Need reading glasses...getting old...darnit

[Kyle_in_Tex]

I think I'm older than dirt but younger than rocks, or is it the other way around????

Anyhow, it seems I need reading glasses but can't stand to wear the pair I bought at Wally world. I've never had to wear glasses before.

Any suggestions? I think I use 1.25 lenses ???

 

[ragkar]

That's how it goes as you get older. The eyeball loses its ability to flex. You might try looking around in the other big name pharmacies, like rite aid and cms, for bifocal reading lenses. They're clear on top with the magnification in the bifocal part.
Small folding reading glasses might ameliorate the inconvenience of carrying around full size glasses.
Another option is sunglasses bifocals. You do wear sunglasses at times. You might poke around at Amazon, but of course you won't be able to try them on before buying.

 

[ToadHill]

I buy them 5 pairs at a time form the dollar store and I usually find one that becomes the favored pair.

 

[txdon]

If you buy the 1.25 glasses you will be taking them on and off, sitting on them loosing them etc. And that will be OK for a couple of years. Then you will need the 1.75 and then the 2.00 to see at that certain distance. You will soon be wearing them around your neck because you need to take them on and off so often.

The other option is to get a prescription for a progressive pair of glasses and just wear them all the time. They are like bifocals but with no lines and you will get used to moving your head up or down a bit to get the perfect vision for close to mid range objects or letters.

Your not getting older, your getting, well... yes you are.

 

[Uncle Doug]

Might as well get used to using the cheaters. Between me and the wife we have 5-10 pair around the house can never find a pair when you need them. I have to use safety glasses at work and had a pair of bi-focals made which I hate. I ended up having a pair of safety glass cheaters made just for using on the PC's at work.

 

[CurlyDave]

I started at 1.25 and have progressed to 2.75 over the years.

From about 1.5 to 2.25 I hung them around my neck, now I just keep them in a case in my pocket.

For some reason bifocals give me a headache, so I just wear my distance glasses and when I need to read something put the readers on also -- that's right two pairs at the same time. Works great.

Costco is the best place to get them for me. 3 pairs for ~$20. You have to sort through them to find the least ugly ones, but I get three pairs I can use.

 

[cowboy357]

I think You would do better having your eyes tested & get a proper perscription . Because of the chance both eyes may need different strengths . I wish I would have .

You can actually harm Your eyes by wearing to strong of glasses over time , Which I think is my case as 1 eye is much worse then the other . I started out with 1.25 10 years or so ago quicklly moved upto 2.75 , thats the strongest my wife can find me . I have to wear 2 sets of the 2.75 to read or type on the forums . .

Better safe then sorry . I have a couple of dozen pair scattered everywhere , some are pretty scratched up , but good enough for me to see untill i can find a better pair .

I also have 30 or so pair of what I call parts glasses . Bob

 

[ragkar]

As long as you have to wear them you might as well use the 'sweet lemon' rationalization
They make you look more intelligent!

 

[Kyle_in_Tex]

LOL, sweet lemons....Thanks for the tips folks.

 

[jayste]

I hear you! I CAN still hear! I'd never worn glasses in my life until my 44th year and started with the 1.25's. Now at 46 it's 1.75's which I'm not entirely sold on needing but the eye doc says I do. So far my arms are still long enough to allow me to read, without the glasses, when I have to. Problem for me is when I'm working on something and I can't get far enough away from it to focus! Like lying under something and working on it!! Anyway, such is life I guess. All's not too bad as long as I can see the distant tree line and that old mossy horned buck!! At least I don't have to look around much for my livestock. Usually I can whistle up my horses, saddle-up and go find the rest. Doing that I let the horse do my looking for me!

Hey Cowboy357, you having 30 or so glasses reminds me of Fred Sandford opening that drawer and rummaging through it to find the right pair!
I guess that's OK as long as you're not grabbing your chest and telling Elizabeth you're coming to join her!

Jay

 

[DocHeb]

I have progressive bifocals and they have worked out well, but be careful - there are some brands that work well, some don't. I have been very happy with the Varilux brand.

 

[texbaylea]

I have worn glasses for 70 years so they are second nature with me. I wear tri-focals but prefer the discrete focal length types rather than the progressives.

I have found that for about the last 10 years or more I can read the laptop's screen with out my glasses except when tired. I have a pair of prescription sunglasses in a case in my pocket at all times and switch when I need to. Rarely lose either pair.

Vernon

 

[scott_vt]

Good Afternoon Kyle,
I got my first pair of 1.25 glasses when I was 50, Im 58 now and still wear the 1.25 magnification, and I dont need distance glasses. So i guess Im pretty lucky that way !

Whenever I need another pair I just go down to Ocean State Job Lot and for a few bucks I have another set. They are all strategically placed, one set for the kitchen table in Ct, one set for the kitchen table in Vt, one set for my PU truck and probablly another set for my easy chair !

As one of the other guys mentioned, get a pair that makes you look really intelligent !

 

[Wis Bang]

I just got the progressives. Just short of 55 and after 12 years of using readers; I got to the point where I now needed somthing all the time.

It got to the point that some contrast/lighting was a real issue. Dim restaraunts w/ red or green print become unreadable and distance vision was getting bad too; I used to read the roadsigns from the backseat b/4 my parents to the point where I was almost too late to make the turn by the time I focused on the road name sign. I read the paper by holding it in the hot spot of the lamp & started grabing large print books at the library.

It is good to see again, read the controls on the dash, etc...

I opted for a set of Ray Ban avatiators in the same progressive lens and polaroid, great for fishing.

Of course my wife went forthe same lenses so we dropped a good amount for everything.

 

[tawilson]

I started the same route when I hit my forties. All of a sudden it dawned on me I couldn't hold the funny papers far enough away to read them. Store bought reading glasses, then prescription bifocals that I put on when I needed them, then finally started wearing them fulltime. Five years ago I decided I wanted to try contacts. The first set was made so one was for distance and one for reading, with neither one being perfect. The next ones were a mulitfocal which I liked except I needed reading glasses for computer work. Now they have come out with a multifocal that fits my needs perfect for everything. My best results have come with Walmarts prescription center. For a $100 fee they did the exam and kept hooking me up with contacts until I found one I liked.

 

[tommu56]

I had Lasic done so I wouldn't need them all the time I coulden't find the bathroom at night with out glasses.
Now i need them for reading only

Now I just have reading glasses bifocals no RX in top reading in bottom.
Work pays for a pair a year keep the new pair for good and the year old ones go to work (pssst don't tell them) I guess my wife is right I am frugal on some stuff.

tom

 

[allis180]

I enjoy the various forums on this site. Lots of great advice from great people. I too have earned the honor of wearing bifocals.

Someone once told me "God takes your eyes first so you will have a harder time seeing what is going to happen to the rest of your body later".

Todd

 

[RobertBrown]

I buy them 5 pairs at a time form the dollar store and I usually find one that becomes the favored pair.

I'll bet I have 20 or more that I bought at the "everythings a dollar" store. I got tired of looking for them so I have them in every room, the shop, garage, truck, office and bathroom. I use the 1.25 or 1.5. I've used them for years and my eyes haven't got much worse. It's really frustrating when you are trying to look at a map in low light in your vehicle. That's when I wish I was 22 again.

 

[dooleysm]

When you're 22 you don't need a map, you already know everything!

 

[jinman]

I must have lost, or brutalized beyond repair, at least 50 pairs of reading glasses in the past 17 years. The only saving grace is they are fairly cheap. My favorite "trick" is to leave a pair in my t-shirt pocket when I am working in the woods with my tractor. Somehow, brush always finds a way to snatch them out of my pocket and sling them to the ground precisely in front of one of my tractor tires. Like sunglasses, the more I pay for them, the quicker I lose them.

Kyle, I'll tell AARP to send you some literature. You've reached that time of life.