quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
I have astigmatism and myopia. Go with progressives, not bifocals. And get a separate pair for up close stuff, like the computer, or crafting, they have a bigger area of magnified up close stuff. I use them for reading too.

I could have written this exact post.

In fact I only just got the second pair for up close last week after 10 years of progressive lenses.

quote:

Originally posted by jon-nyc:

quote:

Originally posted by jodi:
I have astigmatism and myopia. Go with progressives, not bifocals. And get a separate pair for up close stuff, like the computer, or crafting, they have a bigger area of magnified up close stuff. I use them for reading too.

I could have written this exact post.

In fact I only just got the second pair for up close last week after 10 years of progressive lenses.

I got that second pair so I could read the chat for Zoom meetings! It was luck that those were also good for piano.

I wore glasses since I was in 5th grade and almost certainly needed them before then. I was simply able to compensate for not seeing in many activities until my deficiency was diagnosed.

I would talk to your prescriber about specific activities you engage in as that is likely to affect the choice of lenses. As an engineer, I often had to look at large drawings laying on a table and my prescriber suggested that could be a problem with progressives as I would have to keep scanning vertically to see everything. I wore bifocals from my '40s until I had cataract surgery a few years ago. The height of the bifocal line was optimized for computer and piano playing so I didn't get a sore neck from having to tip my head back too far. Now I don't need any correction for ordinary living and rely on multiple sets of reading glasses scattered around the house and in our cars for when I need to read something small or in poor light.

One special concern for me is polycarbonate lenses. I got them once in a pair of safety glasses and could not tolerate them. The produced color fringing that I did not learn to accept even after trying to wear them for extended periods. My prescriber said that the problem is not common, but occurs for some people, somehow related to the higher refractive index of the polycarbonate. He replaced the lenses with something else and the problem vanished.

Big Al

I love my progressives. I carried readers in my purse for years and it was so inconvenient to do little things like go shopping. I couldn't see the tags without the readers, but it was weird to try to walk around in them. And then there were my sunglasses, which are pretty necessary in Florida and Oklahoma. My purse was full of rattly plastic, because the readers would accumulate in my purse when I threw a pair in when there was already a pair in there. (I'm not real organized.)

When I finally broke down and went to the eye doctor, she said that it was still a borderline case, as I didn't really need help with distance vision and my near vision was just bad enough to need the dang readers. No astigmatism. Just plain old presbyopia.

We decided on progressives with just a little bit of help with distance, and I got the kind that darken into sunglasses in sunlight. (What's that called? Transitions?)

Anyway, I love them. It took me maybe a day to get used to them, tops, and the purseful-of-plastic problem was just gone. I put on my glasses in the morning and forget them until I take them off at night.

Thanks so much for the advice, all! We head to our appointments tomorrow so I’ll let you know what I end up with!

quote:

I often had to look at large drawings laying on a table and my prescriber suggested that could be a problem with progressives as I would have to keep scanning vertically to see everything.

Yep, it's super important to talk with the doc about your specific needs. I found that progressives seem to make the piano keyboard look as if its curved! The single vision lens don't have that problem.

I also have a larger monitor on my desk, it's tall enough vertically that the single vision lenses are needed there as well.

Oh, and I also took sheet music with me to the doctors. And measured the distance I sit from the score at the piano....

Good luck Dol!

I don’t know if it’s a feature of being progressives, high index polycarbonate, or just the diopter, but any vertical line that’s not dead center is curved outward. In photography we call that barrel distortion. Horizontal lines viewed through the lower part of the lens do that, but only a little. I simply don’t see straight lines straight with my glasses on. I do a LOT of measuring, checking with squares, straightedges, and levels. I haven’t parked straight in my driveway in years. I’m always a tad crooked.

I have trouble parking straight too, but in my case it wouldn’t be fair to blame my glasses.

My appointment was postponed until today but I was right about needing bifocals. Rob and I both ordered glasses with progressive lenses. It’ll take 7-10 days to get them in but I’ll post once I have them!

Got them a couple of weeks ago. They are…. Okay. Close is great. Far is fine. I move quickly and am pretty animated when I teach. The blur in my peripheral vision is a bit unnerving. I’m struggling with using a computer. It’s not close enough for the “near” and not far enough for the distance. When I’m in the classroom I don’t sit at a computer for any length of time so I can deal with it. If we go remote again I’ll likely have to use my old glasses.

There may be a different design of progressive lenses that works better for your needs. A good optician can advise you. Most shops will remake lenses at no charge if the ones they prescribed aren’t working for you.


I have the Definity lens made out of Trivex and I have a Crizal Alize anti-reflective coating.


https://www.essilorusa.com/new...rized-gray-and-brown

https://www.visioncenter.org/eyeglasses/trivex/

No “swim”, and when I look down no problem with going down stairs. Great optical quality and very scratch resistant. I’ve had these lenses for 8 or 9 years and they show very few signs of wear. I am pretty careful about cleaning, only using cleaning solution and lens cleaning cloth. No tissues or sleeves! They kill lenses.

I would definitely circle back around with your optician. You shouldn’t have to live with something substandard.

quote:

Originally posted by dolmansaxlil:
I’m struggling with using a computer. It’s not close enough for the “near” and not far enough for the distance.

I still have a pair of reading glasses with the whole lense as the near script for using the computer at extended times. I have adapted to using the progressives for short periods of time, but for longer ones, I find my neck starts getting sore...A quick change to readers does the trick.

Dol I can’t remember if I wrote this above, but I have two pairs of glasses: one with progressives lenses and then the other pair are for mid-distance, and then]y have single vision lenses. I use the single vision glasses for piano and computer.

I just got my eyes checked in August and got two new pairs (again, one with progressives and one with single vision lenses). At the time, I talked with the doc at length about my piano and computer activities, and he agreed that there probably isn’t a solution other than two different pairs.

Since you’ve only had your glasses for a short time, I recommend that you first return to the doc who wrote your prescription and see if they have any suggestions. And then, if not, plan to get a dedicated pair for mid-distance.

Good luck!

quote:

Originally posted by ShiroKuro:
Dol I can’t remember if I wrote this above, but I have two pairs of glasses: one with progressives lenses and then the other pair are for mid-distance, and then]y have single vision lenses. I use the single vision glasses for piano and computer.

I just got my eyes checked in August and got two new pairs (again, one with progressives and one with single vision lenses). At the time, I talked with the doc at length about my piano and computer activities, and he agreed that there probably isn’t a solution other than two different pairs.

Since you’ve only had your glasses for a short time, I recommend that you first return to the doc who wrote your prescription and see if they have any suggestions. And then, if not, plan to get a dedicated pair for mid-distance.

Good luck!

You’re the person I got this idea from! That’s my two glasses set-up, too.

My progressives aren’t working as well for me as they used to (it’s me, not them; I change left lens on a yearly basis). We’re going to try bifocals instead. Still waiting for them to show up. Supply chain, labor shortage, whatever. It’s been 4 weeks. Ugh.