If you’ve never heard the term “reading glasses” then if you ask your grandparents, it’s most likely they’ll be able to tell you the answer as they’ve probably used them for some time in their lives. Reading glasses, as the name suggests, are a pair of glasses designed for close-up reading, particularly for those objects less than an arm’s length. They are usually prescribed as a treatment for presbyopia, an eye condition that occurs when a person reaches his 40’s. He loses the ability to focus on nearby objects but distant and mid-range vision are not affected.
Reading glasses may come in two forms. Full reading glasses take up the whole lens and are entirely for close-up focus. If you devote a lot of your time looking at close-up objects then this type of reading glasses may be perfect for you. If you do look up and far away through the lens, then things may appear blurry. Half-eye reading glasses may sound strange if you think about them but they’re basically made for you to look down and through them for close-up vision. You need to look up and over the glasses to look far away. First time users may need to get used to half-eye reading glasses first before they can shift to bifocals. You may need bifocals, a combination of reading glasses and prescription glasses, if you also need correction for your distant vision.
Reading glasses usually have chains that you hang around your neck so that you can easily have access to them if you need to use them. Others have their own handy cases, with foldable glasses, for portability.
Nowadays, there are a number of fashionable frames to make your reading glasses seem less severe. Others can even have a UV Tint added to the lens if you need to read in the sun.