Glasses? I've been wearing them since about 7yo. Of course school didn't know that until my may year in primary school. I used to take them off before getting to school and nobody knew until my parents mentioned it at my last parent's evening. Now I'm edging closer to 50yo my opticians is starting to think about bifocal or varifocal glasses. Last time I just escaped it. I'm hoping to avoid for as long as possible.
I really am too vain for bifocals with the line in the lens. Varifocal lenses can be a little strange when new. My mum struggled for a bit with the optical effects back in the day. Better now I think.
I wonder if there's any advice from people who've been here before me? Short sighted their whole life but then developing reading issues when older and needing two prescriptions. An old guy (director) walks around with at least two pairs of glasses on his head or round his neck. Any advice gratefully received and packaged away for when the inevitable happens!!
If course then I'll just say I haven't got reading problems, the problem is my arms aren't long enough!!
I couldn’t get on with varifocals not for the want of trying, I think I’m too quick, optician says you have to move your head slowly. I was just dizzy most of the time and by the night almost feeling sea sick.
Now though my Sjogrens and blepharitis have got so bad the only relief I get is by wearing daily contact lenses so nothing can touch the eyeball. They are brilliant though, concentric rings of distance and readers, so clever what they can do now.
Gardening on the wild, windy west side of Dartmoor.
I have just submitted to varifocals. I was not keen at all, but constantly juggling glasses meant I knew I'd have to at least try them at some point, so I bit the bullet on agreement that if they didn't suit I could switch back to two pairs at no extra cost. I put off collecting them as I was so apprehensive and pretty convinced I would get horrible headaches etc as I suffer with migraines anyway. I picked them up on Friday. By the evening my eyes were very tired and I gave up. But I wore them all of yesterday without incident so I think it's going to be OK, which is a huge surprise to me. Not completely used to them yet, and PC use is a bit confusing, but I'm on my way.
'If you have a garden and a library, you have everything you need.'
I've had varifocals since I turned 50 (short sight and astigmatism since I was about 23) but I have the "reading" part weaker than my close-vision prescription would indicate because I need clear vision at computer screen/car dashboard/knitting or sewing in my lap distance. I rarely need to read anything tiny right up at the end of my nose, and we have a magnifying glass for the tiny print on batteries, light bulbs, ingredient lists on some things etc.
I can't really be grumpy about it because I had my eyes tested on Friday and for the first time since I was 23 my prescription has hardly changed and I don't need new specs. It's not so much the price that usually makes me grumpy, it's the struggling to find a frame that fits my small-ish face, then them not being able to adjust it to fit properly on my uneven ears.
Doncaster, South Yorkshire. Soil type: sandy, well-drained
You don't need to buy your cheese at Harrods for £60 per Kilo when there's one that's really nice from Booths for £21 per kilo.
This is currently my gravel jar in the greenhouse. Probably the closest I'll get to the real thing but it makes a nice herb planter for the kitchen window sill. It's a big jar though so someone in the family was feeling flush at some point.
If you can keep your head, while those around you are losing theirs, you may not have grasped the seriousness of the situation.
Varifocals for me too and, fortunately, I adapted to wearing them very easily. At the last eye test I had to have a slightly stronger prescription and though I kept the old frames new lenses still cost £290. Ouch!
I know I could probably get a cheaper deal by buying online or even using a chain store but I like to support the local independent shop. And anyway I owe them a huge debt of gratitude because it was the optician who identified my wife’s first brain tumour, something the pretty useless (in my view) GP practice and, before that, major NHS hospital in Leicester could manage to achieve. We sent the optician a huge bouquet of flowers once the tumour had been safely removed.
I have worn glasses since the age of ten, and I had no difficulty adapting to varifocals. Mine use Lanthanum glass, which is much lighter than other glass, and it is also high-index so the lenses are much thinner, giving further weight reduction. It is expensive, but I use them 16 hours a day so it is well worth the extra. I also use an independent shop. Twice my new glasses had been made to the wrong prescription, which they reground at no extra cost. If I had taken the prescription elsewhere it would not have been so simple!
Hello again everyone. I am back in the fold. Health has recovered to a point where I can undertake light gardening duties and I even have some seeds growing in the greenhouse this year. Something I could not contemplate last year. I am learning to live within my limitations and not stress about what I cannot do. I have even bought a new chair so that I can sit in the garden and contemplate. In earlier years I very rarely sat in my garden - I was always working in it. This year will be more sitting than working. Hope everyone is fine and gardening well and I hope to catch up on all the news.
'Optimism is the faith that leads to achievement' - Helen Keller
Posts
I really am too vain for bifocals with the line in the lens. Varifocal lenses can be a little strange when new. My mum struggled for a bit with the optical effects back in the day. Better now I think.
I wonder if there's any advice from people who've been here before me? Short sighted their whole life but then developing reading issues when older and needing two prescriptions. An old guy (director) walks around with at least two pairs of glasses on his head or round his neck. Any advice gratefully received and packaged away for when the inevitable happens!!
If course then I'll just say I haven't got reading problems, the problem is my arms aren't long enough!!
Now though my Sjogrens and blepharitis have got so bad the only relief I get is by wearing daily contact lenses so nothing can touch the eyeball.
They are brilliant though, concentric rings of distance and readers, so clever what they can do now.
I use bifocals with no problems.
I know I could probably get a cheaper deal by buying online or even using a chain store but I like to support the local independent shop. And anyway I owe them a huge debt of gratitude because it was the optician who identified my wife’s first brain tumour, something the pretty useless (in my view) GP practice and, before that, major NHS hospital in Leicester could manage to achieve. We sent the optician a huge bouquet of flowers once the tumour had been safely removed.
I also use an independent shop. Twice my new glasses had been made to the wrong prescription, which they reground at no extra cost. If I had taken the prescription elsewhere it would not have been so simple!
I have even bought a new chair so that I can sit in the garden and contemplate. In earlier years I very rarely sat in my garden - I was always working in it. This year will be more sitting than working.
Hope everyone is fine and gardening well and I hope to catch up on all the news.