Supermarket reading glasses do help me see. My Optometrist warned me not to use them. Why is my vision now getting worse?

There is really no medical reason not to use "drugstore" reading glasses when you need help seeing things up close. They will not damage our sight in any way nor will they make you dependent upon glasses by making your vision worse. It is true that better quality optics are generally going to cost more, but most people using reading glasses need to have several pair.

That is not to say your near vision will not get worse as you get older while using those reading glasses -it typically will. But that will happen with or without using reading glasses. The problem is called Presbyopia.

Written by J. Trevor Woodhams, M.D. - Chief of Surgery, Woodhams Eye Clinic