Note that your “reading power” and the “add power” on your prescription are two different things. The “add power” is the amount of magnification that is added to your distance correction that’s needed for reading up close. The “reading power” is the total corrective strength needed for you to see something clearly at 45 to 55cm. Ask your eye doctor about it on your next visit.
Reading glasses are not suitable for vision at a distance. Looking across the room through them will be blurry. You’ll need to remove your readers to see with your natural vision or switch to your prescription distance pair. If you have an "add power" and want to see far away and up close without switching glasses, a pair of progressive lenses or bifocals will provide vision at both working distances for your convenience.
A tutor for the emperor in ancient Rome claimed that he read every book in the city through a glass globe filled with water to magnify the print.
Reading glasses for those over age 40 became more and more popular when they arrived in England. They were so valuable that the Worshipful Company of Spectacle Makers, founded in London in 1629, called them “a blessing to the aged.”
If you notice your vision gets blurry when you focus on near objects and you can’t see the small print clearly without squinting or enlarging the text, you may need reading glasses.
This is very common for those aged 40+, when you may develop a common condition called presbyopia. You can easily improve your vision with a pair of reading glasses that look stylish and allow you to indulge in your favourite activities with clear, comfortable vision.
⛔ If you have astigmatism, which is noted in your cylinder (CYL) power and axis value of your prescription, a pair of drugstore readers may not be ideal. You may see a “drop shadow” effect when reading the fine print and your eyes may struggle while attempting to focus on letters.
✅ Prescription readers correct astigmatism, making the edges of letters look crisper, so you can read better and faster without having to strain your eyes.
⛔ A pair of drugstore drugstore readers contains the same magnifying power in both the left and right lenses. They won’t take into account any power difference between your eyes (if you have one), which can cause one eye to work harder than the other.
✅ Prescription readers ensure you’ll get the exact correction that both your eyes need, allowing your eyes to look through the lens at ease and your brain to feel comfortable adapting to the different powers in each eye.
⛔ Over-the-counter reading glasses use a “standard” pupillary distance (PD) for a one-size-fits-all solution, without aligning the optical centres of the lenses, which could cause headaches and eye strain when reading.
✅ Prescription reading glasses include your customized PD to ensure the optical centres of your lenses are directly in front of your pupils. Now you can enjoy reading again and get the most out of your near vision.
Single vision “reading” glasses are not designed specifically for reading, but more with a specific focal length and working distance in mind.
Most people “read” at anywhere between 45 to 55cm from their eyes, whether they’re reading a novel, working on a tablet, or focusing on other on-hand activities. Reading glasses contain a lens power that is optimized for that range. They provide that power across the entire surface of the lens to give you the widest field of view.
