Post by GreyI am around 41 years old. I have had near sight since I was around 18 or
so - the power always being less than -1 in each eye (has varied over
the years). I don't wear glasses all the time - I use them only for
watching movies, watching TV, attending lectures, driving etc.
For the last 6 months or so, I am having problems reading books & stuff
when I wear my short sight glasses - when I remove my glasses I can read
fine.
I'm in a similar situation, but a bit older (late 50s)and probably a lot
fussier than most people. And I have not adapted to bifocals or progressives
well. (stuff I work with includes a lot of tiny stuff, like examining grass
flowers that are a mm long or so for detail, and detailed sewing).
If you have astigmatism, you may be more comfortable with purpose made reading
glasses or bifocals or progressives. Chances are, right now all you need
is to take your distance glasses off for reading. You may need bifocals,
progressives or readers later as your presbyopia increases.
I'm at the stage where my younger years prescription of -1.25 (pretty constant, varied by +/-0.25 over the years) with a mild astigmatism that we didn't
need to correct for now carries an astigmatism correction. I now can pass
the DMV eye exam without glasses (*almost* could before, but I was always
more comfortable wearing glasses while driving). Still, the astigmatism
correction I have now still makes me feel more comfortable to have distance
glasses on for driving. Things are just a bit crisper a bit sooner. Yes,
I can do without them, but I'd rather not.
I work around the house without glasses on... general cleaning, tv watching,
cooking, that sort of thing. Reading decent sized print in good light is
fine without glasses. Low contrast, small print in good light or newspaper
print in poor light will have me reaching for readers. I use my "sewing
glasses", which are prescription readers with astigmatism correction and a
small plus component, for the really detailed stuff, and we set those for
about 18", my normal working distance with small stuff. My first pair of
"sewing glasses", which are weaker than my current ones, have become my
"armslength" glasses... great for computer glasses and for cutting stained
glass (another hobby). I'm not comfortable doing detailed sewing with
my first pair of sewing glasses any more -- black stitches on black fabric
are a bit of struggle for me to see with those first sewing glasses.
Based on my experience, you may want readers/bifocals/progressives for
some purposes and not for others. You probably will find yourself reaching
for close vision more in the coming years. How crazy you need to get about
it all depends on what you're comfortable with.
If you're like me and went in for exams on a regular basis for many years
only to be told "no change" or "not enough change to make you need a new
pair of glasses" (I wore the same glasses and frames for 10+ years at a
stretch, buying new ones only when the frames looked too scuzzy), you'll
find it somewhat disturbing that your vision is now changing, and there'll
be a stage in there someplace when you want reading glasses with a prescription
of about +0.5 or +0.75 or so and you won't find them on the racks in the
drugstore. There are readymade readers available in those strengths from
various online places like readingglasses.com Progressives may also be a
good choice for you at that stage. Or then again, you might not want that
small a correction.
Anyhow, that's my experience, and I'm told it's pretty typical. What isn't
typical for many people is my fussiness, which leads to me own three different
pairs of glasses. If presbyopia is driving you crazy at this stage, get the
glasses. If all you need is a little reassurance it's normal, then you've got
that, too.
Kay