I got the first progressive pair about 10 years ago. Since then I tried 2 more pairs and I just could not get used to the "swimming effect" so after a few days I went back to my old pair. The old pair is just too worn out and the prescription is out of date, but it does not give me a head ache.

In the past, I went back to my optometrist and they adjusted the frames, a few days later I went back and changed the lenses to match the older style prescription but update to the new prescription. Not sure how to explain this, there are different ways to make progressive lenses, and they tried to give me a better one, which didn't work for me, so they went back to the old method but with the new prescription. Still didn't work.

This year I went to Costco. I picked up the glasses last night and I will try them today. I think it will be very difficult to adjust.

I am tempted to just give up and carry 2 pairs. Or maybe I should try bifocals.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/03/2020 09:43AM by space-time.

My first set of progressive lens had three "zones" for viewing and it drove me crazy. Went back for a different prescription and got one for two "zones" and they worked a lot better for me. I finally got used to them and wore them for years, with updated prescriptions along the way. But then the old age cataracts started creeping in, so I went in and had the cataracts removed and my lenses replaced with the high-tech multi-focal ones. Haven't worn glasses since. Only downside is that my low-light vision isn't as good as it used to be, but I'm getting used to that as well.

I switched to non-progressive. The area between zones is negligible. The drawback is you can’t hide having bifocals.

I’d rather see

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.

I have noticed that the brain learns to filter out the line of standard bifocals for the wearer.

My first bifocals were not progressives but I grew tired of the hard line between focal planes and switched to progressives. Took me a while, but I got used to them and actually had trouble when I had to switch to an old non-progressive pair. I also got prescription readers for working on my computer since I want the entire focal plane to be on the screen and tilting my head back was uncomfortable.

A couple of years ago, I was tired of juggling so many glasses so went in for contacts, which I hadn't worn in almost 30 years. Left eye is for up close, right for distance. That REALLY took me a while to get used to and my eyes still get confused once in a while, but I like not having to mess with glasses. The contacts maybe get me to 90-95% of what a good pair of glasses will, but that's what the optometrist told me was the best case scenario.

And contacts are much better for wearing a mask. Try as I might, I can't totally eliminate fogging when I'm wearing glasses.

My current frames ($7 Zenni) fit me as well as any I’ve ever had, and I got used to progressives after having to get new lenses with a 1mm difference in the PD measurement.

But I wish I could go back to contacts. My eyes just always get way too dry however.

As much as I enjoy fashion (and my vanity) I HATE changing eye glasses because of the break-in time required by each new set of progressives. That said, I'm usually fine after about two weeks. I hope you get to that point soon, as the alternative is a pain.

I've worn glasses since I was six

Tried contacts and went back to glasses
Tried progressives and went bact back to hardlines.
Tried parting my hair on the right, went back to the left
Tried using my right arm, went back to the left
Tried finding a girlfriend, the Mrs reminded me she grew up using a machete


I'm just a creature of habit.

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“No persons are more frequently wrong, than those who will not admit they are wrong.”
-- François de La Rochefoucauld

Growing older is mandatory. Growing up is optional.

One problem with progressive lenses is that it is easy to fabricate them improperly, and many eye doctors are not skilled at diagnosing improper fabrication.

I had an issue similar to what you describe. I wore my first pair of progressives with ease for many years.

The second pair had to be re-fabricated twice to get them right. First attempt, the prescription was off. Second attempt, the prescription seemed to be correct, but using them gave me terrible headaches. Both the ophthalmologist and the optician said the glasses were fine and I was the problem if I couldn't get used to them. When I pressed for further analysis, both responded with anger and insults.

I finally found an optometrist who was willing to work with me, and I set up a small reading chart in my bathroom, where I could collect my own data regarding the alignment of the optical regions of the lenses. It was necessary to do this at home because the process was very fatiguing and time consuming. I had to rest my eyes between every data point, and it took many observations to identify the problem. Turns out that the optical centers of the two lenses were misaligned- one was higher than the other, so that any attempt to get good binocular cooperation between my eyes caused severe eyestrain. Of course I got headaches.

You may be able to test yourself this way, if you have the patience and the inclination. I read a few newsgroups and simple articles on eye refraction/correction and progressive lens design in order to learn enough to ask the right questions.

In the end, I wrote up a report of my observations and conclusions, presented it to the original optician, and told him that the glasses were improperly fabricated by the lab he used, and that he was responsible for getting them to do it right. Fortunately he agreed, and the third time the glasses were done properly.

I have now been seeing that new optometrist for thirty years, and have been very happy with her willingness to be a problem solver.

Good luck with this.

I have large aviator-style frames so more area of each lense can be ‘progressed’.

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Saint Cloud, Minnesota, where the weather is wonderful even when it isn't.

I got very small lenses for distance, and peek under them for close up, or take them off.

One problem with progressive lenses is that it is easy to fabricate them improperly, and many eye doctors are not skilled at diagnosing improper fabrication.


I pretty much believe this is the only problem with progressive lenses, or at least 98% of the problem, the last 2% being people.

I've had three pair of progressive lenses, all from Kaiser, and they've been great.

Now, true, it could easily be my superhuman brain that possesses the ability to innately correct flawed production by flawed humans.

Or it might be of all the thing Kaiser got wrong with my lenses, they did get progressive lenses right.

But I wholly believe it's somewhat rare that an optician/lab combination can get certain thing right the first time.

I've been wearing glasses for a very long time, from an early age.

From that early age I learned to articulate defects in the manufacture of my glasses, and it was frustrating for years that my complaints were ignored.

Finally, we tried a nearby optical company and the guy listened to me and not Mom, it it was great to get glasses that worked without me working.

When I got older, I went to a place in Berkeley that had a great optician.

For almost 20yrs my 'eye doctor' was an ophthalmologist who did both surgery, eye examinations, and refractions.

He always wanted to see and 'read' any optical prescriptions filled.

I later found that wasn't a universal practice, especially among opticians.

So I have to have an Rx done for the reading portion of progressives.

Kaiser will probably get the part right considering their batting average.

It's just what else might go wrong that keeps me wary.

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When a good man is hurt,
all who would be called good
must suffer with him.

Everybody matters or nobody matters.

You and I have memories longer than the road that stretches out ahead.

There is no safety for honest men except
by believing all possible evil of evil men.

We don’t do focus groups. They just ensure that you don’t offend anyone, and produce bland inoffensive products. —Sir Jonathan Ive

-An armed society is a polite society.
And hope is a lousy defense.

You make me pull, I'll put you down.

Mister, that's a ten-gallon hat on a twenty-gallon head.

I *love* SIGs. It's Glocks I hate.

I tried a pair of progressives - made me nauseous. Sent back to bifocals, and readers for computer work.

In my experience, you have to wear them exclusively for at least 2 weeks - your brain adjusts after that time. No cheating - put them on and power through it.

I got my first pair at 45 and have worn them exclusively since then - once that initial wooziness was conquered, no problems with any new ones with various fabricators from Zenni, Costco, Wal-mart, Lens Crafters.

Turns out that the optical centers of the two lenses were misaligned

Wow, but not surprised. What I had read was that a 1mm difference in the PD "shouldn't really matter," but for me it did ... even tho I can't be sure the first lenses were simply misaligned. All I knew is the instant I put them on my head began to spin and I got a headache. There was no "getting used to them" that was gonna happen.

It was all from Zenni, and I used up a full refund offer in order to send them back. I re-bought the same frames from them and took them to a local optometrist who had no qualms about me supplying them the frames (Walmart, because the town's only independent doc was an asshat.)

I had to re-buy the prescription from Walmart ($60) for the privilege but it was worth it. The new lenses work.

I've had them as daily wears (when I'm too lazy to put the contacts in) for a decade or so.
I found initially, if I worked the distance first then went to newspaper/computer, I got used to them quickly.

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!#$@@$#!

If there are spelling issues, please pardon, Owen the cat is sitting on my keyboard.

Quote
RAMd®d
One problem with progressive lenses is that it is easy to fabricate them improperly, and many eye doctors are not skilled at diagnosing improper fabrication.

I pretty much believe this is the only problem with progressive lenses, or at least 98% of the problem, the last 2% being people.

I feel your pain. I got my first glasses in third grade, and have had years of experience accommodating to new prescriptions. The only time I ever got headaches was during that second round of progressives. I have pretty intense myopia, so it always takes longer than average for me to get new glasses made -- labs typically need to throw out a few mistakes until they think they have it right. And even then they haven't always gotten it right.

It helps to have an optometrist who enjoys solving problems.

Last time I got new glasses, I decided to bag the progressives/bifocals altogether and get single-vision distance glasses. I now use clip-on flip-up 1.5x (2.25 diopter) craft magnifiers for reading. Between mild cataracts and other issues, it is no longer worth the agita and expense of getting new progressives/bifocals every two years. With any luck I will eventually have cataract surgery done, which won't get me to 20/20, but will at least get me to a prescription where fabrication of progressives will be practical again.

The above is yet another reason why I did LASIK over a decade ago.

I can buy reading glasses at any pharmacy.

I've just been buying the thinnest (height wise) frames I cn stand for normal vision and becoming accustomed to looking below the bottom edge of the frames to read. Kinda works, but I definitely notice that I knock over objects much more frequently due to that discrepancy of vision.

$22 Bifocals from zenni. Don't notice the line.

On my third progressive prescription.

Each time, I got the upgraded version with wider field. I highly recommend that upgrade. It makes it easier to find the appropriate focal point in the lens. Minimizes the amount of head-tilting required.

Each time, they messed up something in the lenses or prescription. A second or third visit to the eye doctor was required to fine-tune. I took great advantage of Lenscrafters' 30-day guaranty where they remake the lenses for no additional cost during this period.

If you have the slightest discomfort/problem, go back to the eye doctor, have him/her check the lenses to confirm that they conform and see if the doctor can tweak the prescription to make it better for you. Do it soon.

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I couldn't get used to my first pair, so after several tries, I had a three-week trip to go on, so I left my old glasses at home and took only the new ones. I had gotten used to them by the time I got home.

Eyeglasses for all!

I also bought progressives and didn't like them. The area where I can read is so small it feels like I'm focusing on one word at a time. Very frustrating and I went back to my reading glasses.

I spent 3 weeks with progressives and really didn't like them. Went back to bifocals. My dear wife tried bifocals once and didn't like them. So she has a half dozen pair of distance and a half dozen pair of reading glasses from Zenni that she scatters around the house and the cars. All together they were maybe $100. But, she promised to try bifocals again. We get a pair of glasses each year from United Healthcare Medicare Advantage, so we'll use that to pay for her bifocals. If she doesn't like them, back to the $7 Zenni distance and reading glasses.

I should have bifocals, but have resisted. When I need to read something up close, I just take off my glasses. If I need to read something about 12-18" away, I slide my glasses down closer to the tip of my nose. Anything past that, and my glasses are fine.

My wife tried progressives and hated them. Then she went to a place that basically gave her these really expensive lenses that they were trying out, and needed test subjects. She loves them. But they cost like $800 a pair. She's still wearing the pair they gave her for free a couple of years ago, but she told me that when she needs new ones, she won't hesitate to pay for them.