Can wearing "readers" hurt more than they help ?

You have pain while wearing the glasses, or after you take them off?

When I had that issue, the eye doctor asked me to measure the distance from my head to the computer screen, IN my case it was something like 18 inches.

At that point she did some calculation and figured out where to make the focal point based on that distance, Is that what your person did?

Temporary discomfort from new eyewear is normal.

For someone in your line of work a custom prescription would be recommended.

Starting off with 1.25+ readers is a huge jump for someone who has 20/20. See if you can find and try .50+ or .75+. Before I got script readers even going from 1.50+ up to 1.75+ was a big jump and if all I had were 2+ I would get eye strain headaches after 30 mins. Plus I agree it does take a little time to get used to the readers.

Do you have an astigmatism? I can’t wear regular readers, because they don’t correct for my astigmatism. Especially, not if they are that strong. I can use them for a few minutes if I have to see something, but they “hurt.” Thing is, your opthamologist usually would try to sell you glasses if you have an astigmatism.

Try a weaker pair of cheap glasses, and see if it works.

I disagree new glasses can cause headaches. I had a headache from the first pair of glasses I had prescribed to me. They were for distance. A friend told me to go back and tell the doctor. He said he had only half corrected my vision, because he was afraid I would have trouble adjusting. He redid the glasses all the way and I no longer got headaches.

This year I got my first script for reading and at first it was odd to see the print so large, but I never had any discomfort.

I agree with @Cruiser that you should probably try a lower magnification.
You can buy readers at places like the Dollar Tree, and while those might not be best for long term use, they’re a good way to try glasses out and perhaps have a travel pair.

@Cupcake: Both.

@elbanditoroso: She did not, but that sound very thorough. I’ll ask my Opthomologist about that. Thank you.

@SecondHandStoke: That’s what I would have thought too, but my doc said no to a prescription.

@Cruiser: Hmmm, maybe so. I did not know they made them at such a low magnification. I’ll look for those. Good idea.

@JLeslie: No astigmatism.

@ibstubro: Ooh, there’s a dollar tree near my house. I will check it out.

The lowest diopter galsses yo can buy in the cheap stores is +1.0 diopter. That means when you wear those glasses and look at something 1 meter away your eyes are focused as if they are looking at infinity. Diopter is 1 / focal length. You should never look beyond 1 meter with +1.00 glasses.
If you get a pair of glasses in +0.5 diopters (I buy them from Zenni optical for $6.75) that means your eyes will be focuses at infinity when looking at something 2 meters away. Never look beyond 2 meters with those glasses.

I have made a few pair of -0.5 Yes, minus. I wear tose as exercise for my eyes to slow the progression of far sightedness. and the need to wear glasses. When I am going to be looking at something far away for along time – like driving or I wear th3 -0.5 to make my eyes focus at 2 meters. It works great! My eyes adjust; and wen I take temn off I can see closer distances easily.

Note I wear the exercise glasses so I don’t need to wear glasses. I get the irony.

@LuckyGuy: Good to know. I will check out Zenni as well.