I went for my annual check-up at the optician recently.
I’ve been short-sighted (myopic) since I was 16 so I’m a long-term wearer of contact lenses and glasses.
Originally, I wore my lenses all the time. I hated my glasses. Contact lenses in those days were bought to last a year or two. They were quite thick and required regular trips back to the optician for ‘descaling’. I even had a very expensive blue-tinted pair at one point. They made my already strikingly blue eyes almost luminous.
Once I had the kids, I didn’t have time to wipe my own bottom, let alone faff around cleaning contact lenses before going to bed. So, unless I was going out somewhere special, I wore my ‘Deirdre Barlow’ big glasses. These came into their own when I had small children who would poke at your eyes. They were better than safety goggles.
Every year I would go for my annual check-up and there were tiny changes to my prescription but, mostly, I just changed glasses when they broke.
Two years ago, the optician asked if I was having trouble with my sight. Was I moving books backwards and forwards trying to get the right distance to be able to read the print properly? To my negative response, he said that it would start happening soon… because of my age.
B*****d!
I determined to ignore the symptoms but, within weeks, he was right. In restaurants, I would find myself holding the menu with my arms outstretched and then pulling it gradually closer until I could see it properly. It was noticeably worse when I wore my contact lenses because I couldn’t look underneath my glasses to facilitate doing close work. Threading a needle was really the clincher.
I was gutted! I had hoped that, having been short-sighted for so long, age-related long-sightedness would kick in and compensate giving me 20/20 vision for my 75th birthday. But, apparently, it doesn’t work that way.
Once we reach our early 40s, the lenses in our eyes begin to lose their elasticity. They become stiffer, reducing their flexibility and, therefore, their ability to allow light rays from near objects to focus on the retina. This means that close objects look blurred, making it harder to read and thread needles. It’s called presbyopia and it will affect almost everyone, regardless of whether they already wear glasses or contact lenses.
So, I have some options.
I can get a new prescription on my current glasses for driving and day wear and then invest in a second pair to use when Im reading. Godammit, I have enough trouble keeping track of the pair I wear all the time. If you knew how many times I’ve gone hunting for them because they blend into the quilt cover on the bed… or because I’ve forgotten that I have left them sitting on top of my head!
I can guarantee that I will not have the right pair of glasses for the job in hand.
I could get some surgery. Normal laser techniques won’t cut it for presbyopia so I would have to replace the current dodgy lens with an artificial implant.
Click to enlarge
Or, I could look at varifocal lenses for my glasses. I immediately thought of those horrible bi-focals with the line in the middle that my grandfather used to wear, but things have moved on a bit since then and varifocals are the marketed as the closest thing that you can get to natural vision.
In contrast to my normal glasses, which have a constant maximum aperture at all focal lengths, varifocals have a maximum aperture that becomes smaller as the focal length increases.
In order to accommodate both distance and close-up work in one lens, they have a gradual change of power from the top to the bottom so that, when you look straight ahead, you’re getting the distance section of the lens and, when you look down, you automatically see through the part that aids reading and needle-threading. For things in between, you will need to experiment by lifting or lowering your head slightly until the focus is correct. I am told that, in time, this adaptation process does become instinctive.
Lens designs vary, with some having wider reading areas, other bigger distance portions and, still more, a thicker central corridor over which the power change is implemented. The wider the corridor, the bigger the area of vision but, on either side of this zone, the lens surface will be distorted, causing a certain amount of soft-focus or blurring. It is also possible to compact the distance and reading parts more closely so that they can be used in smaller frames.
As with all things, it would seem that you get what you pay for so it is better to spend more money on the lenses than on the frames when it comes to varifocals, as these tend to have wider corridors and less edge distortion.
Apparently, although they do require some getting used to, over 90% of people do use them successfully and some are now moving into varifocal contact lenses.
Fortunately, my optician operates a 30 day trial period and, if I really don’t like them, they will make me a standard pair and reimburse the price differential.
I have worn eyeglesses since age 12. Always wore glasses, never contacts. And, like you, iI came to have some “issues.” I have what you call varifocals, as does my wife. They are just fine. It only take a few days to make the mall adjustment, and then you never think of it again. You are correct, you probably need larger lenses to get all of the lens adjustment into one piece of plastic.
Please, not back to Deirdre Barlow BIG specs tho!
I too am in the same boat.
My optician advised me last year that I would need them.
I just didn’t realize that within the year I would have to get them! lol
*sigh*
Just another “perk” of the aging process!
Don’t ya just hate the bearers of bad tidings! Especially when they can then charge you an arm and a leg for the solution!
I had Lasik back in May 2008 and never looked back – ha, ha, made a pun.
I think it depends on your problem whether you can use it or not – as you mentioned, you need an artificial implant – but even though I have 20/20 now, apparently as I get older I will need reading glasses, or ‘brainy specs’ as David Tennant might call them.
I actually miss wearing glasses because people used to think they makes me look clever, but I don’t miss the freedom of not having to wear them.
Glad it worked for you but I hate the thought of what I consider cosmetic surgery. I just fear that something will go wrong and I will be left worse off because of vanity. I’d prefer to store up my ‘luck’ with anaesthesia (especially as I’ve had some problems with them before) for when it’s life saving!
Thank you for your lovely constructive advice following my comment on Ian’s blog. It’s a real help and of course, it has led me here to you.
I have had to start wearing glasses in the last year and although I have got a nice flattering pair, I’m still too vain to wear them as often as I should !! Damn this ageing thing!
Enjoyed your last post too – seemed very pertinent, given what I have been up to recently….
Selina, you’re welcome and nice to see you here. I think we should all wear our glasses and start disspelling the myth that boys don’t make passes at… well, you know the rest :)
Ever you ever considered getting a nice big magnifying glass, Joanna? You could use it instead of reading glasses and adopt the alias “Shirley Holmes”. I wonder why no woman has ever done that?
Mr B, the reason I went to the optician this time was because I broke the arm off my current pair of glasses. I’m wearing them using just the one remaining arm. It’s sort of a monocle. As to Shirley Holmes, I’m not sure the deerstalker and the drug habit would suit me :P
I got my first pair of glasses at age 15. My doctor tells me that his estimate is that I have at most 5 years before I need varifocals (or something to adjust for the lack of elasticity), but it will more likely be 2 years.
It’s interesting to read someone else’s post and see yourself there.
Haha, I had no idea that so many bloggers were ‘of a certain age’ and wearing varifocals seems to identify us :)
Have you considered laser surgery? Something I hope to do once I get some pennies together. Got an iPhone? http://www.wired.com/gadgetlab/2009/09/eye-glasses-turns-iphone-into-magnifier-for-oldies/
Brian, when I read up on this, it specifically said that laser surgery would not help with this condition. The only surgical solution was a lens implant.
I’m putting off my next eye test for this reason. (The vanity of middle-aged man trying to get to his 50th without the use of spectacles!) My left eye’s always been slightly long-sighted and the right slightly short-sighted and they’ve generally compensated for one another over the years. Last autumn I suddenly realised that they’re way out of kilter now – left for telly and real life, right for books and computers. I think I’ll ask for a monocle…
Varifocal Bloggers United! As I said to MrB, Im currently wearing a pair of spectacles that only have one arm. I am reminded of the headmistress from St Trinians!
You’ve really hit the nail on the head with this one. You’ve clearly done your research, as always. . However, you omitted one important advantage of the varifocal: In addition to near and distance vision, you get an intermediate zone for computer screens, prices on shelves etc. This is not so important to you now as you still have some flexibility of focus left, but it will be in a few years’ time! I have been using varifocals for the last 5 years, as has H, and we are both very happy with them, but be aware that there is a big difference in the quality of varifocal lenses and you really do get what you pay for. The cheapest that are sold as varifocals are little better than bifocals with the line between the two zones smoothed over, leaving no useable mid-range. In UK the name ‘Varilux’ is synonymous with varifocals, just as ‘Hoover’ is synonymous with vacuum cleaners and with good reason. Varilux were among the first on the market and they are still the market leader and in the forefront of development – new improved varifocals are being introduced all the time. Rodenstock, Zeiss and Hoya are also reputable manufacturers with good products but I could never really get on with the two pairs of Rodenstocks that I have had. Adaption to them is nowhere near so difficult as it was even a few years ago; whith the first varifocals, adaption times could be measured in weeks or months even. Now it is often a matter of a few hours with a good quality lens. Don’t forget to go back to your optician if you think they are not performing optimally, it may be just a matter of a minor adjustment. Even a few millimeters can make all the difference
You could always go back to contact lenses. You can get multifocal contact lenses now that perform reasonably well, although the vision you get with them does take some gettin used to – anything up to 3 weeks.
To Brian: Laser surgery won’t help, unless you have one eye corrected for distance and the other for near. This isn’t as crazy as it sounds, it can sometimes work quite well, although the problem, as with all laser surgery, is that it it irreversible.
Thanks for that extra info and personal recommendation, FC. I think I was being offered Varilux… although I thought they were a type of roof window ;P I shall definitely go for the most expensive option. I want to be able to see properly. I don’t mind my lenses but one of my friends doesnt really like her varifocal version and they always advise you to have a pair of glasses as well so I shall have to bite the bullet.
I have had varifocals from the age of 16 but the progressive ones sans the line. I’m 23 now and my eyesight is taking another hit. May I also note that I’ve always had small, cute glasses and have never had any problems getting the lenses to fit (which I was warned about at first). The only adjustment I had to make was going up & down the stairs, I still don’t wear my glasses for that. Though, I have enough problems with stairs on a good day, so I don’t need anything stacked against me. I don’t use the glasses to read or when I’m using the computer, but anything further away than that and I need help. My dad had the laser surgery where the two eyes were done for different distances and he loves it, especially since he was nearly blind and then after the surgery could make out the time on a clock.
Thanks for that information, Bunny. I would have to wear mine all the time. Perhaps I should investigate the surgery…
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I needed glasses since I was about 10 (I was perhaps reading too much secretly under the blankets?) but now that I’m in my late fifties I find that, working in a library, I need to read more than I need my vision in the distance. So I’ve given up wearing lenses unless I need to drive a car or something like that. I’m happy to be able too read very well, even in bad light and I just accept that I don’t see that well in the distance (I’ve -3.5). So, no more glasses or surgery for me, and only occasionally soft lenses!
So long as you don’t walk into lamp posts, Cugel :)
I’m not use on wearing glasses or any lenses at this time. Maybe five years from now, the nature of my work, I may use eye correction when I’m forties. I’m ready at that time because as bloggers, I always face at the computer almost everyday.
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Celen, it is a real problem for those of us who are forever in front of a screen. I have friends who have had the correction surgery very effectively and others for whom their sight regressed within two years.