Think my progressive glasses aren't right.

[ShanLP]

So I was told I needed progressive glasses after I had my eyes checked. I've noticed I need to hold things a little away from me to focus. I picked up my new glasses Yesterday and started to wear them today. Before I go any farther, I want to clarify that while I've never had progressives before, I've been wearing glasses for 30+ years, so I'm well aware that it takes time to adjust to new glasses, etc.

So far, the progressives are HORRIBLE. For instance, when I was cooking supper, I thought I saw a bug skittering across the floor. I couldn't just look down at it, because it was all blurry (not reading distance, I get it), so I had to basically contort my head and body until it came clear. I felt like a robot trying to move for the first time. Now here's the thing....I don't have to do that with my old glasses. Things at a distance, things nearby, they were all crystal clear. It was just things close up I needed to move back. So couldn't I just go with bifocals? Distance things aren't blurry. The while moving the entire head to bring something into focus seems wildly unnatural to me. I've never seen a person wearing progressives have to move so much to see. If I'm sitting down, looking at my phone, I have to lift my head so much to bring things into focus I'm just barely gazing over the bottom rim. If I want to watch my TV, 15 feet away from where I am, I practically have to jam my chin into my chest to read anything on the screen. When I tried to explain my trouble reading to the people (a different eyeglass place from where I got my perscription), by showing that the words weren't clear what I was trying to read, they pushed my hand down so it I was holding the paper a good 6 inches lower than normal, and asked if I could read it now. I replied, yes, but I don't normally hold things so low to read, it felt very unnatural.
Is it like this for everyone, or is something wrong? Is my prescription wrong, maybe, or the lenses too short to have any space for the three different levels of magnification? I'm tempted to just wear my old prescription and squint. Please help!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

So I was told I needed progressive glasses after I had my eyes checked. I've noticed I need to hold things a little away from me to focus. I picked up my new glasses Yesterday and started to wear them today. Before I go any farther, I want to clarify that while I've never had progressives before, I've been wearing glasses for 30+ years, so I'm well aware that it takes time to adjust to new glasses, etc.

So far, the progressives are HORRIBLE. For instance, when I was cooking supper, I thought I saw a bug skittering across the floor. I couldn't just look down at it, because it was all blurry (not reading distance, I get it), so I had to basically contort my head and body until it came clear. I felt like a robot trying to move for the first time. Now here's the thing....I don't have to do that with my old glasses. Things at a distance, things nearby, they were all crystal clear. It was just things close up I needed to move back. So couldn't I just go with bifocals? Distance things aren't blurry. The while moving the entire head to bring something into focus seems wildly unnatural to me. I've never seen a person wearing progressives have to move so much to see. If I'm sitting down, looking at my phone, I have to lift my head so much to bring things into focus I'm just barely gazing over the bottom rim. If I want to watch my TV, 15 feet away from where I am, I practically have to jam my chin into my chest to read anything on the screen. When I tried to explain my trouble reading to the people (a different eyeglass place from where I got my perscription), by showing that the words weren't clear what I was trying to read, they pushed my hand down so it I was holding the paper a good 6 inches lower than normal, and asked if I could read it now. I replied, yes, but I don't normally hold things so low to read, it felt very unnatural.
Is it like this for everyone, or is something wrong? Is my prescription wrong, maybe, or the lenses too short to have any space for the three different levels of magnification? I'm tempted to just wear my old prescription and squint. Please help!

It sounds like they don't have the corrections positioned in the right place within the lenses.

I'd have them check that.

I've always had progressive lenses since I started wearing glasses, but every new prescription does take some time to get used to it. I find that putting on the new glasses first thing in the morning for a short period of time and then switching back to the old glasses for the remainder of the day, extending the morning length of time daily, helps.

Are your new lenses tri-focal? Or just bi-focal progressive? Also, are you going from lined bifocals to progressives? The people who try that have the hardest time adapting.

 

[DVCjj]

I have tri-progressives (never heard that term but it's for far, 'computer work', and near).

Never had bi-focals and it took me several weeks to get acclimated years ago to progressives. Once I did, I loved them and will never get anything different.
BUT one time I got a new prescription and I had the problems you are speaking of. I took the glasses back to Costco (which I love for glasses) and told them to doublecheck the 'lines' of progression. They found out the person who wrote the order had the dividing lines 'off'. Just enough to cause all the problems you describe. The Dr didn't make a mistake..... the tech who put in the order for the 'lines' of progression did.

I suggest you have that doublechecked asap.

 

[leebee]

I hate progressives for all the reasons you outlined. They also make me incredibly motion sick. I am very happy with my bifocals, but the optometrist always tries to talk me into the progressives. No, nope, NOT going there.

 

[Christine]

I've tried to get progressives to work for me twice. I can't do it. Part of the problem is that I don't have the face for BIG glasses. The bigger your lens, I think the better the different areas are to adjust to because they are bigger. So there's that. Anyway, I ended up using bifocals and I'm perfectly happy. I just need different glasses for the computer.

 

[KayMichigan]

I've tried progressives but they just never worked well for me. Now I have single vision lenses and a separate pair of reading glasses.

 

[kymom99]

I have no line bifocals. Is that what you have? I only wear them at night because I have contacts but I have no problems with them at all

 

[Cheburashka]

So I was told I needed progressive glasses after I had my eyes checked. I've noticed I need to hold things a little away from me to focus. I picked up my new glasses Yesterday and started to wear them today. Before I go any farther, I want to clarify that while I've never had progressives before, I've been wearing glasses for 30+ years, so I'm well aware that it takes time to adjust to new glasses, etc.

So far, the progressives are HORRIBLE. For instance, when I was cooking supper, I thought I saw a bug skittering across the floor. I couldn't just look down at it, because it was all blurry (not reading distance, I get it), so I had to basically contort my head and body until it came clear. I felt like a robot trying to move for the first time. Now here's the thing....I don't have to do that with my old glasses. Things at a distance, things nearby, they were all crystal clear. It was just things close up I needed to move back. So couldn't I just go with bifocals? Distance things aren't blurry. The while moving the entire head to bring something into focus seems wildly unnatural to me. I've never seen a person wearing progressives have to move so much to see. If I'm sitting down, looking at my phone, I have to lift my head so much to bring things into focus I'm just barely gazing over the bottom rim. If I want to watch my TV, 15 feet away from where I am, I practically have to jam my chin into my chest to read anything on the screen. When I tried to explain my trouble reading to the people (a different eyeglass place from where I got my perscription), by showing that the words weren't clear what I was trying to read, they pushed my hand down so it I was holding the paper a good 6 inches lower than normal, and asked if I could read it now. I replied, yes, but I don't normally hold things so low to read, it felt very unnatural.
Is it like this for everyone, or is something wrong? Is my prescription wrong, maybe, or the lenses too short to have any space for the three different levels of magnification? I'm tempted to just wear my old prescription and squint. Please help!

My optometrist recommended progressive lenses for me and I refused. I just hold things away from me when I need to. I knew that having to adjust my vision all the time to suit the lenses would make me crazy.

 

[tvguy]

I've worn progressives for over 20 years. Trifocal now, bifocal to start with. I do remember it took a few days to get used to them, especially on stairs. I have ZERO patience for carrying multiple pairs of glasses, so it was worth it for me.
Now my eye Doctor is trying to talk me into contact lenses. I wore them about 45 years ago, those I will never go back to. Stuff trapped under the lense.........I'll take progressives any day.

 

[design_mom]

I have worn glasses since I was 5 and got my first pair of progressives when I was 40. It took me multiple weeks to get used to the first pair. I kept going back to the optical shop saying “they’re not right.” And they kept saying “they’re fine. You just have to get used to them.”

Long story short, I eventually did get used to them but it took a LONG time. In good news, I’ve adjusted normally to the subsequent progressive prescriptions I’ve had… the issue was apparently getting used to looking through the right zones.

 

[seashoreCM]

Consider two pairs of glasses, one being regular bifocals with the dividing lines visible and the other being progressive, for the same person and prescription.

The progressives simply have a blend zone between the (upper) zone for distant vision and the lower zone for near vision.

But only one of the pairs of glasses can be "optically correct." So we can safely say that all progressive eyeglasses have some compromise in the focusing of the lens between the two zones. Making the issue more complicated is that, if the blend zone is too wide then there is not enough of the lens area remaining that will give a good focus.

Did you say that your progressives replace or represent trifocal lenses? This makes the lens fabrication more complicated because now there are two blend zones leaving even less lens area to look through and get a good focus for the three respective distance ranges.

Poorly manufactured progressive lenses can give morphing distortion suggestive the curved mirrors in carnival funhouses and arcades.

 

[NotUrsula]

Sometimes you never manage to adapt. Most often it is because someone somewhere made an error in the production of the glasses, but sometimes your eyes or your sense of balance just cannot adapt.

I recently started going to a specialist eye practice. I told the new doctor that I had tried progressives twice, and abandoned them both times after spending quite a lot to get them made. After the exam he said that he was not surprised. Apparently, people like me who have a very different visual acuity in each eye often cannot ever really adapt well to progressive eyeglasses. My scrip is -3.75L/+.5R. (Why every other eye doctor I've ever seen failed to explain this I don't know.)