F***ing reading glasses - what are my options?

[Lizardlegs]

Before I start: I like glasses. I think they look great and add bags of style.

BUT here goes - last year I broke down and finally got some much needed prescription reading glasses (ah the perils of middle age). My glasses look OK on and I am indeed thankful to be able to read the fine print again.

But arrrrgh I hate taking them off and on, constantly losing them, the putting them on my head and forgetting about them - tedious! It feels stupid to be hoiking them around all the time.

My hairdresser had the same problem and got her reading glasses turned into bifocals, and I know that there is also that thing that Sarah Cox advertises about contacts instead of reading glasses.

Or should I just accept the limitations here and put my glasses round my neck on a beaded string or something?

I should note - I am 45 and work in a youth-obsessed industry (tech) so I'm not desperate to mark myself out as being an oldster...and I'm worried that messing about with glasses does just that.

your advice welcome!

[LoniceraJaponica]

Varifocals
They are the best invention ever

[mintich]

Varifocals!

[Lizardlegs]

Varifocals - I think that's what my hairdresser did, so she wears glasses all the time rather than just while reading.

Which brings me to question #2 about glasses: how do you keep them from getting smeary and smudgy with makeup? I feel like I'm cleaning them all the time..and if I'm going to wear them as a default I'll be messing them up even more...

[Lizardlegs]

(oh and thank you for the fast responses!)

[abigboydidit]

My friend has these really funky ones that go all the way round her head at the back and snap at the bridge of the nose and then she puts them round her neck like a necklace? They are a bright lime green and more like an accessory than glasses. Not sure how I have described them makes sense!

[specialsubject]

varifocals dont work for everyone - but I put them on and it was a miracle!

[grownup2]

If you wear contact lenses for myopia and need reading glasses too I'd recommend giving multifocal contact lenses a try. I use thse, which are a varient of the ones I wore anyway www.visiondirect.co.uk/air-optix-aqua-multifocal
I thought it would take a while to adjust to them but they were instantly liberating.

[DramaAlpaca]

I held out against getting varifocals for much longer than I should've done. When I finally gave in & got them I was amazed, they work so well.

DH wears two different powers of contact lens, one for distance & one for reading. It doesn't work for everyone but it does for him.

[Lizardlegs]

Thanks for all the votes for varifocals. I should explain that it's only reading which is an issue for me - distance vision is fine. Which is what makes it all so frustrating...it's just my bloody age catching up with me.

[Diamonddealeroncemore]

You can have varifocals with no prescription in the top bit (so looking through plain glass for distance) and just your reading prescription in the bottom section. My H does this as he only needs reading glasses but can’t be bothered to take them on and off.

[ItchyBites]

You could try something called monovision contact lenses. Essentially, monvision is where you have one eye (your dominant eye usually) for distance vision, and your non-dominant eye for reading. After a small adjustment period your brain gets used to seeing at two different focal lengths, and simply ignores the image that isn't needed. In your case, you'd have no/a low power distance lens in one eye and the reading lens in the other. It depends a bit on your prescription and vocational needs, but if you go to your optician they should be able to advise you based on that.