As I write this blog, inflation has turned the price of eggs and other family staples into a tangible concern for an already tight family budget. So, it’s not surprising that this thrifty mindset extends to seeing things clearly especially seeing things up close. Are you squinting at the fine print on a sketchy car loan? Enter the Clark Kent of the optical world: reading glasses.
So, let’s dive in with a grin and squint about how reading glasses can make your life much better. First, generic readers are just simple magnifiers that are used by people that have presbyopia - a technical term for people that are no longer able to focus on anything closer than a football field.
Your eyes have a focusing system that you were born with and there’s a lens inside your eye that flexes to provide you with the appropriate power to see at nearby. By the time you’re 40, your focusing system is aging and doesn’t work as well so you start to notice some tiredness and strain as you look at your book, computer screen, phone or tablet.
This is where the generic reading glasses come in. The generic reading glasses do the focusing for you and relieve your focusing system of excessive strain kind of like a spotter when you’re lifting weights-sure, they’re helping you hoist the weight, but they’re not making your eye muscles weaker.
The Power Play: Getting the Right Fit
There’s a caveat, the reading glasses must be the right power for the distance that you put the reading material. This means that if you’re looking at your computer screen at arm’s length, that’s a different power than if you’re holding your phone up close. A rule of thumb is that the closer you hold what you’re reading, the more power you need to focus clearly on it. This depends on where your own focusing system is at. Your focusing system is considerably weaker at 65 years old than when you were 40 years old. For the most part, generic reading glasses will work for you if there’s no distance prescription, astigmatism or any underlying eye disease that would potentially harm your vision.
Dollar Store Readers: Bargain or Bust?
Let’s talk about dollar store readers. First, I love the dollar store! I bought lots of cheap toys to use as potty training bribes for my kids. Also, for random things like laundry baskets, candy and office supplies, all for a buck. Who doesn’t love a deal? When I was practicing in the east coast, quite a few of my patients used dollar store readers since they could have a bunch of them lying around. I got optically curious and went into detective mode. I bought a stash of different powers to see what they were like.
First, I read their magnification power with a special instrument called a Lensometer (a nerdy gadget that measures lens power) to see what their exact magnification was. There were stickers on the readers that told me what the magnification was like +1.50, +2.50 or +3.00. What I found was while most of them was ‘as advertised’. Some were off, like sticker said, +1.50 but it was +1.25 or +1.75. Now, you may say, ‘Well that’s close, right?’ It does make a difference, if you really needed a +2.00 to see clearly then a +1.50 would make you see blurry and even give you eyestrain or headache. Also, some of the lenses were distorted (like trying to read through a funhouse mirror) which means that even if it was the right magnification, you would still not see clearly. Just to be fair, it didn’t happen that often, but it does happen sometimes when I was checking dollar store reading glasses.
Another factor to consider is that dollar store reading glasses often are not made of quality materials and are more prone to breaking, chipping, or cracking especially when used daily. Dollar store readers don’t have fancy coatings like anti-glare, UV protection and any protective lens coatings whatsoever.
What I’ve seen with patients is that they have a nice pair of reading glasses that are made of quality materials, clear, undistorted lenses and the right magnification but have a few dollars store reading glasses lying around so if they lose or break them, no big deal.
The Verdict: Cheap vs. Quality
Reading glasses - cheap or not - won’t damage your eyes in daily situations. Just think of them as your phone or remote control - tools to help you get through your day without turning into a squinting meme. Dollar store readers are okay for backups - like the emergency bag of peanuts in your drawer - but when it comes to everyday wear, invest in a quality pair of reading glasses so when you sneeze, they don’t break.
Final thoughts
In these egg-price gauging times, it’s tempting to cut back including your vision. But, if there is no underlying eyeglass prescription or pathology, reading glasses will not harm your eyes unless you use them to look up at an eclipse of the sun (don’t do that). If you have the right expectations that generic reading glasses will only magnify your reading material but not correct vision, dollar store readers will not be as durable as quality reading glasses and will be used as backups and not your main readers, it should be okay.
