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Falling for Varifocals?

(34 Posts)
annodomini Sat 02-Mar-19 10:14:39

Yesterday I had a nasty fall and had to go by ambulance to A&E, ending up with stitches in a gash in my eyebrow. It's about 18 months since a similar fall sent me to A&E with a fractured shoulder. It's been suggested that varifocals can cause us to miss our footing. I've been wearing them for at least 20 year with about five falls that I can remember - only two bad enough for hospital treatment. What do other grans think about this? Is is my varifocals or is it my age (78) or just sheer carelessness?

annodomini Sat 02-Mar-19 18:17:58

I also have the ultra-thin lenses - am intrigued by the idea of the multi-focal lenses. Luckily I had a test ten days ago and don't need a new prescription this time. However, the fall has damaged the titanium frames and one side of my glasses. I'm using the previous ones which still work reasonably well.
All in all, the consensus seems to be that my lenses aren't to blame. It was just my carelessness!

Sussexborn Sat 02-Mar-19 18:30:30

My first pair of varifocals ended up in a drawer for a couple of years after I fell up some stairs. Got to the stage where I was juggling two pairs of specs which made work very difficult. I tried varifocals again and it only took a few days to get used to them.

I saw a daytime tv programme that said badly fitting slippers and loose rugs are often the cause of slips and falls. Got rid of my fluffy mules and now wear “sensible” (boring) granny slippers. Only got a couple of rugs but make sure they are rubber backed and don’t curl up at the edges.

Trouble is we don’t bounce back as quickly as we once did!

Hope you heal quickly and you haven’t marred your beauty too much!

Beau Sat 02-Mar-19 18:54:50

Sorry you've had a fall annodomini but it does seem unlikely that varifocals would be the cause after 20 years of use, doesn't it? Just to reassure others, I have never had any issues with varifocals - Specsavers did warn me that some people can't cope with them but they honestly feel just like normal glasses to me and have done since the first moment I put my first pair on more than 10 years ago. I wore bifocals for a few years before that - they were very annoying so changing to varifocals was a massive improvement. I am very short sighted (not sure if that helps them feel ok ?).

annodomini Sat 02-Mar-19 19:53:26

Sussexborn, as this fiasco happened in the Aldi car park, O wasn't wearing my slippers. A few years ago, rushing to pick up the phone in my socks, I slipped off the bottom step of the stairs and all the toes on one foot went black! So I'm fussy about slippers and properly fitting shoes.

boat Sun 03-Mar-19 00:49:56

annodomini

I am sorry to hear about your fall and hope you feel better soon.

As someone up-thread said, if you've been wearing bifocals for 20 years it's unlikely to be the cause.

I find I do things like bang my knee because I forget that I'm old and leap up from my chair. (That's all part of feeling 21 inside rather than 75)

Marelli

What I do while wearing my distance glasses and coping with things like putting my pin number in at the supermarket is tilt my head so that I can look at the keyboard under my specs.

boat Sun 03-Mar-19 00:56:15

Sorry. I meant varifocals (and I even previewed my post)

Annapops Sun 03-Mar-19 08:13:21

I too wear varifocles and my problem is that whenever we go on countryside hikes and have to climb over stiles I become dizzy and nauseous, as I too see the ground coming up towards me. I haven't fallen yet and always use a walking stick to gauge ground distance. It is a very scary, disorienting feeling though.

Deedaa Wed 06-Mar-19 20:06:01

I love my varifocals, they seem completely natural to me. I am always careful on stairs though as I know they can be a problem.