Active discussions

Meet the Other Phone. Protection built in.

Meet the Other Phone.
Protection built in.

Buy now

Please or to access all these features

Talk
Chat

Join the discussion and chat with other Mumsnetters about everyday life, relationships and parenting.

Original poster

Tell me about your varifocals please.

70 replies

omega4ever · 11/10/2023 17:13

Optician appt tomorrow.... I'm considering varifocals.... but worried about expense and getting used to them.

I'm 57. Glasses for reading and using +3 atm..used to need driving and TV glasses but over the last few years this has corrected itself strangly.

I'm sick of glasses on glasses off nonsense ever few minutes. I can't see well most of the time and the glasses are always filthy and smeared as going on and off constantly. That and the loosing them.

Pros and cons of varifoals? Did they help or hinder you?
And roughly how much did they cost please... I have no idea what to expect...

Thanks in advance.

OP posts:
PieonaBarm · 11/10/2023 17:16

I got mine from specsavers and resisted for best part of 2 years and I now wish I'd just gone for it back then. I upgraded my lenses to reduce the soft focus area (they have a scale of lenses you can pick and I think tbh mine were pretty much the top of the scale) and I paid £350 but for that I got two pairs and the anti- glare coating.

I think varifocal lenses can start from as little as £40-80 but they have quite a large soft focus area. For me it was well worth the upgrade. You just have to remember to point your nose at what you want to look at but after a couple of hours it becomes second nature

Daddylonglegs123 · 11/10/2023 17:16

I have varifocals I am on my fourth pair and I am 58. The first two pairs I had were fairly expensive varifocals lenses which I really couldn’t get on with at all. I now have basic cheap varifocals from a local independent glasses maker not an expensive opticians and I like them and they have been absolutely fine no problems whatsoever.

DesparatePragmatist · 11/10/2023 17:17

I use varifocals - straight on in the morning and don't come off till bedtime. So not getting lost/broken and I'm not doing the schoolmarm peer over the top of reading glasses on meetings. Fab in most ways. The top tip is to point your nose at whatever you're looking at.

But, they're more expensive and take getting used to, so v personal.

And I've recently had a prescription change and ordered new ones, and was horrified by the price from Boots

Interested in this thread?

Then you might like threads about this subject:

General health
AllProperTeaIsTheft · 11/10/2023 17:17

Mine are brilliant. I'm on my second pair now, and I've never had a moment's issue with them.

DesparatePragmatist · 11/10/2023 17:20

I do go for the top of the range lenses on a £/wear basis, so there's scope for savings, but ypu kinda get what you pay for too. Frames though are a hysterical rip-off but presumably that's the same for normal ones

Anothernewname123 · 11/10/2023 17:23

Great for being in one place. I can't walk around in them and have fallen down the stairs when I forgot to take them off Sad

gotomomo · 11/10/2023 17:24

I have specsavers ones, brilliant, so easy to wear. The trick is frames that aren't too small though

WaningCrescent · 11/10/2023 17:30

I love my current varifocals which are the most basic version from ASDA, previously got some from Specsavers who talked me into all the varifocal related upgrades and they were shockingly bad and expensive.

Tilllly · 11/10/2023 17:33

Took me about 5 minutes to get used to them. They are definitely worth it.

Mumdiva99 · 11/10/2023 17:34

Varietals from specsavers....cheapest of cheap lenses and frames (or are they bifocals? Does anyone even wear these anymore....) - amazing. No issues getting used to them. They are the only glasses I wear now. No more taking off and putting on.
Only issue is in the cheap seats at the theatre I always wish I had worn my regular glasses as I have to tip my head down to see the stage properly

SeaToSki · 11/10/2023 17:36

The most important thing Ive found with Varifocals is that you have someone good marking your pupil point and measuring so that they know where to start the transition. My first pair were done by a muppet who measured after insisting I have my glasses right back on my nose bridge when I like to wear them further forward. Not surprisingly they came back with the transitions in completely the wrong place and I got a screaming headache wearing them. Swapped to a new optician and got a proper measure and the first time I put them on was wonderful

AnnaMagnani · 11/10/2023 17:38

I love mine. Took about a week to get used to them but so pleased, no forever taking glasses on and off.

BristolBlueGlasses · 11/10/2023 17:39

My varifocals work really well for me for all the other positive reasons that PPs have listed.

The only downside I've found is that when I visit art galleries or exhibitions I have to tip my head right back to properly see detail in the art/exhibits on the walls and that gets quite wearing after a while. Could be an annoying problem if you do this often.

ArcticBells · 11/10/2023 17:40

Tilllly · 11/10/2023 17:33

Took me about 5 minutes to get used to them. They are definitely worth it.

This. Quite expensive (about £600 including frames) but worth it. Boot's opticians.

megletthesecond · 11/10/2023 17:42

Place marking. I can't seem to get my varifocal glasses or contacts prescriptions quite right.
I'm also worried I'll fall downstairs in the glasses. Have had to send them back to be tweaked.

Jaxhog · 11/10/2023 17:43

Couldn't do without mine! Tried Specsavers and Boots, and they just don't seem to get them right. But I have a very complicated lens (wait till you have to get prisms!). I now use a good independent, and they get it right most of the time.

Do watch going down stairs for the first couple of weeks though.

Mischance · 11/10/2023 17:44

I have been wearing varifocals for decades with not a moment's trouble - I would hate to be chopping and changing all the time. You need to be aware that you need to look down through the distance area of the lens when going downstairs.

I got my last pair online from Specscart, a new company. They were brilliant - they sent me 4 frames to try and I could have had another 4 ad infinitum, if I did not find one I wanted. I let them know which ones I wanted before sending them back - they asked me to send the prescription (which I just photographed and sent) and then wanted me to take a selfie wearing the frame I had chosen, so they could use that pic to work out where the varifocal should start. I had my new glasses in under a week and they are fine.

They have a very simple pricing policy - varifocal lenses are all the same price and of good quality.

Mischance · 11/10/2023 17:45

I paid £110 total cost for the varifocals from specscart.

Mischance · 11/10/2023 17:46

I had been paying astronomical prices till then.

fizzyred · 11/10/2023 17:47

I got mine about 2 months ago... I was supposed to wear reading and normal glasses for a few years prior to that but didn't... sometimes used my reading ones. But I was getting frown lines and headaches and so finally succumbed to the optician's suggestion of varifocals.

I also asked a friend as I was worried that I'd have to get the most expensive ones or I'd struggle. She told me she bought the next ones up from the cheapest and loved them.

I did exactly the same and I also love them. They look great, I can now read, crochet, cook etc and it literally took a day to get used to them. The only thing I still feel weird is walking down stairs in them. (Partly ptsd from my drunken stairs falling days!)

ChessieFL · 11/10/2023 17:48

I tried varifocals for the first time recently and hated them - couldn’t get on with them at all. Whatever I looked at seemed to be through the wrong part of the glasses unless I put my head at weird angles and having the soft focus area either side of the reading bit made reading very difficult. I wore them for a few weeks to try and get used to them but ended up going back and swapping them for separate pairs. They cost a fortune as well, almost £600 for what was apparently the best quality lenses.

OldTinHat · 11/10/2023 17:48

I was prescribed my first pair this summer via specsavers with the premise that I could return them if I didn't get on with them.

They had them back a week later!

usernother · 11/10/2023 17:50

I got them and hated them. Tried very hard for months but they made me feel very sick. Such a pity because they must be so handy.

RandomMess · 11/10/2023 17:53

Go to Asda if you can. Varifocals are included in their "one price" - so from £50 per pair!!

I get 2 x pairs of £80 for £120

On my 2nd or 3rd set now and very happy.

lookingforMolly · 11/10/2023 17:54

I wear varifocals with a prism; from Vision Express. I decided to get the best lenses that I could afford as it was easy to get used to them quickly ie within a couple of days without feeling dizzy.
They did a buy one get one half price deal on glasses too so I bought prescription sunglasses, I also got some discount with BlueLightCard.
Luckily I had some money saved but next time I will use their payment plan where you can spread the cost over months.