Started To Use Reading Glasses

[guzzi850m2]

I recently went to one of the many Top Charoen optical shops in Pattaya to get my eyes checked as I started to struggle when reading. The test is free but ended spending + 5000 bath on a pair of glasses.

They wrote on the back of the name card for the shop: +1.50 xx 0.50 ax 88 (for right eye) & +1.50 xx 0.50 ax 100 for the other eye. Can anybody tell me what this means??? I been Goggling around but are not much wiser. I don't want to spend +5k bath for each pair of glasses I buy as I need some for my work.

So if I look for cheap glasses can I just look for the +1.50 marking or is there more to it??

Thanks

[BuckarooBanzai]

Go to any market area around one of the big shopping centers and try the glasses out. Cost 99 to 200 baht. The 1.5 is the magnification I believe. You should not have any problems using these cheap reading glasses but like I say - try them out and see for yourself.

[ballbreaker]

Wikipedia has a nice write up under "eyeglass prescription" explaining what you ask. Following is how I interpret what they are saying.

The first number refers to the "spherical" portion of the prescription, which is the degree of nearsightedness or farsightedness.

The second number refers to the "cylinder" or astigmatism, and can be a negative or a positive number. It measures in diopters the degree of astigmatism that you have. The bigger this number, the more astigmatism you have.

The third number is a number anywhere between 0 and 180 degrees. It reveals the orientation of the astigmatism It is not enough to specify how much astigmatism there is; you have to know where the difference in curvature is taking place.

[guzzi850m2]

Thanks to both of you for the info.

ballbreaker, I will check wekipedia again

[tonytigerbkk]

Hi Guzzi,

I started to use reading glasses about 4 years ago.

The first pair of glasses that I bought were from Top Charoen and they cost me around 7,000 Baht.

When I lost the glasses that I bought from Top Charoen I went to Tesco Lotus and picked up a pair of Bifocal reading glasses for about 200 Baht (the bottom part is the magnified lens and the top part is plain glass).

Bifocal reading glasses are particularly good for reading glasses because if you are reading (or working on a computer) and then look across to an object further away then the object stays in focus because you are now looking through the clear glass.

For reading glasses I would never use an opticians ever again.

Hope that this helps you.

Regards,

Tiger.

[Johnniey]

I saw some good reading glasses at a bookstore(Se-Ed or Asia Books)350 baht. They had 0.5, 1.0, 1.5 etc. They folded up in a special way to fit into a case small enough to keep in a shirt pocket.

I also picked up a couple of pairs for 100 baht each at Big C.

Since 2 years ago when I bought my first glasses I found that my eyesight is deteriorating rapidly. Must be my age.

[wandrinstar]

You can get away with a cheap pair at first,but as you age i recomend you have a Eye Examination by an expert.I didnt and should have done

[Jingthing]

Could be the beginning of cataracts. See a doc.

[Sheryl]

As people age the eye loses its ability to "accomodate" to near vision. In other words, it doesn't shift gears properly between ordinary vision and what is required to be able to print see up close. Reading is a fairly recent human activity of low survival import in evolutionary terms so not something our bodies are optimally built for.

Pretty much everyone has this problem as they age, with the changes gradually setting in after about age 40.

http://healthy-ojas.com/eye/presbyopia.html

From what you describe this is what you have, in which case indeed 100- 200 baht glasses from a street stall, Boots/Watson, superstore etc will do just fine, You can just look for the number but be aware that as time passes you'll likely need a larger prescription. What a lot of people do is just try on different strengths while looking at the small print of a newspaper. Most of the stalls selling these keep a newspaper on hand just for this purpose. The only reason to get custom made glasses would be if you also had some problems with distance vision (which can also happen as you age) and wanted biofocals, or if you wanted a nicer frame.

HOWEVER the age at which problems with visual accomodation require reading glasses is also an age at which other eye diseases increase in prevalence....glaucoma, cataract etc. So you should indeed get a proper exam from an opthmalogist every year or so.

[Phil Conners]

Actually as you have a bit of astigmatism you shouldn't just go and buy the cheap glasses at the market - they will not do your eyes any good as they don't correct for this at all. 0.5 is not a lot but enough to cause tired eyes and perhaps headaches if not corrected. Wikipedia on Astigmatism.

Astigmatism, btw, is very common and nothing to worry about in itself. That said, it's of course always a good idea to get your eyes checked by a real doctor for other things than corrective lenses.

[SpoliaOpima]

Another reason to get prescription reading glasses is when your left and right eyes don't measure the same degree of presbyopia (old age vision). For me one eye is about +2.00, the other +3.75, plus one has an astigmatism. Mine were never the same from the day I started wearing reading glasses at age 42, so unfortunately I've never been able to use the cheap mass-market glasses