New lenses - and reading glasses

[Lia Williams]

My eyes have remained fairly stable for several years with no changes to my contact lenses, although over the last year or so I have found the need for reading glasses for small print and in poor light. The current reading glasses are a cheap supermarket pair and I had promised myself a designer pair for Christmas.

I had my check-up in April and as my lenses were a few years old and were suffering from protein deposits a new pair were prescribed. I've since been back to the hospital a few times and last month the edge lift of the lenses was changed with the hope that this will alter the way the eye lids rub the lenses and reduce the protein deposits.

The new lenses arrived and there were a couple of surprising effects. The left lens is such that I can read nothing at reading distance with my current -1.25 reading glasses - but at a distance the reading glasses don't blurr the vision. The right lens has improved my close vision, the reading glasses are almost redundant but distance vision is poor. Hence the pair had the unexpected advantage of not needing to play 'Hunt the reading glasses' whenever I wanted to read small print. Or to put it another way the left lens is too strong and the right lens too weak.

My next appointment was planned for May so I have had that brought forward to February and both new lenses have been returned to their little plastic pots as the vision is not as good as the previous pair.

Does anyone know why a small tweak to a lens can have such a noticeable vision change? I always dread the 'new lens' situation as even though my eyes are fairly stable it always takes a year to sort out.

Meanwhile the designer pair of reading glasses has been put on hold. Assuming that I get the lenses sorted in February I would like some advice - should I go for simple reading glasses or a varifocal pair so when I'm switching between close and distance work I don't have to hunt for my reading glasses?

Lia

[Andrew MacLean]

I remember when I found that, even with my lenses in, I couldn't read the telephone book. I went to the optician who dispensed glasses for the times when I couldn't or didn't want to wear my lenses.

I explained my problem and told him that I had not been able to find a pair of 'supermarket' reading glasses that would do. he did some of the stuff that optometrists like to do and suggested that I have two pairs of reading glasses: one for with and the other for without lenses.

"How can I possibly need reading glasses to wear at the same time as I am wearing contact lenses?" I innocently enquired.

"What do you expect at your age?" was his impertinent repost.

"A bit of civility from opticians!" I was only 36 and had presbyopia already

All the best

Andrew

[Lia Williams]

I made 50 before presbyopia caused me a problem and I decided I needed longer arms or a pair of reading glasses.

When my contact lenses are sorted I'll book an eye test and get a proper pair made up. I expect I'll go for varifocals as it is such a pain taking them on and off when shopping and reading labels, or cooking and reading recipes. And I can never remember where I've left them! (Another sign of old age).

Lia