Progressive lenses

[indysteel]

You know it is cheaper. My friend said her glasses including the office visit was almost 600. ouch! And if you go to the dollar store they are even cheaper only a $1.00 (hence the name)! lol

I don't wear progressives, but my lenses, frames and exam run close to that (although not quite) because my prescription is so bad (-1200 or so in each eye). By the time everything gets factored in, it adds up. So, yes, maybe your friend just went to an expensive optician or maybe she just has a difficult prescription.

[pll]

I have very strong lenses. Now they have high index lenses that are pretty thin. And like you I do not use a very big frame. I've had no problem with progressives and have been using them for at least 10 years.

+1

I have a very complicated prescription, with a much stronger lense on my right eye than on my left. The high index lenses are fantastic and you do not have to use large frames. I consider my glasses the only jewelry (functional jewelry, to boot) I wear on a daily basis, so I am particular about my frames and change them every couple of years.

[jessmarimba]

I think she was saying that she couldn't use large frames, not that she had to. The smaller the frame, the lighter the glasses (and the thinner the lenses)! On the other hand, I also can't wear wire-rimmed or semi-rimless either. They look terrible due to the lens size...and I'd never find them if I took them off.

I can't use large frames either. They turn out to be coke bottles on the edges, even with high index lenses. The last pair of glasses I had took forever because the lenses are pretty much too fat for the frames at the corners and they were trying to force them to fit (the outer corner of the lens on my bad eye is close to 1/4 inch thick on that pair)

[emily_in_nc]

I went to progressive lenses at about age 47 or 48 when I could no longer read with my contacts in. I tried several different multi-focal contacts, but none were good enough for both reading and distance. I did continue to use contacts plus reading glasses, and still will on rare occasions when vanity is an issue, but I wear my glasses about 95% of the time because I see a lot better in them. They were quite expensive, not because of my Rx being complicated, but because I got rimless metal Kate Spade frames, high-index polycarbonate lenses with anti-glare and Transitions (turn to sunglasses outdoors). So they ran me (with exam) around $1000! I had vision insurance at the time that covered about half that, and since they are both clear and sunglasses, it isn't quite as awful as it sounds.

What IS awful is that they're less than a year old, and I dropped them into the pool here and cracked one of the lenses, up where it attaches to the bridge of the nose part of the frame. It's just a small crack, and I can still see fine since it's not in the vision area, but eventually, they will probably break completely. Now I notice the other lens is cracking a bit around this same area too. I think it may be the nature of these rimless lenses to be a bit weak in that area. So, I'll need new glasses soon, but without insurance, I am going to have to cut way back on the "fanciness" to be able to afford 'em. I've heard there are mail-order places that will take your Rx and make glasses, and the frames are much less too since there's a huge markup on those in retail chains like the one I went to.

I really like progressives, and they took me almost no time to get used to. The only thing you have to be careful with is going down stairs, especially in low-light situations. I think because neither my distance nor reading Rx is very extreme, it was probably an easier adjustment than for folks who have a very strong Rx in either direction. I also have mild astigmatism.

The thing that's nice about progressives is that they look like single-vision lenses, so there's no line to announce to the world that you are, ahem, of a certain age.

P.S. I am wearing them in my avatar pic to the left.

[Brandi]

I noticed when sculpting this year that if I was close up on the sculpture I was having a hard time seeing clear. But that was inside with not great lighting. I am nearsighted and have Astigmatism as well. The glasses I have are great for seeing those stop signs coming up and street signs as well. It's the trying to read after looking far for a time or reading then looking up and trying to see far. My husband is a freak he is 53 and has perfect vision still. Even though his whole family wears glasses. And he is always on his computer and STILL he has good vision.
Now right now I can be on the computer and see fine but when the light starts to get bad that changes.
Debating on weather to just buy more reading glasses and take them everywhere with me or give in. I too am funding my dentist office right now as well. And my kitty needs to have a little skin cancer on his nose frozen off and teeth cleaned while they do that. Animals and teeth always seem to come first.

[Brandi]

I don't wear progressives, but my lenses, frames and exam run close to that (although not quite) because my prescription is so bad (-1200 or so in each eye). By the time everything gets factored in, it adds up. So, yes, maybe your friend just went to an expensive optician or maybe she just has a difficult prescription.

You could be very right about that. Maybe it is a hard perscrpt.

[Brandi]

I have very strong lenses. Now they have high index lenses that are pretty thin. And like you I do not use a very big frame. I've had no problem with progressives and have been using them for at least 10 years.

I also buy cheap prescription glasses just for computer work. I am wearing them right now. I have other pairs just for reading if I am going to read a long time. Because they are single vision I buy them online, from www.zennioptical.com. I rarely spend more than ten dollars a pair and that is with prescription lenses. I buy my progressives local because of the need to get a nice, accurate lens for my bad eyes.

I went to the site and am not sure how it works. The glasses seem so cheap. Are they for just reading or they fill prescriptions too?

[Irulan]

I have two pair. One is an everyday progressive, sort of a driving/reading type glass. The other is work specific, computer and "closer". Brandi, you might need a work specific lens for the distance range your sculpting is in.

[goldfinch]

I went to the site and am not sure how it works. The glasses seem so cheap. Are they for just reading or they fill prescriptions too?

They are for real. I've bought about 10 pair of glasses from them. You have to put in your prescription, which you can get from your eye doc. The most difficult thing is your interpupillary distance, or IPD. You either need someone to measure the distance between your pupils or get it from your eye doctor. They usually don't do that unless asked.

[azfiddle]

I have worn progressives for about 5 or 6 years. They took me a month to get used to, and I had headaches, but after the month, I didn't notice a problem any more.

Mine are usually about $400 or $450, but insurance pays for a good chunk and flexible spending account pays for the rest.

[smilingcat]

I've had my progressive lens for about 8 years or so I think... And my eyes have not gotten worse or better. My eyes have been stable. Can't read too well up close and definitely blurry (bokeh) far away without my glasses.

Hope this helps.

[skhill]

Got my first pair of progressives over the summer. I didn't have any trouble adjusting to them at all. Reading in low light was getting tough, but the what really pushed me to getting them was reading music. That distance was getting increasingly bad.

My uncle the opthamologist told me that I should expect to change my perscription several times over the next decade, then hopefully things won't change much for a long time. We'll see. (Alas, he's retired now, so no more free eye care...)

[Brandi]

I have two pair. One is an everyday progressive, sort of a driving/reading type glass. The other is work specific, computer and "closer". Brandi, you might need a work specific lens for the distance range your sculpting is in.

Good point you could be very right.

[jessmarimba]

My contacts don't correct my astigmatism (they're way too expensive even without a custom toric for the right eye) and the only thing I have trouble with is reading music. That distance is so tricky. Fortunately, unlike sculpting, I can just copy it and blow it up really big (or print it out in huge font the first time).

[Crankin]

I have very bad astigmatism in my left eye, which I am sure affects my depth perception, which is horrible.
I have never been able to tolerate a toric lens, and I've tried a few. Every time, within seconds of putting it in, my eye starts itching, my nose feels sniffly, and I develop allergy symptoms. One time it went on to become bronchitis. No eye doctor believes me when I tell them this. I'm ready to try again, because for 30 + years I've chosen to have less than 20/20 vision in my left eye. I always wear my glasses instead of my contacts, for the eye test when getting my license renewed, but the last time, I thought I wasn't going to pass, even with my glasses on. I really didn't understand what they were asking me to do and it was a scary feeling, in addition to the fact that the people at the RMV thought I was cognitively limited! The test has to do with objects and their placement, not reading letters and I could barely see what they were talking about. I was able to figure it out after getting a more in depth explanation, but really, I wonder if even my glasses don't correct this issue with depth perception, or is it astigmatism? I remember as a kid, even after I started wearing glasses for distance, I would fail the eye test every year in school, as you were supposed to see an apple on a table and to me it was always under the table. Things just don't appear to be be where they really are to me, they always seem closer and coming up faster, and this is worse when I have to look to look right, as in making a right turn. I am hoping that if I can wear the toric lens, some of this might get better.