bifocals vs varifocals

[IamAporcupine]

Up until now I had to pairs of glasses - one for long distance and one for reading. My vision is getting worse and I need new prescriptions.

Now, there are some work-related situations where I need to look long and short distance intermittently (imagine taking notes while watching a film at the cinema ) so I thought I should get varifocals. But now I am not sure.

Thing is I do not want to wear glasses all the time, and I feel that if I get varifocals, that's what will end up happening. Whereas if I have just bifocals for those particular situations I can just put them on as needed.

Is this very silly?

Would you mind sharing your experience with bifocals/varifocals?
Thanks a lot

Can you buy varifocal contact lenses? Have they been invented yet?

I've tried two different lens, one short sight, one for long sight but couldn't use them for reading, which is my main requirement in glasses.
I've tried reading glasses, but as soon as I walk away from my computer, my medium/long vision blurs. I've tried varifocal glasses, but can't judge traffic speeds, or stairs. So confused.

That's not good advice AntiBi. You do need to move your head slightly-it soon becomes second nature.
If you're still having problems 7 months in,something's wrong but not with you. The lenses and fitting plus wearing them as much as possible are the key things.

I've found varifocal glasses to be very good. In fact I went from not wearing glasses at all to having to get varifocals. I think that the adjustment must depend on the different in the prescription for your short and long distance. Mine aren't that bad for either so I think that helps.
When I first go them I didn't use them all the time but I use them much more now - age catching up with my eye sight.
DH chose to have two pairs of glasses last time he went but I think he wishes he'd tried varifocals as he now has to remember to pairs of glasses and he is a bit lazy at switching when he's reading something.

Can you buy varifocal contact lenses? Have they been invented yet?

Yes you can,I tried them a couple of years ago,but prefer my varifocal glasses.

I wear varifocal contact lenses. I found them really easy to get along with straight away, but this may not be the case for everybody. I do need to update my glasses, but can't, yet, afford them, because of my high prescription.

Yes to varifocal contact lenses, the new ones I have are the best yet, but they can be variable due to my high astigmatism...I have tried them all though so I know this is as good as it gets. I am going to go back to normal plus reading specs.

There are a vast amount of types of varifocal and they do essentially all work in the way described by SpeakingFiguratively however the better newer designs have less intrusive distortion and MUCH better flow from distance to reading

What you need to do is have a proper think about when you need your glasses, if it is just close work OR driving then varis are frivolous, if you are in an office strictly at your desk/computer you might be worth considering Occupational Lenses which are a type of progressive lens working from computer range in to reading.

If you need to wear specs to get about, or do not want to be searching for your specs or swapping them over all the time then varis will probably be best

Try and speak to an experienced staff member (dispensing optician) for varis and do take their guidance for frames, some are much more suitable than others for varis and there are some types of vari that are better than others for giving you the best range for what you do.

Thank you everyone for their input!

I have worn varifocals since they first came out - they are brilliant.

Occasionally I have had to go back for some tweaks to be done - but otherwise just fine!

I got the £45 varifocals from Asda last year and have never had any problems with them. I didn't want to waste £00s on them if I couldn't get on with them, so I thought it was a good way to try them. I'll be going back when I need my next pair!

@ImSpeakingFigurativelyOfCourse - are the more expensive ones really better? Vision express want £650 but specsavers want £135.....the description looks the same to me?

@werewolf I’ve worked at both specsavers and VE, and to be honest, there’s not always a huge difference. They use different suppliers, VE tend to use more expensive brands, as a PP said Zeiss lenses which VE use are meant to be the absolute best.

I guess it’s what you’re used to. If you’ve not worn Varifocals before, you should be totally fine with the specsavers ones. But if you’ve always paid for the more expensive VE lenses you’d probably notice a difference.

The prices are so crazily varied between the two. I think the most expensive dispense I did at specsavers was about £300 (still a hell of a lot imo), which was for 2 pairs of varifocals. At VE, it was over £1000 for 2 pairs. Absolutely crazy

Thanks, that’s very helpful. Not had varifocals before so think I will go for specsavers!

I used to just wear glasses for reading but last year the optician said I'd benefit from A distance Rx.
My DH has had Varifocals for a few years and never had a problem. Oh my. They are fantastic. I didn't realise how bad my distance RX was until I got glasses. It took me about 10 seconds to get used to them and they are great.

I have just ordered another pair from VE and will cost around £350.A lot of money - but I have quite a complicated prescription and being able to see well trumps a bit of a dip into savings.

@MsHomeSlice - I don't think I thanked you properly. Your post made me think carefully about what I need and I finally made a decision! I am getting the occupational lenses. No one had mentioned them before but when I went to the optician the woman there suggested those too!

I got varifocals all about 6 months ago. At first I really struggled, got the optician to adjust them slightly and was ok. To be honest I was in the garden the other day, and suddenly randomly remembered they are varifocals, I had completely forgotten!