I wear the contacts where one is for distance and one close up. I don’t read books or newspapers well in them. I used to it, and my vision hasn’t changed, so I don’t know why. Mit could just be my eyes aging.
I get tired of taking my contacts off during the day to read…I like my contacts. I was wondering if anyone has the same issues, and just gets readers for well…when you read?
I used to need reading glasses with my contacts but none when I just use glasses for long distances. Since I’ve had dry eyes, I have given up on contacts and no longer need reading glasses. It’s fine for me.
I have progressive contact lenses, which work great for reading but aren’t quite as good for distance. However, I do notice that my eyes get tired by the evening, especially if I do something that constantly switches between distance and up close – for example, knitting while watching TV.
It does seem like contacts + needing reading glasses = some sort of a compromise no matter how you tackle the problem.
I had them reverse that for me. Instead of reading glasses I had my contacts mono-vision lenses prescription fine tuned to read but then I have distance glasses to fine tune for driving, theater, etc. I do more reading than driving so that made sense to me.
I’m very nearsighted and wear contacts for distance, and, when I’m wearing my contacts during the day, I now need reading glasses for reading or even computer work. It is a big pain. This also explains my zillions of typos here because I often post without my reading glasses on. I can read fine without my contacts in.
Conmama, have you had your eyes tested lately? The prescription may have changed, I am very near sighted and it gets better as I age. The doctor changed my prescription lately and I can see much better.
Also are you sure your contacts are in the correct eye? Don’t laugh but I had the same problem and yup, I had them mixed up. I could see distance fine but had trouble reading.
Also I recently changed to daily disposable contacts. Much more comfortable and I really like them.
Just giving suggestions. When all else has failed, yes, I have used readers on top of my contacts to read better. I know when my H uses a magnifying lens, he needs new glasses.
I wear PolyVue High Definition progressive contact lenses. If I’m reading for a long while or doing some kind of detail work, especially in low light, I’ll slip on the readers, but having progressive contacts has been an amazing life changer. I can now see a menu, or read a contract, or newspaper, or read on my phone, or the small writing in my camera, etc. without having to have readers.
I got bifocal contacts a year ago and love them. My distance correction is very mild and my reader prescription is 1.5 I think. I was up to six pairs of readers all over the house before asking about this option.
I have, unfortunately, become the eye expert in the last 7 months. I had emergency detached retina surgery last June and cataract (comes from the retina surgery) surgery 5 weeks ago. I have worn monovision lenses for YEARS with no problem. Low light levels weren’t the greatest, but I hardly ever needed reading glasses. I DID get driving glasses to bring both eyes up to distance vision which really helped with night driving.
I’ve tried just about everything since the retina surgery- monovision, progressive contacts etc. We have just settled on monovision with the non-surgery eye as the distance eye. We backed off the prescription but the contacts are now correcting for astigmatism. The surgery eye was corrected for near vision in the cataract surgery, so I just have a slight correction from a contact in that eye. I almost wouldn’t need a lens, but it makes the monovision more noticeable. I need new driving glasses and new regular glasses now, too. It’s been loads of fun.
As was mentioned above, late in the day and low light levels are still a little bit of a problem.
I’m one of those with contacts + reading glasses and have resorted to having 5-6 pairs so that I can always find one. I had the monovision contacts, but I was STILL needing reading glasses and getting headaches from the contacts. So I went back to regular contacts for distance and having a lot of reading glasses. Maybe one of these days I will get laser correction. The Eye Dr. seemed to think I was a good candidate.
I wear toric contact lenses for my nearsightedness and astigmatism. My doctor asked if I wanted to add raeding glass function. I said no. Three functions in a tiny lens seemed too much. I buy all the funky different reading glasses from $1.00 store and enjoy looking crazy.
I did contacts and reading glasses for a few years, but it drove me crazy. Tried various bifocal and progressive lenses, but couldn’t get them to work for me. Ended up with one eye for distance and one for close up (is that “monovision?”) which works very well, except for night driving (especially in the rain.) I hadn’t thought of getting glasses just for driving, I think I will look into that (thanks to MomoWC for that idea.)
After several years trying to find just the right prescription for toric bifocal contacts, I’m now doing the same thing as singersmom07. I went back to monovision contacts with the correction more geared toward reading. I hated having to grab reading glasses throughout the day so now I only need glasses in the car (primarily at night) to sharpen the distance vision. I just received my first order of glasses from Zenni Optical as an experiment. I wanted to see if $20 glasses would work well so I can have a pair in every car. So far, so good!
Thanks all. I wear gas perms, cannot wear soft…so don’t know if those poly ones are hard or soft. Mi might as about the bifocal ones just to see. I did have my eyes checked and they said they were the same.
Once I started needing reading glasses on a regular basis, I gave up the contacts and switched to progressive glasses. It’s a pain, but better than searching for glasses all the time.
Now if I can just get DH to get a decent set of prescription progressive glasses - little correction needed for distance, but he needs the reading glasses ALL THE TIME and I am beyond sick of having him complain every time he needs to look at something and the glasses aren’t on his face or right next to his hand. We must have 6 pairs in the house, but they don’t hover by his right hand.
PNW- the night glasses are wonderful. You don’t have to get expensive frames. One bad thing is you can barely see your dashboard, but it is SO much safer for driving. It is basically a plain glass lens over the distance contact eye and a lens that brings the near vision eye up to distance.
I wear daily disposable contacts as well as reading glasses 5 or 6 days out of 7. I have progressives to wear other times.
It isn’t too hard to read without glasses or contacts, but my distance vision is awful, so I’m kind of stuck.
I buy readers in quantity from Costco and have then scattered throughout the houses, cars, and work.
I wear gas permeable lenses and need the reading glasses - to read, to see small bits on my dinner plate in low light, for museum touring, etc, etc. Reading music while also being able to see a conductor is becoming quite exciting. This is truly a constant reminder of the indignities of aging. (Although I suppose the alternative to aging is worse.) As mentioned before, I also have glasses in every room of my house, multiples in my purses, extras in suitcases, keep several pairs in the cars, and so forth. Despite this - there is rarely a pair available when I need them.
I am going to re-read the former posts carefully - perhaps there’s a better solution.
@conmama : In the same boat. I was fine for years with a distance contact & a reading contact and never had an issue. Then it got harder to read fine print if the lighting wasn’t bright. Then it got harder to read, period. I have cheap CVS reading glasses spread around my office so I can grab a pair as needed. I have a real pair that I use at home with the lenses attuned to the different contacts (distance is also astigmatic), and that’s an even better solution.
I wore contacts for years and never had a problem. As I am getting older my reading has become increasingly more difficult with the contacts so I added reading glasses. The problem became that i stopped being able to see anything close- even my watch was a challenge. I now have bifocal contacts so I am less dependent on the readers, but they still make it much easier to read.