Advice on use of varifocal glasses.

[Sue Ellen]

I don't think this is in breach of the posting guideline on health issues as I'm just looking for general advice.

I've gotten varifocal lenses for the first time. I agree with the optician that they are probably the best option for me but I'm finding it very hard to get used to them. The optician has offered to give me ordinary lenses if I want but I hope to be able to stick it out.

Has anyone who has been down this road before got any advice?

 

[gipimann]

I bought varifocals for the first time last October as I was tired of carrying two pairs of glasses everywhere I went. I was told that it might take up to 6 weeks to get used to them so stuck with them as best I could.

It was suggested that I use them for a few hours a day to begin with, and not for driving until I felt comfortable looking through the appropriate part of the lens (which was the most difficult bit for me to get used to - turning my head, not my eyes to see sideways). The leaflet which I got from the optician said that I needed to "point my nose" at whatever I wanted to look at, whether reading or distance work.

I couldn't get used to them at all, and I brought them back - to find, after much insistance on my part, that there was a flaw in the glasses themselves!

Got a replacement pair, sadly after 2 more weeks of struggling, I had to concede that varifocals were not for me. I am back to carrying 2 pairs again....

The optician said that the difference between my left and right eyes, and the difference between my distance and reading strengths was just too much for my brain to decipher through one pair of specs.

Think I'll take a look at laser surgery!

Best of luck, hope they work out for you.

 

[pansyflower]

Just to say that I have varifocals and luckily adapted straight away.
My eyes are unequal, one is weak, the other weaker.
I am short-sighted and have astigmatism.