I have had progressive lenses for over 10 years. They were the bigger lenses that look like the 80's.

It had been so long since I had glasses, I thought I should get new. Wife like the smaller lenses, and still went with the "rimless"

I am having a heck of a time getting use to these, as I did ten years ago with the first pair. If I am out at night I will focus on a light in the distance and realize for it to be in focus I need to lower my nose a fraction. I have been into the "technician" twice to have the glasses adjusted, but I am still struggling, and I am hoping the glasses would just disappear as others problems do.

Also I work i a "lab" that has plenty of Fluoresent lights.I can get a glare of light at the edges (Right and Left) from some strong light behind me. Also get some light coming thru the rimless area of the glasses on the bottom.

I am very close to going in and having them redo the lenses and maybe lowering the cutoff where LONG DISTANCE starts.

Anyone have experience with progressives?

I also have insurance for free EYE EXAM, but not glasses., so these are very expensive, when I choose LIGHT Weight LENSES, Veriflex, ANd rugged frames. ALways tempted to go somewhere that advertises cheaper, but this is Kaisers own Optical Dept.

The rimless frames may not be suitable for you. See if you can swap for thin titanium frames. You'll probably be happier.

The line of demarcation on the lenses may be in the wrong place for you. That can be tweaked up or down. It takes some experimentation. My dad went through probably 10 sets of lenses before he found the sweet spot. (My mom found hers on the second try.)

What's the warranty and return policy on your glasses? My place lets me return them with no questions for a certain period and make even exchanges for 3 months. If your place has similar policies, I say exploit them until you're happy with what you've got.

I never had to wear glasses until a few years ago. I went with the (yes, expensive like you say) progressive wire rim type. I was concerned that I would never get used to them but it took all of about an hour or so. I'm wondering if they screwed up on the prescription. My case might be different than yours because I don't need much correction so my lenses are fairly thin.
Do they have a don't pay until happy guaranty?

First, how long have you had these lenses? I remember when I was getting my last glasses that I had to do extensive research on the various flavors of progressives. One of the little untalked about details I learned was that progressives can be very hard to get "right" and virtually every optician will replace them without charge, within a reasonable period of time.

Do some Googling on this instead of relying solely on the answers you'll get to your post here. There are a gazillion permutations of progressive lenses, and some have been developed for specific vision requirements.

I did a bit of searching but couldn't find a site that summed up all of the information out there. I know that I had to find an optician that carried Hoya lenses, and it had to be a very specific Hoya model. The first set of progressives I got at Costco were absolute disaster for me, although they're the best selling lenses out there in the world and work well for millions of people. Except me, that is.

I tried the progressive lenses in the past and never could get used to them. Optometrist said I would wake up one day and my eyes would have adjusted, never happened. After about a month of splitting headaches and eye strain I gave up.

I don't think my experience is the norm, it was really hard for me to get used to normal bifocals as well.

i forget the reasons he gave but my eye doctor told me that rimless was not a good choice for bifocals lenses, progressive or not.

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"Success isn't about how much money you make. It is about the difference you make in people's lives."--Michelle Obama

First off not all progressive lenses are created equal and unless you are dealing with an independent
optometrist, rather than a chain, you may never be satisfied. I have worn progressives for about 15 years
and have been through a number of brands. I am fortunate that my doc is a total optics geeks. I have a very hard to fit
prescription (near sighted in one eye, far sighted in the other) so we are match made in heaven.

My doc went through about three fittings last time (yes - he's a geek with his own lab)
The shape and size of the progressive pattern will make a huge difference is usability.
Ask you doc about the different patterns and if they do not respond, find another doc. The shame is that
most chains are stuck with one type (usually the cheapest) and do not have the luxury. I also learned from my doc
that even within a brand name (Zeiss, Bausch & Lomb, etc...) there are multiple quality levels.
Shop around until you find someone that will guarantee a good fit. It may cost a little more up front
but in the long run is money well spent.

<edit>

I have both rimless poly-carbs and rimmed glass - same shape and size and find no real difference
other that I had him set the rimless up for a closer range for computer work.

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Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2009 10:37AM by lafinfil.

I got a pair from Lens Crafters and hated them. In order to see in the middle distance I had to tilt my head like Nipper the RCA dog. The clerk at LC said "Well, they do take some getting used to."

I returned them after a week for a full refund. My second pair was from Costco, and they are fine. I think my LC experience was a combination of bad manufacture--how the lenses were placed in the frame--and bad fitting. It took me no time at all to adjust to the second pair.

Mine are the smaller lenses more in fashion today. I think you will do fine if you find someone who is willing to work with you.

I tried a few pairs of progressives, and never got used to them.

The main problem is the (subjectively) tall band across where I could not focus. The secondary problem is the narrow reading slot.

Eventually, I found the right keywords for my optometrist. "Executive". That gets me a solid line across - which make a very short non-focus area. Also, the reading section goes all the way across - so I can see an entire book (or both monitors) without moving my head.

The downside is they're very obviously bifocals. So, if you're trying to pretend you don't need them ...

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Embarassing myself on the Internet since 1978.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 12/13/2009 11:16AM by raz.

I got the anti-reflective coating on my glasses. It was expensive, but helps a lot with reflections. That might help with the lights in the lab.


Good luck.

- Winston

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Be seeing you.

Microman:

Do you mean you have Varilux lenses? I remember too well when switching from the old D segment to progressive lenses. Varilux lenses come in several types (designs).
1) Physio
2) Comfort
3) Panamic
4) Ellipse
5) Ipseo
Have no idea why they think they need so many, supposedly each has its benefits, but I think it's mostly a marketing ploy.

Check out what type lenses you were previously wearing and if they are still available then stick with that type. I love their now discontinued Liberty lenses. My wife had always worn the Panamic and they tried to switch her to the "new improved Ipseo lenses" she about went nuts, never could get use to them so they put her back in the Panamic an problem solved.

Your one comment that you have to drop your head to see clearly in the distance says the lenses optical centers are too high and need to be dropped down. Were your old glasses from the 80 rimless? Sounds like you're getting reflections off the edges. My advise would be to have whoever you got the glasses from to remeasure where the optical centers should be in your new frames and to ask them to remake the lenses and to put you back in whatever type of lenses you have worn in the pasted. You can check out the Varilux site an learn more about the different lenses.
=>[www.variluxusa.com]

It took me 3 weeks to get used to mine.

Physios are the best. It took me 5 minutes to get used to. With my insurance at the time it was not much more than regular.

Gutenbeg's comment about "RCA dog" is funny...as a progressive lens wearer, I get it.

One adjusted, you involuntarily tilt your head by small degrees to get optimal results. It's not conscious after a while, and the sweet spot viewing areas in the lenses become more generous and expansive, until the whole process becomes invisible.

Having had unsuccessful AND successful experiences with progressives, here's my observation:

The type of lens material can often account for an unhappy experience, more than the type or degree of progressive lens. It's not that hard to adjust to progressives. BUT--if the lens material isn't right for your eyes, you won't like them, and won't adjust.

That's been my experience. I like progressive lenses a lot. Once you get a match that works for you, you won't want anything else. But I've had to do it by trial and error. And the change always ends up being the material the lenses are made out of.

My worst experience, I left Lenscrafters feeling like I was 18 feet tall, was dizzy and ill trying to adjust. I gave it almost a week, but couldn't stand it. I then came back and opted for a type of lens material that was more familiar to my eyes.

Lenscrafters, and Costco couldn't get me fit correctly as I had a very strong basic correction, then strong reading correction on top. Neither of them offered lenses with high enough index of refraction (k) and they couldn't correctly get the correction. Varilux was the key.

Then I had cataracts removed from both eyes and correction was adjusted in the inserted lenses to give me reading focus, so I still need glasses (progressives) for distance, but just about any brand will do OK. Hope you don't need my fix anytime soon, but the improvement in my vision after the surgery was one of my most astonishing life experiences. The change I would make if I could would be to have the cataract replacements give me correction for distance, and leave me having to use reading glasses. I just didn't know which way to go, and the pre-replacement advice I solicited was contradictory in the extreme, about like what you'll get here....

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What it is, man, a low-down and funky feelin'

I never got use to progressive lens. I have to look over the top of my glasses or take them off to read.

Hi there,
A few years ago I bought progressive lenses at Wallmart and they took me over a year to be able to wear comfortably - needless to say I should have returned them. I just found out they were Esselor's Ovation glasses. My optometrist, hearing my story about the glasses is recommending lenses by Seemax, however it doesn't seem that is an option at the glasses places where I can afford to buy glasses. The Costco staff are recommending Esselor's poly accolade freedom lenses with crizal avance coating and say they are a much better lens and have the wider field of view that helps (not sure of the specifcs here). Because they actually have frames I like (hard for me to find with today's styles) I was hoping these might be a good quality lens.

Any advice to those that know? Thanks, Laura