I did not look up how progressive lenses really work before getting some.

⁨60⁩ ⁨likes⁩

Submitted ⁨⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago⁩ by ⁨wjrii@lemmy.world⁩ to ⁨mildlyinfuriating@lemmy.world⁩

It’s only been a week, but I kind of hate them. Considering old-man bifocals now.

source

Comments

Sort:hotnew top

melsaskca@lemmy.ca ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
It used to be cheaper (bought some about 20 years ago) to have 2 pairs. One for distance and another for up close. I regretted buying progressives ultimately. Have they become less expensive?

source
SadSadSatellite@lemmy.dbzer0.com ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
There’s a few points to note

-there are 1500 different progressive lenses, and a lot of stire are still selling 35 yeae old lenses. You get what you pay for, and avoid chains.

-the eyeglass industry is full of reps who think they’re professionals, but don’t actually know fuck all about how they work. What the other person said about measurements is way more obvious with a progressive. Because of this, online progressives are dogshit.

-if you’re a hyperope, it takes more time to get used to the lenses. Plus prescriptions add more distortion, so it takes longer to adapt.

-the age you got the first progressive makes a huge difference. If you get one at 42, you’ll have a much easier time than if you wait until 60, because the reading addition keeps getting stronger and causes more distortion. Side note, if you’re over 42, you should be wearing a progressive. Stop lying to me and yourself.

-it takes about two weeks to feel natural, but you have to wear the glasses, and not switch back to an older pair. If you don’t put in the effort, you’ll be the old person with lines. If you wear them for two weeks and don’t get used to them, theres something wrong with the lens.

get a premium, dual sided antireflective. Plus power lenses have more space between the surfaces, and double the effects of glare on the lens.

-don’t take advice from anyone you know, youtube, or especially reddit. Nobody knows any of the actual science behind optics, they just keep parroting things that sound legit. Even supposed professionals in my industry are goddamn idiots, including most licensed opticians i know. The only sources of info that can be trusted are lifelong lab managers, and the people designing the products and systems of manufacture. Everyone else spouts buzzwords like they know what they’re saying, or they saw a video once.

I’m an advanced optician running three offices and a lab, working towards my masters designation, and i’m infuriated to be one of the last professionals in this industry.
source
- Technoworcester@feddit.uk ⁨1⁩ ⁨hour⁩ ago
  As an ex lab tech and dispenser…
  
  This.
  
  Thanks for writing, saved me a job.
  
  If you’re over 42, you should be wearing a progressive. Stop lying to me and yourself.
  
  source
- LifeInMultipleChoice@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  So as someone who’s mid 30s and was proscribed contacts at 18 and had one blow back into my eye while on a motorcycle, then another crack (probably from my misuse) and irritate my eye real bad, and just give up on wearing anything. At what age would you say I should draw a hard line of making sure I get something so my eyes will adapt properly. I still passed the eye test at the DMV, but it’s gotta be close. Somehow I don’t think my distance has gotten worse from 18-35 because I can still read text on street signs and captions on TVs.
  
  Just figured I’d ask because your talk about 42 vs 60 adapting to lenses, or if I could just keep ignoring it and adapt when I do get glasses eventually.
  
  source
- wjrii@lemmy.world ⁨7⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  I don’t remember exactly what I ordered, but it was from an independent shop and I think I picked the middle out of five options. I’m going to give it the full three weeks, but the narrow intermediate distance band, the swimmy effect on the near band when I move my head, and the dead zone in the lower corners are all very irritating.
  
  The prescription itself seems spot on; it’s just how the progressive is laid out. It’s on me for not realizing that aren’t just sort of linear, but it is — well — mildly infuriating.
  
  source
  - zwerg@feddit.org ⁨6⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    I’ve worn progressive lenses for nearly 10 years now. I did get one pair on the cheap, and they were truly awful, unusable. That’s when I figured out that going cheap with progressive lenses isn’t worth it. That may be what has happened to you. Even with good lenses, it takes me a few days, maybe a week to get used to them when I get a new pair. Stairs are… difficult though, especially going down. I live in a busy European city, so I use public transport a lot, and that means lots of stairs. I can no longer run up and down them like I used to.
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
realitista@lemmus.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
They take a month or 2 to get used to, give it time. Your brain sort of morphs itself to make it seem normal after a while. It’s very strange but true.

I personally went for only 2 zones, one which was mainly the strength to use a computer rather than read a book up close (though I can do that in a pinch), and the other for distance. This feels very natural to me now, I can just see what I need to see but it doesn’t feel weird.

source
jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I found I can’t do bifocals at all. When I’m reading, I need the whole lens. When I’m distance viewing, I need the whole lens.

So, two pairs it is!

source
- starlinguk@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  So how do you drive?
  
  source
  - Valmond@lemmy.world ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Fast and furious!
    
    source
  - meekah@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Why would that be an issue? Just use the distance glasses, and your good. Or do you need to constantly read the vehicle manual to drive?
    
    source
    -> View More Comments
  - jordanlund@lemmy.world ⁨5⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
    Distance lenses. Dashboard isn’t close enough for readers.
    
    That was the problem with the bifocals, I’d look down and the dash was blurry.
    
    source
andrewta@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
They are super hard to get properly aligned. The absolute vast majority of people that work in eye glass shops have ZERO clue on how to set them up. They will claim until they die that they know how to do it. They don’t have a clue. And they don’t understand that. That’s the real problem. They think they know and they don’t.

And the more sensitive your eyes are to minute changes(tiny changes). The problem gets many times worse.

The best I can say is go to one person have them keep working on it. Do not let anybody else touch them. Keep working the same person. If you realize this person can’t get them right and it could take several visits by the way. Then blacklist that person and go to the next person in the same shop. Repeat this until you’ve gone through everybody in the same shop. Then go to the next shop and start over. Keep doing this until youcan find somebody who has a clue. It’s going to take a while. Trust me. I have exactly one person in Town that he can do it. By the way, my city is about 60,000 people in just this town. 60,000 population that is. And there are quite a few eyeglass places in town.

To those who are reading this, if you work in eyeglass shops, and you’re sitting there thinking, but everybody in my shop is really good. Then you have no what’s going on. And you’re part of the problem. Because if you’re thinking, everybody in your shop can do it that means nobody in your shop can do it.

Think of it this way. Imagine everybody on a baseball team says I am really great and everybody my team is really great. Then your entire team sucks. Because in every team, there are people who are really, really good and people are mediocre and people are bad. So if you honestly believe that, everybody in your team is really really good then you’re clueless.

So I guess the best advice I can give to the original poster is keep trying with different people and try to find somebody’s good. Or go to bifocals.

source
- prex@aussie.zone ⁨2⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  Going to call you on the basketball team comparison: They have a simple metric for if they are good (winning). You are right about the rest if it though.
  
  source
partial_accumen@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
I don’t need long distance correction, but do need reading glasses distance correction. I got bifocals with no correction on top and my reading prescription on the bottom. When I was choosing types of bifocals, I was given a non-perscription demo progressives to try and hated them. I was then informed by the optometrist that there are a whole bunch of different lens styles to choose from besides progressives for bifocals. I chose “Segmented Ds” which look like this:

Image

These do exactly what I want. If I’m in a meeting and have my laptop or notepad (reading distance) close to me, and at the other end of the room a whiteboard or projection screen, I pop out my bifocals and they work perfectly. I can see both the distance (no prescription for me) and the close reading distance without having to lift my glasses off my face each time. I do not give a shit if someone sees that they are bifocals. I’m using them to help me be the best version of myself, not make a damn fashion statement. I have not one time had anyone say anything negative about them, and indeed had a few people ask how to order the same thing for themselves. If I’m doing pure close work, I don’t use the bifocals and just use regular full field reading glasses.

source
i_stole_ur_taco@lemmy.ca ⁨9⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Same. I despise them and refuse to wear them.

I bought a pair of reading glasses at the dollar store and just pretend I don’t need to see in the distance.

source
- BlueEther@no.lastname.nz ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  
  I bought a pair of reading glasses at the dollar store and just pretend I don’t need to see in the distance.
  
  Shhh don’t let every one know
  
  source
cloudless@piefed.social ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Yes. I paid extra and got the worse. Switched back to normal glasses after a year.

source
comador@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Try and return them first; tell them they give you a head ache and you cannot wear them. Refuse to wear them any longer.

If the prescription lens place doesn’t help, dump them along with the glasses, consider your options and shop around.

I had the same experience 7 years ago. I ultimately went back to my old pair and even bought a pair of cheapos from eyebuydirect.com to hold me over until my insurance covered my next prescription.

source
BillDaCatt@lemmy.world ⁨8⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
Progressive lenses are complete garbage! The fact that you need to wear them for several days for your eyes (and your brain) to adjust to them speaks volumes. Keep in mind you will also see very poorly for the first few days.

I got some progressive lenses for my second ever pair of glasses. My first pair did not have bifocal lenses. I wore the progressive lens glasses for a few minutes in the store. Took them off, drove home, and tried to wear them at home. I hated them so much that I went back the same day and returned them. I have had lined bifocals ever since and have not regretted it one little bit.

source
- realitista@lemmus.org ⁨4⁩ ⁨hours⁩ ago
  So you didn’t give yourself time to adjust and didn’t like them. That tracks…
  
  source