After my cataract surgery my vision was 20/20 except for my near vision in my left eye which was 20/400. I normally do not wear glasses at home but I do for driving. While your eyes may not be as bad as that one eye of mine are you able to see all the information on the dash of your car? If not it is very important that you go ahead and pay for those glasses. There are other things where close vision is important.

Readers as such may not be your problem with distance vision but eye strain or you may now need glasses for distance as all things change with age.

Edited to change 400/20 to 20/400. It did not seem right when I posted it and was only remembering the numbers not the sequence.

I can still read the dash without glasses so that’s a plus.

I don't think it's crazy at all. I've needed reading glasses for about 15 years now and I agree that it's a pain to take them on and off, especially when I'm in the car and need to glance down and see my phone for some reason (not while the car is moving, of course). I can see the dashboard information clearly, but not my phone.

I actually bought a pair of bifocals set up with no prescription on top. I paid a lot of money for them and lost them within a week. I never lose inexpensive readers. I lost heart after that, but I'm starting to think I might look at options again.

My Lasik vision was great for the first four years. After that, I needed reading glasses. And now, about 18 years post-Lasik, I find that my distance vision has fuzzed to about 20/40 (still, nothing like the 20/400 that they were pre-Lasik!) I, too, hated the on and off reading glasses. So I got contact lenses. They have improved greatly over the past two decades. I have gas permeable lenses that are good for distance and close, and they work well. I know someone else who wears one lens for distance and one for reading. And I know another person who just wears one lens in his eye for reading. If you are not averse to putting a lens in your eye, it might be your solution.

I have just the opposite, a pair of sunglasses with my distance vision prescription lenses on top, and nothing on the bottom. I wear them for driving and generally when I'm outside and need sunglasses., But I can't read my phone or anything, or see the dashboard very well with my distance lenses. So I had them take the distance correction out on the bottom so I can read with them on . In the scheme of things I don't think it was particularly costly to have them split.

No problem to do that.

I have the opposite. I'm mildly nearsighted so the the correction to help me see distances makes it difficult to see close things clearly. For awhile I got in the habit of taking OFF my glasses to read. About 7 or 8 years ago, having tired of doing that, I got my first pair of progressive lenses with NO correction below (and I've gotten several more since, new glasses every 18 months or so) to negate the effect of the distance correction up above. I usually use that though sometimes when I'm sitting in one spot and reading something, especially in dark restaurants with a menu, it's just easier to take off my glasses.

Edit - oops, AOK got to it first.

Unless you require a prescription for your reading glasses, you can find bifocal nonprescription magnifying readers online at scads of places - readers.com, ICU, Peepers, etc. Most of them offer some styles as sunglasses as well. And relatively inexpensive unless you go for the designer styles. I've been using readers for at least 20 years and I have an entire wardrobe of them.

I have tried the bifocal version with the clear lens on top but it just bugs me and I can't get used to them. So I wear my readers most of the time except when gardening or driving. I just peer over the top of them when I need to indoors. When driving they are perched on the top of my head and in easy reach. When gardening, they are in the pocket of my gardening apron.

Some places also sell demi reading glasses, which should accomplish the same thing.

That is the reason for halfmoon readers of course. You can see over them.

Progressives are going to be expensive compared to cheapo readers but they have advantages. I had cataract surgery (had extreme nearsightedness before) to normal but I had finally made it into readers, maybe +125 or so but they were useless for midrange like reading books on a shelf or grocery shelves. I have progressives for that. My glasses are like potatochips and I can drive without them in theory but I wear them all the time. the very upper part has no prescription but probably eventually will if I live to be old enough. I think I am up to +150 for near reading now.

Having been unhappy with the last 5 pairs of progressive lenses I have had, I am considering bifocals with my distance correction on top and my mid-range correction on the bottom.

My friend who just had cataract surgery is planning to do what Annette is proposing. My friend wants to hide the bags under her eyes.

What Elmer says. I bought my first pair of progressives from a cheaper 2 for 1 place. What I got was 2 useless pairs of glasses. Next time, I paid for good lenses and they were fine. I just ordered new glasses this week and they told me that even in the year since I last ordered glasses, the lens technology has improved providing a larger field of view.

That measuring that Elmer mentions can be the difference between a good usable pair and something that you just want to toss. Where the center of my eyeball is in one eye is not where it is in the other. Just looking at me you can not tell this.

"they told me that even in the year since I last ordered glasses, the lens technology has improved providing a larger field of view."

I had the same experience. I got new "good" glasses just a few months ago (the eyeglass frame broke) and I heard the same comment. I had to check just now but I got one of the Essilor Varilux progressive lens models (they have several) and they're the best ones I've had. Not cheap but worth it.

You could always wear the "half glasses"

https://www.readingglasses.com/panini-ii/?color=Slate%20Blue

My distance vision is excellent. I just had my follow-up from my floaters on Friday and they did a thorough exam.

I do need glasses for reading and I opt for just keeping them on instead of always looking for them when I need them. I don't need prescription for distance at all, so I have the prescription on the bottom for reading.

Half-glasses a la Ben Franklin would serve the purpose. Some Seniors want full glasses with a 'progressive' (no line) prescription to disguise the fact that they are old -- having lost their near vision. Full glasses can be a 'fashion statement', along with covering signs of age around the eyes.

Presbyopia does not just affect seniors :-) It typically starts soon after you turn 40 - that's when I first noticed it - and maxes out somewhere around age 65.

My distance vision is still very good but my near vision has declined over the years. I do a lot of close work (drafting) as well as read a lot and spend too much time on the computer so have upped my reader magnification gradually. I also have a light with a built in magnifying lens for my drafting table.

Eyeglasses that work for me has been a struggle for the past 2 years. I had vision correction surgery (a radial keratotomy) done close to 30 years ago -- I was extremely nearsighted (hold up fingers and see if I could count them instead of the eye charts!) and was starting to have problems with tolerance to the contact lenses (which I had been wearing since age 10 - put into them to stop the progression of the nearsightedness). Wonderful for the first 15 years, then as presbyopia set in I also starting having trouble with double vision - due to astigmatism, I am told, secondary to the procedure and the extreme correction. They didn't know that would be a problem with aging back then.

So at first OTC readers did the trick (for both problems), but I had to keep getting stronger ones. Once I was up to needing more than 3.0 I gave in and got prescription progressives - from an ophthalmologist - and just couldn't adjust to them. The mid and reading portions were just too narrow and too low on the lens -- I rely on the mid most of all, as my vision fluctuates and that range is the most common one that I need. I explained that but they just couldn't seem to make them for my needs.

So I went to one of those cheap glasses in a day places and had them separate the mid, distance and near into 3 separate frames. I rarely use the near, even for reading -- It all depends on my eyes on that day - generally live in the mid, and use the distance for watching TV sometimes. I keep the original, expensive-even-with-insurance progressives in the car for the times that I need distance for driving.

I have no complaints about the cheap lenses, by the way.

You could get something like these. Just buy some glasses that are clear lenses and stick these on. My husband had these for his sunglasses and they worked great.

https://www.amazon.com/Hydrotac-Magnifying-Magnifier-Koala-Magnification/dp/B06X9LWCSS?psc=1&SubscriptionId=AKIAILSHYYTFIVPWUY6Q&tag=duckduckgo-d-20&linkCode=xm2&camp=2025&creative=165953&creativeASIN=B06X9LWCSS

One of my lenses is for reading at the bottom and no prescription at the top.because I got monovision when I had my cataract removed. I HATE the mono vision. Worst decision for me ever. Anyway, my distance eye is needs correction for reading at the bottom but I can see distance okay.

No problem. Many bi-focal glasses function as half lenses. If no correction is needed for distance seeing, there will no correction in the major portion of the lens with reading correction only in the bi-focal portion. I do recommend full lens over half-lens. A full lens provides more eye protection than a half-lens. Also, UV protection can be added to the lens. If you ride a motorcycle, eye protection is required. You should wear eye protection for riding bicycles and scooters as well.

My auto Mechanic has a pair of glasses with the bifocal part in the top of the lens instead of the bottom! He uses these when he has a car on the lift and is looking up to examine parts.

I know of a professional painter who needs a small amount of correction, but ruins glasses from paint splatter. He also needs eye protection. He buys inexpensive reading glasses seen in drug stores and other places for about $20 per copy and discards those when the lenses become ruined from aggressive cleaning. The cost of these glasses are included in the charge, the same as other items.

Yep, DH just bought a pair of bifocals exactly as you described. He was having trouble at work when he would need to look up from what he was working on. He needs no correction on the top, but has his magnifiers on the bottom. Very convenient for him.