Can we go without reading glasses?

As we age, the lenses in our eyes become less flexible and hence less able to focus on nearby objects to give us a clear vision. This problem can be easily corrected by wearing reading glasses. The actual age at which we start losing focus of our near vision varies among people and ranges from around 40 to 50 years old in both men and women. To many of us, having to wear reading glasses seems a big dilemma, especially if we already require glasses or lenses for distant vision. The question we ask ourselves are: should you wear multifocal glasses or lenses, or should you wear both lenses and glasses. What is the best option?

When the option we choose has cost implications, it is essential to choose carefully after analysing all relevant information. Let’s consider someone who has never worn glasses or lenses before; in this case it is very easy to carry reading glasses and use them whenever nearby objects are visualised. The situation gets a bit more complex for someone who is short-sighted; that is someone (like myself) who already wears glasses or lenses to see distant objects. People who are short-sighted can be categorized into two groups: those whose near vision is blurred when they are wearing their corrective glasses or lenses (but their vision is unaffected once they remove their glasses/lenses) and those whose near vision is affected with or without glasses.

Short-sighted people and options available to them

The situation with short-sighted people is such that, as they age their eyes become too weak to do the extra focusing needed to compensate for the lens they are wearing for distant vision. This explains why they have blurred near vision when they have their lenses/glasses on. But, once they remove their lenses/glasses their near vision is almost perfect. The issue here is people need to focus on distant objects for most of their day to day activities such as driving, checking for direction, reading off information in their surroundings (buses/transit/ posters/sign posts, etc), hence will have to keep wearing corrective lenses for distant vision.

The options available to them in order to have a clear near vision are: carrying two glasses and switching between distant and near vision glasses as required, opting for multifocal glasses/lenses that allows focusing for distant and near vision (but these glasses are the much more expensive), wear lenses for distant vision and use reading glasses on them when focusing on nearby objects.

Issues with multi-focal lenses: not very convenient for computer work (eyes feel very tired)

Issues with wearing lenses for distant vision and using reading glasses on them when focusing on nearby objects: can do computer work easily, but still the eyes feel very tired.

A simple method to avoid wearing glasses

Since I am short-sighted and can see nearby objects very clearly without my corrective lenses, I have tried the three options listed above. They all work to some extent and are accompanied with some drawbacks or inconvenience. I have recently been experimenting with something slightly different: wearing my distant vision lenses on one eye only. In so doing, my eye fitted with the distant-focusing lens gives me good distant vision while my other eye (on which I did not wear any external lens) provides me with clear near vision. This seems to work very well. I tried it for a few hours while at home first, and then ventured out for a short drive and had no issues at all. Since then, I am only using one lens on one eye, though I switch the eye on which I wear my lens on a daily basis.

It is worth noting that my prescription for distant vision is -2 for both eyes and I believe this method can work for anyone with low prescriptions of around -2. The question you might be asking is: how does this work?

The explanation for this is:

When we are looking at any object our brain receives information from both eyes and integrates the information to make an image of what the eyes are seeing. So, when I am staring at a distant object, my eye fitted with the lens is providing a clear image while the eye with no lens on gives a blurred image. On adding these two images together, the brain creates a clear image of the item viewed. The opposite is true for focusing on near objects: my eye without lens fitted brings a clear image to the brain while the one with the lens on contributes a blurred image. Once again on adding the two images together, the brain is able to create a clear picture of the near object viewed.

Short-sighted people whose near vision is affected with or without glasses

For people in this category, the best options seem progressive or multifocal glasses or lenses. Such corrective lenses are likely to provide the best vision to them as they focus on distant or nearby objects as they carry on their daily activities.