“Where are my glasses?” A Reading Glasses Buyer’s Guide

They say life begins at 40 – but unfortunately, for many people, it’s around this age that many realise their eyesight is deteriorating.

The ability to focus on text begins to fade first, making it tricky to read newspapers and magazines or to focus on your mobile phone. This mid-life nearsightedness is called presbyopia. Although it might seem like it crept up on you overnight, it has, in fact, been decades in the making.

As we get older, the natural lenses in our eyes begin to harden and lose the ability to focus. This process happens slowly during the course of your life, but it’s not until around 40 years of age that we start to notice it.

Reading Glasses to the Rescue

Thankfully, reading glasses provide a simple and effective way to help you focus on text and make life easier. Off-the-shelf reading glasses are great for occasional use: you can pick them up almost anywhere, making them a convenient option. Helping you to focus on short-distances, reading glasses must never be worn to drive in, so it’s a good idea to keep a spare pair of your regular glasses in your car to save any confusion.

However, while these off-the-shelf ‘ready readers’ are completely safe and won’t harm your eyes, they can’t beat custom-made prescription reading glasses for comfort, accuracy and durability.

So while it won’t do you any harm to have plenty of readymade glasses dotted around your house and workplace, it makes sense to have a custom-made pair as your primary pair of reading glasses. Here’s why:

They’re Comfortable to Wear

Custom reading glasses are made to fit your face and features, unlike readymade glasses, which are built to generic specifications and might not be comfortable to wear for long periods (or even short periods!). It can even make a difference depending on what you’re using your reading glasses for – reading sheet music may need a different fitting to reading from a computer screen.

They Have Superior Visual Accuracy

When fitting any pair of glasses, it’s important they’re positioned correctly to ensure you look through the centre of the lenses. Even the smallest differences can, in some cases, lead to headaches and eyestrain. Our dispensing-opticians are qualified to fit all our glasses perfectly to you.

What’s more, it’s likely that your left eye has a slightly different prescription to your right eye. Custom made glasses are built to match each eye with precision made lenses, unlike ready-to-wear glasses.

Built to Last

Readymade, shop-bought reading glasses might be built for convenience but they’re not known to be built to last. Leightons offer custom reading glasses built from lightweight, durable materials that can deal with the rough and tumble of real life.

Here at Leightons, we make all of our reading glasses in accordance with British Standard EN 14139:2010, which sets out strict rules on how all glasses are made, ensuring the highest standards of materials and accuracy.

Now Read This

The only way to get accurate, comfortable reading glasses is to get your eyes tested, to guarantee you the precision lenses your eyes deserve. Before purchasing ready-made reading glasses, we always suggest an up-to-date eye examination be taken.

At Leightons, we take the time to help you determine which glasses are right for you – or if you need them at all. It could be that the perfect solution for you are varifocals, or even contact lenses. We have a huge range of styles, many that you can’t find in larger high street chains. From contemporary styles to classic frames, or brighter, bolder colours, we’ve got the perfect high-fashion reading glasses for you.

Don’t Forget

It’s essential to get your eyes tested regularly. This isn’t just to ensure you have up-to-date lenses and prescriptions (although that’s important too) – it helps spot any changes in your eyes that could indicate a more serious problem.

To book your eye test and take the first step towards owning a quality pair of custom reading glasses or call 0800 40 20 20.