Posts Tagged ‘reading glasses’

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The Mystery of Magnification!

Monday, September 26th, 2011

All of us will reach that certain age when our arms get too short – (if you’re not there yet bear with us!!) and to see the phone directory or thread a needle we are holding things at arms length and squinting madly to get them into focus. If this is you then congratulations, you’re reached maturity, seniority, and the exciting new world of reading glasses. Before you reach for the Sanatogen, Werthers originals or even the Viagra, don’t panic! This is not a time for drastic action. You just need a little magic magnification to make things clear…..

Unlike with any degree of long sightedness, short sightedness or astigmatism that creates a need for glasses to perfect your distance vision, to help your close work you just need some magnification enable you to see close too again. This can be in the form of reading glasses, bifocals or varifocals, which enable you to see far way and focus on fine detail close up. Threading that elusive needle, seeing those pharmaceutical directions or enjoying the newest blockbuster will all become easy again. We just need to know what you struggle to see and at what distance.

The magnification you need could be as simple as our industry standard addition for reading, or as complex as strong lenses for sewing or larger fonts on a laptop you like to keep at a certain distance. Most patients start with a standard reading power, inserted into the above options of bifocal, varifocal or reading lens. These will help you in your day to life as you shop, work and drive etc. Then little situations occur where the readers cause difficulty. That specific working distance for your tool bench, embroidery hoop or desk may need a little optical magic and feverish calculation in providing the exact magnification you need. Simply, higher magnification can be provided at a closer working distance, so tell your specs supplier, what you’re doing, and how far away you are doing it and they’ll do the rest!

Varifocal Glasses

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Spec Solutions

Sunday, May 15th, 2011

If are the proud owner of a pair of reading glasses you will know how jolly useful the little treasures are. Want to check the calorie content of your fave choccie treat? Examine the scary side effects of your medication? Or even properly note the news? Before reaching for the paper you’ll have to locate the ever elusive reading glasses from wherever you threw them last time you needed to do anything other than see close too. And herein lies the tricky side of reading glasses. You can see fine detail at a near distance, but you can’t see anything else in them! So they get taken on and off, they work loose, they get sat on, lost and chewed by eager puppies, and they’re never where you want them…….are you losing your patience as well as your specs?

You could purchase the ever stylish Granny spec chain. These suspend your specs to dangle around your chest, so at least you know where they are. Unfortunately, Grannies nowadays are more likely to be windsurfing, rock climbing or white water rafting, and are generally too busy having fun to find the time to find their glasses. And they would not be seen dead in anything Grannyish. Your glasses will also get squashed, splattered with crumbs, and tangled in necklaces.

You can wear them on your head, which will keep your hair back and look groovy. Only advisable if you have spring loaded spec hinges and an aversion to sticky hair products. But at least you know where they are and are likely to notice if the dog starts chewing them.

Or you can buy at least ten pairs, to keep by the phone, the desk, your comfy chair, your make up mirror etc etc. Other people will of course pinch them, and they’ll still never be exactly where you need them, but at least you’ll make your optician happy.

So what is the perfect solution? You could invest in varifocals, which have no prescription at the top, so you can wear them all the time, pretending you are not old enough to need reading glasses. You can have any one of a number of contact lens options, from bifocals and varifocals to the cunning plan of one reading contact lens that does half the work while your brain does the rest. I was sticking to the headband option, although it’s getting a bit embarrassing when I’m searching for specs that the whole world can see are perched on my head……..maybe it’s time to take my own advice and find a new spec solution for me!

Varifocals Glasses

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Magical Magnification

Friday, April 1st, 2011

Specs that magnify small print or devices for giving extra magnification to patients are an interesting product that you only think about when close works begins to be a problem. For most people this happens after the age of forty – life begins and so does a new relationship with reading glasses! The eye loses the ability to focus on small print as part of the natural ageing process, and threading needles, and reading tricky stuff like menus become difficult, especially in poor light. At this point it’s time for a little extra power to magnify the details and save you from suffering eye strain.

Magnification is a marvel that can be adjusted, depending on the working distance and the size of object you are trying to see. We use magnification every day – if you’re trying to read something on the TV screen, but it’s too far away or too small to see, you move nearer. This increases the size of the image on your retina, and it becomes clearer. Lenses do this job for you, focussing the image on the retina at the distance that you need it.

Sometimes, you only need maximum magnification for a specific job, such as a jeweller examining a gemstone or watch mechanism. You can buy magnifying devices such as the watchmaker’s eyeglass for these jobs. You only use them for the occasional problem and they bring the minute object into focus at the distance you need. If you have problems reading all day every day however, reading glasses which you can keep on for long periods do the job the best.

If your specific job or hobby is at a set working distance then we may need to calculate magnification for you. For instance – a librarian reading book spines on a high shelf will need different power at work, or for hand sewing at home. If you tell us what you do, and the working distance, we can sort the right strength for your individual needs.

Varifocal Glasses

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Contact Lens Choices

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

If you raise the subject of contact lenses with most people you’ll get some very similar responses.

1.“Ooooo – there’s no way I could stick my finger in my eye!”

2.“I’ve got astigmatism, I can’t wear them.”

3.“I tried them in 1972 and they were no good. I can’t have them”

4.“I need reading glasses, so they’re no good for me.”

All very interesting, and for the most part, completely untrue! Common misconceptions that are stopping millions of people from enjoying contact lens wear as a literally life changing experience. Do you want to play sport without becoming a target for the opposition? Stop steaming up when you go into a shop? Enjoy full peripheral vision without your frames getting in the way? Have a new look? Then read on, literally! Let’s take a close look at the options for objection 4 – I need reading glasses – or do you?

If you’re over forty and now wear specs for close work, there are several options that we can suggest that solve the problem with contact lens wear. This is a huge stumbling block for many patients, who assume that contacts aren’t for them. There are actually several options, which will suit different prescriptions, lifestyles, and budgets:

1.Multifocal contact lenses – depending on your prescription and wear regime, the whole far distance, middle distance and reading powers can be built into a teeny little contact lens. How clever is that?!

2.Monvision – this is a simple system where we fit a distance contact lens in one eye and a near vision in the other. This works brilliantly for suitable patients, and relies on the action of your dominant eye. Sounds weird but very successful for millions of wearers.

3.Varifocal specs – if you want contacts for sport or social occasions, you can have distance contacts, then specs that you pop on top for reading. You can use the glasses at work or for reading, then take them off when you don’t need them.

4.Reading Glasses – this is a low cost option, choose a half frame that you can look over the top of, and again, pop them on just when you need them.

Simple isn’t it? Plenty of choices, and one will suit you. It’s every rare nowadays to find someone for whom there is not a single contact lens option.

In case you’re wondering about the other questions:

In answer to 1 – Yes you can, plenty of other people have learned!

2 – Yes you can, there are plenty of contact lenses for astigmatic patients.

3 – We tried plenty of things in 1972 that didn’t work – flared jeans included – and as times change, they do work now. So if times have changed, so you can too!

Varifocal Glasses

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The Gift of Sight

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

If you’re still searching for the elusive perfect present for a loved one, take heart if they are a spectacle wearer – the Internet Glasses Company can be your Father Christmas, so your Christmas prayers are answered!

Glasses as a gift may not sound that exciting, but by giving someone a specific prescription lens, or sunglasses that they always thought were an indulgence, or a bling alternative frame for evenings, you could be filling a niche in their eyewear wardrobe that they never even knew existed!

If your nearest and dearest loves embroidery, reading music, tying flies, hammering at their workbench, knitting…….the list goes on! Then their ordinary reading glasses may not be of the right focal length for these very specific tasks. Even varifocals, due to the angle they have to work at, might not be comfortable. A nice little luxury is the correct power for their favourite hobby. So how do you buy for them? Take a sneaky peek at their present specs and note the size on the side arm. Find an equivalent amongst our extensive range. Tell us their prescription, and the approximate distance they are working at. If you’re not sure, mail us, we can help you with suggested distances. We then calculate the strength they need, pop them in the post, and you get all the thanks! Plus, possibly, a yummy hand knitted sweater from a grateful Great Aunt into the bargain!

Prescription sunglasses are now often seen as a necessity, but for some, they might be a purchase they’ve never got around too. Equally easy- again, check their frame size, and choose any frame a size bigger in the eye size. This is the larger measurement that you read off their frame, usually between 48 and 56 mm. Sizing up means good sun protection. Then add a tint and UV layer to the order, mail us for advice if you’re unsure. You’ll be giving the gift of glamour, safe sight, and fewer wrinkles all in one – who could ask for more!!

For a bling fan who loves some dazzle in their eyewear, a funky frame will be the answer to their every Christmas wish. Pick something suitably snazzy, something a little daring that they won’t wear on a trip to Sainsbury’s, and you won’t go wrong!

So trust the Internet Glasses Company  to do the work of Santa’s little elves for you, and be a cracker this Christmas!

Prescription Glasses

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Ready Reader Report

Friday, December 3rd, 2010

There have been articles in the press recently relating to a Which article on ready readers. The Which report found several faults with off-the-shelf ready readers, including wrong prescriptions, and pupil heights at different levels. So let’s address a few points about ready readers, to help you decide if you need them, and how to avoid the problems.

A ready reader is a pair of simple magnifying specs, made up with the same lens power in each eye. You can pick them up for as little as a pound, and they are a useful, disposable option for certain people.

Ready readers are a useful extra pair of specs if you need glasses just for reading. If you don’t have much astigmatism, if your lenses are around the same strength in both eyes, and you don’t wear them for prolonged periods, they will be useful to keep by the phone, carry around with you as an extra pair, and for messy jobs that may damage your proper reading glasses. It’s rare that they could replace properly made reading glasses for anyone who does close work for prolonged periods of time.

The best advice is to have a pair of reading glasses made up to your full and correct prescription as your ‘proper’ reading glasses, and then check with your optician what strength is best for you as a ready reader. They will tell you if such an option could cause eye strain and headaches, but for most patients they will be able to tell you what you need to buy a ready reader that will be ok for short periods of wear. Don’t skimp too much on the price, try before you buy, and change them if they cause any problems as you wear them.

It’s also worth remembering that with online specs as cheap as chips, having them made to your prescription by us can be as cheap as a ready reader and better for your sight!

Glasses Online

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Progressive Pros and Cons

Thursday, November 11th, 2010

For many clients, the biggest change to their sight through their whole life time is the sudden need for reading glasses. The simple joy of picking something up and seeing the detail instantly becomes a scrabble round for lost specs, squinting, or desperately trying to hold things far enough away to see them! For some, this can be mid-life crisis point – the first sign that time is taking its toll on your body!!

But it happens to everyone, and although there is a variation in timing and how you cope with it, most people will need a separate reading lens power at some point during their forties – fifties. If you don’t have a desk job, and no distance prescription, then you’ll cope for a while with reading specs that you put on when you need them – when you can find them that is! But for many there comes the dreaded moment when you really need to be able to read at your convenience, not just when your specs allow you to. Time to progress to progressives!

A progressive lens gives you different lens powers within a single lens, doing the job your eyes did, in a fairly natural and very comfortable way. You can sit at your desk, read small print, see the screen, and keep an eye on everything going on in the room around you! You can cook from a recipe by being able to see the instructions, the writing on food packets and things on your shelves. You can drive and see the dashboard, the road signs, and everything going on around you. What’s not to like?!

These lenses do need a period of adjustment, so put your old specs away, and just wear the progressives. You might need to slightly adjust your computer screen distance, or your car seat for total comfort. Your peripheral vision might feel odd at first. Turn your head fully to face what you want to look at. Within a day or two you’ll forget they are there, and wonder how you ever coped without them! Accept the change in your vision, embrace your progressives, and get on with your life without focussing on a natural evolution in your body. Fifty is the new thirty, so make the most of it and be thankful for a simple solution to an age old problem!

Glasses Online

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Don’t be Short Sighted!

Thursday, September 30th, 2010

Of all the corrections that we see for the under forties, myopic, or short sighted eye defects are the most common. If you’re myopic, you’ll see very clearly close too, but far distance will be blurry. How close up you can see depends on how short sighted you are! There are different issues for patients regarding their different eye problems. Here are some of the FAQ’s we get about glasses and lenses for short sighted people.

I heard that my short sightedness is a risk factor for detached retinas. Is that true? The problem with being short sighted is that your eyeball is too long. Your retina lines the back of the eye, and in trying to fit the elongated eye it can weaken and tear. You are at a higher risk, although a detachment can happen to anyone. The important thing is to be aware of the symptoms – sudden appearance of floaters, flashing lights, or loss of vision. Seek medical help at once, and then the chance of a small tear turning into a detachment is much reduced.

I’m twenty two and I’ve been getting more short sighted since my teens. Will it ever stop?! The good news is that usually by the mid-twenties the progression of myopia slows down. It’s hard to generalise and if you’re at the higher end of the scale the changes may go on a little longer, but it will stop at some point! As you get older you’ll get a little more long sighted, so your lens power will neutralise a little. The other good news is that you’ll need reading glasses much later than if you weren’t myopic!

I’m very short sighted and my Optician says I can’t have Photochromic lenses because they’ll look dark around the edges? Really?!

Photochromics work thanks to crystals in the lens material that go dark in the light. As your lenses are thicker at the edge than in the centre, you’ll have more crystals there, so the edges will appear darker. How noticeable this is depends on your lens power, the size of the frame, and the type of Photochromic lens. There are specific photochromics that are designed to get round this problem, or you could opt for prescription sunglasses that have a fixed tint.

Prescription varifocal glasses online

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Winter Lights

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

As the nights draw in we get queries about tints and coatings for driving and general vision in winter light conditions. There is still much confusion about what you should and shouldn’t wear, so here’s our round up of how to make the most of what light we do get in winter….

Contrast is a huge issue as autumn mists begin to swirl. On dull days and darker nights people become more aware of visual defects. Reading becomes harder if you’re on the verge of presbyopia, and out of date reading glasses that just about did the job now start to fail you. Make sure your glasses are fully up to date – remember that you don’t have to make an expensive investment in them nowadays – check out what we can do! Don’t wear tints indoors for the greatest clarity in poor light conditions. Make sure you have a good strong reading light and always wear prescribed glasses when you need them – don’t give yourself headaches and eye strain by trying to cope without them.

Low sunlight can be annoying at best, dangerous at worst as the days shorten. A dark tint will help you, but always take a clear pair along with you and swap as soon as dusk approaches. It’s illegal to drive in all but the lightest tint at night, as it will impair your sight. Photochromic lenses that change with the light may be best, as you’re never without a suitable tint. They work really well in the cold, so they’re excellent for bright, chilly, sunny days.

An anti-reflection layer really comes into it’s own when light is bad. It helps to make your vision as sharp as possible, blocking reflections that can get in the way, and making night driving much more comfortable. Add to any new specs you order, for safe, dazzle free night driving. You can add it to clear, Photochromic or tinted lenses, it doesn’t add colour, just clarity.

Safe, comfortable sight is easier and cheaper than ever, so take advantage of products and technology that will help you in your everyday life through winter and beyond!

Varifocal Glasses Online

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The Small Print

Friday, August 13th, 2010

Even in this day and age of Kindles and i-pads the good old fashioned book is still a much loved and cherished part of many people’s lives. From devoted book worms that couldn’t live without the scent of paper and the feel of a weighty tome, to beach loving blockbuster holiday readers, many of us love to curl up with the latest bestseller. When we pass the milestone of our fortieth birthday, most of us will need reading glasses within the next few years. If reading is your passion, how can great specs help to fan the flames?!

The most important thing is to visit your optician and get the strength you need for a comfortable reading distance. Even if you then pop out and buy a handful of ready readers, you’ll be saving eye strain and the onset of crow’s feet by wearing the correct power. If you want to see tiny print close too or big print at lap distance, tell your Optician, who can then adjust the prescription for your requirements.

Make sure the light is good when you are reading. The best specs will not help you if lighting is poor, and the problem is worse if you’re looking at low contrast materials like magazines with coloured print and background. An anti-reflection layer on the lenses will reduce glare from white paper and be more soothing to tired eyes. While a light tint won’t bother most people, it can affect sight for some, so you may need a clear lens for close work.

If you wear varifocals on a daily basis you may want a simple pair of single vision reading glasses for long periods stuck into your favourite Dan Browne or Terry Pratchett, or for reading in bed. If you like to sink under the covers then varifocals may be at the wrong distance or angle for comfort.

If you suffer from Dyslexia there are specialized tints and filters which may improve your sight and make reading easier. If you haven’t investigated this within the past few years then do enquire – they give very good results for some patients. If you’re elderly and glasses won’t do the trick for you, then a specialized magnifier or low vision aid may give you the help you need. There are many solutions out there for different types of reading problem, so seek help if you’re struggling. The simple pleasures of the printed word should be easily accessible to everyone.

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