OT bifocals/varifocals?

[tarquinlinbin]

I know this is well OT but I'm sure someone on here has experience of bifs/varifocals. My partner used to have glasses for distance and reading. After seeing her optometrist it was decided that a pair of varifocals would make life much easier. They were duly made up and fitted but she cant manage with them!.

It appears that the reading zone towards the bottom centre is just a small circular area. Being varifocals it is not clearly defined or visible to the casual viewer. This means that when reading she has to make excessive left to right head movements to scan each line of print. As she works in an office and lots of paper passes before her eyes,apart from vdu work,it causes big problems. Ideally,it seems to me that the reading zone needs to be wider so that at least she should be able to take in all or the best part of a line of text at A4 width.

Can anyone comment?/have experience?

She has made another appointment to try and get it sorted. Do optometrists operate a sale or return policy with the labs who make up specs for them? I would have thought so ?

joe

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[Bob Mannix]

Yes. You do get used to them eventually (and the head movements) but, if the near sight lens is, essentially, clear (as mine are) it is never the case that, for reading papers, it isn't better to take them off. They do provide the dual function (which is very important) when not just reading though. I wouldn't be without mine.

The size of the reading area is determined by cost. I believe there are (roughly speaking) three price brackets. The cheapest has really tiny near sight areas which almost no-one recommends. The next up (that most people have, including me) has bigger areas but still only, say, 1/3-1/2 the total width. I believe Zeiss do some lenses (twice the price of the last) which have the near-sight area extending the full width).

For your wife I would suggest removing the glasses altogether for desk work if the near sight areas are essentially plain (like mine) as this is a very cheap option. If she needs glasses for reading anyway, you might have to go for the really expensive lenses - I have no personal experience of these though.

If you are offered a free pair of fixed focus sunglasses, always upgrade to varifocals as well - they did mine for the cost of one lens, otherwise you can't read a book or newspaper in the sun on holiday and it's bl**dy annoying!

HTH

[Bob Mannix]

Additional remark:

I should have added that a decent supplier would have told you all I said before you purchased. I bought mine from Boots opticians and the staff there carefully explained the varifocal options, the necessity for head movements etc., to me to allow me to make a decision.

Bob Mannix

[Dave Fawthrop]

| I know this is well OT but I'm sure someone on here has experience of | bifs/varifocals. My partner used to have glasses for distance and | reading. After seeing her optometrist it was decided that a pair of | varifocals would make life much easier. They were duly made up and | fitted but she cant manage with them!. | | It appears that the reading zone towards the bottom centre is just a | small circular area. Being varifocals it is not clearly defined or | visible to the casual viewer. This means that when reading she has to | make excessive left to right head movements to scan each line of | print. As she works in an office and lots of paper passes before her | eyes,apart from vdu work,it causes big problems. Ideally,it seems to | me that the reading zone needs to be wider so that at least she should | be able to take in all or the best part of a line of text at A4 width.

She may need several pairs of glasses. I have varifocals for general work, reading glasses, Distance glasses for watching films, VDU Glasses, TV Glasses, and TV glasses for the caravan, but I am an extreme case :-( See my VDU Glasses page

There are various types of varifocals some have a wide reading area and some have a tall reading area, but non with both.

She should be able to get her employer to pay for glasses used for work | Can anyone comment?/have experience?

Tell her to stick with the varifocals for a few weeks, you get used to them after a while and it is IME worth the effort/discomfort.

| She has made another appointment to try and get it sorted. Do | optometrists operate a sale or return policy with the labs who make up | specs for them? I would have thought so ?

Yes they go on until they get things right.

[Dave Fawthrop]

| Additional remark: | | I should have added that a decent supplier would have told you all I said | before you purchased. I bought mine from Boots opticians and the staff there | carefully explained the varifocal options, the necessity for head movements | etc., to me to allow me to make a decision.

Yes but even the best explanations may differ from subsequent experience.

[Ian White]

IME the varifocals are excellent for general wear and I found them completely natural. Mine certainly let me focus on the whole width of an A4 page at a normal reading distance without moving my head. If your partner's don't, then go back to the optometrist. They may be an inferior variety of varifocal, as Bob suggested, although it could be that her eyes have a very limited focal range; but in either case, it needs to be fully and clearly explained to the patient.

However, I find the varifocals useless for VDU work. The difference is that VDU work tends to involve the whole width and height of the screen, and it's impossible to keep that whole area in focus without moving the head. The eyes then try to compensate by straining to read parts of the screen that won't come into focus, and eventually the eyeballs drop out. Therefore I also have a pair of fixed-focus glasses with all the corrections optimised for the VDU distance, and I can wear those for hours on end with no eye-strain at all.

Another variety of job that varifocals aren't good for is close-up work overhead, because they make you tilt your head too far back. Rewiring ceiling roses is a real pain in the neck.

[jacob]

Yes you can have wider and higher reading area, Dave Fawthrop is wrong on that. I had some varifocals very difficult to use as they were badly prescribed/fitted. Found this out when I tried another optician who did a proper job and they were excellent from day one with no 'getting used to' necessary. You have choices about fitting according to your eyesight and the work you do - for me I have them set higher up the frame so that there is a larger area for close and middle distance work. I prefer large lenses - trendy little lenses might be a problem as there is obviously less margin of choice of where to look through the lens. Don't accept anything which isn't suitable - try another optician or complain loudly, they aren't cheap and opticians make a big profit.

cheers

Jacob

[Mike GW8IJT]

I had varifocals a few years ago. I really did not like them for much the same reasons you have given and changed to bifocals, much better. Amongst other things I found going down stairs with varifocals on very unnerving, I was convinced I would lose my footing. Regards Mike.

[DieSea]

Think Specksavers do , for a month , but not totally sure.

DieSea

[Dave Fawthrop]

| Yes you can have wider and higher reading area, Dave Fawthrop is wrong | on that.

Not according to my *good* optician discussed it with him earlier this year.

[Andy Cowley]

Not of merchantable quality, perhaps? Certainly your YL was very badly advised if the problems with the less expensive varifocals were not pointed out. My optician certainly advised me to stick to bi-focals while I could still manage with just two prescriptions. I do a lot of VDU work so the division of my bi-focals is somewhat high to help in this situation. If you want the 'stealth' appearance of varifocals then the only ones which my optician reckons are anywhere near as comfortable to use are very expensive indeed.

best

Andy

[AnthonyL]

I really get on with my varifocals and had only perhaps for the first day or two had any sense of "rocking" etc.

I opted for large lenses and use mine for all things - driving, computer, reading. However I recently had the opportunity to buy some specs overseas at a cost of around £9 each (yes, nine pounds) so bought one pair for the computer focussing at around 18" and one pair for driving. These work well especially when I'm on the computer for a long time or driving a long distance.

Didn't I read somewhere that the average cost of a lens was £2? OK mine are varifocal with astigmatic correction so a few pounds more but the optician would still have made a profit!

[Dave Fawthrop]

| Not of merchantable quality, perhaps? Certainly your YL was very badly | advised if the problems with the less expensive varifocals were not | pointed out. My optician certainly advised me to stick to bi-focals | while I could still manage with just two prescriptions. I do a lot of | VDU work so the division of my bi-focals is somewhat high to help in | this situation. If you want the 'stealth' appearance of varifocals then | the only ones which my optician reckons are anywhere near as comfortable | to use are very expensive indeed.

There are trifocals, which I have heard recommended for VDU work, but have not used them myself.

[jacob]

Can't find the bill but mine were about =A3280 ISTR. No prob reading - infact I 'rediscovered' the pleasure of reading and realised it had been a problem for years previously. No prob with VDU, or anything else much except very close up esp high or overhead where I can see better without. Bit of a prob with mountain walking - have to look down carefully at ground to get a good footing (downhill), but I especially asked for setting the lenses for middle/close work as I am a joiner. No prob driving.

cheers

Jacob

[Michael Chare]

I also found that, I also found that my car speedo no longer appeared round and I had difficulty driving the car through a narrow gap. (Panamic lenses)

I now use fixed lenses for driving, and don't use the varifocals very much. OTOH my wife uses hers alot including driving.

[<me9]

I've had good varifocals and bad varifocals. On the whole I will go back to bifocals the next time. For a lot of reading/vdu work you can't beat a suitable single focus pair.

The dispensing optician will be able to offer a range of reading areas for bifocals, or even a reversal, with the reading area at the top. As for price, that's another matter.

[Ian White]

I don't know exactly what kind of varifocals mine are, but they don't cause either of those problems. On the contrary, I find them excellent for driving because the far distance and the instrument panel are both in focus *without* having to move my head.

Evidently there are several kinds of varifocal, and there will also be a range of personal reactions to each kind.

Another major difference just occurred to me. My wife and I both wear varifocals, but mine are for long sight and basically convex, while hers are for very short sight and basically concave. She wears hers for everything except very close work (when she simply takes them off). Even with a fairly extreme correction, the only problem she has mentioned about driving is greater distortion of peripheral vision.

[Bob Mannix]

They may indeed. In this case they didn't.

[nightjar]

I really cannot get on with varifocals or bifocals. I do have a pair of glasses optimised for VDU use, but usually just slide my distance vision glasses up or down my nose to get the focus I need for everything from driving to reading.

Colin Bignell

[Harry Bloomfield]

tarquinlinbin submitted this idea :

I bought some a few years ago and I never really got on with them. The only thing I found them of value for, was driving, where it helps to be able to see both the dash and the distance. For everything else they seem a poor compromise. I especially had trouble walking in them, due to the distortion they cause at floor level.

They also gave me problems reading and during VDU use, because the field is so small. Using a VDU you have to tilt your head back to see a VDU directly in front of you.