Can I wear reading glasses to for reading off a computer screen?

November 15, 2022 12:27 PM

I recently got reading glasses. A ridiculously weak prescription, but still, I enjoy reading so much more. And it's come to my attention that if I wear them while at my computer, I enjoy reading that more, too. But when I google this I'm just getting "no, reading glasses don't cut blue light or glare." Ok...but they make everything more in focus!! I like that. Is it safe for my eyes to use my reading glasses to read off the computer. Computer is at about the same distance as a book would be.
posted by If only I had a penguin... to Health & Fitness (21 answers total)

If you're looking at the computer monitor with bare eyes, you're getting everything the display is emitting. If you put any type of glasses in between your eyes and the display, there's *some* filtering going on. So anyone trying to convince you that somehow glasses are less healthy to view computer screens with unless they're somehow special filtery glasses is trying to sell you a load of hoohey.

So, yeah: there are images at a distance that your eyes need some assistance to focus at. The glasses give your eyes that assistance. Use the glasses.
posted by straw at 12:32 PM on November 15, 2022 [11 favorites]

You can even get special glasses for computers, even - glare filter and blue light filter are two options, and you usually get a slightly different focus so that best sight is within a meter or so (you may be used to holding a book far away because of your farsightedness), but no-one's stopping you from getting those filters on plain reading glasses. In my country all people with non-standard sight working with computers are entitled to have their employers finance a pair of glasses every two years for that reason.
posted by I claim sanctuary at 12:49 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I have a very week prescription for my almost ok eyes, specifically for computer distance, with blue light filter. They make such a difference. If you have a simple prescription you can get a whole pair made up on some real cute frames at like a $30-50 price point.
posted by phunniemee at 12:54 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

The people selling special computer filter glasses are paying a lot of money to get their sales pitch to show up in the search results. There's nothing harmful about looking at a computer screen unfiltered!
posted by panic at 1:05 PM on November 15, 2022 [14 favorites]

Research is contradictory on whether blue light filtering helps, and it’s not like you have any blue light filtering when you’re not wearing glasses at all. If they help you see the computer screen more clearly and comfortably, then you should be wearing reading glasses. Once you figure out what power reading glasses you like for computer use (it may not be the same as what you use for reading a book) you can buy a pair with that power that also filters blue light. Until then: don’t worry about it.
posted by fedward at 1:05 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

Join me in easy-to-read bliss! If your reading glasses work for your computer, wear them!
posted by BlahLaLa at 1:12 PM on November 15, 2022 [5 favorites]

It sounds to me like the small assist in the near distance focus that you get from your reading glasses when you read is also helping you when the read the screen. If the screen is at similar distance to a book then it makes total sense that the glasses help in the same way. Even if the screen is a bit further, it is still closer than objects at the usual range for distance vision so the glasses can still help. This is just about them doing the job they were explicitly designed for (help you eyes focus on up-close objects) and has nothing to do with glare or blue light.
posted by metahawk at 1:16 PM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Most phone/tablet and computer operating systems have settings you can add to redden your screen (i.e. reduce blue light being displayed), so getting filtered glasses is less necessary than it used to be. Typically this function is intended to reduce blue light exposure for people who are about to go to bed, though, because that's when it most affects you. However, "sleep hygeine" is a slightly complicated subject and mostly relevant to people with a sleep disorder or just have a hard time getting to sleep.

It sounds like you're talking about regular screen time during the day (or your schedule's day at least). I'd say don't sweat the blue light during that time.
posted by Sunburnt at 1:18 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I note that every time I go to the eye doctor now, they are pushing for me to get eyeglasses JUST for looking at the computer and only the computer.

Honestly, it's probably fine. If you feel fine/have no problems, go for it.
posted by jenfullmoon at 1:48 PM on November 15, 2022

I've been using my reading glasses for the computer too since I started needing reading glasses more than thirty years ago. I get my reading glasses from the drugstore.

I just saw an ophthalmologist for other reasons, I told him I used non-prescription readers for both books and computer and he said that was fine.

The readers I have now are actually marketed as glasses for computer work, I use them for both.
posted by mareli at 1:57 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I saw an eye doctor who said drug store or ebay readers are fine and most people choose the right strength. I buy them in bulk because I lose them all the time.
posted by theora55 at 2:10 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

Over fifteen years in. Nothing to complain about.
posted by philip-random at 2:39 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

You know what else doesn't cut blue light and glare? Naked eyeballs. So this is really no worse than not wearing glasses at all, it isn't like they're magically amplifying that blue light...

As for being the wrong strength, I would go for 'if it helps, do it'. I have computer glasses now, but that's because my eyes need correction for both near and far at this point and it turns out neither is good enough for mid-distance work. Prior to six months ago, I was technically wearing the wrong prescription for monitor work, so it's not the end of the world.

One day, you might decide you want a half-strength prescription for computer glasses (that's basically what opticians do, split the difference between reading and distance, and I'm assuming your distance vision is fine) but if this works for now I'd say go for it.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 3:44 PM on November 15, 2022 [2 favorites]

Depending on your prescription, you may need to talk to an optometrist about this. I asked about drugstore readers, and mine had ado not to laugh in my face (then kindly wrote me a separate prescription for readers.) I think the major problem in my case is that my eyes have very different corrections.

But if it's already working for you, no reason not to do it.
posted by humbug at 4:19 PM on November 15, 2022

I recently got glasses. I don't need them for distance at all, but my eye doctor told me that instead of thinking of them as reading glasses I should think of them as glasses I wear for doing anything that is less than arm's length away. So if your computer screen is about the same distance away from your face as a book, that definitely qualifies!
posted by kate blank at 5:04 PM on November 15, 2022

If it makes you feel better, I have 3 sets of glasses:
1. Progressives which let me read and see distances
2. Computer glasses, which are just an Rx tuned for that distance
3. Music glasses, which just happen to be my previous computer glasses Rx, because that's what seems to work for me.
So yeah, if they make reading easier, read with them.
posted by plinth at 5:47 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

I got some blue blocking reading glasses specifically for computer use at Zenni Optical for pretty cheap, if you want a large number of frames from which to choose. I've been using (increasingly stronger) readers for about a decade now and, being in IT, I used them constantly for computer work.
posted by CuJoe at 6:24 PM on November 15, 2022

Are you by any chance in your 40s or perhaps early 50s or older?

If so, what you are likely experiencing are the very first signs of presbyopia. This is the condition that strikes literally every human somewhere between the 40s to mid 50s, where your eyes lose their ability to change focus. They become fixed focus.

For the average person who has not worn glasses up to this point, this means that your focus is now fixed at infinity and so anything arms length or closer is going to be varying degrees of fuzzy and out of focus.

This comes on gradually, so it first most people don't even realize it is happening. You might be just at the beginning of this process.

Short answer is: Glasses, yes! That is exactly what you need! Lots of people have different powers - one for closer activities like reading and another for intermediate distances like computer use. Depending on your exact needs you might even have a few different strengths for different activities at different distances.

Personally I think it's criminal that this comes as a surprise to so many adults and no one - often not even your ophthalmologist or optometrist - bothers to warn people about this, so I've written quite a bit about, including all sorts of advice about what you can/should do about it - all here.

Long & short of it is - you are now a glasses wearer for the rest of your life! Glad you discovered that solution on your own.

"But I can see just fine at a distance. My vision is perfect!"

Er, yeah, your vision is now very, very imperfect at any distance from about arms length in - and the closer in, the worse. Also, you're likely looking at the first indications of it now & it will get worse over the next 5-10 years.

So - you can see everything perfectly except things arms length & closer. Too bad 90% of the activities of modern life are arms length and closer. That's why you are now a glasses wearer!
posted by flug at 8:27 PM on November 15, 2022 [3 favorites]

They're not really 'reading glasses', just glasses with a prescription that helps you see at a defined range of distances. Anything you're doing within that range will be better with your glasses on, so wear them whenever they make you see better.
posted by dg at 9:02 PM on November 15, 2022 [1 favorite]

In August I got new reading and driving glasses because hereabouts ordinary folk, who aren't fussy about the frames, can get their eyes tested every 2 years and prescriptions filled . . . for free. I was delighted that the degeneration of my formerly ace vision which started in my late 40s was stablising. Nevertheless I got new glasses to the same prescription as back-up.
The Opto asked if there were situations between distance and reading where I was having trouble seeing effectively. I admitted to two similar situations: reading labels on super-market shelves OR watch vids or skyping while sharing a screen with someone else. In each case, it's possible, but inconvenient, to pull whatever it is into focus at about 50cm from my face. But I've found that my +2.50 reading glasses (€3.50 at LIDL) help with these middle distance cases. What the expert told me is that +2.50s are good for 120cm and +3.00 are for slightly closer. Didn't know that, and probably couldn't work it out from first principles.
posted by BobTheScientist at 3:18 AM on November 16, 2022

I'm doing that right now, it's basically just a magnifying glass but computer screens are farther from my face than books and restaurant menus so I need a weaker magnification.
posted by firefly5 at 6:30 AM on November 16, 2022