Specialty Eyewear for Work and Hobbies

Some people discover that their regular glasses are suitable for everything they do except for certain tasks associated with their job or hobbies.

For example, if you wear bifocals, you may find that — unless what you're reading is in your lap — you must tip your head back all day long to use the reading zone in the bottom of the lenses.

You can avoid neck discomfort by purchasing special work glasses that have the reading segment placed higher up in the lenses. Special-design bifocals and trifocals for work-related tasks often are called occupational lenses.

If your hobbies include close-up work such as beading, needlepoint, crafting or anything requiring intense focusing at very close distances, a separate pair of reading glasses may be helpful — perhaps with stronger lenses than you normally would use for reading.

If both your eyes need the same correction, then you can purchase several pairs of inexpensive reading glasses, also called "readers," almost anywhere: drugstores, bookstores and even craft stores.

But if each of your eyes has a different correction need, which is very common, then you'll want to order a custom pair of readers from your eye care practitioner to accurately address the prescription needs of each eye.