Your optometrist can take a careful look at your eyes and test your vision to determine what type of corrective lenses you might need as you get older. Vision changes happen, and can come on over a period of time. When you find yourself peering over the top of your existing glasses to read, it's time to see an optometrist to check your vision and make any changes to your glasses that are necessary. If you already wear glasses, you may need to make changes to the lenses to make reading up close easier on your eyes. Your optometrist will review your current prescription and test both your near and far vision to see what type of glasses you need to read and see far away to drive.
When You Can't Read With Glasses On
If you find yourself continually taking off your glasses to read or peering over the top of your glasses to see your phone, you probably need progressive lenses. When you wear glasses to see far away, the lenses you look through must be overcome in order to see up close. As your eyes get older, they may struggle to see through the prescription in order to read up close. Progressive lenses allow you to see far away, but the prescription is reduced or eliminated part way down the lens so that you can look down and read.
If You Need to Enlarge the Print
When taking off your glasses is not enough to be able to read, you may need bifocals in order to see up close. This means that you will have glasses that serve a dual purpose and they will include two prescriptions. You'll wear your glasses to drive, see far away, but also to read. You might be able to try a few different cheap pairs of reading glasses to see if they help. You will have to take off the glasses you are wearing to put on the reading glasses, a hassle for most people. Glasses that include both prescriptions can make it easier to see throughout the day without changing your glasses.
Vision changes can come on so slowly that you don't realize you are making accommodations in order to see while reading or looking far away. If you are having a hard time reading and it's new, visit your optometrist to see what is available to you for prescription glasses.