I have new glasses now. These are my third pair since I started wearing glasses in 2021, and, for the first time, I have varifocal lenses in them.
My eye test was actually back in July, and I picked up the new pair in August, so I’ve had almost two months to get used to them. As with last time, I also picked up a new pair of sunglasses with the same prescription. I brought our ten-year-old with me, and they help me choose the style of frame. They’re actually very similar to my first pair, and not very different to my second pair either, but we agreed that they suited me and weren’t too expensive.
Varifocals
Varifocal lenses are quite common nowadays, but these were my first pair. Although I’ve primarily worn glasses for distance vision until now, since my last eye test in 2024, it seems like I also need the lenses to help me with near vision as well. In years gone by, this would have meant bifocal lenses, where there’s a clear line across the lenses with the top half for distance vision and the bottom half for near vision. I remember my parents wearing bifocals when I was younger.
Varifocal lenses are an improvement on this. Instead of a clear line, the shape of the lens varies from top to bottom. This makes it feel more natural; you still look out of the bottom part of the lens for near vision and the top part for distance, but there isn’t a defined line between the zones.
The bad news is that varifocal lenses are more expensive than standard lenses, and so buying two pairs of glasses (a regular pair and sunglasses) cost the best part of £400 from a well-known high street chain of optometrists. Potentially I could have saved money by taking my prescription to an online seller, but at least when you have them fitted in person, there’s a qualified dispensing optician there to make sure your glasses fit properly.
Getting used to my new glasses
Mine probably need some minor adjustments – they keep sliding down my nose, making it harder to see through the lower part of the lenses for near vision. But I’m happy with them on the whole. They’re still a relatively weak prescription, but not having my glasses on for long periods does tend to hurt my eyes after a while as I’m so used to wearing glasses now.
As an aside, if you’re a glasses wearer and need to keep the lenses clean, these cloths are excellent (sponsored link). I bought a pack of 30 back in April, and Christine and I have them on hand basically everywhere. Great value for £10.
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