Reading Glasses Magnification Is Key To Better Sight
Reading Glasses Magnification
Reading glasses for magnification come in a lot of strengths. The numbers indicate the degree of magnification. Very weak reading glasses might be labeled .75 or 1.00. When you buy ready made reading glasses, there are often charts to tell you what strength to buy. You read rows of letters until you come to one you cannot read and buy the corresponding strength. Other charts tell which strength to try based on your age. As you get older, you may need greater reading glasses magnification.
People who don’t need prescription glasses for other reasons are probably Ok trying ready made reading glasses. Prebyopia is very common after age forty. The eyes lose their ability to adjust to distance and near vision is most commonly affected. If you don’t want to remove your reading glasses to see far away, they have lineless bifocals. When you look down to read you will be looking through the magnified lens, but you can look up and see in the distance. Half glasses are another way to compensate. You can look over them to see in the distance.
If you subtract one from the diopter strength, it will tell you the degree of magnification. For example, if the glasses are marked 1.25, they magnify the print by 25%. If they are 4.0, the magnification is 300% and so on. Diopter strengths increase in increments of .25.
Typically ready made reading glasses are offered in 1.0-3.0 diopters. Some companies make them larger. Prescription reading glasses may come in many degrees of magnification and because each eye is different, it may vary. The right
lens may be stronger than the left and vice versa.
Maybe you don’t want to take your reading glasses everywhere. They do make very handy liittle credit card size magnifiers that you can use discreetly to check out a menu or price tag. They are not suitable for reading, but are convenient to use for small tasks. Reading glasses of varying magnifications also come in fold up or ìflapjack stylesî. These fit easily into a pocket or hand bag. I keep a pair in my purse to red menus and price tags. They are also nice to read directions on over the counter medications. Did you ever notice how tiny the print on aspirin bottles is? My mother in law used to say ìDon’t get old.î To which my husband replied, ìIt’s better than the alternative.î You’re not getting older, just more experienced, so embrace it and accept a little help from reading glasses for magnification when you need them..
