Do you own over-the-counter reading glasses?

[Melissa B]

Do you own over the counter reading glasses? They are basically just slight magnifying glasses, right? At what age did you purchase them?

 

I'm thinking about buying a pair today. I may make an appointment for the eye doctor, but I think I am just getting old and simply need reading glasses to read those tiny words that appear on medicine bottles and house cleaning products. I wanted to spray paint my outdoor furniture today and cannot read the directions on the back of the can. Nor can I find a magnifying glass anywhere. Would a pair of cheap reading glasses likely do the trick?

[DawnM]

Yup. I bought one from Walmart that were about $7.99 and then I bought a 4 pack off of Amazon.  The $7.99 ones are sturdier and I carry those in my purse.  The 4 from Amazon?  I have one at the HS where I work, one at the Elem. school where I work, one at my computer desk at home and one in my bedroom on my nightstand.  

 

I ordered them at age 49.

[bettyandbob]

How long has it been since you saw an optometrist?

 

If you can go get an eye exam.

 

If he gives you a prescription for basic reading glasses, try out the generic drug store glasses first. The drug store glasses have prescription strengths listed, you can try a pair that closely matches your actual prescription.

[marbel]

I think I put on my first pair of OTC reading classes when I was about 45 years old.  I was trying to do some needlework (counted cross stitch) and was getting frustrated because (I thought) the light was not good enough.  My husband, who started using readers before I did, handed me his.  Whoa!  It made a huge difference.

 

I did ask about it at my next optometrist appointment.  He approved.   I've been using them ever since.

[chiguirre]

I just bought a pair at 48 but they're still too strong even though they were the lowest correction the dollar store sold. The optometrist told me that I didn't quite need them yet but that I should get them and try them since they're a buck. In the meantime I can usually read fine print if I hold it at a different distance. I do a lot of arm adjusting in the super market. What I absolutely can't do is read fine print with my distance glasses on. I'm one of those people with my glasses pushed up on the top of my head to see close up.

[leeannpal]

Just bought my first pair this year, and I'll be 51 in June. I can still read most things without reading glasses.

[Kalmia]

I had jokingly made fun of my cousin for not being able to read a map on our road trip. He was astounded that his eyes just seemingly tanked like that. Then exactly one year later, I was trying to read a medicine bottle and Oh No! I was old too. Luckily the drugstore has reading glasses and medicine bottles in one place so you can really give them a run to see which prescription is right. Go ahead and get a pair or two from the drugstore and then go to the eye doctor. You can get prescription glasses if you like, but I found myself buying a whole bunch of drugstore reading glasses as the prescription ones I chose were $250. I always hesitate to use them as I am clumsy and I fear they might break. I don't care about the $20 ones as much and tend to gravitate toward them. 

[Desert Strawberry]

i bought at the dollar tree when i got my last contact lens prescription. i was (am) 40. I don't need them anymore with my new prescription. 

[Wheres Toto]

I started needing them to keep from getting headaches with all the reading I do when I was about 42/43.  Now I HAVE to have them to read small print and even normal book size print is blurry but I can usually make it out if I work at it, I'm 47.  

 

I do the same as the above poster - I go to the eye doctor, get a prescription, get one pair from them, and then buy the readers from Target or Walmart.  The readers work fine, but the ones from the eye doctor are usually a little bit better.  Less scratchy, more comfortable to wear for long periods of time.   

[Barb_]

Costco glasses are my favorite. Right now they are on sale 3/$14. I've tried the drugstore/dollar store versions and the distortion aggravates me. My presbyopia started setting in during my late 30s 😭 My eyesight would get wonky during my pregnancies and then clear up afterward. I guess I was about 40-42 or so when I needed them full time to see closeup stuff.

[Arcadia]

You can get prescription glasses if you like, but I found myself buying a whole bunch of drugstore reading glasses as the prescription ones I chose were $250.

That is what my MIL did. She bought a few $5 reading glasses from Walgreens as spares.

[AmandaVT]

DH got a pair last year at 48. I had noticed him doing the "trombone" move while trying to read fine print and suggested that readers might be a good idea. 

[Julie Smith]

I don't. 

But I got my eyes tested two months ago and complained about my eyes feeling tired when reading for long periods of time. She stated that they had recently come out with a new type of lens. One designed to make it easier on teens who spend to much time staring at their phones. That's the kind I got. 

 

 

[mlktwins]

I started around 41.  I have the magnifiers (store reading glasses) all over my house and in my car.  I prefer the ones from Costco also, but have some from Target I like as well.  Had some from the dollar store in the beginning and those were horrible.

 

I did splurge a few years later and got a pair of prescription ones and they were so much clearer than the over the counter readers.  I wish I had gotten them sooner.

 

I recently changed out my prescription reading glasses to hold my progressive lenses so am back to just my over the counter readers.  They work fine, but those prescription ones were really nice. 

 

[Mona]

I got my first pair about a year ago. I was 42. My optometrist said he would try to keep me out of bifocals by adjusting the powers of my contact prescription, but I ended up buying a pretty pair of glasses with matching case at a local department store for about $15. I started with the +1.25 and I need them all the time for reading. 

[Barb_]

DH got a pair last year at 48. I had noticed him doing the "trombone" move while trying to read fine print and suggested that readers might be a good idea.

:lol:

[EKS]

I started using OTC reading glasses at around age 40.  At 45, I got progressives (bifocals without the line) and I love them!  

[Kassia]

I have them all over the house, in my purse, and I make sure I always have them with me.  I can't read anything without them.  I think I started wearing them sometime after I turned 40.  I get them at Dollar Tree or the discount store.  

[MEmama]

Yup. I realized I really did them at 44. I have a cheapo pair by my bed and a pricier pair from LensCrafters for everything else. They are far more comfortable and clear (the actual lens) and still inexpensive at $30. I wear them almost all day (sometimes on my head or I peer over them) and take them everywhere.

 

I think having regular glasses seems far easier, but what are you going to do?

[lllll]

nm

Edited May 7, 2017 by _ -_-

[Guest]

My eye doctor said that unless there is astigmatism to correct for, she recommends OTC reading glasses over $$$special order.

[umsami]

Yes, I own some from the Dollar Store and from Target.  DH is an ophthalmologist and he said he tells people to get the OTC ones all the time.

 

I first bought some around age 46.

 

I may...just  may....make the move to bifocals/progressives this year.

[Miss Tick]

 

I think having regular glasses seems far easier, but what are you going to do?

Well, don't crush my dreams here, but I'm thinking I will get bifocals with no prescription in the top part next time I'm eligible for another pair of glasses. I find myself needing the readers more and more and often when I'm out at the grocery or library and didn't think to bring them.

[clementine]

Yup - I bought them at 45yrs old.  Walmart 3-pack.  

[KrissiK]

I buy them in multi-packs so I have one in each room and in my purse. I started using them in my early 40's. My regular vision is better than 20-20, but my ability to read small print has gotten bad.

Edited May 4, 2017 by KrissiK

[MEmama]

Well, don't crush my dreams here, but I'm thinking I will get bifocals with no prescription in the top part next time I'm eligible for another pair of glasses. I find myself needing the readers more and more and often when I'm out at the grocery or library and didn't think to bring them.

That seems like a smart solution!

[Suzanne in ABQ]

I had exactly the same experience at age 40.  After always having perfect vision my entire life, I went to read a pill bottle, and had to move the bottle away a bit to read it.  I was, like, "Why did I just do that?  Dang!  I'm old!"

 

I initially needed 1.0, but over 12 years it has gotten slightly worse.  I need 1.5 to read at natural book-reading distance, but that's too strong for seeing my computer monitor, so I have a pair of 1.0 that I keep at my desk.  For really close work, like splinters, I need the magnification of 3.0 -- I rarely use those, though.  

 

I did have an eye exam awhile back, and the doctor confirmed that I need 1.5.  

 

I spent a fortune on progressive lens glasses a couple years ago because I got tired of having to keep glasses everywhere, and never where I needed them (I'm forgetful like that).  But, I hate them!  They go from zero correction for distance, down to 2.0 at the very bottom.  I hate only being able to see a tiny area at a time.  The transition causes a wave in my peripheral vision when I walk, and it changes the shape of things (like my computer monitor) when I move my head around.  Perhaps regular bifocals wouldn't do this, but I wouldn't recommend progressives if your distance vision is good.

 

So, I have resigned to wearing my reading glasses as a hair accessory (like a head band).  I also have a pair in my purse, plus the lower power pair I keep at the computer.  It's the best solution for me. 

[gstharr]

I started reading glasses 3 months into professional school (age 31).  Lost so many prescription designer glasses in less than a month.  Now, I buy them 10 or 20 at a time  at the 99ct store when they have the Foster Grants ( I try to avoid the generic 99ct Store glasses).  I lose them,  and they break, but I am only out a few bucks. 

[MaeFlowers]

When I was at the eye doctor one time, I made a comment to my eye doctor about how I wished I was like my dh and didn't need glasses. His response was, "Just wait until he turns 40. He'll need them then and, chances are, he will resist it."

He was right. Dh started needing glasses at 40 on the dot. And, of course, he never wears them.

Basically, from what I gathered from the dr, 40 is a magical age for eyes and suddenly needing glasses around that time is pretty common.