Problem with new varifocals
Angus Rodgers
bifocals for many years, but in recent years (I'm 57) even my
close-up vision has deteriorated, to the point where my right
eye (which has always been the worse) cannot seem to focus on
anything either further (or nearer!) than about 8 inches away
(although with my left eye, I can still read easily at twice
that distance).
I got new varifocal glasses a week ago, and they correct well
for vision at all distances, but extended periods of close-up
work are still very difficult. When reading a book, I have to
hold it close to my chest, hold my head back, and peer through
the very small part of the lens with the strongest correction.
When working at the computer, I cannot use the keyboard and
mouse when sitting any further away than 30 inches, but even
when sitting as far away from the screen as that, I still have
to crane my neck (which is painful) and peer through the same
small part of the lens, with the strongest correction. Also,
neither a computer screen nor a book is ever wholly in clear
and steady focus. So, reading anything at all is a trial.
I'm trying to get my thoughts in order before going back to
the optician. They have a policy of offering you replacement
bifocals if you cannot get used to varifocals - but I don't
think the problem is really that I can't "get used to" the new
lenses. For most everyday tasks, they were fine right from the
start. The slight distortion of the field of view as objects
move from one part of the field to another has never caused me
anything more than faint disorientation (for objects close up,
it does make me a little nauseous), and the new lenses are a
definite improvement on my old ones.
Is the problem:
(1) that varifocals cannot correct vision as bad as mine well
enough to be used for long periods of close-up work; or
(2) that the area of strongest correction should have been
made larger?
For what it's worth, I think (2) is unlikely, because if the
region of strongest correction were enlarged, the lenses would
be almost like bifocals, and they probably wouldn't work as
well as they presently to for everything /except/ prolonged
close-up work.
So should I conclude that my eyes are just too bad now for me
to be able to make do with a single pair of spectacles, and I
should find out about getting a second pair to be used just
for reading? Of course, the final decision will be made in
consultation with the optician (and perhaps my GP and then
a hospital specialist, if things are really that bad), but
I wanted to try to make sure I'm thinking straight before I
try to talk to him about it, because I'm easily talked into
making bad choices.
--
Angus Rodgers
Rex J Atkins AMIBE
<twi...@bigfoot.com> writes
>I have been short-sighted for most of my life, and have worn
>bifocals for many years, but in recent years (I'm 57) even my
>close-up vision has deteriorated, to the point where my right
>eye (which has always been the worse) cannot seem to focus on
>anything either further (or nearer!) than about 8 inches away
>(although with my left eye, I can still read easily at twice
>that distance).
>
Got bifocals..... Perfect!!!!!!!!!!!!
QED
Rex
--
Rex J Atkins, AMIBE
E-Mail ra1702....@tiscali.co.uk
Brian Gaff
about the fixed focus and lack of depth of field of your one eye, which
might point to something else going on in the eye. I'd think a proper
ophthalmologist at a hospital might like to check such things out.
You may find that lighting can aleviate some of the problems but if there is
something else going on its best to know.
Have you had the retina looked at recently for signs of macular problems?
Brian
--
Brian Gaff....Note, this account does not accept Bcc: email.
graphics are great, but the blind can't hear them
Email: bri...@blueyonder.co.uk
______________________________________________________________________________________________________________
"Angus Rodgers" <twi...@bigfoot.com> wrote in message
news:7s3145pejh23k1r8u...@4ax.com...
Frederick Williams
>
> ...
> Rex J Atkins, AMIBE
Associate member of the institute of something or other. Big
Elephants? Brave Englishmen?
--
Narouz began to feel the tuggings of the Underworld, the five wild dogs
of the sense pulling ever more heavily upon the leash. He opposed to
them the forces of his mighty will, playing for time, waiting for the
only human revelation he could expect--voice and odour of a girl who
had become embalmed by his senses, entombed like some precious image.
John Stumbles
> I got new varifocal glasses a week ago, and they correct well
> for vision at all distances, but extended periods of close-up
> work are still very difficult. When reading a book, I have to
> hold it close to my chest, hold my head back, and peer through
> the very small part of the lens with the strongest correction.
>
> When working at the computer, I cannot use the keyboard and
> mouse when sitting any further away than 30 inches, but even
> when sitting as far away from the screen as that, I still have
> to crane my neck (which is painful) and peer through the same
> small part of the lens, with the strongest correction. Also,
> neither a computer screen nor a book is ever wholly in clear
> and steady focus. So, reading anything at all is a trial.
You may like to check out (perhaps with the aid of google groups) a thread
on uk.d-i-y a few weeks back (started by yours truly when I'd just got my
first pair of varifocals and was having difficulty using them with the
computer). Of course you may not be able to read this discussion with your
varifocals ;-)
As I recall quite a few correspondents had got themselves separate pairs
of fixed-focal-length glasses specifically for computer use, whilst being
happy with their varifocals for other uses.
Personally, some weeks down the line, I'm fairly happy with mine. They're
not perfect but better than the off-the-shelf reading glasses I'd had
before.
--
John Stumbles
Pessimists are never disappointed
Angus Rodgers
<john.s...@ntlworld.com> wrote:
>You may like to check out (perhaps with the aid of google groups) a thread
>on uk.d-i-y a few weeks back (started by yours truly when I'd just got my
>first pair of varifocals and was having difficulty using them with the
>computer).
Very interesting - thanks! It's at least a bit reassuring to find
that my problems aren't unique.
>Of course you may not be able to read this discussion with your
>varifocals ;-)
How true!
>As I recall quite a few correspondents had got themselves separate pairs
>of fixed-focal-length glasses specifically for computer use, whilst being
>happy with their varifocals for other uses.
>
>Personally, some weeks down the line, I'm fairly happy with mine. They're
>not perfect but better than the off-the-shelf reading glasses I'd had
>before.
It's possible that I've just not been using my new spectacles right.
(I'm now had them on continuously for 11 days, but I'm still having
a lot of trouble reading books or the computer screen.) This post by
Dave Liquorice, in that thread, may be putting me on the right track:
``The alignment is fairly critical so that you are looking through
the right part of the lens for the right focus distance. Relaxed
straight ahead through the middle of the lens should be "distance",
you then just look down (not move the head) to use the lower part
of the lens for "close".''
This posture feels a little unnatural when using the computer (and I
imagine also when reading a book), but I'll give it a try for a while.
I haven't been back to the optician yet (nor have I made an appoint-
ment with my GP), and I'm still vaguely hoping that the problem will
eventually go away.
--
Angus Rodgers
Angus Rodgers
<ne...@allnews.nolies.org> wrote:
>I woke up feeling as if a
>thing with the same dimensions as an artic truck was pressing
>down very hard on my rectal sphincters. It felt as though my
>arse was about to explode.
(My five-year-old pet guinea pig has the same problem. Maybe
you should see a vet? Or eat more carrots and hay?)
The saga of the spectacles may be approaching a happy ending.
Today I picked up a second pair of spectacles, with a larger
close-up focus area, which I'm to start using from tomorrow.
(They're letting me keep the first pair as well, and they'll
be fine as a backup pair.)
This is from Paine and Hunter, who have a branch in my area.
They seem to be willing to go to quite a lot of trouble to get
things right. If it does all end happily, I think I'll be
sticking with them in future.
The reason I went back for a second visit after three weeks
was that I woke up with the same pain in the neck that I'd
previously only been getting from craning to focus on the
computer screen. I couldn't let this become permanent, so
I finally had to do something, even though in other respects
the spectacles were near-perfect, and I'd adapted to them OK.
(I think it took about two weeks for me to become comfortable
with them. However, the problem with protracted periods of
close-up work persisted. Short periods of reading or using
the computer are OK.)
--
Angus Rodgers