Varifocals

[Smokin Joe]

I got a new pair of varifocals today. My prescription has changed and these are a bit stronger than previous pairs I've owned. I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to them as they seem to require a bit more eye movement to go from distance close up. The optician reckons it can take up to a week, has anyone found the same when they've changed and how long before you got used to them and it became automatic?

 

[Sharky]

I tried one pair and never got on with them. Particularly when driving. Have a tendency to lift my head up to see into the distance, but then was looking through the wrong section of the lens.

My brother, though thinks they are marvelous.

 

[SGG on a bike]

It usually takes me a few days to get used to new varifocals. These days, I'm careful to get frames with the same lens heights my previous ones though and I find that helps a lot. Going back several pairs of glasses, I had two pairs differing in height and it was virtually impossible to swap between them without a period of "adjustment". I have identical frames now for sunglasses and normal and can swap at leisure without any problem. Are your new glasses a deeper height than your old ones? That can make a noticeable difference in my experience.

 

[Smokin Joe]

It usually takes me a few days to get used to new varifocals. These days, I'm careful to get frames with the same lens heights my previous ones though and I find that helps a lot. Going back several pairs of glasses, I had two pairs differing in height and it was virtually impossible to swap between them without a period of "adjustment". I have identical frames now for sunglasses and normal and can swap at leisure without any problem. Are your new glasses a deeper height than your old ones? That can make a noticeable difference in my experience.

They are about the same, if anything a little smaller.

 

[SGG on a bike]

It might just be a case of sticking with it a little longer then. My prescription has barely changed in the last ten years, so maybe it's just a bigger jump in the prescription that's making it a bit more difficult to adjust.

 

[newfhouse]

I got a new pair of varifocals today. My prescription has changed and these are a bit stronger than previous pairs I've owned. I'm having a bit of trouble adjusting to them as they seem to require a bit more eye movement to go from distance close up. The optician reckons it can take up to a week, has anyone found the same when they've changed and how long before you got used to them and it became automatic?

I’ve just had exactly the same experience. It took a few days to retrain my brain to using a slightly different head angle to get the right focus.

My advice is to stick with them for a week and if no better to go back to the optician.

 

[OldShep]

On my third varifocal prescription. I’ve taken to every new pair like a duck to water. Usually within minutes I’m happy.

 

[quilkin]

IIRC they offer three different 'grades' at different prices. I'm on my second set now. The first ones I had, I went for the 'medium' quality and found they were difficult to use for some things, particularly computer sceens. They were great for what I bought them for mostly, though, which was being able to look at a map on my handlebars while cycling along.

For my more recent pair I went for the better quality ones and they do make a difference - I can easily use a PC screen with them for quite a while (although if using a screen for hours I will switch back to some older standard lenses).

 

[november4]

I found with the same frame that I couldn't tolerate them when my prescription increased, so (specsavers) got changed for regular distance, and have separate pair for LCD

Actually thinking about getting Bifocal safety glasses for work

 

[presta]

I've been wearing spex now for about 20 years and I never have got used to them, at least not in the way intended. Imagine browsing the supermarket aisle, for example. If I look to the shelf for something, before I've finished nodding my head to and fro to find the sweet spot on the lens I've already spotted what I want through the blur, at which point I grab it and move on. Then the same happens again, and again, so that getting used to the spex just ended up meaning that I got used to living life in a perpetually de-focused blur.

Even if I find the best spot on the lens I can't see a damn thing, there's no way I'd be able to do my job if I were still working.

 

[postman]

I hate getting used to new specs,funnily enough i have an eye test this afternoon,i am getting too much blurred vision in my one and only good eye.I was told years ago i have a small cataract forming.See what happens this afternoon.

 

[Bonefish Blues]

The only thing that still gets me is how far down the ground on the other side of a stile is when I climb over. Every time

 

[PeteXXX]

When I first got varifocal, after the initial adjustments, walking down stairs was almost a blood sport!! That was what took me the longest to sort.
I made the mistake, after a couple of new prescriptions, of buying a slightly cheaper pair. The field of view was so narrow that I looked like a tennis umpire when I was reading a book
I took them back and payed the extra.

Are yours the mid range model or Premium, may I ask? There's a huge difference in angles of vision between the ranges.

 

[PeteXXX]

The only thing that still gets me is how far down the ground on the other side of a stile is when I climb over. Every time

Metoo

 

[SpokeyDokey]

Don't like the loss of peripheral vision with Varifocals - much prefer Bifocals.