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Original poster

When did you start to need reading glasses?

52 replies

GlassesTime · 17/09/2023 08:27

I've never worn glasses and my eyesight appears to be perfectly fine at the moment but I'm 40 next year and aware that at some point my eyesight will start to deteriorate.

I'm just curious to know when others began to need some assistance with reading?

TIA

OP posts:
longwayoff · 17/09/2023 09:08

Mid 40s

MrHopsPortal · 17/09/2023 09:15

44 for me - very quickly as well I found it hard to read in dim light. DH’s is deteriorating slightly from 45.

YorkieTheRabbit · 17/09/2023 09:21

Late 30’s for reading.
Last year I also started wearing glasses for watching TV and driving, I’m 56.

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General health
GoldenKiwi · 17/09/2023 09:25

42 - can't read without them now!

Groovee · 17/09/2023 09:25

Last year age 44 after cataract surgery.

Watto1 · 17/09/2023 09:29

I was about 45/46 when I realised that my arms were getting too short and that I needed varifocals. Didn’t realise how much I rely on them until I tried reading by the pool on holiday in my prescription non-varifocal sunglasses. Gave myself a migraine.

septemberoctobernovember · 17/09/2023 09:30

Late 40’s. always laugh when we go out for dinner with friends and the one person who has remembered their reading glasses has to pass them round the table so everyone can read the menu

notacooldad · 17/09/2023 09:30

Round about 51/52.

TheTurn0fTheScrew · 17/09/2023 09:32
  1. I wear contacts to correct short sight, but now need readers as well. The joy. I do have a pair of varifocals too, but I am so short sighted they are very thick and heavy even when thinned, so stick with contacts and readers.
Chimchar · 17/09/2023 09:35

I've been wearing glasses to drive for about 2 years. This year my eyesight really seems to be deteriorating rapidly! I'm nearly 49 and need glassed to read anything or use my phone etc.

I do that thing where I have them perched on my nose and look over them to see the tele when I look up. Blush

NeverDropYourMooncup · 17/09/2023 09:35

By 46, I think almost everybody has a noticeable change even if they can still adjust and manage with a bit of moving things in and out before you can see them, but by 50-52, it's pretty much guaranteed that you'll need something, whether it's two different prescriptions for distance and close up, three or just readers.

The important thing is to get regular eye tests so any changes are picked up on quickly and overall eye health can be monitored - you can't take it for granted that you'd know if there was a problem beyond a prescription change.

reluctantbrit · 17/09/2023 09:52

DH was 51 I think, I was just shy of my 50th birthday.

My mum was 46, my dad never had them.

I have several colleagues who are over 50 and don't need them but I also have some younger than me, needing reading glasses for quite a while already.

EBearhug · 17/09/2023 09:57

I got some last year at 50, but I very rarely use them so far.

Starlightstarbright2 · 17/09/2023 10:01

It can start anywhere from early 40’s as an average occasionally slightly earlier .

Girlwithapple · 17/09/2023 10:02

I'm 46 and got my first pair this year, I probably should have given in and got them 6 - 12 months earlier!

Lagershandy · 17/09/2023 10:13

Around 51 mainly for reading and computer then I realised couldn't see the faces of performers on stage when I went to the theatre if I didn't wear my glasses.

I had lens replacement last year when I was 68 and I'm back to being spectacle less!

jlpth · 17/09/2023 10:16

At 45 I got them, but could still read small text happily without them. Just used them for really tiny stuff like to see a small splinter. They are only a number 1 so nothing much.

GETTINGLIKEMYMOTHER · 17/09/2023 10:42

Can’t remember, but it was during my 40s.
But decades later I still find the glasses you can buy almost anywhere perfectly adequate.

AnneLarsen · 17/09/2023 10:53

45 and it was very sudden.

I wear contact lenses anyway, so I swapped them to varifocal contacts. It has taken a few goes to get right and I’ve had to sacrifice a little of my long distance vision, but I absolutely love not having to wear reading glasses, which I was so self conscious about.

whirlyhead · 17/09/2023 10:56

Early 50s but I’m seriously myopic so now have such strong contact lenses to see at a distance that I can’t see anything within 3 feet of me.

i especially hate trying to read directions on cosmetics. Tiny print!!!

IbizaToTheNorfolkBroads · 17/09/2023 11:09

Shortsighted since I was 13, varifocals at 47.

StaySpicy · 17/09/2023 11:15

I'm 43, shortsighted since childhood. In the past year or so I've noticed I prefer to remove my glasses to read. When I have my contact lenses in, I have a pair of +1 reading glasses to make close reading more comfortable. So, I'm just starting to notice my eyes changing.

MuchTooTired · 17/09/2023 11:18

19, for reading/computers.
Early 30’s for all close up stuff.
35/36 for varifocals 😭

My prescription changes ever so slightly every year giving me crippling headaches, so spend hundreds of pounds every year on glasses.

caringcarer · 17/09/2023 11:20

40

Wishitsnows · 17/09/2023 11:21

49 only for reading, my eye test said I had 20/20 vision but I find they help with reading when I’m tired