What Reading Glasses Strength Do I Need?

Much like death and taxes, reading glasses are one of those things you can count on in life. After you hit that milestone 40th birthday, it's like a switch turns off and your once-amazing eyesight is suddenly a blurred mess that makes menus and text messages archenemy number one.

Forty may be the new 30, but presbyopia (age-related far-sightedness) didn't get the message and still insists on kicking in at the four-decade mark no matter how much yoga you do and green tea you drink. Even if you've never worn glasses in the past, most people find they need reading glasses to make small print manageable.

Finding the Right Strength

While reading glasses don’t need to be as accurate as prescription eyeglasses, finding the right strength is important so that headaches, dizziness, or nausea don't occur.

The corrective strengths (or powers) of readers typically range from +1.0 to +3.0. On occasion, you'll find a pair with the diopter (magnification measurement) of +4.0. The power of readers increases in increments of .25 diopters (e.g., +1.0, +1.25, +1.50, +2.0, etc.).

Take our reading glasses strength test to find the right strength for your reading glasses, then shop our wide selection of affordable reading glasses so you can finally respond to those text messages.