Learning about eyeglasses...

[johnpalmer]

So... first, I bought this *nice* pair of glasses for my primary work - computer stuff. They include the +1 for reading glasses.

Problem. Get up, look around - everything's blurry. Reading glasses should be taken off.

So, I go to ZenniOptical because one of my LJ-friends mentioned it, and I'm such a lemming, or sheep, or whatever. Good prices, lousy customer service, but... yeah. Good prices. And I found a pair of glasses that fit.

I get progressive bifocals.

Keep in mind, I've *never* worn bifocals, before.

Was this a tactical error? I think I just never had to learn the whole "tilt your head to focus" thing because I never used non-progressive bifocals - and, equally importantly, +1 on reading glasses isn't a heavy correction. It's not like I tilt my head,and *bam*, that's right, that's how it's supposed to look. No, it's more like, I tilt my head, and probably find it's a bit easier to focus. My eyes relax a bit. Because, see, with just nearsightedness correction, I can read... it's just a bit harder.

I think with the progressives, it's *harder* on my eyes. Because I think I don't know quite how to use them. Should I save my pennies and get yet another pair, either with-line or just nearsightedness? Or will I learn to use them?

(i.e.: has anyone out there in LJ-land had their first glasses be progressive bifocals, and did they have a problem getting used to them, and did it pass?

Comments

[valkyrwench.livejournal.com]

Progressive lenses take some getting used to, but the weirdness does pass.

[hobbitbabe.livejournal.com]

I love my progressive bifocals. I love them.

They weren't my first pair of glasses - those were a straight correction for long-distance, like driving, but I'd completely stopped wearing those when I got the progressive lenses.

I didn't love them for the first week or so. I fell off a curb. And I still hold the wall going down stairs, almost three years later.

[laurarey.livejournal.com]

I resorted to wearing my contacts and then using over the counter reading glasses. I just couldn't do the bifocals.

[susandennis]

Progressives were my first (Zenni, as a matter of fact) and I couldn't do it. The eye doctor had this great plan - computer glasses for the computer and progressives for everything else. I lasted, I think maybe one day.

Now I wear a contact lens in one eye for reading and nothing in the other eye - for computer, non computer and everything else except for tiny type in dim light (for that I slap on a pair of drug store readers).

Been on this scheme successfully now for 3 years.

[jhetley.livejournal.com]

I've probably been wearing glasses since before you were born. So the progressive bifocals weren't the first pair . . .

But they take some getting used to, and I keep a separate pair of single-focal computer glasses. Can't stand the fixed viewing angle that bifocals require for the computer screen.

[pbrim.livejournal.com]

Unfortunately, it seems to be an individual matter. I took about 5 min to adjust to my progressive lenses. I love them. On the other hand, my ex-husband never did adjust and gave up after a few months. He ended up getting lazer surgery (something I would never consider) and using reading glasses with them

[suzilem.livejournal.com]

I started wearing glasses when I was 8 years old and got my first pair of progressives when I was about 42. The only problem I had with them was down escalators,and even that disappeared after time. I stopped wearing them a couple of years ago because I developed a cataract and it didn't agree with progressives. :-) I wear glasses for driving and anything that is more than about 20 feet away. I don't have much problem with computer. For reading? I bought a Kindle where I can bump the font size up. Anything else? I have a nifty little lighted magnifying glass that lives in my purse. :-)

[kightp.livejournal.com]

This would be me, too. (Except that I really can't read anything much longer than a page with the "reading" part of the progressives, because my depth of focus is too shallow. But it's useful for writing checks and such).

On with the glasses, off with the glasses, on with the other glasses, all day long ...

[grey-lady.livejournal.com]

It took me about a week to really get used to mine. That said, there are still some things I'll take my glasses off for. But personally I'll stick with progressives, now that I've gotten used to them.

[98.livejournal.com]

No progressives here. No multifocals of any kind. My prescription is for myopia and astigmatism. That used to be all I needed. Then as in your case focusing in the reading range started taking effort. For that I began to wear otc reading glasses stacked over my regular glasses. It looks odd and has me taking them on and off as the situation requires but I have a larger area in focus at any one time. My eyes can move over the page or screen without a lot of head-tilt.

That last is why I lost interest in multifocals for computer work. The useful part of the lens (even in 'computer' glasses whose farthest focus is around ten feet) would be too small for my liking.

[sbisson.livejournal.com]

I've had my first pair just over 3 weeks now, and I'm pretty used to them now. Mine are varifocals, with three different focal areas. It's not so much tilt to focus as move your eyes to focus.

[merlin-t-wizard.livejournal.com]

As others have said, bifocals take some time to get used to. For me is was a week at least.

A few years ago, I added a pair of computer glasses. They are just my distance correction with a bit less than my reading correction added in. This correction is over the entire lens, not a bifocal. So, yes sometimes it's glasses on, glasses off. But I find that it's more convenient than tilting my head up to read the computer screen all the time.

I guess it all depends on how many hours you're looking at computer screens, and how your neck feels about you tilting your head up all day to read them.

But give yourself a couple of weeks to adjust to the glasses, it takes some time before the brain catches up with the idea "Oh I have to move the head this way to see better. OK"

[karenkay.livejournal.com]

I loathe bifocal glasses of any stripe--I really just can't use them at all well. I have progressive bifocals that I wear to drive to work in the morning, but I mostly use the distance part. I can't really use them as bifocals, and I have trouble walking in them. I also have computer glasses.

(Most of the time I wear bifocal, monovision contact lenses, and I love them.)

[essaying.livejournal.com]

That was me too. I was making do with over-the-counter readers (in my pocket, around my neck, stashed on every work surface in the house), but when I did grad school that stopped being practical, so I got progressive bifocals.

Yes, they take getting used to. Give them at least two weeks before you give up. You may find that you'll always want to remove them for certain situations (walking down stairs for sure; I also like mine off for watching movies or theater, for driving in low light, and for eating).

But mostly it's practice, practice, practice. I had a particularly hard time with large open spaces like department stores -- which may also be a good description of your workplace? But it does settle down in time.

(NB: I'm finding them terrible for doing small home repairs, because the look-up-for-far/look-down-for-near paradigm falls apart for that sort of work. I may get myself another pair of readers to use for that.)

[sueschus.livejournal.com]

I've had progressives for several years with no problem except that my reading vision keeps changing for the better - so off with the glasses for computer and reading. But I got a new pair of glasses in October and went nuts. I had to tilt my head down to drive or look at anything in the distance. Took them back and the tech simply adjusted the lenses (it was magic as I didn't see how she did it). Now they're fine. Go back, explain the problem and see what can be done.