Just got a pair of varifocals. It's nice to be able to see small print close up and still see into the distance with the same pair of glasses on, but at computer-screen distance they seem to have a very narrow horizontal field over which they focus properly, so even over half a 19" screen width a line of text isn't all in focus at the same time.
I got the second-from-most-expensive model from specsavers as they cautioned that the cheapest had very narrow horizontal ranges of focus and the range got wider as one paid more. What would folks expect? Should they have a better range?
What you have seems pretty typical of varifocals - good for general use, but less than optimal for computer work. My husband had a special pair made up - the lenses are specifically designed with a larger computer-distance area, but he can still look up and see clearly across the room, and look down and read fine print. I don't remember the name of the lens, but I'll see if I can find the receipt.
I was sold a pair of varifocals on my last optician's visit - nearly a year ago now.
Honestly can't say I'm convinced - it's not always easy to get the 'right' piece of the lens - and I still find it more comfortable for many close-up tasks to take the glases off altogether (which was why I was recommended varifocals in the first place)..
They were from an independent opticians - so fairly pricey. Think I'll go for a single fixed prescription again when it's time for replacement.... expensive learning experience !
My varifocals are great for general use but not for looking at the pc screen. I have a fixed focus pair for monitor distance but usually I do without. I had thought about asking for a pair with a bigger 0.75m area but would they screw up my long distance or close-up vision? I had two pairs on a special "offer". One was quite expensive and the free one was the cheapest on offer. I was told that the expensive ones would not distort when looking away from the centre of the lens. I don't think the cheap ones do either! If they are made to the same prescription, why would they behave differently?
I've used them for the last maybe 10 years and generally they are fine...... BUT ... trying to do close up work at a height is literally a pain in the neck as you have to align the lower part of the lens with the sight line ending up with a crick in the neck. Wiring up 20 fluorescent recently was quite painful.
As a long-time (and very myopic) varifocal wearer, I can tell you that as long as the lenses have been made to the prescription, then they can take what seems like a very long time to get used to them - as a tip, don't try and focus by moving your eyes, move you whole head as up and down/left to right until you get the correct position of the lens in the right place to focus (which will come automatically after a while) - as the instructions say with the leaflet that you had (should have had) when you had the lenses.
What you are experiencing has happened to me fairly regularly after having a new pair of glasses (especially when I moved to a smaller frame (and lenses) - and is happening at the moment as I'm sat here typing this and also looking at a 19" screen.
As a matter of interest, I bought my first pair of varifocals also from Specsavers (with plastic lenses) because of my usual optician's high prices, and I had nothing but trouble with the damn things.
After about a year problems, I went back to the 'old firm' and got a new pair with genuine Varilux glass lenses [1] and there was a 100% improvement - and I got used to these very quickly indeed.
As a glasses wearer of some 40 years, I find glass optically better (and less trouble) than plastic lenses - even though they are far dearer (last pair of glasses cost me around £320).
My cheap-and-easy solution is to wear my old reading glasses for the computer. I don't often need to refer to fine print (that they aren't good enough for any more) and the screen at the same time.
A number of years ago I was faced with the reading/distance problem. Being short sighted, I really need glasses for distance (including computer screen) but ordinarily single lenses make it more difficult to read.
My then optician suggested cutting the lenses off a bit short. For me, that worked well as I can read simply by looking below the bottom of the lenses. Saves taking them off most of the time.
Having been quite happy with that for a few years I recently decided to change to rimless glasses with Trivex lenses. And I am even happier due to the lack of a frame edge between the glazed and unglazed areas. Trivex is super-tough and helps to minimise the likelihood of cracking that can occur with rimless glasses. They are super light (just 9 grams in total). Fully hard/AR coated.
This would obviously not work for everyone, but maybe worth a thought.
(I was very happy with the service provided by justrimless.co.uk. Total cost around GBP105 - as against over GBP165 at Specsavers for their cheapest rimless. Turnaround on reglazing another pair as spares was done within four hours of receipt. On a Saturday. The Trivex caused a delay of a couple of weeks or so. As always, no connection with the company. Though I do declare that I am employed by a subsidiary of the manufacturers of the resin used to make Trivex lenses. But that was not why I chose that material.)
Yes - that's the kind of thing. Oddly enough - ended up with a similar pain in the neck through spending an hour or so sanding and filling a hole in the wing of my old Morris
- just behind the front wheel and close to the front doors.
Had to look down, but sort of upwards at the same time - ended up looking over the top of the glasses and messed up another set of neck muscles . Can't win !
I've found the best solution is to have a single prescription pair for computer work, varifocals for everything else. I suspect varifocals with a wider mid-range band would compromise distance and close up use. The "sales" staff won't necessarily really understand the optics behind varifocals, and the difference between the various options. I've just moved to Specsavers from a local chain and was quite pleased at the lack of hard sell for more expensive options.
I simply have never got on with varifocals. They made me nauseous when I wore them and I found the position I needed to hold my head to focus on things quite unnatural. I just have different glasses for different purposes. However, as I have +11 correction, in practice, I simply wear the distance pair and move them slightly closer or further from my eyes to cover everything from reading to long distance.
I have a pair but despite the cost >400 I've never got on with them. I have one bad eye after a retinal detachment and a consequent need for a cataract operation. Coupled with old age I need glasses for reading but my distance vision is somehow better, I used to feel uncomfortable driving without glasses but the cataract op seems to have improved things. But in theory my distance vision should be be improved with glasses. So I thought vari focals would be a good thing, able to drive and look at a map, with a mid range for the computer.
I find the useless for driving, in fact useless for crossing the road, there is no peripheral vision, if I don't look straight ahead everything is out of focus. So I have to turn my head instead of moving my eyes.
Useless for computer work too, the head has to be aimed precisely at the screen (two x 21" in my case). So I drag them out from time to time when I go to a conference and get a headache - but perhaps that's just powerpointlessness.
Well I'm 'long sighted' with a fairly heavy astigmatism, so have experience of needed sight correction always. As a kid glasses worked well enough - but I hated wearing them. Couldn't look through binoculars or a camera viewfinder etc, as others could. So as soon as I could afford them got contact lenses. So then had 'normal' vision.
Of course many years later the normal thing happened - I started to lose the ability to focus close - reading, etc. But simple reading specs worked fine.
Now at my age being able to focus *at all* is a thing of the past - but at least with both eyes matching and 'standard' due to the contact lenses I just have several sets of different strength specs for all uses. One for reading, one for the computer, and one for very close work.
I find that I have to do similar. I have used varifocals for the last 20 years and in that time have found that not all varifocals are born equal. Due to their cost (mine include being chromatic and scratch resistent), I tried Vision Express and Spec Savers as cheaper alternatives to D&A. Neither were satisfactory and were costly distractions. An imperative for me is to be able to look into the right hand "wing" mirror when driving, (that dates me) particularly on a motorway to ensure that it is safe to overtake. I found that the options from VE and SS had the close vision area too widely banded so that my periferal distance vision was unsatisfactory in this respect.
The greatest disadvantage that I find to varifocals is going down steps and in my relaxation, accommodating the height difference between a boat and the pontoon/ harbour. To observers of such acts, they might think that I am older or more infirm than I really am!
If you do need varifocals so that you can see the dashboard and distance, or similar on boats as I do, persist, it comes with time and trial.
Possibly puzzled by this. Why did you wish to move to smaller lenses? Is it because of their weight? If so, I had that problem and moved to plastic but still have lenses the size of the last Tory PM's, (he must be a grey man, I cannot at the moment recall his name).
See my previous comments to the OP.
My last plastic, about 3 years ago were £350 so about the same.
On Tue, 26 May 2009 22:41:42 +0100, "newshound" had this to say:
I find varifocals very disconcerting when trying to, for example, 'draw' a straight line on a piece of paper or similar such as a bit of board, where it appears as a curve, particularly if you have a quite different (one or two dioptres) specification for astigmatism, especially for eyes wot see quite differently.
I rely on a local independent optometrist, who (in my case) recommends toric contact lenses for normal use, "monovision", with the dominant eye corrected for long distance and the other for reading.
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