Progressive eyeglasses?
 

Does anybody have them? What do you think of them? Mrs. Dallas is thinking about them and I'm having a really hard time evaluating the cost/benefit ratio of them. (One optician quoted her over $500 just for the lenses....)

The last time I got glasses they offered to make me progressives and if I didn't like them after a week, they would make me regular glasses, no charge.

They drove me crazy. The useful portion of the lens was so narrow, I had a sore neck from moving my head back and forth to keep what I wanted to look at in focus. Reading a page of print meant moving my head back and forth instead of just moving my eyes. :thumbsdn::thumbsdn:

spex has yelled at me about this before, but I only buy glasses online now. When you can get a set of glasses online for $20 instead of $300 in person, it's worth experimenting with it. I've never had progressive lenses, but this website sells them starting at $35. Yes, one tenth what her doctor quoted her.

I've never purchased from that particular retailer, but I have purchased from Eyebuydirect.com and have been very pleased.

Yeah, sure. They're for your wife. Grandpa.

Oh btw, it's Garry Trudeau's birthday today.

I tried them about ten years ago. They made me seasick.

Here ya go.

http://cellar.org/showthread.php?t=1...ht=progressive

Uggg. I had some. Cost about $350 in 1998. Sucked ass. I could never find the middle and always was adjusting my head in flexion and extension to see what I wanted to see clearly. Driving was the worst, I could not focus on the dash without eventual neck pain.

On the otherhand my wife loves them.

Thanks for the comments. Good info, in the other post, Spexx. However it doesn't deal with my most basic problem. I hand somebody money. They give me a pair of glasses. How do I know they were done right? This is equally troubling to me whether it's the corner independent optician or the $10 place on the Internet or somebody in between.

I delved a little deeper into that link I gave you, and it looks like I was wrong. When you put the frame in your shopping cart, regular lenses are free, but progressives are an additional $90. So progressive lens glasses start at $125, not $35.

Negatives:
They take a long time to get used to, and aren't recommended if you're doing a lot of reading. The "reading" space on the lens is quite small and you'll get a crook in your neck in no time.

The need for a separate pair of glasses for full-on reading or computer use.


Pluses:
ONE pair of glasses for general use to see whatever you need to see throughout your busy day ([limited] reading included). This is more important than you realize.



I have four pair of glasses that I regularly use. One for general all-purpose life, one for reading while not at home (a "travel" pair), one sitting on my desk at home for reading/computer use, and one for TV viewing (TV is small and far away = need for specially designed TV viewing glasses).

Yeah. I'm old. And you lot are going to be in my shoes someday - count on it. MWAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHAAA!

When you get right down to it, you can tell that they were made right if you can see clearly through them. You need to go to an optician that you trust. I'll try to get a recommendation for you.

What, no sunglasses?

Oops! Two pair of progressives - one for the car, one for the purse.

I am an eyeglass maven! :cool:

I give you credit, Glinda. I have enough trouble keeping track of one pair of regular glasses and one of sunglasses.

How do you keep from losing them?

If you have enough pairs in enough places, you can always find one.

That's the ticket. Back in the day when I had health insurance, I loaded up. Now that I'm broke, I can at least see inside my empty coinpurse. :rolleyes: I just replace lenses every few years, as my prescription changes.

I have progressives and some the negatives stated apply, but it is even worse for me because I have really bad nearsightedness and astigmatism. I fantasize about getting that eye operation just so my bifocals wont be such a pain in the ass. I had to have them re-do the lenses on my last pair three times and they still are a little off. Glinda is right tho....for every day use they cant be beat. As long as all the other variables are correctly taken care of...correct prescription and correct placement of the optical center, then I do love my glasses.

Yes, I have them and wear them for years. Wouldn't be able to function without them really. They're hella expensive, and unfortunately my prescription is tricky, so the online option doesn't really work for me.

Unless you get one eye corrected for distance vision and the other eye corrected for near vision, surgery won't have much, if any, impact on your multifocals. Really tough Rxs benefit from newer, "digital" or "free form" technology, but the lenses are pricey.

They're like any product - you can get the Yugo of progressives or the Maseratti. Which of these would you like to look through?

Spexx, can I ax you related questions? I became nearsighted at age 21, four months into working full-time at a monitor. My doc suggested I take the glasses off to work closeup, and so for 24 years I've religiously taken off my glasses to do computer and other close-up work.

A) Does that help delay in nearsightedness worsening?
B) Is presbyopia inevitable? I'm 45 and I still feel good about seeing everything near without a lens... although I think I have moved the monitor 3" closer in the last two years... tell me my future sir.

Some doctors believe that it does. There is a theory that if you wear your glasses (which correct for distance vision) to look at things up close, that you "strain". Straining is just using your eye muscles to overcome a visual deficiency. Using your eye muscles can raise the temperature in your eye, the heat tends to break down eyeball tissue, and your eye can become elongated, which increases your nearsightedness.

Yes, it's inevitable, and you're probably already on your way. For now you can see up close without your glasses because you're nearsighted. The test is to read something like the telephone book at about 18 inches with your glasses on.

You can't count on being able to read comfortably without glasses forever. Nearsighted corrections are always a minus value. A presbyopic correction is always a plus value "added" to the distance power. My guess is that your current distance Rx is about -1.00, and your (unused) presbyopic "add" is about +1.00, making your net near vision power zero. That's why you can see close without correction. Eventually, your "add" power will increase, typically topping out at +2.50 when you reach 60-ish. At that point your net near vision power might well be +1.50 (-1.00 +2.50 = +1.50) (assuming no change in your distance Rx). Then you'll have to decide if you want two pairs of glasses (or more, because the power you'll need for "near" vision will not be the same as the power you'll need for "intermediate" vision. Intermedite is about 20" to 30" or computer distance) or multifocals.

Fascinating stuff, thanks!

My pleasure.

I thought wearing corrective lenses would prevent straining??

It does, as long as you're using the lenses for their intended use. When you try to see up close while wearing a distance correction, you'll strain.

Ah, got it. Thanks.

I became near-sighted about 3 years ago (early thirties). Cause: too much computer work.
So I have glasses for driving, walking around, etc, but have been advised to never wear them when computing, reading, or any close-work, or my eyes will become worse.

I would like to give a shout-out to my online glasses company -- EyeBuyDirect. I get frames, lenses, anti-scratch, anti-uv and anti-reflection coatings for less than $50, and delivery within a week, usually. With a case and microfiber cloth to boot.

Please shoot me when when contact lenses can't cope with the needs of my aging eyes. That is all.

With a paintball gun, right?

Interesting NYT article - this guy has invented lenses that are partly fluid, and so you can actually change the focus, by adjusting a lever on the bridge.

One down side is that the lenses have to be round. In the future we are all going to look like John Lennon.

Well he was ahead of his time.