Who wears varifocals?

System

[QUOTE=wallbash;49262891

Ps my bill was cheaper last time , £280 for the lenses and another £200 for the frames.[/QUOTE]


bloody hell i paid £200 all in with reactor light lenses.

GlasweJen

Yes but your daughter would have got a frame discount and at least £62.70 off lenses.

That's really interesting, I've never come across a child in varifocals before.

david39

I had the cheap varifocals problem explained to me by an optician at Vision Express. The cheap ones have a very restricted "window" of vision in the reading section, It's just in the central section of the bottom of the lens.

If you get the very cheapest of these lenses, then to read a line from a book, you have to move your head or the book from side to side so that the print comes progressively into focus as you read along the line.

As the price of the lens increases, so does the width of the window.

Unfortunately, I did not take heed of this advice and refused to pay for the top quality lens, choosing a different optician and lenses at 20% of Vision Express. I now regret this and wish that I had paid extra for better quality.

Moral : Don't buy the cheap varios.

Also, and this applies to all varios, you can't watch television lying on your side in bed, or on a settee, as one half of the screen will be in focus and the other half won't be!

rosie383

So much good info there. I think maybe that I won't go for varifocals just now after reading all your comments. I just wanted an extra pair of glasses taking advantage of the Tesco offer. Dh just wants a cheap pair for work, and I will be getting the free pair. We are talking around £100 or so. So doesn't sound as if I could get a decent pair for that price.
Many thanks everyone!

pollypenny

With you beibg short-sighted I don't think varivocals are for you - yet. As you get older you may need glasses to read as well, then they'd be ideal.

I used to wear glasses just for reading, half-glasses in school added to the scholl marm look. Whe I was about 48, i realised my distance vision wasn't too good either.

Got used to them immediately - good one from Specsavers.

wallbash

CHRISSYG wrote: »

bloody hell i paid £200 all in with reactor light lenses.

Four years ago the price was over £600 , I was very pleased to pay less. I also don't get the buy one get another free or half price offers.

But I have shopped around and for what I want , Spec Savers are still the best , some other well known places are more expensive and the small independents just don't want to know.

wallbash

CHRISSYG wrote: »

bloody hell i paid £200 all in with reactor light lenses.

Mine are reactor , but I remember them as Umbermatics ?? which I started to wear in the sixties.

Was told off by a teacher for wearing sun glasses in class , she had never seen a pair.

Four years ago the price was over £600 , I was very pleased to pay less. I also don't get the buy one get another free or half price offers.

But I have shopped around and for what I want , Spec Savers are still the best , some other well known places are more expensive and the small independents just don't want to know.

sophistica

i Have got my varifocals from glassesdirect. You can have a free trial of the frames. I don't think I paid more than £260 for 2 pairs.

nedmundo

GlasweJen wrote: »

Chrissyg, why does your teenager wear varifocals? Kids can accommodate through their prescription so don't need a reading prescription with their distance one?

I know in Japan they don't like kids accommodating and fit varies but the NHS definitely do not do this and will not fund varifocals for anyone (they do fund bifocals and allow bifocal funding to go towards varis). Some children with specific disorders need bifocals but I've always been told it is bad practice to allow them to wear varifocals.

Jen, I have several youngsters who I have prescribed varifocals. Either down to a lack of accommodation or an unusual binocular anomaly where accomodating produces double vision at near. Traditionally, these patients have been prescribed bifocals, but youngsters can adapt to varifocals incredibly well and cosmetically it's much more acceptable for them.

So yes it's rare, but it does happen

nedmundo

wallbash wrote: »

But I have shopped around and for what I want , Spec Savers are still the best , some other well known places are more expensive and the small independents just don't want to know.

In what way do they not want to know? Traditionally, it's the more difficult stuff were they should excel.