Went back to progressives when couldn’t see the car dash- intermediate distance when driving. Love progressives. Over the years my eyes have continued to change and have needed new Rx’s. Different brands (eg Crizal and Lenscrafters) have different shapes to the different strengths. Also different lens materials and coatings can change things.
For now it seems as though you have an acceptable solution. Expect changes in the future, do more research then and see what is available.
Oh, those wonderful aging eyes! Sometimes I Iook forward to cataracts and lens replacement surgery so I can see the time without lifting my bedside clock close to my face.
I have tried progressives twice over the last decade or so and both ended up in a drawer. What I cannot get used to is that the prescription part of the glasses does not go all the way to the sides of the glasses. While I got used to looking through the three areas of lenses looking straight ahead, as soon as I turn my head I get dizzy, as everything blurs. It’s particularly disconcerting when driving.
No one else I know has that problem. Can anyone here relate?
When I picked up my first pair of progressives (at age 58) the optician told me not to swing my head side to side a lot at first (it makes everything"swim") but to give myself a bit of time to get used to looking at different distances by raising or lowering my chin. Then I could progress to turning my head a bit and looking at different distances, etc. You won’t experience “swim” upon turning your head once you have learned where your chin needs to be for things to be in focus. It’s part of adapting to the progressives. It becomes automatic, and then you no longer get dizzy.
Ideally people get their first progressives in their 40s, when they first begin to need bifocals. Typically the “add” (the reading Rx) is a low number at that point, so the glasses can be made with smaller blurred zone to the right and left of the in-focus corridor. As the “add” Rx increases (which happens as we get older) the area of blur on the lens has to be larger and more intensely blurred. (This is unavoidable and is caused by the mathematical realities of making multifocal lenses without lines.)
This is why it’s so hard for older people to adapt to progressives if they didn’t get them earlier on. By age 58, when I got mine, the blur zone was huge, and it took me 5 months to adapt! (But I adapted fast to my second pair.)
See the chart on post # 2 of the following page of Optiboard-- it shows you how the blur zone intensifies and expands as the reading Rx, the “add”, goes up. The white, mushroom-shaped corridor in the middle is the part of the lens that is in focus. The corridor gets narrower as the reading Rx goes up. (There are different progressive lens designs that keep the reading area wider, or the distance area wider…you have to rob Peter to pay Paul, though. Gain width in one zone, but lose it in another. You can talk to your optician about which zone you need to prioritize. Pricier lens designs may give you wider zones.)
(Note: “astigmatism” on this chart refers not to astigmatism you may have in your eyes, but to the blurred part of the eyeglass lens, which is also called astigmatism.)
My question is: how old were you when you first got your progressives, and how long did you try adapting to them before giving up? If you began later in life, I’m thinking maybe it just took too long for you to adapt, to be practical for your life.
This is why many people who try progressives for the first time when they’re older end up trading them in for trifocals.
My first pair was at age 44. I got used to them in a few days. But I did not get a new pair of glasses till 48. Boy the big jump up in power of the “add on” was difficult to get used to. I got used to them after a few weeks.
I too finally got used to the progressive lenses and then decided to get progressive contact lenses. It was the same “learning curve” all over again, had to hold things at a funny angle at first to read fine print.
Bottom line: if your glasses don’t work as you need, go back. That may mean a re-exam.
I have a friend who an optician. He recently said the Rx is critical, that It’s common that many exams settle on an easy compromise solution, not real precision. Then, that the lab has to produce quality lenses. Both could be an issue with going for the most inexpensive provider.
I had progressives for years. Adjusted easily, in terms of no head spin when out or turning my head quickly. But useless for reading. That was frustrating. The field of vision for that was too small, for my habits. I’d take off my glasses, to read most things or on the computer. My next 2 pairs weren’t progressive. They’re fine when looking at the car dashboard. But yeah, I take them off for reading. Sigh. In fact, I only wear them for driving or in buildings where I need to read signs.
This is all so YMMV. What makes some happy won’t work for all. Good luck.
My progressives disappear when I’m wearing them. By that I mean that my vision is clear anywhere I look. I am not conscious of wearing glasses. However, I much prefer straight readers for newspaper or book reading. It’s just more efficient to have a wider field of vision for those activities. I can do serious reading with my progressives but I prefer other glasses. Computer reading is fine with progressives.
I just brought out my progressives after reading this thread. I have put them away in my drawers for few years. Lately, I’ve felt my eye sight was deteriorating. Now I have them on and everything seems sharper. . Maybe I will give this another try. I am going to see my eye doctor in few weeks.
@CTmom2018 Thanks for the very helpful information on peripheral blurring. Yes, I got the same tip from the optician about pointing my nose or chin at what I wanted to see and I tried that for at least a month, but it was exhausting and never became natural for me.
I don’t know the power of the reading glasses then (age 49), but 8 years later I’m at 2, so I see how that narrows things (no pun intended). So I may have to just put up with my many pairs of glasses (regular and sun for distance, drug store readers for close up). Luckily, I can see the computer just fine with nothing!
I did buy a cheap pair of bifocals online recently and they are OK, but I haven’t worn them enough to see if I could get used to them. I am not vain enough to care about the line.
. Maybe I will give this another try. I am going to see my eye doctor in few weeks.