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Progressive Glasses - Anyone wear them?

 
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PattyTherre The heart of , NY posts: 1148
2009 VIP
posted on September 17, 2009 at 03:23AM Inappropriate? Quote Reply

This is in the health area too but I really need your feedback so I put it where it would be more visible.

I just had an eye exam and my astigmatism is really bad. Basically my left eye has big issues seeing far away and my right has some issues reading. My doctor wants me to have progressive glasses where I guess I can see far, medium, and close through them.

They aren't bifocals and you cant see any weird lines or anything but I don't think I could handle tying to look through glasses that had three levels of strength. The frames I chose are small with small areas for lenses and they said that was OK. But how the heck can they possibly put different prescriptions in little lenses and not expect my eyes to overlap and me to go crazy?

I know a lot of people have these but I have worn nothing for ages for my vision. I have contacts and never bother with them. I am trying some now but they miss the mark. Great far away, horrible up close.

I don't know whether I should keep trying to get the contacts that work or try the glasses. Does anyone have progressive lenses? Sounds like I am 90 years old, I can see fine! But it is getting tougher to read tiny print and sometimes far away things look fuzzy. My eyes correct each other so it doesn't seem bad but I guess it apparently is. It's causing headaches and eye strain.

But I don't think I could get used to funky progressive glasses. My husband has them (I didn't even know it) and he says they're fine. He has no issues. Took a week to get used to them and then all was just swell. But I'm not the type to get used to anything weird easily.

Thoughts? Opinions? Experiences?

2009 VIP
posted on September 17, 2009 at 05:21AM
 

Good news!  I wear them and there's not much to get used to.  My glasses have 3 zones.  Close, mid-range and distance.  When I look through the lenses straight on I get distance.  If I lower my eyes a bit I can see my speedometer or screen on my laptop perfectly.  If I look lower I find I can read just about anything.

Maybe it took all of 3 days fr them to work for me seamlessly.

If I intend to read a book for a few hours, I generally take my glasses off entirely.

Whenever I'm not wearing my contacts I wear my progressive lense eyeglasses.  Progressive contacts?  Have had them but found they were more troublesome than helpful.

2009 Advisor
posted on September 17, 2009 at 07:50AM
 

I just have lined bifocals but I have heard of them Patty.  I don't mind the lines at all.  I don't wear contacts anymore either - I quit wearing them about 10 years ago.  I'm near-sighted and do alot of things up close, in which I have to take my glasses off, like when I'm beading, reading close-up, hand sewing, etc.  My bifocals don't help at all with doing those things, but I couldn't drive or watch TV without them.

At my last exam, the doc said my near-sightedness was improving, he says it does that sometimes with age.  If you try them, let us know -

 Moderator
posted on September 17, 2009 at 07:55AM
 

I got seamless glasses a few years ago and couldn't tolerate them. For some reason, the part of the glasses that corrected my typical nearsightedness was a small spot in the middle of the lens, which gave me a sort of tunnel vision. Things straight ahead were clear but things off to the side were fuzzy... and they didn't have to be all that far to the side. Walking down a hallway was almost dizzying.

My solution was to get Lasik surgery. I did it in 2002 and am still delighted with the results. I have to wear reading glasses for up close stuff but don't need glasses otherwise. I generally do not need glasses at a computer or even reading the newspaper, but food labels and any close detail work needs reading glasses. It's definitely not a problem and something that everyone runs into when they drift into their late 40s.

Between progressive glasses and Lasik, I'd do Lasik again in a heartbeat.

--Bob

2009 Advisor
posted on October 02, 2009 at 08:19PM
 

I have had to wear bifocals for 15 years. Before that I had worn regular glasses for 10 years before that.

The first bifocals I wore were progressive. They aren't hard to get used to at all. It took me less than a day.

Two years ago I had a run of bad luck & had to get help from the United Way to get glasses. They wouldn't pay for progressive so I had to get bifocals with lines.

I had an awful time with them. It took me forever to get used to them. I had to keep looking up & down to get the right angle. The eye strain was terrible.

If you have a chance to get progressive lenses, by all means do so.

2009 VIP
posted on October 02, 2009 at 10:42PM
 
In response to RudiXeno's post from September 17 2009 05:21AM
RudiXeno said…

Good news!  I wear them and there's not much to get used to.  My glasses have 3 zones.  Close, mid-range and distance.  When I look through the lenses straight on I get distance.  If I lower my eyes a bit I can see my speedometer or screen on my laptop perfectly.  If I look lower I find I can read just about anything.

Maybe it took all of 3 days fr them to work for me seamlessly.

If I intend to read a book for a few hours, I generally take my glasses off entirely.

Whenever I'm not wearing my contacts I wear my progressive lense eyeglasses.  Progressive contacts?  Have had them but found they were more troublesome than helpful.


That is so good to read. I am nervous about the glasses. More so that I have an astigmatism and I feel very off balance when wearing glasses to correct it. That and glasses with three levels? ACK. My husband has progressives and it took him a week and he's fine. He doesn't wear them all the time but he has no issues.

I will also get contacts that are not progressive because my right eye is my far away eye and my left is my close up one so I need a prescription that makes the right see close and the left see far. Oddly, together they work just fine. Or so it seems until I correct them in some way and I realize I don't  really see all that fine afterall.

We'll soon see if I can handle the glasses. Luckily my insurance pays for them.

I think I am a bad candidate for LASIK because I have dry eyes but would be willing to do it IF they perfected the astigmatism surgery which I don't think they have yet.
2009 Advisor
posted on October 03, 2009 at 12:46AM
 

Let me weigh in as a former Certified Ophthalmic Technician.  Progressive lenses ARE bifocals without the lines.  Because of the way they are made, they really are a tri-focal.  They have a real advantage over the old bifocal in that 1.  there is no line to make you look or feel "old" and 2. the lens gradually changes from top to bottom to make it easier on the patient.

I have a pair that I wear when I'm not wearing my contacts.  Truth is EVERY person, by age 45, needs a little help reading small print.  I've met the occasional person who was able to stave it off until age 50 or so, but, it is just part of the natural aging process, with the lens in your eye not being able to contract as much as it used to to help you read at near.  Near-sighted people can usually just take their glasses off and read, but far-sighted people are just screwed and will have to have the progressives or bifocal, because taking their glasses off just makes the problem worse.

Me, I still wear contacts and don't need reading glasses. I also have astigmatism.  The reason I don't need reading glasses is I do what is known as a "mono-fit".  My dominate eye wears a distance contact lens (I'm near-sighted) and my other eye wears a contact lens that is undercorrected by about +1.75 diopters.  So, I see far away with my left eye and read at near with my right eye. Took about a week to get used to and I've been doing that for about 7 years.  There are certain things that can cause a person not to be able to tolerate that, but most (about 70%) do very well with it.

I don't know your situation exactly enough to say if you can handle it, but, if you don't want glasses and would rather have contacts, that's one way to go.  If you want the glasses, well progressives are leaps and bounds above the old "lined" bifocal and you will adjust to them in no time...:)

Next up..in about 30 years or so...."so you have cataracts!"...:)

2009 Advisor
posted on October 03, 2009 at 12:48AM
 
In response to RudiXeno's post from September 17 2009 05:21AM
RudiXeno said…

Good news!  I wear them and there's not much to get used to.  My glasses have 3 zones.  Close, mid-range and distance.  When I look through the lenses straight on I get distance.  If I lower my eyes a bit I can see my speedometer or screen on my laptop perfectly.  If I look lower I find I can read just about anything.

Maybe it took all of 3 days fr them to work for me seamlessly.

If I intend to read a book for a few hours, I generally take my glasses off entirely.

Whenever I'm not wearing my contacts I wear my progressive lense eyeglasses.  Progressive contacts?  Have had them but found they were more troublesome than helpful.


Yeah, progressive contacts tend to be a compromise and and work nearly as well as the glasses.  The mono-fit works GREAT for me.

2009 Advisor
posted on October 03, 2009 at 12:53AM
 
In response to PattyTherre's post from October 02 2009 10:42PM

That is so good to read. I am nervous about the glasses. More so that I have an astigmatism and I feel very off balance when wearing glasses to correct it. That and glasses with three levels? ACK. My husband has progressives and it took him a week and he's fine. He doesn't wear them all the time but he has no issues.

I will also get contacts that are not progressive because my right eye is my far away eye and my left is my close up one so I need a prescription that makes the right see close and the left see far. Oddly, together they work just fine. Or so it seems until I correct them in some way and I realize I don't  really see all that fine afterall.

We'll soon see if I can handle the glasses. Luckily my insurance pays for them.

I think I am a bad candidate for LASIK because I have dry eyes but would be willing to do it IF they perfected the astigmatism surgery which I don't think they have yet.


People with dry eyes can sometimes run into problems with LASIK, that's for sure.  They've come along way with that, though, so ask your doctor.  They actually do pretty good at correcting astigmatism with LASIK, BUT if your's is really high (do you know the number?) it could be a problem.

2009 VIP
posted on October 03, 2009 at 04:52AM
 

I can ask my eye doc the number. The left is high. The right is barely an astigmatism.

My eyes are actually monoi vision now. My left sees far away well and right sees close up well. They work together to make me be able to see pretty well with no correction including reading but it is getting tiresome to strain. So I assume the contacts I will get are basically mono vision even though they aren't really. You know? I can handle regular torics with no problem but I just am lazy at home and hate to bother putting them in and then my eyes get sore and blah which is why I thought glasses for home would be good.

We'll see how they go. The astigmatism correction is horrible with glasses. I see everything weird. Straight lines look bent, steps don't seem straight. It's like walking through a fun house. I could get used to the glasses but then I probably could never go without them and I don't want that to happen. I think I'll have the doctor remove half the astigmatism correction. They did that before and it worked.

The funny thing is, I can see fine. I can read, compute, and see distances BUT distances are getting a little blurry as is reading. My medium vision is fine.

ANYWAY, thanks for the info Mike. You are a jack of all trades!

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