Hobbies often require specific equipment, even glasses
At Allegro Optical Opticians in Meltham, we like to think a little “Out of the box”. We know that a “one size fits all” approach often fails to produce an optical solution that performs well at all distances. It is very rare for one pair of spectacles to provide adequate performance for all the demands of today’s busy lifestyles. Particularly for the over 50s. We see clients every day wanting specialist lenses. Mostly they want musician’s spectacles to help them with their profession or hobby. But recently we have seen an increase in Hobbyists attending our practice, wanting an optical solution when crafting.In fact, many of our staff are very “crafty.”
Our Optometrist, Claire is an avid crafter, enjoying hobbies such as knitting and card making. Receptionists Josie and Jill both enjoy a spot of crafting with Josie producing some amazing quilts and applique, while Jill creates some fabulous chocolate creations and is a creative mind behind the amazing window displays in Meltham. So needless to say our team really do understand the visual requirements of the crafter. A crafty Solution Recently we were visited by a lovely lady Diane Whitehouse, she enjoys paper crafting, cardmaking and more recently painting. In fact, she is showing her work in her first exhibition experience during November and December. The exhibition will be in Hebden Bridge at the Xpresso Arts Studio Annual Show. The exhibition is being held at the Hebden Bridge Visitors Centre from 1st November to 31st December.
Although an experienced varifocal wearer, Diane was finding that her varifocal lenses didn’t provide a large enough area for her crafting. She was struggling to focus at the distances her hobbies required for any length of time. As a result, Diane had cut back on it.
The more time spent working at mid-distance, the more risks of developing eyestrain and other symptoms similar to those of computer vision syndrome. That’s because while crafting, the eyes remain focused and perfectly aligned at a specific distance for long periods of time. Tiring the eyes much more quickly than reading a magazine or newspaper.
Paper, Scissors, Specs
Diane explained her vision issues to Claire and she recommended some spectacles designed specifically for intermediate and close-up distances. Frequently referred to as computer or office lenses. Occupational or vocational lenses give the best correction for the distances associated with crafting and many hobbies.
Diane took to her new lenses straight away. She found the wider area provided by them to be ideal for her hobbies. She said “Thank you for introducing me to Vocational Lenses. As you know I do a lot of paper crafting, cards and the like. Having a separate pair of glasses with Vocational Lenses has helped enormously with this hobby. Indeed with any close and short distance work. So much so that I have expanded my interests into painting and have my first exhibition exposure in Hebden Bridge in November. Thank you for helping me cope with this new interest which gives me so much pleasure.”
The team at Allegro Optical know all about speciality eyewear — spectacle lenses designed specifically for certain tasks — You could say it’s our speciality! So if you’re struggling with certain tasks and your varifocals aren’t quite suitable for the job in hand give us a call on 01484 907090 and chat to one of our team. 
