We often mention varifocals, blithely throwing them into the conversation as if you’re all as geeky and glasses obsessed as us. We do realise though that some of have more of a life than us, and may not spend your time getting excited over new lenses and coatings. So – back to basics – what is a varifocal? What does it do? Do you need one?

You may already know that even if you don’t wear glasses when you’re young, everybody needs them for reading at some stage, usually when they reach their mid-forties.  (See our notes on presbyopia) A varifocal lens – also called a multifocal, or PAL, or progressive lens, gives you back the sight you had when you were younger.

The lens looks like any single vision lens – get some Grecian 2000 on your hair too and swear blind you’re only thirty – so nobody need know that you’re wearing them. Within the lens however there are different powers, to help you see close too, at arm’s length, and for far distance. The lens has the three prescriptions you need all in one, blended together to make things easy and comfortable

It’s better for you to get into varifocals as soon as you need help for reading, they are easier to adapt to when your reading prescription is lower. As so many of us are chained to our computer nowadays and all you baby boomers have such busy, active lives, varifocals are really the only solution if you want to everything without having to carry endless pairs of specs around – three-into-one will go!