<p>So the time has come to acknowledge the fact that reading and viewing things close up is getting to be a bit difficult.</p>
<p>I have been wearing contacts to correct for nearsightedness for many many years. I put the lenses on first thing in the morning. I wear my glasses only in the evenings, mainly for TV viewing, and if there is a problem with the contacts (allergies, irritation etc).</p>
<p>About two years ago I went to mono vision contacts. One eye is corrected for reading and viewing up close and the other corrected for distance. It has worked and continues to work very well. Up until recently, a slightly under corrected set of eye glasses has been sufficient for reading and distance. However this has changed.</p>
<p>The mono vision contacts still work great however, I now have to take off the glasses and hold the item to be read right up to my nose. Yesterday the optometrist suggested progressive lenses. However, this suggestion came with a rather long list of caveats.</p>
<p>I was told I will need to wear ONLY the glasses for several weeks…maybe up to two months…for the brain to adjust. The peripheral vision will be distorted and I’ll need to learn to turn my head for side vision instead of moving just the eyes. It seems that it can be dangerous going downstairs if you are looking through the wrong part of the lens. And, it seems that some folks just never adjust.</p>
<p>The thought of having to wear glasses for two months is a big issue. Add to that the fact that I may not adjust at all…or wind up falling down the stairs and I’m no longer all that enthused. Maybe I should just swallow my pride and get the good old bifocals.</p>
<p>I wore contacts from age 13 until 50 and now wear progressive lens glasses all the time. I gave up the contacts because my eyes were so dry and irritated all the time and also because I had to wear reading glasses over them which was a pain. I adjusted to the progressives easily but your optometrist is right about the peripheral vision issue. It’s also crucial that the levels of the different corrections are set just right. If/when you are fitted, show the optometrist where you hold a book when you read and the distance and angle at which you view a computer. I spent a year with an incorrect fitting and it ended up giving me neck problems as I was always tilting my head in order to look through the right part of the lens.</p>
<p>My prescription is -11.00
So pretty nearsighted.
I always have worn both contacts or glasses, depending on how lazy I am that day.
( With contacts- I now have to wear over the counter reading glasses, to read)</p>
<p>I got progressives a couple years ago. Disaster. Even though I had been warned- I gave myself a concussion. I never really did get used to them & now I have single vision glasses & hold things up to my nose if I am reading small print. Because my prescription is so strong the progressive part of the lens was just not big enough for me to use comfortably.</p>
<p>I don’t understand how bifocals would be any different- my impression was that progressives just didn’t have a line & bifocals would- but the division in the lens would be similar & if you are looking through the wrong part then your vision is off.</p>
<p>dietz, I wear my monovision contacts and glasses just the way you do. I got progressive lenses a couple of years ago, and didn’t have to go without contacts at all. I just started wearing the new glasses the same way I wore the old ones, mostly in the evenings, and adjusted quite easily in a few days.</p>
<p>I love my glasses, and now wear them more than I used to, since I find driving at night with monovision contacts a real hazard - I have almost no depth perception. With the progressive lenses my vision is crystal clear in all circumstances, although you do have to get used to tilting your head at the right angle, and yes, your peripheral vision is not what it was.</p>
<p>One note: I’m <em>very</em> nearsighted, and was told that it’s easier for someone like me to adjust to progressive lenses than for those with better eyesight (like my husband, who had a headache for a couple of weeks until his eyes adjusted).</p>
<p>I have always worn glasses (never contacts), but I just made the move to progressive lenses this year. The bad news: It took me three full weeks to get used to them, and at times, I just wanted to cry because I felt so off-kilter. It was a rough adjustment period. The good news: Now that my brain has adjusted, I love them. Previously, I had been constantly taking on and off my glasses to read and it became a real nuisance (and made me appear even more middle-aged than I am). Now I put on my glasses in the morning and never think about them again – distance, computer and reading are all great.</p>
<p>The majority of progressive lens wearers adjust to them within a couple of weeks and most will tell you they are fantastic (myself included). You might also consider adding transitions lenses, where they get darker when you go outside into sunlight.</p>
<p>I love progressive lenses. They are really like a trifocal without the lines. My Rx is -8.00 in one eye, -6.00 in the other; I need distance plus reading. The eye doctor thought I would not adjust, but I just could not bear the thought of the line in my lens. (Too vain.) I look through the top for distance, middle for 3-8 ft, and down for closeup and reading. Stairs were the most difficult adjustment. I’ve had them for 13 years. I switched back to a larger frame this year because I kept seeing the bottom of the frame and the middle area was pretty narrow.</p>
<p>I adjusted pretty easily; my husband has not adjusted after years and looks over the top of his glasses. His Rx is not as bad as mine.</p>
<p>Make sure the glasses sit the same as when the optician measured for the frame and lens placement. If too different, you may not adjust or get eye strain. Happened to me.</p>
<p>I got all those warnings from the optometrist, but it took me about 3 seconds to adjust to progressive lenses. My only caveat is that my former pair (which had a larger frame) was perfect in the middle for the computer, my current more stylish ones, don’t have a big enough middle area and so I take them off when I’m on CC.</p>
<p>I’m another person who never wore contacts. I also like my progressives. I would add, though, that I’ve found that it’s still useful to have reading glasses, especially for reading in bed.</p>
<p>I wore contacts until I got to the point where I couldn’t read with them in without using magnifiers that I would have had to take off and put on all the time. Not only a huge pain, but they made me feel queasy. I could–and can–read perfectly well with no lenses or glasses at all.</p>
<p>So I switched to progressives. Adjusted to them perfectly from the first moment. I really would prefer to wear contacts, but I haven’t been able to afford exploring the more esoteric varieties that might enable me to read…</p>
<p>In contacts I wear -3.75 and -4.75. The eyeglass prescription is -5.25. It sounds like the higher the correction the greater the chance of adjusting. Maybe because the brain has already had to do this over and over again. I think I’ll give the progressives a try. I figure if they don’t work I’ll just reuse the frames for a standard or bifocal version.</p>
<p>I’ve worn progressives for a few years (always have worn glasses since childhood).
Yes, I’ve stumbled/fallen on the stairs a few times–be careful!
Otherwise, they are fine.</p>
<p>“Make sure the glasses sit the same as when the optician measured for the frame and lens placement”</p>
<p>This is a really good point. Part of the reason my initial lenses weren’t quite right is that the glasses were fitted while pushed smack against my face, but in real life, they settle down my nose a little bit.</p>
<p>I keep trying to adjust, but I just hate the fact that you have to turn your head to make them work, and that fact makes it scary for me getting on the highway early in the morning when it’s still dark.</p>
<p>I was a life long contact lens wearer. Got progressives a few years ago and it only took one day to adjust. I rarely wear my contacts now because my eyes get too dry. Plus, the glasses hide the ‘bags’ under my eyes. :)</p>
<p>It is important that the lens progression is properly aligned for your eyes. My most recent pair have been causing me eyestrain and I believe it is do to an improper alignment. I put back on my old progressive glasses and have had no problem with eyestrain.</p>
<p>I got progressives about 3-4 years ago … and took no time at all to adjust to them … and did not have any issues with looking to the side or down stairs or any direction. BTW I was fine with my distance glasses and holding books a little too close … what moved me to progressives was working on computers; which is in between reading and distance distance … and the progressives allow me to handle all 3 uses.</p>
<p>All that said I do not like my progessives much at all for two reasons … first, at any distance I need to be pretty precise how my head is positioned to get to the correct prescription … second, for me they are a not so great compromise … my vision is OK everywhere but not great. I am getting a pair of pure distance glasses for use when driving, going to movies, or other pure distance events.</p>
<p>I have worn hard contact lenses for 40 years (RGP’s when they started making them) Currently I have a set of progressive lenses in my backup glasses and had no problem adjusting to them. However, my vision is far superior when I wear my contacts. I now wear bifocal RGP contact lenses and absolutely love them.</p>
<p>I have progressives and had no trouble adjusting, but the BEST thing I did was to buy a pair of progressive computer glasses for reading and using the computer. I just can’t read for long times with my regular progressives!</p>
and I’m no longer all that enthused. Maybe I should just swallow my pride and get the good old bifocals.</p>