How to Use Reading Glasses

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By eHow Contributing Writer

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If your arms suddenly aren't long enough to read the paper, consider yourself lucky--you have survived your youth and are still around to develop presbyopia, an age-related vision problem. Presbyopia occurs when your eyes' internal lenses lose the ability to change their shape. Following are steps for using reading glasses to help you see better should you be having issues with deteriorating eyesight.

Difficulty: Easy

Instructions

Step 1

Determine your reading needs. If you spend extended periods of time reading, you may want full-sized lenses, which are more comfortable to wear, but will make distant objects blurry. If you look up from your reading frequently, you should get half lenses you wear low on your nose so you can look over them at distant objects.
Step 2

Try over-the-counter glasses first. Buy one pair and see if you can read clearly without eyestrain or headaches.
Step 3

Get more than one pair if over-the-counter glasses work for you. Put a pair in every room where you read, in your purse or car, and on your desk at work. They aren't very expensive, so buying multiple pair won't empty your bank account.
Step 4

See your optometrist if you can't find an over-the-counter pair of glasses you can use comfortably. He or she can prescribe a pair to meet your exact prescription and reading needs. These glasses will be considerably more expensive however.
Step 5

Consider no-line progressive lenses if you already wear glasses and the idea of using bifocals is an unpleasant one.

Tips & Warnings

Over-the-counter reading glasses come in hundreds of styles. Get a pair to wear around your neck, a tiny pair that fits in a pen-sized case you can clip to your pocket, sunglasses with reading lenses built in, pairs that make you look like a schoolmarm and pairs that made you look like Elton John. Have fun.
Be aware that you will need stronger glasses as you age. If reading becomes more difficult or less comfortable, get new ones.
Even if you get your reading glasses over-the-counter, see your optometrist regularly. He or she can check for other problems such as glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy and macular degeneration, all of which can result in blindness if left untreated.
Avoid wearing reading glasses for computer work. Most who try this strain not only their eyes but their necks because of the posture they are forced to adopt. Ask you optometrist for a pair specifically for computer work.

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