r/Millennials • u/BeardedHoot • 11h ago
Discussion Readers
How many of us are using readers? As in the 1.5x or 2x glasses for reading but not for daily use.
I'm 41, had LASIK at 22 and so far my vision is still great but I know readers are in my future.
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u/InvictvsNox Millennial 11h ago
Reading glasses? Those are for old people.
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u/kevincaz07 11h ago
After LASIK, doc told me presbyopia will start to set in between 40 and 50, so we still have some time, although not much.
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u/Zaidswith 8h ago
According to my optometrist they're for pretty much everyone over 40, but people who aren't used to wearing glasses put it off for years longer than they need to.
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u/SevenSixOne 6h ago edited 4h ago
I work in the cataract department of an eye clinic, and most cataract patients are age 60+. I get SO frustrated at the ones who don't wear glasses because they insist ✨i'Ve jUsT NeVeR nEeDeD tHeM✨ because I AM LOOKING AT YOUR EYE EXAM RESULTS AND YES YOU FUCKIN DO NEED GLASSES!!
My uncorrected vision is better than theirs and I can't see SHIT without my glasses; these people and their refusal to admit they can't see (and possibly haven't been able to see for DECADES) pose a genuine danger to themselves and others!
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u/brookuslicious 9h ago edited 8h ago
I’ve never heard anyone around my age call them “readers.” At work it’s always the old folks who say, “I forgot my readers!!!”
Edit • wow y’all are petty for downvoting someone for sharing an experience1
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u/CorruptDictator Older Millennial 11h ago edited 10h ago
Been just wearing glasses since first grade.
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u/LeahsCheetoCrumbs 9h ago
3rd grade here. My husband has just started saying in the last year that he needs an eye exam. We are opposite ends of the vision spectrum lol
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u/SplitFingerSkadoosh 11h ago
Not quite there yet but I'm nearsighted and usually take my glasses off to read
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u/30centurygirl 11h ago
This is where I am too. We're basically just doing opposite day reading glasses.
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u/what_the_purple_fuck 7h ago
I switched to progressives a few years ago and they're fantastic. there's a brief period at first where they're weird and slightly vertiginous, but then they're simple and easy and they stay on your face since there's no swapping frames so the risk of misplacing and/or sitting on them decreases dramatically.
make them Transitions™ and then the real multi-tasking begins.
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u/justletmepostplz 6h ago
I just wanted to say I have never heard of the word “vertiginous” before and I wanted to applaud your use of it 👏🏻
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u/Ericovich Xennial 11h ago
Finally got progressives (basically bifocals) last week.
Fucking hate them. The distortion is distracting.
But I literally can't see up close anymore. Bullshit.
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u/Marsandtherealgirl 10h ago
You’ll get used to it and if you try to put on a regular pair of glasses in a few months you’ll want to tear them off your face lol
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u/otterbarks Older Millennial 11h ago
Presbyopia usually starts to develop around age 40, so some of us are getting to that age, but it's still early for most. Give it 5 or 10 more years.
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u/9_of_Swords 10h ago
My husband needs them but refuses. Give it a little while, let the idea marinate a bit, he'll eventually come around. I remind him how sexy he looks with his blue-light-blocking glasses and how a pair of "slutty little glasses" would be quite intriguing, and eventually he'll try them out. :3
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u/Beneficial-Finger353 Older Millennial 83 11h ago
I am 43, and when I read a label, I have to take my glasses off to even read fine print anymore....
EDIT: I don't want bi-focals!!!!
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u/Fragrant_Major_9553 10h ago
Readers were my 40th birthday present.
Eye doctor told me there’s a muscle behind the lens that focuses it, and it gets tired. The readers will need to be more powerful every couple of years as you age, until you need permanent eye glasses.
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u/danniellax 10h ago
Not me! But I’m near sighted, have astigmatism, and have diplopia (double vision) so don’t worry, I’m not missing out on eye struggles. Let me take this win as something my eyes don’t have in peace 🥲
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u/akuneko42 9h ago
44, had great vision my whole life. I have readers now. I got cute ones tho!
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u/Bad-Moon-Rising Xennial 9h ago
Same. I had 20/10 vision when I was in middle school and I need readers now.
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u/QuizasManana 9h ago
I had a lazer surgery like four years ago or so. They left a bit of nearsightedness to one eye, it’s supposed to postpone the need for reading glasses somewhat. Seems to work ok, I’m 43 and can still read even tiny print just fine (my near sight was crazy good before the surgery, so there’s also that. I just couldn’t see anything that was like more than 10 feet away).
On the other hand my great grandma got reading glasses at 91. And she was an avid bible reader, too.
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u/Material-Bird-1912 7h ago
I wish my prescription was low enough for just readers. I have a very thick glasses prescription ever since I was about 4-5 years old.
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u/SpiralBreeze 6h ago
No, not yet, but if I do, I’ll get them from my parents who get the 5 pack from Costco and still manage to lose them all over the house, as one does.
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u/tangledbysnow 5h ago
Worn glasses since I was 7 so I am close to 4 decades in. I never wore contacts due to my astigmatism. I also had to wear bifocals from age 7 to 18 because of my eyes. They got more nearsighted as I got older. I switched to progressives a couple years ago right around 40. Everyone kept saying it would take time for me to get used to them but it was maybe a day? Seriously. I think it’s because I wore bifocals so long as a kid. It’s really not that bad. I like being able to see.
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u/foolishle 5h ago
I have “reading glasses” but they actually don’t have any magnification… they just correct my astigmatism. Trying to read stuff with my regular distance lenses makes things too small.
Actually I hardly wear my regular distance glasses and they just sit in front of the TV. I wear the reading ones the rest of the time when I am home. I wear sunglasses when I am outside.
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u/Porthos1013 Older Millennial 4h ago
I think this is the year I finally pull the trigger on bifocals 😭
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u/focusfoxx Millennial 3h ago
I’m 38. I wore glasses from 8-28 and then got LASIK. Sometimes I have to wear very low level readers when I do diamond paintings. That’s a very specific example, but it’s the only time I ever need them. Lol
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u/Redditor2684 11h ago
Been wearing corrective lenses since age 7. Now 42. Will need progressive lenses within the next few years.
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u/Diligent-Lettuce-455 11h ago
My eyes don't have problem adjusting yet, but I'm sure it's going to happen at some point as we age.
My issue is mostly astigmatism, so off the shelf readers won't really fix that anyway. I'll have to get specific glasses for close up tasks and one for distance
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u/ljedediah41 11h ago
44, Started wearing glasses this year after being proud of not needing them. Things got blurry up close and thought it was bc of medication. Realized it wasnt getting better. Saw eye dr and got no line bifocal where top is almost no change. Added the transitions sunglasses to them so I dont have to keep up with sunglasses either. Still taking a lot to get used to the whole deal.
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u/throwingwater14 Xennial 11h ago
Contacts/glasses in normal life. 1x readers for cross stitch as needed.
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u/nzfriend33 11h ago
I do, but I do wear them most of the time. They really help with eye strain which is a migraine trigger for me and something I avoid as much as I can, lol.
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u/julesgolde 11h ago
I had perfect vision my whole life into a couple years ago at 38. I started using readers for crafting mostly. Then my long distance vision started going so now I'm in progressives and I have terrible night vision even with glasses. My eyes went from perfect to trash in a short time lol. It's been an adjustment, but my eyes hurt so bad without glasses, and I have BVD so my glasses greatly help with that as well. They help my motion sickness especially.
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u/Conscious-Reality-20 10h ago
No readers needed yet. But ive also been in contacts for the last 18 years 🙃
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u/Significant_Cat_2897 Older Millennial 10h ago
Not readers but I just got single vision lenses that have a *boost* at the bottom of the lens to help with digital eye strain. My eye doc has assured me they are NOT bifocals, although he could prescribe those to me if I wanted.
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u/PaceIsTheTrick64 10h ago
I wear glasses full time and am horribly nearsighted. A couple years ago, I noticed I had to pull my glasses down to read my phone, read mail, read credit card machines.
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u/grassesbecut 10h ago
Been one step better than 20/20 without glasses for my whole life so far. Which is insane to me because literally everyone else in my immediate family (except my brother) has pretty bad astigmatism
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u/Round_Warthog1990 10h ago
My husband uses readers but definitely for more than just reading.
I don't need them quite yet, but I'm getting there. I've had to enlarge the font on my computers and phone so I can see.
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u/AllTheStars07 10h ago
I already have glasses for nearsightedness and got progressive bifocals added last year. I’m 43.
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u/ImDisneyAF 10h ago
I'm 46 & this is the first year I need them A LOT.. I basically cannot see ipad/phone well w/o it. UGH I had LASIK in 2007 that lasted 10 yrs or so.
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u/chibirachy 10h ago
Had glasses most my life, but only for computers and driving. I do not need them to read. My distance vision is great (left eye), but my right eye can only see things up close. My eyes do not work together like a normal person. They switch based on what I’m trying to look at
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u/IHaveSomeOpinions09 Older Millennial 10h ago
Not yet, which is unexpected (I’m 43). I had PRK in my 20s and they said I would need readers 5-10 years sooner than anticipated. My mom was in readers at 40 and I’m still fine.
I do wear glasses when driving at night, but that’s because of the astigmatism.
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u/Forest_Orc 10h ago
My near vision collapsed this year, went from these small lines are hard to read to can't read at less than 50cm in like 6 month. And it's way more annoying than it sounds (luckily glasses fix it)
I skipped the OTC ones, an eye infection this winter brought me to the eye doctor and I got my first prescription for glasses as an extra. I tried OTC one at the prescribed strength they just suck. So Using vision coverage + a buy 1 get 1 free I got a pair of optician made readers and a pair of office progressive. Even the first one are way better than OTC readers (the light blur at distance doesn't make me dizzy and the gain in near vision offset it) and while the office progressive only do near and intermediate, the remaining intermediate correction doesn't bother me at all.
I still try to avoid using them at work, because it's the step I miss to end up most of the day but my screen gets harder to read and it's a matter of month. However, I wear them more than the foreseen 2h a day. I need glasses to read ingredient when shopping or to cuddle with my partner without squinting. So very often I put the office progressive before hands, just easier.
So I guess that the glass free era is over and that in a couple of years, I'll put them first thing in the morning.
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u/hyggegreen 10h ago
I've been very nearsighted and needed glasses or contacts since 1st grade. My prescription is -8.75 😅. So far no changes to my prescription in my late 30s.
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u/plantpotions 10h ago
I don’t know where to get cute ones! They’re all shaped the same and look horrible on my face. I’d like to try on different styles. A lens store perhaps?
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u/Lunavixen15 Millennial 10h ago
I have had bifocals since I was 15. I do prefer separate distance and reading glasses though as I hate bifocal lenses, I keep looking through the wrong part
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u/ckglle3lle 9h ago
Early 40s and my vision has always been great and continues to be solid overall. The only two notable things is that my close focus distance has decreased a bit. Anything within about 10" starts to get blurry now. Also I have noticed an uptick of floaters in the past year or so which is a bit more of a bummer because there's not much to do about that. My older brother is in his early 50s and has finally had to embrace readers, he still has good vision overall but he needs them at the computer sometimes. So maybe if I'm lucky I'll have another 10 years or so before it hits.
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u/brookuslicious 9h ago
Just contacts for me. I’m in the negs so my vision is terrible and has been since 5th grade.
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