Wearing varifocals and looking at screens

I love varifocals and have been wearing them for years. (This post has reminded me that I'm overdue for an eye test!) I think that Yorkeshiregirl gives excellent advice - do get everything checked.

I only wear them for driving. Found they were too much of a compromise for reading. Luckily I only need distance glassses for driving but now I can see the satnav clearly as well!

I got varifocals a few years ago but found I couldn’t walk around wearing them as the ground looked further away than it was. I kept them in the car and then only wore them for driving. My reading vision got worse so I got some reading prescription glasses. The next time I had an eye test I said I would just get the distance prescription for driving. These were ok until I looked at the dashboard and couldn’t see a thing. I still keep varifocals in the car and have several pairs of reading glasses in various places, desk at work, work bag, kitchen, lounge, bedroom so I always can put my hands on a pair.

I was sold varifocals but when I went back to complain I couldn't read a book properly with them I was told 'You didn't say you wanted to read. They're just for reading labels in the supermarket'! I now have reading glasses!

Have had fun for many years without a single problem. I'm no expert but could you perhaps be swivelling your eyes rather than a head motion? I'm very aware that it's my head that moves but totally robotic nowadays of course.

I put mine on my head for close work like reading or using my phone and then pull them down to my eyes for other purposes. Sounds mad but it works for me.

I got my first multi focals a couple of years ago. When the optometrist discovered I was an enthusiastic reader including in bed and also used the computer a bit she suggested I also get reading glasses which was very good advice.

With multifocals there is really only one sweet spot for close up activity and it doesn't always fit with varied postures such as the odd visual angles when reading in bed.

when I had a cataract op recently the surgeon asked me if I wanted my new lens to be a varifocal one (bet you didn't all know that could happen!). I was totally bemused, as I've never worn varifocals in my life and don't need them now either.

I have worn verifocals for years, and love them, however as has been said, you need to adjust sometimes when reading, I think my head moves to adjust more than I realise.
The main problem is stairs, I always hold on as there can be a problem, while looking down.

I paid extra for better varifocals and I have never got on with them.

I take them off if using stairs as they blur the edges of the steps and I nearly fell down a flight of stone steps when using the kite winder part.

I would expect most opticians to allow a refund within 14 days if you don't get on with them.

I've just paid £400 for varifocals..... I shouldn't have bothered. Useless. Same problem as all of you ....constantly adjusting reading material or my glasses... gone and brought myself a cheap pair of reading specs from shop 3.0 magnification...and stuck the others in drawer. I don't even believe I need them at all. I don't drive so why bother with long distance.....as long as I can see the bus when it's coming toward me .!!

I'm lucky and just need plain 'plus' lenses. So a selection of pound shop pairs, +3 round my neck for reading, +2 by the TV chair and computer, +1 in the car for driving. The last are the only 'prescription' ones, so I can't be accused of unsafe driving.

I am basically quite shortsighted so no problems with reading, etc, now, so just take glasses off when I read, use the computer and tablet etc.

I paid a fortune last year for ‘good’ varifocals but couldn’t get on with them, in fact it felt quite dangerous when walking and with constant head shifting! The optician willingly changed them for single vision lenses, stronger in one eye than the other and it works perfectly.

I am now following the advice from a friend who is an optician who said to hang on for as long as possible before getting either bi or varifocals as our eyes change a lot at this stage and age (!) so will hang in for another year or so before trying varifocals again. ?

After a bad fall accident, I did an online course on falls prevention and there was a whole section on bifocals and varifocals, which work very well for a lot of people but need to be used with caution if you have any other fall risks. I remember it was one of the risks most people hadn't even thought of at the time. I need different glasses for the computer and for reading and wouldn't like to combine the two in any way.

I too thought it was only me. Dh has had bifocals for years with no . problems and wears them a the time. I cant get on with mine and have tried varifocals which were worse. I now wear the bifocals for driving, watching TV or at the cinema or theatre but cannot use them for reading. So i have reading glasses too and I'm constantly swapping them and losing them. I take the bifocals off to go down steps too. To try and read a book with the bifocals I find i have to hold or prop them up higher or I find I am raising my eyebrows & opening my eyes wide and really straining my eyes to see properly.

I tried varifocals but didn’t get on with them, so got bifocals instead. However, I don’t need distance glasses any more, except for driving at night, so use ‘off the shelf’ reading glasses. I have them in every room, and also handbag, but with different strengths for different purposes. Weak ones are good for screens and playing bridge, also cooking. Medium ones for reading and strong ones for sewing. Just now I’m wearing a pair while half-watching TV, just look over top of glasses to see it!

I don’t look down at my tablet I keep at a level that is straight in front if you get my drift. The same when I read a book paper or magazine keep it level.

Ive been wearing varifocals for over 15 years. I love them. Mine have been measured to suit me looking at a PC screen all day (without tilting my head back!) The only nuisance I have is reading anything above head height (on high shelves). The quality of a varifical lense matters a lot! The zones are so much better on high grade ones. I’ve tried the high street optician chains, without success. I go to an independent optician and he would replace the lenses if I found that they were not perfectly measured for me.

I changed opticians for my latest varifocals. I really wished I hadn't. It's disgusting that as I get nhs help I have ended up with the most inferior varifocals on the planet! I'm confident the last pair (from an independent optician) were not so poorly made. Infact the lady told me to get that level of clarity I would have to pay an additional £100!!! Outrageous. If I had £100 surely I'd be buying my own specs no relying on nhs vouchers??? The first pair made were 3mm out... I wore them for 2 weeks before going back to complain about the terrible headache. The optometrist blamed the manufacturer, I firmly believe she had not measured properly.
Grrrrrrrrrrr ?

I have had varifocals for many years, and have never had any problems (I use a computer at work, play the piano, read, watch TV, etc) and don't have to adjust the specs. in any way. The only time I had problems was when I was persuaded to go to one of the high street chains of opticians and they got the whole 'set-up' completely wrong, even putting the lenses on the wrong side! I do think it is important to choose your optician carefully, not just on the price.

I’m long sighted and it’s getting longer so several years ago I changed to varifocals which react to light rather than mess around with reading glasses and mid-distance glasses hanging around my neck whilst driving with sun glasses on.

Much less hassle even with clear glass right at the top. Just pop them on in the morning and that’s it, I no longer forget where they are!

I do have a pair of cheap off the peg reading glasses for reading in bed as the varifocals are no good for that. My optician advised not to bother to fork out for prescription ones, bless her.

I have worn varifocals for years and get on well with them.
I would most certainly be in trouble if I had to keep switching glasses. If they are not always on my nose I would spend all my time looking for whichever pair I wanted.

I could not manage with off the off the shelf reading glasses as my eyes are very different in focus. Varifocals are expensive for those on a tight Budget.

I have never had a problem wearing varifocals apart from, as another poster mentioned, going down stairs. Going down, you tend to see through the the bottom half of the specs, but this is the reading part, so no good for the stairs. Dangerous!

I have worn varifocals for years and had very few problems, except as Welshwife and others have said, being very careful on stairs. In the past couple of years waiting for operations to repair macular damage and a cataract have resulted in wearing the wrong prescription for over a year without too much of a problem. I wasn't going to pay 'an arm and a leg' for glasses that would only have lasted a short while.

It was so difficult for the optician to get the correct measurements because of the distortion after the macular repair but I have persisted and it amazes me that the brain so quickly compensates for these problems. How lucky are we that can have functional vision whereas some of our parents and grandparents lost theirs altogether?

I am with LadyGracie on this. I have been wearing them for years, always pay for top lenses and reactalights and have never had a problem. The first time I put them on I thought I wasn’t using them properly as people had told me i would take some time to get used to them. I always go to a very good private optician. The one time I went to a high street chain they didn’t position the change in lenses properly. You shouldn’t need another pair of glasses and if you really find these aren’t working for you take them back, demand your money and find a better optician, good luck!