Wearing varifocals and looking at screens

I've never found varifocals to be of great value and I have two prescription pair. I wear mine going supermarket shopping as there is the small reading area so I can check small print (the small reading area is no good for sustained reading). Then the other areas work for goods on shelves that are just outside the 'reading glasses area'. I don't use these varifocals at any other time, find them a nuisance.

I don't need glasses to watch tv.
So what works best for me is ....... reading glasses, plus a pair of prescription glasses specifically for the computer and made for the distance that I sit from the monitor screen.

I have varifocals but with my current pair of glasses I find reading difficult. I may be imagining it but I think it's to do with the size of the frames. They are deeper than the old ones and I really have to look down to read, which is not entirely comfortable, especially when I play the piano. All the current frames seem to be quite big so I'm reluctant to try and change my specs.

I have had varifocals for years and never had a problem with them. I recently had a new pair, and again no problems with them
I highly recommend Asda opticians, very professional and very fair prices. I got two pairs of varifocals [ second pair as sun glasses ] for £130. Used Asda for my glasses for many years and never had a problem with them

I went into my opticians today to get the arms to fit better. I can see better now.hopefully that’s sorts the problem I had.

Tippy22 How I wish there were a solution! I still feel as if I'm going to fall downstairs/steps as I look down through the 'reading' part of my varifocals on descending. I can't read in bed unless I sit up, I can't watch TV unless I am sitting up properly either. As for plucking eyebrows! Well i've given that up. I have thought of getting several pairs of off the peg glasses for each function, but I'd have to keep taking them on and off and it's bad enough now remembering where I have put things down like my mobile which I keep having to use to pass the password test for various websites...... Life isn't getting less onerous it is getting more fuss potty and annoying!! Thanks for the opportunity to rant but sadly I can't help with any good ideas. Sorry!

I have varifocals and can use them with iPad or reading for short amounts of time but I also have reading glasses which I use for longer. I bought single vision sunglasses and have no problem wearing those outside.

I had that problem once only. Had to have my eyes retested and the prescription changed. Then OK.
So ask to have your eyes retested.
Was it Boots? I've had problems there with my and my daughters prescription.

I tried varifocals but they made me feel "seasick" whenever I moved. Opticians changed them for ordinary glasses and I now have reading, intermediate and distance glasses. Three pairs to lose now, drives DH nuts especially as I've kept previous pairs as back ups. We have a small console table with a designated glasses drawer but it's usually empty as they are scattered around house.

I tried varifocals some years ago and had the 'swimmy' problems etc so I went back to bifocals. This year I spoke to my optician and asked if I should try again. He felt that as my bifocals worked well for me there was no need to change. If its not broke don't mend it .

Go back - insist you aren't seeing properly, glasses are expensive and it's miserable when they aren't right for you. The optician should check what position you read in I.e. Where you hold a book and check you can read the print ok at that distance. Goood luck I hope you get it sorted out.

The pair of very expensive varifocals that I bought 3 years ago and couldn't manage were from a private optician. I did tell him I had vertigo so they were 'less swim', so perhaps he concentrated on that rather than my need to use the laptop.

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!

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 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 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’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 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 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 ?

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 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.

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 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.

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 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. ?

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.