To think reading with varivocals shouldn’t be this hard

[Lacew1ng55]

£700😱 Lovely independent optician.Expensive lenses.

No feeling dizzy as pricey lenses. Distance vision fine with them but reading is a nightmare. Have been searching online. Just can’t seem to get clear reading vision. Online it says to tilt chin but it’s really uncomfortable to tilt chin up so long. I have my knees in front with book propped on them.

So is this normal in the first few days(3/4 days in)or do they need changing. Also any tips on how to read with the bloody things. I read a lot!

You just look through the bottom part of the lens. So, depending on where you normally hold your book, you might have to raise your chin,

I must admit that I didn’t have any issues with reading. What shape frames do you have because some don’t work very well with varifocals?

Nope that’s not normal. I’m -9.50 both eyes with a +1.5 addition and £500 varifocal lenses from an independent optician. I can just do everything without moving my head hardly at all really. I wonder if they’ve got the reading bit slightly wrong for you? I think you should go back and say something.

Took me a month to get used to mine. Well worth persevering tho.

I could never get on with them and eventually gave up and carry 2 pairs of glasses

No not normal. However, with my first pair, while I found the reading part gooyfor close work, if I wanted to read at length, I was better taking them off. These days I very much need the reading part.

Oakbeam

Oakbeam

Apologies, here they are

I sympathise, and like many others have a pair of reading glasses for working on my computer and actual reading, and varifocals for wearing the rest of the time. You should go back though as it sounds like they have been adjusted incorrectly.

Did you check to see if your employer gives eye-care vouchers? I get £75 towards the cost of varifocals.

Is there a particular position you need to hold a book?

Go back to your practice and ask them to check your heights. The reading area on a varifocal is small, so even if out by 2mm it’d made a big difference. Also some people need another half dioptre on top of their usual near vision add in a varifocal. Your lenses may need a tweak, tho your optometrist will likely be reluctant as the lenses are expensive to remake. But if they’re not right, persist!

Nice glasses !

When I was having trouble with the reading part of my varifocals , I went back with the reading material I was having trouble with as it was so hard to explain why the problem was.

(In my case it was the TV guide !!)

By explaining with the magazine in front of me ...the person could understand (see!!) what the problem was and it got fixed /sorted.

I always struggle to know if the glasses are ok just by looking at 5he little reading card they put in front of you !

So worth going back .

And I know this is almost unbelievable, but 700 is not expensive :( The best varifocal is an Essilor Varilux XR and a standard 1.5 index is north of £500.

I had mine adjusted as I really struggled with reading. The optician asked where I normally hold my book when reading to adjust it and they were perfect then.

Mine are fine for brief reading but if I want to settle down with a book, nothing beats taking them off.

Chances are, if you were short-sighted, you'd got used to holding the book too close. I can't hold a book at the 'proper' distance, I always end up moving it to 'my' distance.

I have solved this by reading mostly on an ereader and adjusting the font size 😆

I got my varifocals from Specsavers, their top level ones. It’s important that all the measurements are correct. Specsavers have a promise that they want you to be happy and will put things right within the first 100 days of your purchase. I have used this in the past. Hopefully your optician will sort it out for you.

I like reading curled up, head down and with the book pretty much in front of me, so varifocals are useless for that. They’re great for everything else though, apart from hiking, so I have a cheap pair of reading glasses and then a cheap pair of single vision distance reactolite glasses for hiking. Works well

It’s not the position of your head exactly it’s the position of your eyes. Varifocals have a small area where they are actually at pin point focus. Was this not explained? At £700 I’m assuming you chose a wider field - I paid for a slightly wider field (you might note I’m aware of the ideas involved but not the technical terminology and detail!). Even so if I’m going to be reading for a long time, for an online course or something, I often find it easier to use my dedicated reading glasses.

RosaGallica

Yes think that was what the extra was for, think it makes the sea sick feeling less likely and I have none of that.

First pair took me about half a minute to fall in love with.
No pair has ever been as good as that though. But minutes rather than anything more tedious.

So do you think I’d be able to read better by now after 3 days? Phone seems a little better than books. If it’s tilting eyes not head , how do you do that? They’re joined.😂

Where do you hold books (or tins to read the label) compared to phone?

I had to return my set and go back to two pairs of glasses. The varifocals made me want to throw up but I suffer from vertigo anyway and the optician did say that I may not tolerate them.

I paid a similar sum for mine, and have always struggled to read.

I end up taking them off

Go back and get it all checked then. My db had some glasses once that weren’t properly adjusted. He got massive headaches. Got the - balance or something (no technical knowledge!😊) adjusted, and no more issues.