Ok, so I'm at that age where my close up vision is getting bad. I wear contact lenses for far vision and started using readers a couple years for occasional use. I'm at the point now where I need them almost all the time, which is really annoying.

I've been using my glasses more often lately, and find I see better than with the contacts. My close up vision is much better and I do better target shooting also.

Contacts are much more confident though. My dad tried all kinds of things, for a while he had one eye corrected for distance, the other for close.

I was just wondering what others have found that worked out.

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Common sense isn't so common.

I never could bring myself to mess with contact lenses. I wear bifocals which take care of my fading eye sight problems pretty well.

I had 20-20 vision until about 58 or so and when my eyes got old and I needed glasses, I was pretty spoiled. I really miss that great vision without glasses, but age takes its toll on all of us sooner or later.

I have just the thing for you. Multi-focus contact lenses. I've worn them for years. Tried the "mono vision" thing (one contact for distance and one for reading) and they didn't work. The multi-focus lenses consists of a series of circles in the center of the lense. When your eye(s) are looking at a distance they hit the outside of the lense. When reading they hit the center (reading) part of the lense. They work great. Threw away my reading glasses years ago.

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It's Alive !!

Does light levels affect them? In bright light the pupil is small. Does that mean the outside ring for far vision isn't used?

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Common sense isn't so common.

Light level does not effect them. My explanation of how they work is probably not exact. But they do work. I've been wearing them for the past 10 years or so. Wear them 24/7 and change them out about once a month. Ask your Optometrist about them and get a trial set.

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It's Alive !!

Never could learn to stick my finger in my eye.

But I could always manage to put my foot in my mouth.

Just pretend this is witty.

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Just pretend this is witty.

My eyes are getting a bit old also. I've needed corrective lenses for
distance since high school. I've been wearing soft contact lenses for
nearly forty years now. With glasses and for the first few years with
contacts my eyes gradually worsened but then started getting better.
My maximum correction needed was -3.5 but for several years now it
has been stable at -2.5. I used to wear my lenses 24/7 and would put
in a new pair about once a month. My close vision without contacts
is perfect but I have to wear reading glasses over the contacts for
good close vision. Since I retired and no longer have to get up early
and hurry out the door I only wear the contacts when I leave my
property. I have a pair of glasses that I use at home as it's so easy
to put them on to watch T V or remove them for reading. I still much
prefer the contacts when away from home because my vision is
better with them than with the glasses, especially at night. I do find
that when shooting rifle or pistol that I see the sights better with
glasses but I much prefer the contacts for shooting Trap.

I was near sighted and started wearing glasses when I was a freshman in high school. I was wearing bifocals by college when my near vision started going. At 40 they told me that I needed trifocals and I decided to look into other options. I did wear contacts for about fifteen years along the way but never really liked them.

When the need for trifocals developed, I started looking into other options. I ended up with laser correction and have been happy ever since. I made appointments with several surgeons and found that I was very comfortable with the fourth doctor who examined me. He had served in the Israeli army and understood the vision required for shooting. He tried me in mono vision contacts to see if I was a candidate, I was.

My left eye tests out at 20/10 for distance. My right eye is corrected for reading, my dashboard, and the front sight of a rifle or pistol. I am not aware of when one eye shifts dominance to the other. Per my doctor's suggestion, I bought a set of cheaters at Costco which I use for very close, small work.

Ten years have passed since I had my surgery done and I am still completely satisfied. Best money I ever spent.

Regards.

Bob

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R. M. Bob Horton
#2170

I wear distance glasses all the time now. Have a few pair of Ace Hardware reading glasses scattered around the house, and usually a pair hanging from my shirt collar when out and about. Funny thing... I can't lose or break $2 reading glasses, but I'm lucky to hold onto my prescription distance glasses and keep them in one piece for 6mo.

A dozen years ago, am now 82, I had a macular hole in the retina. I had surgery to repair it but that created a distortion that will always be there. It has changed my ability to see open sights well and even causes some distortion with a scope. It is not easy or fun getting old but it does beat the alternative. I just go with the flow and realize that my glory days of being a competitive shooter are over. I still love to shoot albeit is now more humbling.

Rather than looking for a solution on the internet, I suggest you see a good optometrist and find out what the latest technology offers you for your dilemma. Possibly there are surgical solutions which would allow you to not need glasses/lenses at all that an up-to-date ophthalmologist could offer you. Don't assume that the problem s age related and unfixable. I had increasing blurriness in my vision despite cataract surgery but discovered that I had a correctable condition and now I am doing fine.

I also had laser surgery but unlike you I did not have a shooting knowledgable Doc, and he did one eye for near and the other for far, BUT he did them backward!!! Left = near, right = far. It has caused me a lot of trouble over the years since it was done.
Now I am using a specially made pair of glasses which correct that mistake. I only use them for shooting. It takes about 30 minutes or so to adjust to them,- at first they are very wacky feeling- but eventually they settle in , then I can do fairly well with them.
Getting old sure aint for sissy`s !!!

I know people who have had laser surgery, but I'm squeamish about people messing with my eyes. As of a couple years ago the odds the result would be good enough to do without corrective lenses was too low for me to consider it worth the risk, especially with affect it had on night vision.

If you go with mono vision lenses, is it best to correct the dominant eye for near or far? I am right hand and right eye dominant, but my left is stronger (-3.5 left, -4.5 right).

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Common sense isn't so common.

Tried contacts some years back. Liked them fine as I was still playing ball at the time. Couldn't keep them from drying out, even with regular use of saline drops. Had to give them up.

I am right handed and was right eye dominant. My left eye was corrected for distance and my right for closer work.

Regards.

Bob

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R. M. Bob Horton
#2170

I was near sighted with near perfect near vision, ideal for working on my gunsmithing bench. I had lasic surgery and got the mono vision option right for distance, left for near. Went back to work and knew immediately that I had made a bad mistake. Fought my vision problems anytime I was working with my hands. I all but quit welding. After 12 years of that I needed cataract surgery. The mono vision was offered again. This time I chose correctly; I went with both eyes for distance. Simple matched lens cheater glasses from Costco are working perfectly at the workbench, lathe and mills. My welds no longer look like bubblegum. My night vision is so clear that it startled me at first. Both eyes test as matching, but my left eye uncorrected sees the front sight on handguns much clearer than my right. I have just moved the handgun over to use my left eye.........easy solution. I am thrilled with the results of the cataract surgery. My neighbor is a Surgical Nurse in an Ophthalmologist Operatory. She tells me that my surgeon is the best in the LV area. She said that there is a big difference in results with eye surgeons. So take your time and check reputations. .............. Big Cholla

back when i was a young pup, i had 20/10 & 20/15 vision, overall great vision. Then in my 40's came some eye muscle issues, eyes wanting to cross a bit and giving me some double vision. As i "matured" to my 50's the eyesight also started to weaken so i've been wearing progressive bifocals with prisms. Got to the point i cant read a thing without them, and if i dont have those prisms in then i deal with the blurred/double vision. Some folks may like 20/20 vision, but as one used to being better than that, 20/20 seems weak for me.

So yes, i'm one of those at the range, tilting my head back a bit to find that sweet spot for my sites and the target lol.

I have worn contact lenses for more than fifty five (55) years.

According to my current eye doc, I am a medical miracle. My vision with contacts is 20/15 and has actually improved over the last decade. That said, I require correction for both near and far vision. I wear contacts when involved in any physical activity or whilst attending sporting events, driving at night, or trying to impress the ladies. Of course, I then use reading glasses when necessary.

Other than that, I wear glasses with progressive lenses most of the time as I read a lot and use my laptop and iPad far too much. Properly prescribed and fitted glasses work extremely well for me.

Not sure if this is useful after reading it...but submitting, regardless.

Be safe.