SWMBO had her cataracts sorted at Moorefields.
After having discussed it with the surgeon basic contacts were fitted.
p.s. I have had varifocals for many years but I also have, now fashionable, large frame reading prescrpition specs. I call them my DIY specs because that is when I most often use them.
They allow me to look up through the top of the specs , for example at a ceiling fixture above my head.
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I'm on my second pair of varifocals, this time from Boots and the first pair from Specsavers While they are very convenient and saves having to carry a second pair round with you neither the distance or reading areas are as good as single lens glasses. I also cannot wear them on two wheels, either bike or motorcycle. They are great in the car where you are only moving your eyes side to side, but on bikes there is a lot of up and down eye movement as well and the eyes don't adjust quickly enough. On a fast bumpy descent they are murder because they tend to bounce around giving a blurred vision.
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Just asked Mrs K. and she says that they have made a huge positive difference for her. The highs are that she no longer needs specs at all - both distance and close-up are perfect and haven't changed since she had the surgery 10yrs ago. Other than the effects of the surgery itself there was no discomfort and no need to get used to them.
There are only two effects that she noticed and neither of them could really be described as problems. Just minor inconveniences that she'd forgotten about until I asked her.
One is that high contrast bright lights can sometimes have a slight glare or halo around them. eg. headlamps coming towards you on unlit roads. Not looking straight at them works.
The second is that it can be difficult to read the menu in dimly lit restaurants etc. To be fair it's only happened a couple of times that I can remember and I'm sure you'd be able to deal with that.
They do cost more than standard lenses, hers were about double the usual cost but worth every penny.
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You sound like you have the same problem that I've virtually lived with for most of my adult life.
Although I have very big difference in prescription from my good left eye to my bad right eye.
I was offered varifocals so I would only have one pair of glasses, I have even considered having one contact lens for my bad eye to bring them together but haven't fully ruled that out just yet, what I have is one pair of screen glasses where the clear focus is dead centre at screen distance with all of the fancy coatings, I then have my second pair for distance which includes driving, believe me they make a difference (I'm very long distanced), this includes a pair of prescription sunglasses.
Its a total PITA having so many pairs but I couldn't work with varifocals, I end up walking around at work with my screen glasses which sometimes means I totally blank people as they are a haze unless screen distance away!
I hate relying on glasses, good luck with what ever to decide to do.
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37 years wearing specs - Aged 45 I was having difficulties with reading,
I went for 2 pairs - reading & distance but was forever swapping them.
That was 30 years ago - I have been wearing varifocals. They do vary in price for varifocal lenses and I usually buy at the premium end - lenses are often thinner and have a better gradation. I got caught out reversing and looking through the wrong part of the lens but that was in the early days - I have been fine for 29+ years.
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I gave up with varifocals after giving them a try for a few weeks. I had a major problem with stepping off kerbs and found I was only using a couple of 'sweet spots' for near and distance.
My optician agreed to try bifocals, which were a revelation to me.
I still use a pair of near distance for PC use (the bifocals give me a pain in the neck) and I've a pair that have the 'long' distance to the lower, outside, edge so I can use the door mirrors without large head movements when driving.
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If I am going to wear glasses then I like varifocals.
The ones I have not only vary top to bottom but also left to right. What that means is I can read a broadsheet by moving my eyes, I don't ned to move my head.
As glasses they're pretty good, but I am trying to work out how to wear them less.
I hadn't thought about multifocal lenses, I had been considering lens for long distances and then reading glasses for <1metre.
However, Mrs. K's experience and Mr. K's recommendation of multifocal lenses makes me think and that sounds like the ideal approach.
My last experience of lenses wasn't great, but if I am honest I went in with a negative attitude and low expectations. But that was 10 years ago and I'm more grown up now.
Last edited by: No FM2R on Sun 11 Jul 21 at 00:00
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>However, Mrs. K's experience and Mr. K's recommendation..
Not a recommendation, more a suggestion.
I don't know how good multifocal contacts are.
Mrs K's lenses are implants and were custom made and each lens is different. The surgeon we chose tested lots of points in each eye to build up a map of what correction was needed at each point (I watched and the test gear was quite interesting from a tech perspective).
When he checked the maps he proclaimed she's be suitable for multi and explained the differences, pros and cons. We then had to wait a few weeks while he sent the maps off to the US manufacturer for the lenses to be made. Each one has a reference number.
Once they had been fitted (2 weeks apart IIRC) she had to wait for the eye to recover and then go back for follow-up checks to make sure they hadn't moved etc.
For her, to have perfect vision again after two or three years of different prescriptions every six months was absolutely amazing.
I'm presuming that multifocal contacts will be much simpler in terms of the number of different prescription areas so might be more noticeable to the wearer. And how do you insert and orient them correctly?
I can however recommend an eye surgeon if anyone is looking for one ;-)
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>> If I am going to wear glasses then I like varifocals.
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You should stick with uncorrected vision, the lack of PTSD after looking in the mirror must be worth it
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I wear contact lenses for distance and off the shelf readers to use for reading while wearing the lenses.
The optician is happy with this.
However without the contact lenses in, the readers are useless. Luckily I am able then to read without any glasses or lenses but have to be quite close to do so. I assume I could get prescription readers to wear without lenses but I can’t imagine many occasions when that would be useful.
As a final twist I can get by reading at a reasonable distance with my long distance specs on but it’s easier to read if I slip the readers over the top of the distance glasses. Again the optician was unconcerned when I mentioned I did this.
Not a cool look though.
Last edited by: martin aston on Sun 11 Jul 21 at 13:11
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I tried multifocal contacts as an alternative to having my specs on and off all the time. They're varifocals but I still struggle with medium or close work with them on. An issue I could learn to deal with but, like learning to touch type, it's too much agg.
I found them good for most applications. I could see the screen and other participants across a room as well as recognise colleagues at a distance - something I struggled with without my specs on.
However they were beaten by the fact that documents clients once brought in on paper are now invariably texts or email on their phone. A could not focus on those!!.
In the end I've stopped wearing glasses in the office or around the house and have managed the odd difficulty in large rooms.
Last edited by: Bromptonaut on Sun 11 Jul 21 at 13:18
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All this contacts/glasses business doesn't half sound complicated! :-)
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>> All this contacts/glasses business doesn't half sound complicated! :-)
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>>
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A right PITA.
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>> >> All this contacts/glasses business doesn't half sound complicated! :-)
>> A right PITA.
Aren't you supposed to put them in your eyes?
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My eyes... - Kevin
