To want to get bifocals instead of varifocals?

[JustGettingStarted]

I am extremely short sighted and now I have to use reading glasses with contact lenses. My eyes get tired in the evening and I'd like to be able to read in bed without contacts. I hate how I look in glasses but I'd be willing to pop to the shops in them or something if it meant not having to put in contacts all day on days off. They'd be nice on long drives, too, as my eyes can get tired.

I asked about bifocals at Tesco and the woman kept insisting that what I really wanted was varifocals. I've heard so many stories about people not getting on with them. Even those that love theirs often say that it took a few weeks and going back for adjustments to get them right. I don't have the time to go into town for these things. I'm travelling for work every other week!

I know that bifocals look bad because of the line, but I already think I look bad in specs. I also don't want to spend money - I'll be looking at the cheapest frames in the bargain range! I am willing to go for the thinner lenses because they'd be coke bottles otherwise, but that's the only upgrade!

I'm planning on booking an eye test at Specsavers next week. (Not going back to Tesco!) Does anyone have a compelling argument for varifocals, or should I be firm and insist on bifocals?

I'm also unlikely to get used to them within a few weeks because I don't expect to wear them more than a few hours a day and maybe on the weekends.

I have varifocal glasses and multifocal daily contact lenses, and I'm pretty happy with both although there are compromises to be made with distance vs reading. I wouldn't cut costs on varifocal glasses. My eye health is too important. I only wear my glasses occasionally, usually for an hour or two in the evening (to rest my eyes from my contacts - although I don't ctually need to rest them with my current contacts but old habits die hard!) or when flying long haul overnight. I travel a lot with work and always take my glasses with me just in case I have a contract lenses drama and there's a worldwide shortage of them wherever I happen to be staying.

OP it sounds like the root of your issue is that your eyes are dry from wearing your contact lenses by the evening. Would it not be an option to get different contacts? Or look at multifocal daily contacts? (they don't dry your eyes and there's no real daily limit on how long you can leave them in for). Of course multifocal contacts are more expensive so it depends how much/little you're willing to pay.

I have trifocals. I tried varifocals and hated them, absolutely couldn't get on with them.

I had no trouble with getting used to varifocals, I put the first pair on and they were fine - if I'm looking straight ahead, I'm looking at the distance, and they're fine, if I'm looking down at my lap, I can read a book, and they work everywhere in between too. No moving my head, just moving my eyes, so at the moment I can flick my eyes between keyboard and computer screen and both are completely in focus. It was a big improvement on having to carry reading glasses everywhere.

One thing I find as a short sighted person is that I can still read very close up, say about 6 inches, so that's what I do for reading in bed.

I am a couple of years out of date with available lenses, but if you are wanting thin bifocal lenses I think you are going to be a bit stuffed

maybe polycarb, but that's really not going to be very thin, or another option used to be a zeiss fused glass bifocal, but that going to be heavy as hell and twice as expensive.

Varis are generally better as a multipurpose option, but you may prefer to go for two separate pairs...one for distance, one for reading and don't muddle them up! ;)

Monovision (one eye corrected for distance and the other for close) is an option for specs as well as lenses, but it doesn't suit everyone and isn't that good for your binocular vision on the whole. ...and is generally only offered for lenses, not specs due to other optical effects/issues depending on prescription.

I tried varifocals and just could not get used to them. My MiL and FiL feel the same way. They both went back to bifocals, I am a "2 separate pairs" person as I don't require distance glasses all the time - my Rx is quite weak, but I wear them to see the boards at school.

DH wears varifocals and quite likes them.

My DD has very strong glasses and moved to bifocals this year (she is 13). She likes them a lot, and our dispensing optician says that there are far fewer tolerance problems with bifocals.

No, OP, you are not bothered about intermediate distance or cosmetic effect, there is basically no reason to pick varifocals over bifocals.

In fact, reading vision is better in bifocals than varifocals, as the reading area is larger and more consistent than varifocals and is free from distortion.

My advice if you want to go for bifocals would be to get comfortable at home sitting how you want to be able to read and measure the distance from your eyes to your book. That’s really helpful for an optometrist to know, and as with bifocals you only have one reading prescription it is very important.

I've worn varifocals for years and I've never had a problem with them.

I did, a very long time ago, try bifocals but found the line very distracting and going up and down stairs was a bit of a mission as I found if I didn't get my head in the right position the distance would be out.

With varifocals I think you get a better all round vision

Having said that there are different types of varifocals and some are better than others. And with some of the cheaper ones you can get a bit of distortion at the sides, which isn't great if you're driving.

I always go for the best quality varifocals, my last pair of glasses cost me close to £600, the frames although good quality weren't over pricey so didn't push the price up. But I have very poor eyesight (shortsighted) with astigmatism and have worn glasses all my life so for me they're an investment.

If you're going to go for either bifocals or varifocals get the best you can afford and perhaps shop around to make sure you get the best deal.

Former do here

The very best varis now don't have any distortion at all. Mine are like wearing and looking through single vision lenses. They cost a lot but there was no period of having to get used to them at all because there is zero distortion. They are a seiko lens.
Investigate your options.

I have the middle quality of Specsavers varifocals (big spender ) and have no peripheral distortion. They just work. I have t had to have any adjustments on this pair, though sometimes I have in the past - usually about frame fit to hold them in the right place, to be honest.

Also, go to a good independent optician - they will usually have more time to discuss the options with you, and also more lens options available. The large chains tend to only use a limited range of lenses (which increases their profit margin as they can order in bulk.

Independents can usually get more or less any lens available.

No varifocals have zero distortion, but the more expensive they are the more they are reduced.

I wouldn't cut costs on varifocal glasses. My eye health is too important. I only wear my glasses occasionally, usually for an hour or two in the evening (to rest my eyes from my contacts - although I don't ctually need to rest them with my current contacts but old habits die hard!)
Apologies but this is a total contradiction. Scrimping on the cost of your varifocals won’t have any effect on your eye health, wearing contact lenses in extended wear modality has the highest risk of bacterial keratitis of all modalities.

^ I agree

I have varifocals and they were perfect as soon as I put them on for the first time. I didn't need any period of time for adjustment.

I did try to get varifocal contact lenses and they were absolutely awful for me. I felt drunk and seasick!

I’m so jealous of the pp’s who notice no distortion with their varifocals. It’s there. Like 95% of the population you can tolerate it/ignore it/don’t notice it. Drives me bloody batshit. Always knew it would. Presbyopia may be the end of my sanity.

There are lots of different types of varifocal lenses with differing amount of distortion in different places on the lens. Varifocal contacts are the same too - they all work sightly differently and you need a good contact lens practitioner and a bit of perseverance to get a good result.

I've been qualified for 22 years and I haven't seen an optometrist wearing bifocal lenses for at least 10. Although they work better in children who have binocular vision problems than varifocals do.

However, OP if you want bifocals just insist.