Reading glasses; a thorn in your side or just something you keep sitting on?!

POV; You have went through life, thus far with excellent vision; feeling smug that you have never had to wear glasses or contact lenses. Now, you've hit certain milestones ;) and things are changing. You're holding your phone slightly further away; you're leaning into your computer and starting to wonder if the print is getting smaller? I have linked a video on this process (called presbyopia) incase you wanted further info.

Well; you have probably worked out that the print on the back of packets' is not deceiving you and that maybe it is your eyes that are changing. You may have popped to your Optician's and found out that you are now in need of some glasses to read.  Problem solved? Or are the problems only beginning? Now you're spending time looking for the glasses, prying the glasses from your dog's mouth, or you're in the shop whilst the glasses are cosy at home.

So what are your options? 

Well, reading glasses are a straight forward option; you use them as you need and take them off whilst looking far away or walking around. 

In the world of glasses, other options include varifocals or bifocals. These allow you to wear your specs full time. You can see far away and are able to walk around in your glasses but you can also see your computer and your closer work, such as your phone. These type of glasses take a little time to adjust to, but most patient's find varifocals an excellent alternative to reading glasses and even rejoice in wearing glasses full time.

If you have spent half your life not wearing glasses, moving into wearing glasses full time can feel like a big jump. Some patient's are not keen on wearing frames full time as they feel it is too big of a change.

So what other options have you? Well there are contact lenses. Contact lenses have evolved a lot from when they were first developed and there are contact lenses readily available that allow you to read and see far away simultaneously. These types of contact lenses are called multifocal contact lenses. Multifocal contact lenses can be worn daily or for social occasions. Sometimes patients are quite happy to have glasses for work, but like the idea of having multifocal contact lenses for sports and social wear, ensuring they can see their sports watch whilst running, or the wine list in a restaurant whilst seeing their friends across the table. 

Some patients that come into store are looking for a more permanent solution to their visual issues than glasses or contact lenses. 

The more commonly known option is laser surgery. This could be undertaken in one eye to allow you to see far away in one eye and up close in the other. With Laser there are various different options and suitability criteria. 

Another surgical option that is becoming increasingly popular is refractive/clear lens replacement. This is remarkably similar to cataract lens surgery. Cataract surgery is very common and most people will know of someone who has had cataract surgery. In the case of clear lens surgery, you have the option of having this surgery preformed earlier in life and having multifocal lenses put in place, allowing you to go glasses free and see far away and up close!

There are so many options available for you, once you start needing help for reading so don't despair. We would be delighted to have you into store, undertake a sight test and work through what options might best suit your needs and lifestyle. You can book online by clicking here, for a discussion (and a cuppa).