In many cases, yes, especially if your main problem is presbyopia, the age-related decline in the ability to see small print up close because the eyes lose their ability to change shape and focus at different distances.
As you approach 40, this focusing ability deteriorates, and while distance vision often remains good, close vision does not. “Presbyopia happens to everyone,” said Dr. Elliott Myrowitz, an optometrist and assistant professor of ophthalmology at the Wilmer Eye Institute at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine.
Store-bought glasses are fine for presbyopia if your eyes are equal and healthy, said Dr. Bonnie Henderson, director of the comprehensive ophthalmology service at the Massachusetts Eye and Ear Institute. But because the store-bought lenses are equal in magnification, they may not help as much if one eye is stronger than the other.
Nor do they help if you have astigmatism, in which the cornea (the clear dome in the front of the eye) is abnormally shaped. That needs to be corrected with a prescription.
Store-bought glasses can sometimes help compensate for mild vision problems, either up close or far away.
Since drug store glasses are cheap — $15 or so — it makes sense to try these first before handing over at least $100 for prescription glasses.
But get your eyes checked every year or so, especially after age 40, anyway, to make sure you don’t have glaucoma or problems with your retinas. You should also consider switching to prescription glasses if your drug-store lenses cause eye fatigue, headaches, excessive blinking or problems re-focusing between close-up and far-away tasks. Neither store-bought nor prescription glasses weaken or damage your eyes, so use them as often as you need to.