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Original poster

Do I really need varifocals?

36 replies

pinksunsets · 15/09/2022 12:52

Went for an eye test recently. Optician said I now need different prescriptions for distance and reading, suggested varifocals or two pairs of glasses. I'm short sighted, mainly wear my glasses at home and am fine reading my phone, laptop screen and books with them on. I do take them off if I'm lying down and my phone/book is close to my face but that's more for comfort. The only time I've noticed a difference is when I put my contacts in and suddenly I can see more of the dust that has accumulated on my sink!

I've also been getting headaches on and off for the past year, usually when I'm working either at home with my glasses on or in the office with my contacts in. Had thought it was stress related but I guess it could be eye related too.

Varifocals seem like such a faff! Do I really need them if I'm getting on OK with my current glasses (my prescription has changed though) and can see everything fine?

If I did get two pairs of glasses which one do you end up using more, distance or reading?

OP posts:
ApolloandDaphne · 15/09/2022 12:59

Why do they seem like a faff? I've worn varifocals for years once I needed them for more than just reading. I wear them all the time now so no faff at all.

Moooooooooooooooooo · 15/09/2022 13:06

Hated varifocals, couldn’t get on with them at all. Gave me headaches and made me woozy. Most people get on ok with them. I have separate reading and distance glasses now.

Original poster
pinksunsets · 15/09/2022 13:06

I've just been reading that some people don't get on with varifocals at all, so bit apprehensive about spending lots of money on something I might not adapt to, although I guess I could always exchange them!

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EspeciallyDivided · 15/09/2022 13:59

I'm a bit worried about this too, I mainly wear contacts but have glasses as backup, they are old and falling to pieces and the optician suggested I might need varifocals but they are going to cost £££ and I'm worried I won't get on with them. At the moment I can read most things ok with my glasses and if I struggle I can take them off and hold whatever it is close to my nose to read. But two pairs seems like a big faff.

Infinitemoon · 15/09/2022 14:01

Varifocals are great. They worked immediately no getting used to at all.

My frames are fairly big and I had the most expensive lens though.

EspeciallyDivided · 15/09/2022 14:04

I can't have big frames because of the strength of my prescription (-12) and I normally have the maximum possible thinning too, which pushes the cost up

Starisnotanumber · 15/09/2022 14:07

If you have asda opticians anywhere near you pay them a visit they include everything and varifocals start at 45.00 you just take prescription to them you don't have to buy where they have tested your eyes.

Roxie99 · 15/09/2022 14:07

Some people take to them immediately and some don't. If you ask the place if you don't get along with them can you come back and get 2 separate pairs can you do this free of charge? Specsavers do this no quibble no fuss but at least you would have tried them. Some people end up getting varifocals and still taking them off to read/close work when they're short sighted. The reason you may be getting headaches at the computer is because you are using your distance prescription so if you didn't want to go for varifocals I would definitely recommend a pair just for the computer hth

CaptainCorellisBagpipes · 15/09/2022 14:10

It's personal choice OP - whatever works for you.

I've had varifocals for years and they're great, but friends have said they make them feel 'off balance'.

Dacquoise · 15/09/2022 14:38

I have varifocals and apart from some initial nausea when I first started wearing them, they are fine. However, I recently went for an eye test because I found reading was becoming difficult after dusk, was forever adjusting my head position to see out of the reading portion of the lenses.

My reading prescription needed increasing very slightly so I had new varifocals made in bigger sized lenses, but also had reading only lenses fitted to my old frames. The optician told me that I needed to wear the varifocals at all times now when driving to be legal. This may apply to you.

So your choice, depending on your long sighted prescription, is to buy one pair of varifocals or a pair each of long distance and reading. It's a pain but, unless you keep updating the frames and hence new lenses, glasses are actually good value for the amount of wear you get from them.

Paranoidandroidmarvin · 15/09/2022 15:03

I have reading glasses. If I just read through my varifocals I get a headache.

Original poster
pinksunsets · 15/09/2022 19:02

Thanks, everyone! I think I'm just going to have to bite the bullet and see how I get on with them. Fingers crossed!

OP posts:
Quveas · 15/09/2022 19:05

Is true some people don't get on with them. I now have perfect distance vision ( cataract surgery) and my god do I kind of miss them. I forget to take my reading glasses off, and wonder why the world is foggy at a distance.

SheWoreYellow · 15/09/2022 19:07

I’m kind of similar, but I can still read bus numbers etc so I’m not bothering to fix the further away vision at all.

Afterfire · 15/09/2022 19:08

I love mine. But then I’m -9.50 with astigmatism and all sorts of vision issues so I need all the help I can get! I love the fact I don’t have to switch between glasses etc to read or do stuff. I paid a lot for mine £550 for the lenses because at my prescription the field of vision you get from a more expensive lens makes a huge difference. I did try some cheap ones from Asda £80 but ended up returning them for a refund as I just couldn’t see as well.

CMOTDibbler · 15/09/2022 19:10

When I got my first varifocals (from Asda, they are brilliant) they said if I didn't get on with them they would change the lenses to single vision for free. But they worked beautifully for me

KittyCatsby · 15/09/2022 19:13

I wear them . My dh tried them but didn't get on with them. Specsavers changed them with no problem.

Crochetpenguin · 15/09/2022 19:17

I got mine from asda. They said to give it a month to get used to them. If I couldn't get on with them they would change them to my normal distance vision lens at no charge.

AnnaMagnani · 15/09/2022 19:21

I knew I needed varifocals as I was taking my glasses off to read small text and could no longer read subtitles on the TV.

When I got mine I was told it was take a couple of days to get used to them - actually more like a fortnight until I stopped walking in to things or getting waves of seasickness.

However I wouldn't be without them now, they are brilliant. Poor DH can't use them and has a collection of glasses for various distances he has to carry around with him, that is more than a faff.

wateraddict · 15/09/2022 19:28

I had varifocals at the first suggestion of my optician and I had no adverse reaction at all. He said getting them when your eyes first start to go means as the prescription increases with age (boo!) you can tolerate the incremental changes. Like others I have a statement big frame which I love and I just know I would end up sitting on a pair if I was swapping over! Good luck

Yarnosaur · 15/09/2022 19:31

I went straight from no glasses to needing varifocals just after my 50th birthday! It took me weeks to get used to mine and I still can't wear them on escalators, but they make everything else so much easier (e.g. working on a screen while referring to documents and gazing at the view from a window, or watching TV while knitting and reading a pattern).

EspeciallyDivided · 15/09/2022 22:10

See I'm not sure I actually really need them yet, although the optician said I probably do last time I had my contact lens checkup and mentioned needing new glasses.

Reading glasses on their own are of zero use to me because my distance vision is so poor (I can't see anything clearly beyond about 3" from my nose). But I do occasionally need them over my contact lenses now. However my single vision glasses are still ok (apart from falling apart). My problem really is that because I wear contacts most of the time my glasses last for years (and I expect them to because they cost several hundred £ and I am paying for contacts too). So single vision might be fine for now but it would be annoying to get them again and then find that in a year's time I do need varifocals. I guess on balance I ought to try varifocals.

Do the big frames make a difference vision wise or is it just about style? I can't have big ones cos they'd be so thick.

hattie43 · 15/09/2022 22:19

Moooooooooooooooooo · 15/09/2022 13:06

Hated varifocals, couldn’t get on with them at all. Gave me headaches and made me woozy. Most people get on ok with them. I have separate reading and distance glasses now.

This is me

NumptiesIncorporated · 15/09/2022 22:21

Varifocals are amazing - but be very careful about buying the very cheap ones. Lens quality makes a big difference with varifocals - much more so than with a single vision prescription. Not getting on with cheap varifocals can put someone off using them, when actually they just needed better lenses. I used to work in an opticians and it's not uncommon. We had a great optician that would encourage people to try again with better lenses, offering a refund if they didn't suit - and most people were covered. Sadly that optician doesn't exist any more.

For my varifocals (my first ever) I went with a glasses company called iolla which are affordable but use great quality lenses, but they are I think only in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Manchester. Got on with them straight away, no problems. That's not to say nobody will have problems, but I'm pretty sure they have a 'happiness guarantee' that I think would cover any issues.

SybillaB · 15/09/2022 22:21

I wear contact lenses and a few years ago my optician suggested monovision lenses. My right eye has the reading prescription and my left eye the distance one. The sight blends so I have perfect vision with my lenses in. For when I take them out I bought varifocals from Glasses Direct and they were great from the start.

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