Tell me about your varifocals please.

[omega4ever]

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.

Also have the asda ones. Before that I had ridiculously expensive ones from boots amd I think the asda lenses are actually better.
At some point I wanted to compare the deal with specssavers- did not tell them existing glasses were asda - just asked for am idea of price if I was getting similar ones from them. So they checked the lenses, said they were similar to their more expensive ones and gave me a quote significantly more expensive than what I had paid in asda.
I have a complex prescription. Varyfocals, astigmatism and lenses that need thinning.

I've worn glasses all day every day since I was 13. I moved from single vision lenses to varifocals about 6 years ago. I generally go to a local independent optician, but rarely had much change from £500 for varifocals. I recently broke my glasses, and went to Asda who advertise 2 pairs for £160. I had my eyes tested there too (and they came up with the same prescription as my independent optician). Anyway... I picked up my Asda specs a fortnight ago, and they are as good as what I'd previously paid several times the price for at the independent optician. The Asda optician is in a little indoor unit with no daylight in Asda, and their "designer" frames are Converse and Orla Keeley rather than Rayban and Tommy Hilfiger, but for a £300+ saving, I'll take that.

For computer it's helped me to lower my desktop screens so the top is about nose level, that way I'm looking through the right section of glasses.
Not sure on the blue light filtering features, all it does is give big blue reflections on camera.

Absolutely hated them. Have tried twice, the last time a few years ago and I went tope end expensive knowing it was a failure the first time. But no, same problems. Made me feel sick when walking around, everything blurry & 'whooshing', could only see properly for reading if I had my head fixed in a specific position - which is impossible. Got horrible headaches. Optician double checked my prescription (it's pretty weak & was correct), got the lenses tweaked, still didn't work. Got a refund and not bothering to try ever again.

Maybe it's just me - I also recently discovered I can't cope with computer/VDU lenses which are also a type of progressive lens like varifocals are (optician didn't explain that at the time). I couldn't see a thing in focus and optician got me remade with a different focal distance but that didn't work either. Have had to get single lenses for those. So now I'll be wearing/carrying 4 pairs of glasses to work - distance, reading, VDU & prescription sunglasses.

apart from a sore neck from tilting neck back to look at computer screen. - anyone having these sort of problems needs to go back to the optician as they just need adjusting. The place where the prescription changes is set wrong for you, and they will put it right.

I am on the computer all day and the varifocals are fine - you just need to tell the optician what you will be doing - e.g. lots of screen time, reading music etc. and they will prescribe accordingly.

I've tried my varifocals many times, but just cant walk in them, they make me feel sick, and i cant judge Kerb distance when walking ( have nearly tripped a fair few times)
So i use them for long distance looking out the window while travelling only, single lens glasses for sewing and struggle with distances in between!
A right pain as they were the expensive ones..

I got mine in December, after having distance glasses for years (mild prescription but with astigmatism). I was getting sick of taking them off for reading, and not being able to use my phone whilst watching TV...

It took me a month to get used to them. I was on the verge of taking them back so many times (they did say it might take a few weeks). But it clicked eventually and I couldn't go back now. They make life so much easier.

Interestingly I had an issue with my ones from boots turned out the prescription was rather shit

Independent adjusted it for the correct distance and it was loads better!!

I have separate VDU glasses but I work intensively on 2 screens with excel etc and I want to be able to see it all at a glance. Since the vari prescription was tweaked I could manage ok with just them but it's just easier with my VDU ones.

Sorry but you gave me a laugh with this 😂

Took me a couple of weeks to get used to them. Headaches.

I love them but my prescription keeps changing! For a few weeks after I get new lenses they are perfect then I have to start taking them off to read.

They are not cheap so this generally goes in for about a year till I can't stand it any longer.

DH doesn't like his because they are not great for computer screens (wrong distance and you have to tilt your head up weirdly).

spec savers do a 100day free trial of varifocals.

I switched to multifocal contacts this year. They cost a small fortune. I left the optician just giddy and gushing about how I could see to check out and see to read the clock on the wall and see to exit. I was ridiculous, but I was so excited to see well close and far. I thought they would be hard to get used to, but I adapted almost instantaneously.

They are the best thing since sliced bread. Being extremely short sighted I still take my glasses off to read very small print though.

@RampantIvy how extremely short-sighted are you? I’m -13 and take my glasses off to read extremely small print (I use the magnifying app on my phone when wearing contacts) but wondering if varifocals would suit me. I think I only need +1 for reading (from occasional use of non-prescription readers over my contacts) and wondered if the two extremes could be coped with in varifocals, I also have astigmatism in one eye. At the moment I have full strength single vision glasses for driving, theatre etc but can’t read well in them, older glasses with a weaker prescription for general purposes (can read in them) and contacts which are slightly under strength and a good compromise for all purposes but I don’t wear them all the time.

There is a HUGE range of qualities. The more you pay, the bigger the focal area and smaller the transition area. The more you pay the more bespoke the positioning is. Depending on whether you use a computer, read, your reading distance, your glasses position on your head, how you move your head vs your eyes These can all be put into the structure of the lens if you pay enough. I pay about £600 for the lens. Frames on top of this. They are fantastic. I like a massive close up reading/phone distance portion and a small distance. I prefer if I have to at all to dip my head ever so slightly to see far than to have to lift my chin to see near. As it is I barely have to tilt my head at all.

If you can afford it and are struggling with standard varifocals it is worth looking into.

They aren't marked by a person with a pen to find positioned. Your and eye movements are tracked by a device that measures like sports analysis machines do. It's totally bespoke.

They sound terrible. Try Varilux. They can be totally bespoke

This is a bit late but thanks for this. I've just ordered my first pair of varifocals, from Specscart so 🤞😬

You can get even better ones that don't require so much nose pointing. Mine are incredible. I can literally just use my eye movements with little or no head turning. They are around £600 though so not cheap but do worth it for me.
The optician uses computer tracking of your eyes and head to map out a bespoke pattern of how you move your eyes. Definitely better than run of the mill verificals

I’ve had them for years.

Yes to getting someone decent to fix the centre point.

The bit at the very bottom for reading, chopping veges etc is also the bit you use when going down stairs and the vision is wrong for the distance to your toes. Move the glasses on your nose so you are looking through a section more suited to that distance.

I paid an absolute fortune for my first frames. My first set of glasses had those wings so they sat up and I kept looking under them (so totally useless). I took my crochet to the optometrist and worked while they put frame after frame on me. When I finally looked through rather than under the frame, I bought them. However, I got my moneys worth by using the same frames for the next two sets of lenses.

Figure out where in your cinema is best for you to sit to get the best view.