Go to your nearest dollar store and check out the cheapo reading glasses. They come in all strengths and I've never worn anything in my life but those for reading.It's certainly worth a try.

There are good reasons to see a good eye doctor in addition to needing glasses. If you do decide to see someone, why not ask your internist for a recommendation to a good Opthamologist?

You can certainly do as Marda says, but if there's any other reason for your sight problems it might be good to find out. Most likely it is that your sight is deteriorating, but it wouldn't hurt to be sure.

I'm interested in how you came to be examining a tube of foot cream at a Christmas gathering :)

LOLOLOL Sheila. I am one of those people who 'read' everything on products just out of habit. I can relate to Krista doing it.

What sheila says of course has merit, but presbyopia comes to nearly everyone at a relatively young age. I didn't need glasses for it until my fifth decade, and after blowing about four hundred on a pair, discovered the ones I bought for twelve dollars at a dime store worked better......just like marda says. The eye doctor was amazed I got along so well until into my fifth decade. I can still thread a tiny quilting needled with no glasses, and my general vision is good enough at 62, I pass the driver's exam without them too. I thank my parents often for passing their good genes down to me, because where eyesight is concerned......it's a crap shoot.

I went to an opthamologist(sp) this year because i've had problems with clogged tear glands and dry eyes (hormonal, nuff said) but he did a full vision screen and said i'd be fine with drugstore (actually, try dollar stores) glasses for a long time to come.

My vision rating is 20/15...just call me hawkeye....but i can't read much or write with confidence anymore without my 1.25 or 1.50 cheapo readers.

I'm 48 BTW, using glasses for about seven years, since i had to take an algebra class, wherein for some perverse reason, they're using m,n,v,w,o,p, and all sorts of other letters usually resrved for eye charts as teeny tiny exponents.

I just had cataract surgery last month and my surgeon was one of the best opthamologists around. In fact he used to be the surgeon for one of Philadelphia professional ball teams. He told me the same thing Lynnie's MD told her...drugstore glasses are fine.

I didn't say the glasses weren't fine, Marda. Just tghat personally I wouldn't presume that everything was okey dokey when loss of right off the bat when my sight began to diminish.

I've used those dollar store glasses for years. They work great, you can afford to have a pair in every room and your purse and the car.

The best thing about the dollar store reading glasses is
you can buy enough to spread them around the house and even
have an extra pair to leave at a friends house.

You can even buy different colors to match your shoes, purse, dress, bed jacket, house shoes and robe.

It works for me.

The dollar store glasses don't work when the eyes are different. If one eye is oriented away from straight on you will have problems and if they perform differently you will have problems. Get this checked by an optician and then buy the cheap glasses.

My opthamologist told me to get the drugstore/dollar store glasses for reading too & I've got them spread all over the house because while I can see perfectly well at a distance since I had cataract surgery last year, I can't read anything without my "readers."

I would never suggest that anyone forgo regular eye exams by a qualified optometrist or opthomologist in favor of self-treatment with cheap reading glasses, once one has been checked out, there is usually no reason to spend hundreds of dollars on prescription readers.

Yes, regardless of where you get your lenses, I try to make it a point to get at least an occasional eye exam so that I know if there are medical things going on in the eyes. One should ALWAYS have sudden or frequent changes in vision checked since there may be serious problems behind them, like glaucoma or corneal scarring from a chronic infection, or cataracts, or retinal detachments or any one of other conditions where blindness could result. Eye doctors can also see symptoms of other illnesses when examining eyes, too and if they do they'll refer you to a medical doctor. That's why looking into your eyes are a part of routine medical exams.

Some eye-doctors won't even suggest getting over the counter reading glasses, especially if they make a lot of their profit selling those designer frames. I see this more in chains than I do independents. I have good vision, but also have astigmatism in addition to the mild presbyopia I got when I started getting older. One chain had a special going where if you bought your first set of frames and lenses, the second was free. Yeah, only if you were aware of it and asked for them. Then, they'd try to talk you into getting the full script for both pairs and that meant charging extra for the additional capabilities of the free pair. I opted to get my second pair as sunglasses for driving with my astigmatism script. That was free, he tried to talk me into seamless bifocals, so that I'd have reading capabilities. LOL. Like I don't have a problem reading without glasses now and seldom wear them and I certainly don't need sunglasses for reading.

The reccommendation used to be, see the eye doctor at 40.
At that point, you need to have a test for glaucoma [pressure in the eyeball]. That is also the time most people start needing reading glasses.

The dollar store glasses, are often lousy, one side may be stronger than another. There are usually defects within a lens, areas of distortion, etc. You can check them by holding them out, and looking at lines in the ceiling. Most stores have lights in a grid pattern.

Checking Cheap Reading Glasses
With your arm stiff, focus on lines near a light fixture, about 20 -30 feet away. Moving the glasses slowly, see if any of the lines, through either lens, bend or distort. Turn the glasses at a right angle, 90 degrees, and try again. Next slowly twist the glasses, by rotating your wrist.
Compare to a good pair of the same strength if possible.
Some really obvious defects can show up this way.

Drugstore/supermarket glasses, are usually a better quality, than dollar store.

Don't use poor lenses for more than ~ a minute.
For map checking, a size up in the glove box, might help.
I have found that reading a lot is easier, with styles that have more glass [men's styles], and plenty of light.
There are floor lamp style, craft magnifiers with a light ring, around a 4" lens.
First I demoted the dollar store readers to places they wouln't get used long, then didn't replace them, because the quality kept going down. In your part of the country, that still may be ok.

There are eye exercises that are said to help.

I've worn glasses for most of my life due to astigmatism (that's where you see a straight vertical door edge and I sorta see one that has an S-curve). And over the past decades, for increasing far-sightedness or presbyopia. I may be able to see the eagle over on the next mountain top, but if it sits on my deck, it's just a blur.

Florey's advice is very good for checking general quality of the lens. And it's true that if your vision difficulty can be helped with the drugstore version, then the drugstore glasses are fine.

One way to find a good opthalmalogist is to ask people who wear glasses [all the time, not just for reading] who their doctor is, and once you get a name several times, then you can make an appointment. As already said, a formal checkup is just good sense, but that doesn't mean you have to buy glasses from the doc's office. BTW, if you look into the matter, quite often in the doc's office you'll find the lenses are not expensive but the frames are $$$. It's worth buying cheap frames you like, and having the doc insert the correct lens.

And, just to give you a framework for comparison, my last pair (2006) cost $100 for a thorough eye exam which took almost an hour for all the tests, and $100 for the progressive-style lenses, and I don't want to admit how much for the frames. Let us just say that since then, I have found similar frames for less than $80, or about one-tenth what I paid. Go online to find a great variety of frames, and many of them at very, very reasonable prices.

Krista,

If you get a referral from your internist or other M.D., it can sometimes be covered under medical insurance. Worked for my husband because he's diabetic.......

Here is a link that might be useful: inexpensive glasses (you'll need a prescription though)

After a lifetime of 20/15 vision, I was annoyed by frequent headaches and an inability to focus far away after spending more than an hour reading anything. Turned out I needed reading glasses, but only .75 strength, which is weaker than I've been able to find at a drugstore. I sprung for the buggers and whatdayaknow! When I remember to wear the dang things, I don't have headaches after reading.

My dad thought he was on top of things with his glasses prescription... then he got himself screened for lasik, and the surgeon said "Ya know, I bet you wouldn't need lasik if we got rid of these cataracts for you!" Turns out he was right! Even though my dad was "way too young" (his words) to have cataracts at the time. Getting screened solves many mysteries!

What should you beware of when you visit the doc? Bring sun glasses to your appointment! You'll be in pain without them if they dilate you, which they should. Know that if they do write you a scrip, you don't have to fill it at the affiliated glasses store. You can price shop if you want. Also, if your company offers one of those medical expense thingies where you get to pay medical expenses with pre-tax dollars, glasses count.

...But this post isn't really about the glasses, is it? Tell us about NG! Must be interesting (in a good way) if your letting him hang out with you over the holidays...

Krista!

You didn't tell us about NG. What's he like?

Ok, I can report now. $39 glasses are the bomb. Just as good as the freakin' $250 glasses I got last time. I just got both the new prescription glasses and sunglasses. I look totally mod. $88 total for both pairs. I am now going to try for even cheaper, goggles4u. I found a pair for $7! Let you know if that's ok too.

Here is a link that might be useful: another cheap eyeglass site

Well, maybe I was overtired last month from my work schedule, my eyes haven't been tired and I am better able to see the micro print that comes on products. When I have a hard time reading "normal" print, I will go to the doc to see......: )

New guy....... (smile)
I have known him since I was 16
Never married, no kids, same age as me
He is responsible, respectable, hard working, thoughtful, quick witted (most of the time, he's the straight man), trustworthy, dependable, not flashy, thinks a lot (maybe too much sometimes), somewhat old fashioned and conservative for someone our age, he was a surprise or some would say an oops (four older brothers: two in their early to mid 50's and the other 47)
and he's not bad looking, I'm not biased or anything
DS likes him, actually told him he loved him once, but he has conflicting feelings of guilt, loyalty to his dad and enjoying NG's company. I know being a child of divorced parents that this is par for the course.

You and I have talked about him before haven't we? Uh huh. Look at you blushing through the screen. Don't have much to say about him do you? (((grin!))) You sound happy. Good to hear about the LF too.

What a great description of someone who sounds like a "keeper". I'm happy for you.

http://www.firmoo.com/post/9.html

China has gradually become the largest manufacturing base for eyeglasses frames, spectacle lenses and sunglasses in the past decade. Here are some fundamental facts about China's glasses industry.

1. China's manufacturing of eyeglasses-related products is mainly focused in four major geographic districts which are Shenzhen and Dongguan of Guangdong province, Xiamen of Fujian province, Wenzhou of Zhejiang province and Danyang of Jiangsu province respectively. These four districts produce about 90% of whole volume of China's eyeglasses industry.

Shenzhen and Dongguan are located at southern China's Guangdong province. These two cities are geographically close to Hong Kong, resulting in most of the manufacturers in Shenzhen and Dongguan being invested by HK eyeglasses companies. For this reason, Shenzhen and Dongguan are now the base for making middle- to high-end eyeglasses in China with most of the glasses labelled with world's most fames designers' logo. Shenzhen only has about 500 manufacturers with annual capacity of 200 million pairs of frames, lenses and sunglasses, and 95% of the products are exported to 130 countries, and 70% of European market share is from Shenzhen.

Xiamen is located in China's southeastern Fujian province. Xiamen is just the opposite side of the Taiwan Strait which is very close to Taiwan, therefore most the Xiamen glasses enterprises are Taiwan-mainland joint vetures. Different from other districts in China, Xiamen mainly focuses on the production and marketing of high-end sunglasses.

Wenzhou is in eastern China's Zhejiang province, the famous "Land of Overseas Chinese". Wenzhou's optical companies focus on manufacturing middle- to low-end frames and sunglasses. Its market of sunglasses in the world's market is about 40%. Wenzhou has about 1000 manufacturers in the area of frames, sunglasses and other accessories.

Danyang is in Jiangsu province which is near to Shanghai and Zhejiang province. This is a place where mostly the factories are engaged in the making of all types of middle- to low-end lenses. While Danyang also has some enterprises manufacturing frames, but the quality of the frames is of low end. The annual lenses producing capacity of Danyang is 150-200 million pairs which occupies about 70% of China's total volume and 50% of the whole world's.

2. China's eyeglasses indutry is export-oriented. In 2007, China exported 2.465 billion pairs of eyeglasses frames, lenese and sunglasses, with a total value of 3.344 billion US dollars. Unfortunately the average export price is only USD1.36 per pair. About 60% of China's total production of eyeglasses-related goods is for export, which has a world's low-end market share of 80%. In total China has about 4000 manufacturers in the eyeglasses and relative areas.

3. China is the most populous nation in the world. Out of her 1.35 billion population, about 300 million need some kind of corrective eyeglasses. Adding the consumption of [url=http://www.firmoo.com]sunglasses[/url] for fashion and protection purpose in the summertime, the whole market is immense. Therefore, many world's major chain retailers, such as LensCrafters, are entering and expanding in China's local market in hope of grabbing China's high-end consumers. Presently China has about 20,000 retail optical stores.

If you are interested in China's optical and vision eyeglasses industry, you may find the above information useful and helpful.

http://www.firmoo.com/post/9.html

Here is a link that might be useful: Eyeglasses

well i wear glasses but when i have been doing a lot of reading, esp in bad light, or even computer screen, sometimes my eyes will go for hours where they just don't want to focus well, blurry etc.

sounds like new guy is a great guy

Carol Wright catalog has 3 pair for under $7 I think it is in colorful rims. I have a lot from there I can get 4.0 which are not available in the $$ stores. I really want a 5.0 but can't find them. I have presc readers if I'm going to do serious reading

well, I went to the clinic for my sinus infection and to pass the time, I read the eye chart there from behind the marked line on the floor. 20/20 vision!

That was with AWFUL sinus pressure that made my eyeballs want to pop right out of their sockets and sleep deprivation.

Then visit your ophthalmologist to know if
you really need to wear glasses. So that
you can undergo snellen's chart test.

Here is a link that might be useful: Tiffany Sunglasses