Did I waste money on progressive glasses?

[Astro14]

I tried progressives a few years ago. Absolutely hated them. I felt like I was inside a fishbowl, trying to see. No peripheral vision. Small area of clarity.

My distance vision is still 20/15, so, these were a way to get readers, and intermediate readers, for the instrument panel. The docs and techs told me how wonderful they are.

But they are utterly awful if you are used to good vision.

I went back to cheap readers. I will never try progressives again.

 

[Pablo]

I love my "office progressives" aka "Occupational progressives". Is this what you bought? Mine work great, but yes takes a few days. Mine are great for everything out to 6 feet or so, and no problem beyond even though I don't really need them. I play pickleball without correction, but just lounging around the ranch I keep them on all the time.

I have come to hate readers. Cheap optics and mono focus now bugs me.

Well I've had duds made in the past, just not correct. But I also had shooting glasses made, correction top for only right eye, mag bottom for both at a private optician. Works perfectly. Perfect.

Now I've never paid $600 anywhere. Every year or two I hit Costco for eye glass replacement, cash with HSA card.

Give it a few days, but go back maybe they just aren't right. Or didn't fit you up right.

 

[Bailey28]

Day two and I am trying to overcome the 'fishbowl' feeling. The private optometrist I went to didn't explain anything about the different types of progressive lenses, nothing about bifocals, basically I was shown frames, and sat with a nice lady who made a few notes and had me look through some kind of device she said helped place the progressive part. I do have a very mild long distance correction at the top of the lens.

I asked about transition tinting leneses for outside wear and was talked out of them by the optometrist, No gradient tint either. I hope I can adapt to these glasses, otherwise they will go into a drawer somewhere. I don't know what their return policy is either. LOL> I did not do any research into this, basically was prodded along by my wife on this deal. How hard could it be?

 

[Nukeman7]

Day two and I am trying to overcome the 'fishbowl' feeling. The private optometrist I went to didn't explain anything about the different types of progressive lenses, nothing about bifocals, basically I was shown frames, and sat with a nice lady who made a few notes and had me look through some kind of device she said helped place the progressive part. I do have a very mild long distance correction at the top of the lens.

You may or may not be able to acclimate to the progressive lenses, even after trying for weeks/months. I tried for 6 weeks to 4 months with different glasses on three different occasions spread over 8 years and could never get over the queezy feeling and motion sickness, especially when walking down stairwells. On the other hand, my wife adjusted to them immediately and has been wearing them for decades. Our optometrist explained that it often depends on how your individual brain is "wired" to process optical signals, similar to how a color may be perceived differently as made famous in the 2015 Dress Phenomenon.

I asked about transition tinting leneses for outside wear and was talked out of them by the optometrist, No gradient tint either. I hope I can adapt to these glasses, otherwise they will go into a drawer somewhere. I don't know what their return policy is either.

You need to contact the optometrist office and find out what their return policy is ASAP. We always buy our glasses from COSTCO Optical due to their highest quality lenses, best price/value ratio and extremely liberal return/exchange/repair/adjustment policy.

 

[Mainia]

I have been using them for the last 6 years, I did not buy them though the eye Dr./surgeon office glasses shop. I bought them through Sam's Club eye center. I did bring them back to the Dr office so the glasses specialist could check the prescription and the placement on the lens where everything is suppose to be located. It was off, so they marked on the lens where it was suppose to be ( all three needed to be lower) so they made a new set and it was fine. I need to go back in as I think it is time to get a new prescription. I will try to find a pair of frames at the Dr office I like and will buy them there if I can. As I feel they are so anal there on correct placement it is worth pay the extra there. If I can't find frames I like I will go elsewhere, but still come back to have the Dr office check prescription placement on the lens as they did before.

I also need to see if my closed-angle glaucoma lazer holes in my irises have started to closed up. I am not really worried about that much as if they were healing up, I would feel the pressure/eye headaches I had before.

++++++ADDED note: To anyone who gets "eye headaches or some form of eye pressure feelings" get it checked out ASAP as I got in before any damage was done to my eyes/or I was very very lucky as I had this for 3+ years before going in. My wife works at a dental office and a lady came in blind and said she did not heed the warnings of "closed-angle glaucoma" and it resulted in blindness for her. +++++++++

.

 

[IndyIan]

Yep.

I like my cheap reading glasses and buy the ‘5 Pack’ so I have one in each car, office, suitcase, etc…

Yeah, that's been my plan too. I have some extra strong ones for close up detail work, like sharpening skis.
Part of me just likes that $3 readers work just as well as $300 ones.

How do bi-focals compare to progressives? Are they better for driving if you just need readers for the gauges, and nothing for distance?

 

[wavinwayne]

Like OP, I have an expensive pair of progressives that I don't love. I wear readers at work but my progressives work well when I'm using my laptop at home.

 

[Ranger83]

Costco Optical FTW.

 

[BHopkins]

Progressive glasses are not my thing, and I have been recommended and tried three different brands, each one supposedly superior to the previous. For me, I felt like a bobble head doll, constantly trying to find that sweet spot. And forget side vision.

Instead, I have been wearing bifocals for at least 20 years now. For me to ever try progressive lenses again, I would have to have a total satisfaction guarantee.

 

[K-Man]

Instead of progressive glasses, maybe you should try conservative or libertarian glasses.

 

[ecotourist]

...... only made a very small area come into focus. That is terrible for large spreadsheets. After giving it several tries over the course of a week I exercised my return option and ordered regular bifocals with a superwide reading lens.

You can buy progressives that have a larger than normal reading area. They're probably premium lenses, something like Zeiss. But if you don't ask about it, you'll get the "normal" progressives which have a smaller reading area.

For long periods of computer work a set of single vision lenses optimized for that distance works well.

People who do overhead work (mechanics who work with overhead vehicles) can get progressive lenses having an area at the top optimized for near work. Used to be able to anyway. Once again, probably premium lenses, something like Zeiss.

 

[chemman]

Day two and I am trying to overcome the 'fishbowl' feeling. The private optometrist I went to didn't explain anything about the different types of progressive lenses, nothing about bifocals, basically I was shown frames, and sat with a nice lady who made a few notes and had me look through some kind of device she said helped place the progressive part. I do have a very mild long distance correction at the top of the lens.

I asked about transition tinting leneses for outside wear and was talked out of them by the optometrist, No gradient tint either. I hope I can adapt to these glasses, otherwise they will go into a drawer somewhere. I don't know what their return policy is either. LOL> I did not do any research into this, basically was prodded along by my wife on this deal. How hard could it be?

I've been wearing progressives for almost 30 years, and glasses for about 60 years. From some of your comments, it sounds like the lens material could be the cause of the problems you are experiencing. Many opticians (for some stupid reason in my opinion) try and "force" the eyeglass wearer into lenses made from polycarbonate because polycarbonate lenses are thinner, and lighter, as well as lenses that are too small for the progressive gradient. However, the optical center of a polycarbonate lens is extremely tiny compared to glass or "regular" plastic lenses made from a material known as CR-39.

Ask your optometrist and optician what lens material your lenses are made from and if they are not made from the CR-39 material, ask them to remake them in the CR-37 material. It does make a great deal of difference. Also, have them check the base curve of the readers you are most used to using and have them match the base curve of the prescription lenses to the base curve of the lenses in your readers. The brain does get used to a certain base curve and when you try new lenses of a different base curve, you can experience visual aberrations.

FYI, I am not an eye doctor or an optician. I do have a Ph.D. in Chemistry and have had numerous classes and a great deal of hands on experience on optics over the years besides my own experience with wearing prescription lenses. No polycarbonate lenses for me - only CR-39 and big lenses with plenty of space for the visual gradient!

Good Luck!

 

[Bailey28]

I tried again this afternoon and the longer I wear them the more frustrated I get. I am back to using the 1.50 $5 readers I have been using for the past 10 years. I will look more into what lense material I have. The brand of glasses frames are Hoya.

 

[GI_GRIFF]

For the past 10 years or so I have needed reading glasses to see up close. Wife urges me to go to the eye doctor where they charged me $600 for a pair of progressive glasses. My distance vision is ok but I am 2.25 and 2.50 on the near field vision.

She says get them. They arrive and I hate them.. The only thing in focus is two small 'tubes' of clarity. Computer work stinks. Driving stinks. Walking around stinks.. I thought they would be magic, but after day one, I am dumbfounded on how anyone would think these are better than straight reading glasses.

Anyone further along than me and had success with progressive lenses? Anyone hated them and wanted to smash them?

Yes, a bad idea in my book. I tried them and hated them. I went back to the lined bifocal and a pair of dedicated reading glasses if I have a lot to read.

 

[researcher]

I tried again this afternoon and the longer I wear them the more frustrated I get. I am back to using the 1.50 $5 readers I have been using for the past 10 years. I will look more into what lense material I have. The brand of glasses frames are Hoya.

It's amazing how lack of knowledge opticians at optical shops have when educating someone like yourself. They don't say much and just push you through to what THEY want to sell. It would be like going into a tire shop and them slapping any tire on your car. Where there are different classes/types of tires, touring, grand touring, all-season, all-weather, performance, and the list goes on and on.

there are many different types of progressives, but as @chemman explained, the material can have a very large impact on your eye to interpret what it is seeing and relay it to your brain.

Then there's the whole "high index", "mid-index" and regular.. that refers to the thickness of the lens. That can also affect how light enters the lens, goes through the material, then to your eyes. Then there are the "centers" which is where the sharpest point focusing the light into your eyes should be on the glasses lenses themselves. And of course the outer "base curve" which is the outside of the lens' curvature. When you combine all these different measurements/specifications to how your eye would adapt, you can end up with an eye strain headache and enough you want to smash the glasses!

It's not that easy to go get glasses, even single vision (no bi-focal, progressive, etc) done right. I can see why you don't want the progressives, who knows if the shop even made them correctly.

With all that said, I will say that I've had family members who did not like progressives at all. They (and yes they're still available) got no-line bi-focals. And it does matter the shape of the frame, you want one with a big enough area, you can even specify that the lab make a shape of the bi-focal area, from a circle, the entire lower part of the lens the up close portion, etc. I don't think opticians tell patients this because the opticians are clueless.

Thought I'd give you more info, you're not going crazy, you could just not like progressives. Or the people didn't make them right. with all the vision stuff I've experienced in life, I'd recommend something simple like no-line bifocals in cr-39 plastic, since it doesn't sound like your far vision prescription was that strong needing a different material (thickness)..

You might want to get your money back from the shop and tell them they never tried to explain or educate you on what options are out there.. if they act insulted, they're the problem, not you. Might want to look up google reviews for better optical shops in your area..

 

[rstsco]

I have prescription sunglasses which do exactly as I need... be able to see clearly at a distance, but glance at instruments relatively close to be able to see details, e.g. moving maps or some other types of displays. If you are getting prescription sunglasses and use them in this manner, make sure you do not get polarized sunglasses, or at least do the research whether polarization will effect your application. My wife had trouble seeing the HUD in the Audi due to her polarized sunglasses.

 

[4wd]

I have prescription sunglasses which do exactly as I need... be able to see clearly at a distance, but glance at instruments relatively close to be able to see details, e.g. moving maps or some other types of displays. If you are getting prescription sunglasses and use them in this manner, make sure you do not get polarized sunglasses, or at least do the research whether polarization will effect your application. My wife had trouble seeing the HUD in the Audi due to her polarized sunglasses.

Yep - despite having photo grey and progressive - I keep Rx sunglasses in two vehicles …
Fortunately my Rx has not changed - so not allot of money doing this …

 

[Arc]

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I was anchor to adapt to them very quickly and liked them a lot. I've since gotten contacts so wear regular reading glasses for close up.

I wear a contact in my left eye and nothing in the right one. That way I get to see up close without glasses. Crazy I know, but it works.

 

[repairman54]

I'm in between. Was near sighted and now with age shifting more to neutral. Forget about progressives, tryied for a while but on my old job driving a windowless van it was too annoying. Look over the top prescription readers now and still have distance glasses for driving. The driving glasses give me a little more sharpness down the road and for distant signs.
I only wear shirts with pockets now for my readers, no chain around the neck for me. Yet

 

[ecotourist]

If you've given up on them, I think you didn't try progressives long enough. I hated them initially too but now wouldn't consider anything else.

When you're buying expensive lenses you need to talk to the optician. These are custom lenses being made for you. So have them made for your needs - in your case a large reading area.

Glass has the best optical quality but glass lenses are thick, heavy and shatter easily so they aren't used much anymore and probably shouldn't be considered for anyone who does much of anything. Bits of glass in the eye are not funny. CR-39 has good optical quality, and is pretty scratch and fracture resistant. It's not all that expensive either. But the thinnest, lightest and most fracture resistant lenses are polycarbonate. Their light weight was a revelation to me. They're more expensive than CR-39 but in view of their weight and fracture resistance I wouldn't consider anything other than polycarbonate.