At what age did you need reading glasses?

[Redtulip2]

Having just received my first pair at the age of 41, I'm intrigued to find out at what age you required specs.

I know many people require glasses from childhood, one of my children included. What I wonder is, what's the average age for needing glasses due to age associated visual decline.

I didn't realise how much I needed them until I got them, now they're barely off my face!

5

50, I started with a 0.5 prescription, hardly anything, at 55 my specs have a prescription of 2 and I can’t read without them.

Stops me bothering to waste time online in the evenings tbh these days because after 8-6 on a screen for work I cba with my phone/iPad.

I’m going to upgrade my phone soon and I will be buying the smallest iPhone out there as I use it less and less.

About 40 for reading, now I’m nearly 50 and can’t see anything without my glasses!

Always worn glasses I'm short sighted with astigmatism in each eye. 44 when I got varifocals. I was a bit vain about it at first but actually they are great.

43 I think?
Just a pair from the stand in the chemists.
Love them.
Long distance vision still okay.

I still don’t need them at 56.

I'm 50 and don't need them yet. There are definitely some occasions where it's hard to read tiny text but they are still rare at the moment.
I had laser surgery to correct short sightedness in my 20s and haven't needed glasses since.

Managing without at 56. I'm extremely short-sighted and wear contact lenses, there's the odd occasion (eg trying to read menus on coloured paper in low light pubs) where I have to use the magnifier function on my phone but no separate reading glasses yet. When not wearing contacts I have single vision glasses and if I need to read something small I just pop them off and hold it close to my face.

About 50. At 60 I still only need them for reading.

49 now and gone from +1 to +3 ☹️

43 but I probably should have had them sooner. About 5/6 years later, I started needing glasses for distance too. I have varifocals and love hiding behind my glasses😆

45

I’ve been short sighted since I was 14 and wearing lenses since 18. My reading vision changed around 47/48 so I now use glasses to read whilst wearing my distance contact lenses. I buy a load of cheap +3s so I’ve got them all over the house! It’s really annoying with the on/off of them and trying to locate a pair (hence having loads). I have some bifocal glasses for when I’m not wearing lenses but still need good light with those.

I'm 49 and I've just been prescribed a pair for the first time. I can usually manage without them just by squinting a bit. But I can imagine it's a slippery slope from here.

39 eek

Think I got varifocal when I was about 45, I’ve been shortsighted from about 10

39, am 52 now distance vision still perfect but can't read a label on a jar for toffee 😭

55
couldnt read the jars
nhs staff get a rebate
local opticians was doing free glasses for nhs staff, this was 2021

48 and now at 50 have got varifocals. It took me weeks to get used to them but now can’t function without them. Life changing!

43 🤓

I've been shortsighted since around 14-15 but trouble with my near vision just in the past year or two (I'm 52). I haven't really got on well with bifocals, and definitely not with multi focal contact lenses which just made everything feel a bit trippy outdoors!

Like other pps I was finding it annoying either wearing specs and taking them off all the time to read, or contacts and having to put reading glasses on and off. I'm now trying "monovision" as suggested by my optician when I asked if there were any other options. I thought it might be some snazzy new type of contacts, but no, it just means only wearing the distance contacts in one eye and relying on the other for reading! I find it's working quite well for work days, especially in the office, when you're switching between reading and walking about.

For days mostly doing distance vision e.g. driving any distance, going for a walk, I would go with contacts in both eyes. And am finding if I have a day mostly pottering at home, using specs is fine as I can keep them off if just reading, cooking etc and only need them for watching TV.

Early 40s I started needing them, I got varifocals a few years later. I now have normal varifocals for general stuff and special ones for computer desk work.

I always get the lenses with the widest reading area as I find the cheaper options too hard to use for long periods of reading.

47 first started noticing it, now 48 and have succumbed to reading glasses which I hate.

Early 40s. I already had glasses so we just went for varifocals.

47 for close work only which my optician said is the average age. Agree with pp I’m sure the wording on food labelling is getting smaller!