AIBU to not understand glasses (specs)

[Lochroy]

Starting when I was in my teens, I needed specs for extreme short sightedness with astigmatism. Later I moved onto contacts. Both were worn all day every day (obvs not together!) and I could do everything whilst wearing them.

Then I had laser eye surgery and didn't need anything.

Now I'm middle aged I now need reading glasses. They're so flipping weird. If I look up, or around, it's unpleasant. I'm told by the optician it's to be expected and fine and normal. But why can't I just have have glasses (or contacts) which take me back to 'normal'. Why do these fuckers only work for reading so I have to have them with me at all times, but I can't wear them at all times?

Interesting question, I am in exactly the same position as you re my eye history and have only just booked an appointment to see if I need reading glasses now!

I remember older people having to get varifocals to address both long and short-sightedness.

Good point. Even more confusing.

Have you asked your optician to explain exactly why and what's happening to your eyes? That's probably the best way to start

Yes, they said the muscles stop working as well as you age. (But there's nothing I can do to tone them up and improve the situation, I did ask 😂)

Your (and my) eyes lose flexibility (both the lenses and the muscles) as we age. So it becomes more difficult to refocus quickly (something you don't even notice your eyes doing until they stop).

In theory it is possible - a bifocal lens should be able to have a non prescription top but and a reading bottom bit.

Some people choose to use a single contact lens just for reading, and their eyes get used to one being used for distance and one for reading - but I personally wouldn't choose that if I was driving as I think depth perception would be impacted.

Because in the past, you were wearing glasses to compensate for your eyes being overall calibrated wrong. A single adjustment fixed the error, all the time and in all circumstances. Your own eyes retained their ability to adjust within that, for faraway vs. close-up things.

But now, you're wearing glasses to compensate for your eyes getting old, stiffening up and not being able to adjust moment to moment. They've got fixed in position, and you need the glasses to mimic the adjustment you used to be able to do inside your eyes.

There are contact lenses and varifocal glasses for when your reading vision goes caput. I would imagine the distance part of the prescription would be zero for varifocals? Also contacts where you wear a distance lens in one eye and close up lens in the other eye.

The thing that annoys me, is I wear distance glasses for driving and TV. I still have good reading vision, but if I wear my glasses then I can't see to read. The optician said, well of course you can't read in them...but I know I used to be able to?!

I think it's starting to make a little sense - in the past, I wasn't using a single 'vision' (not sure how to phrase it), but my eye muscles were able to constantly adjust to whatever I was doing? Now they can't do the reading side I need specs.

So by inference, people who need varifocals, can't see anything without assistance, but the type of assistance depends on what they are looking it?

I am shortsighted so have always worn GLASSES. As I approach 50 I cannot see close up with my glasses on, this is age related. I now wear varifocals which enable me to see both close up and distance wIth one set of glasses

Yeah, the bottom of varifocals are for reading, and it gradually adjusts so the top of the glasses are for distance. Which is annoying when going down uneven stairs, as you have to look down to see through the right bit of the glasses.

No idea why glasses went into Caps! I really wasn't shouting!

I've had reading glasses since around the age of 40, though I didn't need any sort of glasses before. However, last year I asked for multifocal glasses so I don't need to keep removing them when I'm not reading etc, and I find them great (though I took a little while to get used to them). They are relatively expensive though. I think the non reading part has a very light prescription 🤓

Pretty much. I'm -3 in both eyes but also need reading glasses because I'm old. I just buy cheapos from pound shop / tiger and continue wearing my contacts.

I tried varifocals and they are not for me.

In my case I had glasses only for driving to correct my slight short sight. Like you, my eyes could refocus on the speedo etc in the car. Eventually I lost that ability so needed varifocals.
Oddly enough, the tendency we all have to become long sighted as we age has reduced the strength of my prescription and I can now refocus on the interior so I have returned to a single lens prescription.

My first pair of varifocals were plain glass at the bottom - I didn't need adjustment for reading, but my eyes were no longer flexible enough to read with my longer distance glasses on, so when playing in an orchestra I had to choose between seeing the music and seeing the conductor. Varifocals solved that. Now I need adjustment for reading too.

That's why I switched to varifocals because I got fed up of taking my readers on and off. It's your only option really.

Me and DH both have varifocals and we're not old! Haha. Love my varifocals.

Yep exactly. Myopia (short sight), hyperopia/hypermetropia (long sight) and astigmatism are all errors in the overall shape or configuration of your eye, and you can use a simple corrective lens like glasses or lenses to compensate for it. That overall refractive error doesn't affect the inner workings of the eye. The adjustable lens inside the eye is unaffected, and can still be used to shift your focus within the range you can focus on (and can compensate for some degree of long sight, too).

People need reading glasses as they get older because of presbyopia, a different condition which happens because the adjustable lens inside your eyes stiffens up and gets stuck on the "far away" setting. People call it long-sightedness sometimes, but it's a different cause, a different condition and a different treatment than hypermetropia, the long-sightedness that's caused by eye configuration. Extra confusion comes from how someone's existing myopia or hypermetropia can interact with presbyopia when it starts to take effect, meaning their prescription might change, or they might be able to delay getting reading glasses for their presbyopia.

i wore glasses for years then had lazer correction surgery in 1 eye. never got the other done as developed mono vision

I only today took downstairs not just a pair of reading glasses to put in my handbag, but also a pair of "computer" glasses - to swap around endlessly for the glasses i now have to wear full time again as my eye has deteriorated and i now need them for everday too.

All further complicated by the fact that my weak eye which is -3.75 just has the same lens in as the mono vision one which is only about -0.75 lol

I cant have varifocals as the right/non seeing eye buggers everything up

Not exactly re varifocals I wear them but I can see without them just much better when I'm wearing them.
I am long sighted in one eye and short sighted in the other which means I can get by without glasses but it is a strain on my eyes and leads to headaches so I keep my glasses on most of the time.

Reading glasses are just for close-up vision and you're meant to put them on just for reading and then take them off again. They're pretty much just magnifying glasses, I think. They're not meant to be worn all the time.

If you want glasses that will work for close up vision and distance vision and which you don't have to take on and off, you need varifocals, where the bottom half of the lens is for your reading prescription and the top half is for your distance prescription - so when you're looking straight ahead you're looking through your distance lens and when you're looking down at a book you're looking through your reading lens. I guess in your case, the top half of the lens would just need to be plain glass if you don't need any correction to your distance vision.

I’ve just started wearing reading glasses too. My job involves working on my laptop in a large room, where I’m observing what’s going on. Great if I’m looking at my screen but if I look up everything is blurry.
I fear I may be heading for varifocals….

It's because the muscles in your eyes deteriorate with age so you can't switch between long and short distance like you use to.

I got cataract surgery eight years ago at the age of twenty-six (and went from being nearsighted to farsighted, although my distance vision still isn't perfect either) and and have been wearing progressive lenses (I'm American and I guess they're called varifocals in the UK?) ever since. They're great and I definitely recommend them!! :)