Thoughts on Progressive Lenses?

[Mreader]

My near vision is crap now where when I wear my distance glasses I have to take them off if I am looking at something up close and now I also wear readers (1.00 so one of the lowest scale readers( when I am looking at my phone or reading. My distance vision is only negative 1 so I often just don't wear the distance glasses at all because I'm tired of switching back and forth. I decided to order progressives when I had my latest eye exam but I hear that they can be hard to get used to. Curious about your experiences and/or tips. I get migraine headaches so am worried about the learning curve bc I don't want a crop of headaches coming up as I try to adjust.

 

[Karl_K]

I know 3 people that had problems with them and had to go back to regular bifocals.
I know a bunch of other people who are fine with them.
I stick with regular bifocals because of my one bad eye needs a lot of correction.
So as Kenny would say....
People vary

 

[Lookinagain]

I have progressives. I've had them for years. When I was in graduate school I needed some minor distance correction, but only really for lecture hall. That prescription didn't change for over 20 years which the ophthalmologist predicted (saying once I quit reading so much, my vision wouldn't change until my 40's). He was correct but in my late 40's I started needed some help reading, and I was also working mainly between reading printed material and a computer, going back and forth frequently. I couldn't stand the on and off, so I got my first progressive lenses. I had difficulty with them...walking even felt strange. So after a few days I went back and said these don't work. They suggested that I try Definity lenses which were more expensive. I did and I had no trouble with them. That is probably a brand name, but if you google it you can see the differences between them and conventional progressives. I'm sure there are other companies that make lenses like this, and I would suggest this type if you are concerned. I've stuck with them ever since and never have any issues.

 

[Mreader]

I have progressives. I've had them for years. When I was in graduate school I needed some minor distance correction, but only really for lecture hall. That prescription didn't change for over 20 years which the ophthalmologist predicted (saying once I quit reading so much, my vision wouldn't change until my 40's). He was correct but in my late 40's I started needed some help reading, and I was also working mainly between reading printed material and a computer, going back and forth frequently. I couldn't stand the on and off, so I got my first progressive lenses. I had difficulty with them...walking even felt strange. So after a few days I went back and said these don't work. They suggested that I try Definity lenses which were more expensive. I did and I had no trouble with them. That is probably a brand name, but if you google it you can see the differences between them and conventional progressives. I'm sure there are other companies that make lenses like this, and I would suggest this type if you are concerned. I've stuck with them ever since and never have any issues.

I will look that up for sure! I have not even tried the progressives yet (they will be in next week) but I will research this brand.

 

[Austina]

OH has them and he still takes them off to read! He was also told to be careful driving because his peripheral vision wouldn’t be very good with them on.

 

[AprilBaby]

I loved my progressives! Wore them for years as bifocals were too hard. I was very nearsighted but did great. Now after cataract surgery I’m very farsighted and I miss my progressives. I can’t see anything closer than I can reach.

 

[pearlsngems]

All progressive lenses have an area on the outer part of the lens (far right on the right lens and far left on the left lens) where there is some blur built in. It's unavoidable. It is mathematically necessary to have this blurred area, in order to have multiple focal lengths in one lens without lines. The clear- vision corridor is hourglass shaped, more or less-- wider at the top for distance and narrower at the bottom for reading.

The exact details of those clear vision areas varies from lens design to lens design. Some lens designs ("softer" designs) have a larger, less-blurred area, to make it easier to get used to the lens, and others ("harder" designs) have a smaller but more-blurred area, to give you a wider corridor where your vision is clear. Hard designs may take a bit more getting used to.

Whatever you got, you will get used to the glasses faster if you wear them all the time while awake. Your brain needs time to get used to them, to learn how to move your head to focus at every distance. Since your reading prescription is only 1.00, you should adjust pretty quickly.

As you get older, your reading prescription (it's called the "add") will increase. It is easier to get used to progressives when your "add" is low. Did I do that? Nooo, I did it the hard way. I wore OTC readers forever, then when I couldn't see well in the intermediate distance I got half-strength readers for that, and literally had 2 pairs of glasses hanging around my neck on chains. What finally made me switch to prescription glasses is that my right eye became worse than my left. The OTC ones didn't work for both eyes. By then my "add" was something like 2.25. I had a "soft" design, but still it took me some time to adjust to them. My constant refrain was "I hate my glasses!"

Then one day I realized I was seeing very well. I hadn't even noticed when the change occurred.

I've had different lens designs over the years but now I wear Varilux X series. They work better for me than anything else I tried. They're expensive, but I have other issues with my eyes now and I am willing to pay more for glasses to optimize my vision.

 

[Mreader]

All progressive lenses have an area on the outer part of the lens (far right on the right lens and far left on the left lens) where there is some blur built in. It's unavoidable. It is mathematically necessary to have this blurred area, in order to have multiple focal lengths in one lens without lines. The clear- vision corridor is hourglass shaped, more or less-- wider at the top for distance and narrower at the bottom for reading.

The exact details of those clear vision areas varies from lens design to lens design. Some lens designs ("softer" designs) have a larger, less-blurred area, to make it easier to get used to the lens, and others ("harder" designs) have a smaller but more-blurred area, to give you a wider corridor where your vision is clear. Hard designs may take a bit more getting used to.

Whatever you got, you will get used to the glasses faster if you wear them all the time while awake. Your brain needs time to get used to them, to learn how to move your head to focus at every distance. Since your reading prescription is only 1.00, you should adjust pretty quickly.

As you get older, your reading prescription (it's called the "add") will increase. It is easier to get used to progressives when your "add" is low. Did I do that? Nooo, I did it the hard way. I wore OTC readers forever, then when I couldn't see well in the intermediate distance I got half-strength readers for that, and literally had 2 pairs of glasses hanging around my neck on chains. What finally made me switch to prescription glasses is that my right eye became worse than my left. The OTC ones didn't work for both eyes. By then my "add" was something like 2.25. I had a "soft" design, but still it took me some time to adjust to them. My constant refrain was "I hate my glasses!"

Then one day I realized I was seeing very well. I hadn't even noticed when the change occurred.

I've had different lens designs over the years but now I wear Varilux X series. They work better for me than anything else I tried. They're expensive, but I have other issues with my eyes now and I am willing to pay more for glasses to optimize my vision.

I can relate to hating wearing glasses! That’s one of the reasons I’ve resisted progressive is because I can get away with not wearing glasses for distance. I feel like once I get progressives, If I do get used to them, I’ll be addicted to seeing well and have to wear glasses all the time ha ha. I used to wear contacts, but then they started bothering my eyes which was a bummer.

The other thing that’s weird is that my OTC reader glasses are +1.00, but I noticed that on the prescription for progressives it was +1.75. I asked why that was and they said because my distance vision is negative one that it’s almost like having readers that are only .75. I don’t really understand that but I just figured I’ll see how it goes when I get them.

 

[Slickk]

Have not had time to read all of the previous posts but, I love my progressive lenses. I’d be taking them on and off, up and down all day. I’ve had no problems with them.
I needed them after HBOT (Hyperbaric Chamber) which ruined my distance vision (and, ironically, temporarily cured my reading vision). Now the progressives just work so well for me.

 

[pearlsngems]

That's why it's called the "add". I didn't explain it correctly. The add isn't really your reading prescription-- it's what you add to your distance prescription to get the reading prescription.

-1.00 distance + (i.e. "add") 1.75 = .75 reading prescription. Likely the OTC readers were a bit stronger than you needed.

I get what you are saying because my distance vision is good, too. But it's easier to get used to progressives now rather than when your add is higher later, as you age. Because I waited so long to get the progressives (by which time my add was high) the blurred areas to the left and right of the lenses were larger and it made it harder to get used to. As the add increases, the in-focus corridor gets narrower.

And I see I didn't explain the blurred areas well either. Each lens has a blurred area to the right and left, with the in-focus hourglass shaped corridor running down the center.

 

[pearlsngems]

The alternative is bifocals, of course, but as you age that will have to become trifocals, to allow you to focus on the intermediate distance.

There have been times when I wondered if I ought to try trifocals, if only to keep eyeglass costs down as the years go on.
My mother loved them. With bifocals and trifocals there is no blurred area on the periphery of your vision.

One problem is the lines. There is an image jump from one segment to the next, and reflections off the interface where the segments meet. But also, there aren't really just 3 focal lengths to see our world clearly. Progressives have many focal lengths; my first pair had 14 focal lengths. I don't know how many my current lenses have.

In order to have vertical space for all those focal lengths, progressive lenses need a tall-enough frame (from top to bottom).
A few years ago when my husband got his progessives at BJ's, they didn't have frames that were tall enough for all the focal distances. It reduced the effectiveness of his prescription. Now he makes sure his frames are taller. And I wear large frames.

 

[Redwoods-hiker-girl]

I love my progressives. It took me two weeks to get used to them, and now I can't imagine not having them.

 

[Lookinagain]

Just to comment, I do not have what I consider large frames. Or I should say large lenses, as I wear frame-less glasses. I've been using the same size lenses for over 20 years. @pearlsngems clearly knows a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I did want to note that my glasses are not what I would consider tall, although I guess that's just my opinion.

 

[Mreader]

The alternative is bifocals, of course, but as you age that will have to become trifocals, to allow you to focus on the intermediate distance.

There have been times when I wondered if I ought to try trifocals, if only to keep eyeglass costs down as the years go on.
My mother loved them. With bifocals and trifocals there is no blurred area on the periphery of your vision.

One problem is the lines. There is an image jump from one segment to the next, and reflections off the interface where the segments meet. But also, there aren't really just 3 focal lengths to see our world clearly. Progressives have many focal lengths; my first pair had 14 focal lengths. I don't know how many my current lenses have.

In order to have vertical space for all those focal lengths, progressive lenses need a tall-enough frame (from top to bottom).
A few years ago when my husband got his progessives at BJ's, they didn't have frames that were tall enough for all the focal distances. It reduced the effectiveness of his prescription. Now he makes sure his frames are taller. And I wear large frames.

Yes they told me to pick big frames lol and I have a small face.

 

[Mreader]

Just to comment, I do not have what I consider large frames. Or I should say large lenses, as I wear frame-less glasses. I've been using the same size lenses for over 20 years. @pearlsngems clearly knows a lot more about this stuff than I do, but I did want to note that my glasses are not what I would consider tall, although I guess that's just my opinion.

They look very round, so that probably helps. The frames I had previously were smaller and more rectangular and they told me those would not be a good option. I also just picked frames that my insurance covered rather than paying extra for cuter ones since I don’t know how the progressive will work. If I really like them, then I will always change next year.

 

[dk168]

I believe the subject matter is varifocal lenses, and have been wearing them shortly after I turned 40.

I have been wearing glasses since I was quite young, and have two very different eyes - one is near-sighted and the other is long!

So I started to wear glasses to balance them out so that I don't strain one or the other.

When I hit 40, my near vision started to deteriorate in both eyes, which was as expected as informed to me by the opticians.

I did not fancy having bifocal lenses with a line clearly visible in the middle, and opted for varifocal right away.

It did take a bit of getting used to; therefore, I would advise to take your time to get used to them, and avoid wearing them to drive right away until you are comfortable with them.

My optician advised getting reading-only glasses alone for when I do close work for a long period of time, e.g. when I read the digital newspaper from my phone while I am in bed.

Good luck.

DK

 

[Lookinagain]

They look very round, so that probably helps.

They are actually oval and not round. Hard to get a good photo since there are no frames, but I think this shows the shape better than my original photo. But they are definitely wider than they are tall. And I have a small face too so large glasses make me look like a cartoon.

 

[LilAlex]

They're great. Took me a long time to adapt and I had a separate distance pair that I used for ball sports and that I eventually gave up on because I would forget more than I would remember.

I kept looking through the middle of the lens initially when driving and that was, of course, not the sharpest (in both senses of the word). I had to force myself to tilt my head down while drivingand look through the top of the lens for best distance vision.

My prescription has changed and I'm a little fearful of having to start over.

 

[missy]

They're great. Took me a long time to adapt and I had a separate distance pair that I used for ball sports and that I eventually gave up on because I would forget more than I would remember.

I kept looking through the middle of the lens initially when driving and that was, of course, not the sharpest (in both senses of the word). I had to force myself to tilt my head down while drivingand look through the top of the lens for best distance vision.

My prescription has changed and I'm a little fearful of having to start over.

You will be fine Alex. Once you've adapted to the progressives adapting to a new rx will be a breeze. A few hours to less than a day at max from my experience. Keep with the same brand of progressives you are doing well with now

As pearlgems explained upthread older, cast-front progressives have a physics problem because approximately half of the surface area was rendered useless by an inability to optimally manage the greater surface astigmatism of these designs. The areas near the intermediate corridor and peripheral distance zones have been politely termed “soft-focus areas.” Traditional progressives use an hour glass shaped profile which narrows the usable vision area. Newer progressives with "free form" technology has been able to deliver wider usable areas and reduce (but has not eliminate) unwanted surface astigmatism.

Today there are so many different progressives on the market and the usable vision area can be moved anywhere on the lenses making matching the specific progressive to the specific individual critical. There are more options now than ever before but there is no one size fits all. That is why, it is critical, to go to someone who knows this technology and offers more than one brand of progressive. Someone who can be objective and help you choose based on your visual needs. Otherwise you are going to get what they have and perhaps that will not the best choice for you

Sorry I cannot be more specific with brands to recommend but go for it @Mreader and just remember give it time to learn how to use properly (there is a learning curve and you will need to move your head where you are looking) and make sure you purchase them at a place that 1. offers many brands and 2. does a thorough job with all the measurements (as those are critical to successful use) and 3. offers a return policy( of at least a month) if you are not happy with the lenses.

 

[Mreader]

Thanks @missy ! They do have returns. But didn’t talk about brands at all so I suspect they only have one type? Idk. They did make me put on my frames and took some measurements and also a photograph.

 

[lilmosun]

I share your pain @Mreader.... Your sight is the opposite of mine as I struggle with the changes to my eyesight with age. First it was readers, then in the past year has been with progressives. It's been a struggle adapting to the later on/off for over a year.

fwiw, here is my experience and where I am at with them

As my need for readers increased, I went with wearing them on top of my head so I had them when needed. (I see you are at 1.00...which for me was still occasional use...the real need came at 2.0). My need for readers increased (now 2.75 magnification) to the point where I needed them for everything. In addition, I developed a slight decline in distance in one eye (as the optometrist said, I could still easily pass a driving test so I could stick with readers if I wanted).

Tired of wearing readers on top of my head and trying to keep them clean, the distance issue was the motivation to go with progressives. I didn't skimp as I wanted them to work - added wider peripheral vision, UV protection (because I had the start of cataracts and was told that it could help slow the growth), etc. I wore them around the house for over a week before venturing out. My first trip out, I had a very bad fall (missed a step at train station) and whether they were related to the progressives or not, I was reluctant to wear them out again.

The biggest reason I am now trying progressives again is because when driving, I can't wear readers but need them to see my GPS....something I use fairly regularly now as I frequent new places. Pulling down my readers to look at my GPS was dangerous. Also, I did notice that when I wore my progressives, distance was crisper (I go to a lot of theatre/shows).

Right now, the big challenge with progressives computer use...I am in IT and using progressives with two large screens eye level requires me to tilt my head back creating neck strain. I tried adjusting the screen height, distance, etc at work and no matter what I found myself having to constantly adjust my head position depending what I was looking at.

My solution for now, is I wear readers for computer work and progressives for driving and going to shows. I don't like it as it defeats my hope of having one pair of glasses to wear all the time...and when I don't feel like switching, the glasses go back on top of my head (maybe it's a habit). Following this with interest as I would love to figure this out. Having aging eyes sucks.

 

[LilAlex]

half of the surface area was rendered useless by an inability to optimally manage the greater surface astigmatism of these designs.

Thank you, @missy, for the detailed and super-helpful explanation! This must be what I have. Decade-old Costco lenses -- but I was warned that there would be a ton of deadspace outside that hourglass pattern. Spouse had a similar experience a few years before me so I was not put off by this possibility -- just a disappointing concession to have to make.

Do you are anyone know if the Costco progressives are more sophisticated now? We have our health-plan optical shop, which is a winning combination of terrible frames and surly service, and then the frame boutiques where I can get, I don't know -- bejeweled VCA, but have no confidence in what happens after that. Maybe you think Costco's Optical is a joke for this -- and that would be useful to hear, too! We bat ~ .500 there in terms of OK-ness right out of the box.

 

[pearlsngems]

...

Right now, the big challenge with progressives computer use...I am in IT and using progressives with two large screens eye level requires me to tilt my head back creating neck strain. I tried adjusting the screen height, distance, etc at work and no matter what I found myself having to constantly adjust my head position depending what I was looking at.

My solution for now, is I wear readers for computer work and progressives for driving and going to shows. I don't like it as it defeats my hope of having one pair of glasses to wear all the time...and when I don't feel like switching, the glasses go back on top of my head (maybe it's a habit). Following this with interest as I would love to figure this out. Having aging eyes sucks.

Progressives are like a Swiss army knife. They do a bit of everything fairly well but are not excellent at anything.

Many people find that having a second pair makes sense. We don't just own one pair of shoes, or one purse-- why limit ourselves to one pair of glasses, if our needs are better met with several pairs?

I think you might consider getting a pair of office progressives / computer progressives as a 2nd pair. These are designed for the kind of work you do. Tell your optometrist or optician what your work needs are-- what you do-- and see what design they suggest.

Also-- reconsider putting glasses on your head. It's hard on the frames-- stretches them.

 

[AdaBeta27]

Both my ex husband and I skipped bifocals and went straight into progressives when we hit that middle-age near vision deficiency. Neither of us had any problems at all with progressives. I was very nearsighted, and he was less so. After I had cataract surgery and have 20/15 distance vision, I tried to get a pair of glasses with near vision correction in a progressive lens so that I could go desk work in a pair of glasses that I could just leave on all the time. I had progressives made, but could not see a d*** thing either near of distant with those rx glasses. I'm unsure why. The opticians said it was because my vision was too good and the "add" was so little. I needed something asap for a new job, so what we ended up doing was just rx reading glasses that had the slight astigmatism correction that dimestore readers didn't, and I haven't revisited the fulltime glasses issue since.

 

[lilmosun]

Progressives are like a Swiss army knife. They do a bit of everything fairly well but are not excellent at anything.

Many people find that having a second pair makes sense. We don't just own one pair of shoes, or one purse-- why limit ourselves to one pair of glasses, if our needs are better met with several pairs?

I think you might consider getting a pair of office progressives / computer progressives as a 2nd pair. These are designed for the kind of work you do. Tell your optometrist or optician what your work needs are-- what you do-- and see what design they suggest.

Also-- reconsider putting glasses on your head. It's hard on the frames-- stretches them.

Thanks for confirming my issues with progressives and what I've resorted to -- having two types of glasses -- makes sense (although I wish there was a better solution).

My readers, which is what I wear on my head, are just cheap Foster Grants (Amazon sells them for $10) so not worried about stretching out over time. I am more likely to lose them first so keep a few spare pairs. I keep older pairs in my suitcase, backpack and office as emergency. Progressives are expensive so I really don't want to invest more than the 2 pairs I have (one for my car and one for my purse/travel).

(I have another problem where my face shape doesn't wear glasses well--no nose bridge to hold them up--so they have to have clips - and then my cheeks push them up if the lense is too large. I always thought I would one day wear glasses as a fashion statement but walking into a shop, I'm lucky if there is 1 pair that will work with my face).

 

[missy]

Thank you, @missy, for the detailed and super-helpful explanation! This must be what I have. Decade-old Costco lenses -- but I was warned that there would be a ton of deadspace outside that hourglass pattern. Spouse had a similar experience a few years before me so I was not put off by this possibility -- just a disappointing concession to have to make.

Do you are anyone know if the Costco progressives are more sophisticated now? We have our health-plan optical shop, which is a winning combination of terrible frames and surly service, and then the frame boutiques where I can get, I don't know -- bejeweled VCA, but have no confidence in what happens after that. Maybe you think Costco's Optical is a joke for this -- and that would be useful to hear, too! We bat ~ .500 there in terms of OK-ness right out of the box.

Hi Alex, I am sorry I am not familiar with Costco's optical or the progressives they offer but I would guess they are pretty good because Costco rocks in so many areas.

My dh just started wearing progressives just a few months ago and he loves them. He got them from Warby Parker (I know many look down on Warby and probably Costco too for their affordable eyeglasses prices but I find Warby to have good quality and never had an issue with their glasses) and it only took him a couple of days to adjust. He got the "precision" progressives.

I just went onto Costco's online site and they offer "Kirkland Signature HD progressive lenses" and it states online that it is the "latest manufacturing technology with high definition vision at any distance" "offering a larger reading area and less distortion". Unfortunately I am not familiar with the lenses offered however I am pretty sure their return policy is probably generous so worth trying if that is true. I couldn't find their return policy. I know for Warby you have a full month to return and 6 months to change the RX so it is a pretty generous return policy.

 

[GemHunter369]

When I turned 44, I switched to progressive eyeglasses. It was hard to adjust at first, but now I’m very happy with them. I used to take off my old glasses to read, and put them on again to see far away. I chose cheap progressive lenses because I wasn’t sure if I would enjoy them, but I wish I had gone for better ones. I also regret not using my favorite frames for them.

 

[Matata]

I've had them for a long time. I sometimes have issues when going down stairs or when hiking and I have to look ahead as well as down to avoid trips and falls because I'm a klutz. The transition between close and far on the lens causes me few seconds of disorientation.

 

[GemHunter369]

The disorientation only lasted for the first month, @Matata. I used my progressive lenses only when necessary during that month to avoid headaches. But now I can wear them all the time.