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Should I do plastic for regular distance and separate reading? It's all I've ever had BUT I didn't use them often. They were back-up for when I had my contacts out. She really did a good job selling me on the ploycarb for durability and scratch resistance. And they are thinner and lighter. Wearing all the time I might appreciate that.
I have told myself I HAVE to practice. I keep picking up the book I want to read and trying to, I admit I have a low frustration point with it.
I might try getting distance and reading separate and if I break or lose one due to taking on and off that is my bad for not working hard enough on these.
You have two pairs of progressives, right? Or a different kind?
Yes, I have two pair of progressives.
Does this mean you don't need them for longer distances or this is a second pair for reading mainly, but also to be able to look up/around the room?
[color="red"]Yes, I use the "reading" pair for closer work and the "regular" pair (which is supposed to do everything but doesn't seem to work as well) for everything else[color="red"]
Yes. How do you have intermediate distance with bi-focals?
I stagger the correction left and right by 1/2 a diopter for the reading portion. Works very well for me. Reading close is good, seeing the dash on the car is good also. While this is not done very often, my optometrist agreed there is no reason not to do it.
Long story short, I couldn't see with the other brand. So I've now spent a fortune going back and having to insist on Varilux and being made to pay extra to get them. Different brands of progressives produce differing results. For me the different is that Varilux is made from plastic, not polycarbonate. I think you need to find an optician who you really trust and have a discussion to find out which brand will work for you. The more expensive brands of lenses seem to work better but each has pros and cons. Some will get rid of "swim" at the edges, some will have other benefits. Make sure your optician measured correctly and make sure you have a brand that gives you a great close up area.
Excellent points. I am an optician, have fit many patients in progressives, and wear them myself. There are many reasons patients can have difficulty adjusting to them. OP's problem sounds like the optician either did not measure him/her correctly and cut off the reading, or it's a simple adjustment issue and the glasses need adjusted to the face better. Varilux is a very good brand of progressives, and I also recommend Hoya progressives. I have tried many different types of progressives that labs offered me, and the best quality by far, in my experience are the:
Varilux W3+
Varilux S
Varilux Physio DRX
Hoya products that are good are the:
Hoya ECP IQ
Hoya Lifestyle (for new progressive lens wearers)
Hoya Harmony (for people who are used to them)
Good quality progressives are expensive. Some patients have said they have gotten them online and they work fine for them. But high quality progressives are not available online that I've seen. The ones I have found are narrow corridor progressives like the Comfort and despite its name, they are not comfortable for most patients. The narrow field of vision requires patients to crane their neck more often than a wider corridor progressive to retain the center correction and avoid the distortion. Moving one's head an extra 100 times a day can make the lower cost not worth it in the long run. It all depends on how flexible the wearer is.
Some patients notice a difference in their vision based on choice of lens type and any selected coatings. Antireflective coating makes a huge difference in clarity, especially reading. Some opticians will try to sell you the most expensive A/R coatings. I don't. There is little difference between them in my experience, and they all carry the same warranty. But having one is better than not having one. They reduce glare and halos while reading and driving.
Transitions. People either love them or hate them (I'm not a fan). Transitions have improved a great deal since the days of yore. You can get the Xtractive which darken in the car, the regular which only darkens outside, or the Transvantage, which darkens in the car and gives you UV protection. My old coworker told me her Transitions helped her with her glare sensitivity, and I have heard this from other patients as well.
And last, lens materials are important. As I mentioned, I don't try to sell patients on the most expensive thing just to take their money. Opticians normally sell polycarbonate as their go-to, but I still think plastic is an economical choice if the patient is not too high powered. Trivex (also known as Phoenix) is my favorite material overall. It is 10% thicker than poly but has better optical properties. Hi-Index has excellent optical properties as well. Not all coatings are available in all lens materials/powers, so if the optician tells you this, they are probably being honest with you : )
But some patients just don't adapt to progressives well. These patients may do well with a lined bifocal or separate pairs of glasses. But I don't automatically assume the patient is not suited for progressives just because they have problems initially. There is an adjustment period of up to two weeks. So before OP throws his/her progressives in the dustbin, he/she needs to go back to the optical for an adjustment and segment height measurement. Even though the reading height line is invisible, an experienced optician can locate it under a microscope and compared it to your pupil height to make sure it is correct. I hope my long post was helpful!
Last edited by Scooby Snacks; 06-11-2017 at 08:21 AM..
I am spoiled on contacts. This whole 'too old' for contacts is pissing me off, lol! I don't want ANY glasses! I do not mind for distance at all. (Once I got over the 'no contacts' thing) Doesn't bother me in the least indoors, outdoors, watching TV, that is all fine. It's anything else I'm all UGH. This is redonkulous, trying to get just the right angle, and having this small portion to see though. GAH!
I tried contacts in the 1980s but they didn't work well for me. For some reason, I couldn't see as clearly through them as the regular glasses and these where the days before they got the lenses to be slim even with a high prescription. In the old days, wearing glasses was uncomfortable especially with thicker lenses, but now it's a lot easier even though I have to wear Progressives. I really wanted those contacts to work and was so disappointed. I didn't know there was an age limit with contacts, I think if they are working well you should be able to have that as an option, but I am not sure with prysbopia (don't remember how to spell it but I just call it "old eyes"). Now, with Progressives, they take getting use to but in time your eyes get accustomed to it and I sympathize with you on finding the right angles, I totally get it and experience the same issues.
Should I do plastic for regular distance and separate reading? It's all I've ever had BUT I didn't use them often. They were back-up for when I had my contacts out. She really did a good job selling me on the ploycarb for durability and scratch resistance. And they are thinner and lighter. Wearing all the time I might appreciate that.
Definitely plastic is lighter and they really do a great job of slimming out the lenses, but the problem I find is that the coating or whatever they put on it needs cleaning all the time. I would clean the lenses and two hours later noticed they need cleaning again, there is something they need to get fixed on the coatings so that they remain clean for most of the day.
Scooby Snacks, thank you for your valuable information. As someone who had cataract surgery well over a year ago and has lived through a year long nightmare of trying to find suitable glasses, I am going to print out your post so I'll have it for the next time I need to buy progressives.
If this optician had listened to me the way you seem to listen to people, I would have had my Varilux progressives nearly a year ago and avoided all the agony of not being able to see properly to drive, having to hold onto things just to walk around the house, not being able to read a book, etc.
One thing I noticed for sure is the polycarbonate material distorted things. I just thought "plastic" was "plastic" when it came to lenses. I never even knew they were selling me polycarbonate lenses, never ever heard of it.
But the first weird thing was that the glasses were smeared all the time. Couldn't wear them more than a few minutes without taking them off and wiping them! Also, if you took the glasses and looked at the lenses themselves, the colors of the rainbow were apparent. That's when I started to think that maybe these lenses were made of a different material than I'd ever had before.
To the person who asked if they really needed the poly for scratch resistance or durability, I don't think so! If you're a kid playing baseball maybe, but for an adult, what's come out of my suffering is that the plastic (that I think is what has always been used) is just fine.
Next week I'm planning on visiting another optician because I will NEVER, EVER go back to that one who refused to give me Varilux, told me the Shamir were exactly the same, and then charged me $$$ more to finally set me up with Varilux. I want someone I can trust and I will try to get an explanation of why I couldn't see with the polycarbonate Shamir, and get as much information as I can so that a disaster like this latest experience will not happen next time.
Anyone here: you are smart to ask and to get as much information as possible before purchasing. Apparently things have changed--(or maybe there are just more dishonest opticians out there lately.)
I stagger the correction left and right by 1/2 a diopter for the reading portion. Works very well for me. Reading close is good, seeing the dash on the car is good also. While this is not done very often, my optometrist agreed there is no reason not to do it.
Don in Austin
OK, see mine is not talking to me about any of these options. Everyone in this thread is extremely helpful!
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). Now, with Progressives, they take getting use to but in time your eyes get accustomed to it and I sympathize with you on finding the right angles, I totally get it and experience the same issues.
