Mastodawn

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur

Question for the Fediverse:
I'm in need of new prescription eyeglasses.
For the last few decades I've been wearing verifocal lenses, which are costly.
My vision issues are slight myopia and significant astigmatism.
My question: To save money, could it be practical to get two pairs, I.e., one pair for distance, and a second pair for reading?
The assumption I'm making is that I could have both acceptable vision and also save money this way.
I suspect that I'm being impractal rather than practical, but I'd love to have that confirmed or refuted by someone who is knowledgeable.
Thank YOU.
#Eyeglasses #FediverseHiveMind

Mx "Vote Green" Fraud 1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones the problem is that your computer is neither in short range of the reading glases or long range of the other pair.

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@mxfraud
EXACTLY, Mx!
Thank YOU for taking the time to remind me!

Mx "Vote Green" Fraud 23h ago

@Guillotine_Jones happy to help!

solastalgia kris ☀️🧘🚲1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones

If you want to save money you can switch from varifocal (I'm working on the assumption they are the same as progressive so I might be off the mark) to bifocal, those have a visible line where the glasses switch prescriptions.

I mean, sure you can get cheap non prescription glasses as reading glasses and save a few bucks, but if your astigmatism is as severe as you say those will make you feel very dizzy, wouldn't recommend.

solastalgia kris ☀️🧘🚲1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones I was in the industry a long long time ago so take what I say with a grain of salt, the term varifocal is new to me 😅

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@iyashikei_kris
It may be a trade name, now that you mention it, Kris.

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@iyashikei_kris
Thank YOU, Kris, for taking the time to respond.
Yes, by verifocal, I DID mean progressive.
What I was trying to say -- but didn't express very well -- is that my vision issues are more astigmatism than myopia.
(I had cataract surgery on one eye, so I can cover the other eye for distance viewing. Not very practical for driving, though. Hope that wasn't TMI.)
An optometrist once actually suggested trifocals for me, bit I still clung to my vanity back then.
I'm starting to think this might be me trying to deny my age and state of decrepitude.

solastalgia kris ☀️🧘🚲1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones

Yes without looking at your prescription I was making many assumptions 😅

Over the years people develop a condition called presbyopia, which in short is myopia (difficulty to see objects far away) and hypermetropia (difficulty to see objects up close) combined, and this is what progressive or bifocal glasses are for.

I assumed you asked if you could use two pairs of glasses to treat these issues separately, and you can, this is what people usually mean by "reading glasses"

solastalgia kris ☀️🧘🚲1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones

Buuut since you need to treat for astigmatism as well you are not going to save a lot of money, you can get reading glasses for cheap, but they won't be of any use for your astigmatism

solastalgia kris ☀️🧘🚲1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones

Because reading glasses you can get at a Walgreens or something use a very generic prescription (i.e. +1 on each eye) and astigmatism requires a very tailored pair of glasses to your very specific needs

Hopefully all of that makes sense 😃

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@iyashikei_kris
I'm just a layman, but even I can see that this is an important consideration in this discussion, Kris.

@Guillotine_Jones My prescription may be similar to yours.

I have a main pair of varifocals for working typically 1m from a screen, with a narrow-ish distance region at the top. I also bought cheaper photoreactive prescription varifocal 'festival' (!) sunglasses with much more distance area. I read up close without any glasses at all.

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@DamonHD
Thank YOU, Damon, for responding.
I, too, can "read" without glasses, but find myself doing less and less reading because it's a strain.

MH Thaung 1d ago

@Guillotine_Jones If your reading correction isn't very much, have you tried reading after sliding *distance* vision glasses down your nose? Optically, it's sort of the same as adding a reading correction. But I don't know how well it works with astigmatism (I'm not an optometrist, and this isn't professional advice)

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@mhthaung
You are very kind to have taken the time to respond, MH.
I actually slant my glasses forward when watching TV. But I suspect that is because my Rx is no longer sufficient worn normally.
I've tried -- without success -- to slide then down my nose for reading. And I'm glad you asked.

MH Thaung 12h ago

@Guillotine_Jones I suspect some of us don't have noses long enough for it to work! Good luck.

@Guillotine_Jones FWIW I have bifocals but the reading lenses are mounted much further up than normal. This means that when driving in particular I don't have to move my head, glance downwards to see the instrument cluster and glance upwards to see the road. This also works really well in normal life, glance down to read the book I'm holding or up to watch the TV. The switch point is about half way up the field of vision. Way cheaper than varifocals.

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@timbear
Thank YOU, Tim, for your very helpful response.
What indeed would we do without the Fediverse?
I'm giving very serious consideration to your suggestion now.

@Guillotine_Jones I gave up on varifocals, they were pushed very strongly by the ales rep after the eye test by optomotrist. I have age related short sightedness and astigmatism in one eye. Never got much satisfaction from prescription glasses. Now use off the shelf plastic +1.5 for screen and +2 for written text. Tried augmented reality glasses once, they were brilliant because the stuff being viewed was at infinity.

@Guillotine_Jones Often wonder if diffraction grating type lenses would work with my astigmatism, seems much more distorted in the horizontal plane than the vertical.

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 1d ago

@vinh
I think -- though I can't explain how -- that you have a good point, vinh.
And thank YOU for responding.

Guillotine Jones, Flâneur 23h ago

@vinh
I may just look into these option a bit more, vinh.
Thank YOU for your suggestions.