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!

@butteredbarmbrack I threw away my first pair of varifocals. I could not manage with them. I was persuaded more recently to try again, and have definitely found it true that the more expensive ones make all the difference. And they're better recently. Apparently it's partly to do with the field of vision, which is much wider on them.

48 for reading, 58 for distance.

i cant really cope very well with reading glasses, they make me feel wobbly
i have them
tend to avoid reading
although last week i had to use a lap top all day, no large screen , so the glasses were a godsend

38! 41 now and have varifocals 😞

Pushing 60 here and don't have or need them.

Going by photos of me, 43 for off-the-peg reading glasses, 45 for varifocals. Switched cos I walked around the house in blur due to wearing reading glasses ALL the time, plus I kept losing them. Never had any problems with varifocals, possibly cos I was used to wearing readers all the time, plus I went for expensive ones.

Fine until 50 then realised I was reading my work screen through the bottom of my glasses and hurting my neck. Tried occupationals, but left them on a bus, so now I have cheapish readers again, just for screen work. I hate it. Haven’t lost either pair of glasses (will cry if I lose my varifocals) but have forgotten my screen glasses a couple of times, and just hate having to switch.

I had perfect vision until I was 42 and needed glasses for reading. My long distance vision started to decline five years later and I now wear varifocals.

Age 51 and not needed. People ask me in work all the time 'how can you read that'?

47 was always smug about my good eye sight..

51 and used to have better than 20/20 vision :-(. I can't read anything without them now and I'm sure my eyesight has got worse (not sure if that's getting older or me wfh and being on screens all day)

I am so jealous... 😫
My parents were short sighted, they needed specs full time from mid20s. So I am grateful that I got to about age 44 b4 I needed readers. My middle distance vision is still good enough so I only need the specs for reading, which is jolly convenient.

Started very occasionally needing them for very small print or really intricate tasks in my late 40s. Then needed them more routinely for day to day reading in my early 50s. I am told this is normal and is due to the structures of the eye being less elastic as we age.

45. Suddenly couldn't thread a needle so booked into the opticians.

I'm finding I need them more often now. If I'm tired I need them for reading and my eyesight is really affected by poor lighting.

I blame working in a school office. The font size on school SIMS software is microscopic.

44 and they are a massive pita. I've worn glasses for over 20 years but now need to switch them around or I wear contacts and use reading glasses. Varifocals are
Not for me.

I’ve worn glasses for distance for years but don’t need glasses to read and I’m 55.

I’ve been shortsighted for years but started to need reading glasses as well about 48 .

Just wondering what this means for people who are badly short sighted? Does it correct it slightly. I'm 39 and not needing reading glasses yet but I'm badly short sighted so wonder what that does.

You get long sighted on top of being short sighted. So I have contact lenses (as I have done for 40 years) and then reading glasses on top.

hellohellothere - for me it means I wear contact lenses as normal but also need separate reading glasses . My optician asked whether I wanted my main prescription to be for distance or close up - ie driving rather than reading. That suits me best . My main prescription hasn’t really changed at all in 30 years .

Think I was about 45 when I needed them full time.

I'm not 55 and can't see anything without them.

My main prescription has started changing in the last few years after being pretty much the same for about 30 years - slightly improving (but I’m so short sighted it doesn’t really make much difference).

@mamarmaladeandpeanutbutter might be with another go with the varifocals too, then.... I might ask at my next eye check.

*worth

56. Realised I couldn't read the numbers on driving licences.

Thanks for asking about this @Redtulip2 I've just turned 46 and it's crazy how quickly I feel like my eyesight is worsening. I hate wearing sunglasses - I've a v. narrow face and feel like they look daft on me - and am now trying to accept that I need reading glasses. This morning I tried to do some colouring in with the DDs of a fairly (ish) small design and afterwards my eyes ached/the lines were blurry 🙈 Labels on jars suddenly felt small a month or so ago. Argh! Meanwhile, Hubs (who is older) is totally fine - which is REALLY annoying!! 🙄