Login Glasses Contact lenses Sunglasses Accessories Offers Eye health Find a store Book an appointment HomeGlassesBuyers guideChoosing varifocal lenses Choosing varifocal glasses Varifocal lenses have more than one prescription in each lens, meaning you can use the same pair of glasses or sunglasses for looking at short and long distances. Often, as you get older you begin to struggle to clearly see some things up close. This makes it harder to do everyday tasks like reading. This is where varifocal lenses can help. Rather than needing to carry around different glasses for long and short-sightedness, you can use varifocals for both. How do varifocals work? Also known as multifocal lenses, the prescription for short sightedness is at the bottom of the lens, at the prescription for seeing things far away is at the top. This means you can sit in the park reading a book and enjoying the view without needing to swap glasses when you lift your head. There is also a transitional area in the middle of the lens, which is for looking at medium viewing distances, such as your cars dashboard. There are also many other features compatible with varifocal lenses, such as UV protection and anti-reflection coating. With some varifocal lenses, there can be some distortion between the long, short and transitional parts of the lens. However, this is often reflective of the lens quality. With higher quality varifocals, the less blue and distortion there is between the different areas of the lens. Reading Intermediate Distance Benefits of varifocals As mentioned, varifocal lenses mean you can see clearly from all distances; short, far and everything in between. These convenient lenses reduce the need for you to carry around more than one pair and needing to change them every time you look at different distances. Varifocal lenses can also help with the eye condition presbyopia. This affects many people as they reach 40. Symptoms include blurred vision, poor vision in darker environments, eye strain and headaches. Presbyopia can be diagnosed during a routine eye test. Varifocal glasses can also save you money. They do tend to be more expensive than a single pair of glasses but save you from needing two pairs if you struggle with both near and farsightedness. Packages and lenses We have several types of varifocal lenses for you to choose from, so you can tailor the varifocal lenses to your needs and lifestyle. You can talk to us in store for some help and advice choosing the right varifocals to you. We can give you an eye test to get the right prescription. You can find out more about these glass lens options. Find out more about lenses Myths about varifocals Many people are discouraged to wear varifocal lenses, due to some misinformation and myths surrounding these convenient lenses. One of these myths is that varifocals make your eyes weak. They in fact reduce eye strain which can prevent your eyes from becoming weak. Another myth states that you cannot drive in varifocals. However, many varifocals are designed specifically for driving. They are ideal as you can easily switch from looking at the road to the dashboard. Another stigma surrounding varifocals is that they aren’t very stylish and are usually bulky. However, varifocal glasses and sunglasses are available from several leading designer brands, with stylish frames and thin, sleek lenses. You can see some stylish varifocal lenses as chosen by Gary Lineker. Finally, one of the most common misconception about varifocal lenses is that they are expensive. As mentioned, a single pair of glasses with varifocal lenses can be more expensive than a pair for just short or long distance. However, if you struggle to see long and short distances clearly, buying one pair of varifocal glasses is cheaper than buying two other pairs. We are also offering 33% off varifocal lenses. Getting used to varifocal glasses It can take a while to get used to any new glasses, with varifocals being no different. The best way to get used to varifocal glasses is by using them. You can do this by picking up a book to get used to the different depths and distances. You may have to reposition your head when reading with varifocals than you would with normal reading glasses. If you tip your nose towards whatever you’re reading and keep your chin up, you will be reading through the correct, bottom part of the lens. This will be clearer for you and reduce eye strain. If you experience some blurriness around the edges of your varifocal glasses, this is nothing to worry about. It can take a couple days or even weeks for your eyes to adjust to this. However, if they don’t, you can come into one of our stores and we can adjust these for you. Varifocal contact lenses Varifocal contact lenses are also available if you’d prefer to wear these rather than glasses, whether for special occasions or every day. Also known as multifocal contact lenses, just like with varifocal glasses, these contact lenses have multiple prescriptions in each lens, enabling you to clearly see objects close, far away and everything in between. Vision Express About Vision Express IE About Vision Express Careers Store locator FAQs Help and information Contact us Delivery information Free 100 day returns Free lifetime servicing Breakage protection Product recalls Our wider impact Corporate social responsibility Charitable partners Modern Slavery Act Gender pay gap report Blog Stay up to date Accessibility Cookie policy Legal notices Privacy policy © Vision Express 2021. All rights reserved. Our cookies We use cookies, which are small text files to improve your experience on our website and to show you personalised content. 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