Varifocal prescription glasses correct both your near and far sight. Traditionally in order to correct both your short and long sightedness you would have had to choose bifocal glasses. Bifocals tend to look quite unattractive as they have a clear lens within a lens appearance and can make the wearer appear "bug eyed".

Varifocals in contrast have no visible lenses and appear to both the wearer and others to be no different from standard single vision glasses.

For the wearer, the prescription of the varifocal lens changes progressively from the top to the bottom of the lens. Therefore for nearsight use such as reading a newspaper the wearer simply looks through the lower part of the lens. For longer-distance uses such as driving, you just look through the top part of the lens.

It's a brilliant solution and one that's not too expensive. Whilst you will pay a premium for your varifocal prescription compared to standard single vision glasses it is normally well worth it in terms of appearance and practicality. Depending on the exact specification of the lens you choose, the extra cost can be anywhere from £30 to £120.