Progressives.... not getting along with me

[W Balboos GHB]

I've done progressives for years. The computer-generated version were not worth the extra money. There are things you need to get used to (actually, your vision will automatically accommodate some in a short time).

• The optimum visual field (for you prescription) is a vertical region in the center of each lens. More expensive lenses tend to have a wider vertical region. You'll tend to turn your head more to see clearly because of this.
• When first wearing them, looking down may give you the perception of a curved floor/sidewalk. This is one of the things you will accommodate.
• Mine are prescribed for computer use: the central field is focused optimally at about 3 feet (1 meter) and the infinite distance is a bit higher on the lens. You may not have done this.
• You'll not have as good a prescription as single-vision - you are making compromises.

If they didn't tell you why, the reason you've gone to bifocals is that your lens is less flexible and won't deform for the close focus as well as it used to. The only option to getting old is worse than bifocals . . .

Ravings en masse^

"The difference between genius and stupidity is that genius has its limits." - Albert Einstein

"If you are searching for perfection in others, then you seek disappointment. If you seek perfection in yourself, then you will find failure." - Balboos HaGadol Mar 2010

[Daniel Pfeffer]

I have two sets of glasses - one for far distance (used only when I drive), and one "office progressive" where the top part is suited for computer work, and the bottom is suited for reading. I find that the "progressive" pair has to be properly positioned on the face, If that is done, they work very well.

Freedom is the freedom to say that two plus two make four. If that is granted, all else follows. -- 6079 Smith W.

[Mircea Neacsu]

I wear progressives all day EXCEPT when writing code on my desktop. Two large monitors don't fit nicely through the narrow slit of the near field offered by progressives. I have a pair of cheap readers dedicated to desktop work. Two things to consider: - Normally focal distance for near field is calculated based on standard reading distance (~30cm). Screens are more like 60-70cm away. You can ask your optician to figure out what your specific need based on your distance between eye and screen(s). - Field of view area of the near field for progressives is about 30% of the lens area (or less). You have to move your neck a lot to see the whole screen, specially in dual monitors configurations.

Mircea

[MarkTJohnson]

I wear progressives for everything BUT coding. For coding I have a pair of single focus with the focal point being about 18-20 inches, the distance from me to the monitors. Optometrist, knew exactly when I meant when I said I need a pair of computer glasses that match my prescription. (The vision care with my company health insurance allows me to get both pair as part of the benefit.)

I’ve given up trying to be calm. However, I am open to feeling slightly less agitated.

[Mike Hankey]

I hate progressives, I got a pair last year and can't see close or far with them so ended up just getting a good pair for reading.

The less you need, the more you have. JaxCoder.com

[theoldfool]

Wore regular bifocals for years. One time, I tried progressives and gave up. Had to turn my head too much. I guess the tracks are wider now. 5 years ago, I had cataract surgery, left eye set for close, right eye for distance. I very rarely wear glasses. I do have a pair I wear for driving, corrects my left eye for distance. I have a pair of readers that corrects the right eye, only wear them if I am going to do a lot of reading. Works great. One time, way back, Optometrist wanted to sell me contacts like that, told her she was nuts. Should have listened.

If you can keep your head while those about you are losing theirs, perhaps you don't understand the situation.

[PIEBALDconsult]

I have a rather strong prescription ( -7.5 ) and I have been using progressives for a few years now, but I still have to remove them to see anything really close/small.

[User 12891772]

You need computer glasses. Everything in focus at an arm's length (or however far your monitors are from your eyes).

[Jalapeno Bob]

I agree. I have the same experience.

__________________ Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now. © 2009, Rex Hammock

[Jalapeno Bob]

I got my first glasses at about the same age. After that, I could actually read the blackboard clearly but I got teased mercilessly as "four-eyes" and such. :( That didn't last long as many of my classmates started wearing glasses over the next year or two.

My wife, on the other hand, started with glasses at the ripe old age of twenty-four. She is far-sighted and needed them for reading. Without them, she was having headaches from eye strain. On a daily basis, she does not do much close work — the closest she needs to see most of the time are the gauges and warnings on her dashboard. She and my children drive eighteen-wheelers for a living.

__________________ Lord, grant me the serenity to accept that there are some things I just can’t keep up with, the determination to keep up with the things I must keep up with, and the wisdom to find a good RSS feed from someone who keeps up with what I’d like to, but just don’t have the damn bandwidth to handle right now. © 2009, Rex Hammock

[Mycroft Holmes]

I had them for many years and still have a scratched pair for backup, but I always have a dedicated pair of single lenses for computer work, we spend so many hours sitting in front of the dammed things it is worth it. I recently started getting the $15 fixed lenses from the chemist/drug store (for the yanks) for reading as I find I no longer need glasses except for reading and computer work. Instead of spending $500+ on progressive glasses I spend $60 on 4 pairs and leave them where I need them.

Never underestimate the power of human stupidity - RAH I'm old. I know stuff - JSOP

[Rage]

I've decided not to get old :-D - I am still in the denial phase, but I think it will hit me latest when I am not able to read anything on my screen anymore.

Do not escape reality : improve reality !

[Lurk]

Sounds like me some years ago or maybe decades. bifocals drove me up the wall. Trifocals were worse. I finally gave up and went with contacts. They have bifocals, too. Seemed to be more of an average between near and far. Great compromise. Always out of focus. Now I do contacts with mono-vision. One eye for near and one for far. It is surprising. Your eyes just do it for you. My prescription is very light, though. Maybe that makes a difference. I did bounce back and forth between contacts and glasses a few times along the way. Both were frustrating. Mono-vision is what finally worked.

[Slow Eddie]

I had cataract(SP?) surgery in one eye when I turned 64.(Yes SWMBO still needs me and feeds me then and now.) I am now approaching 72. The doctor put in a long range lens in. I now have 20/15 vision for objects 5 feet away or farther. However, when trying to read or look at a computer screen it's all blurry. I got glasses with a lens in the one eye that fixes it. Had to get the proscription changed at first so that it worked up to distances of 3 or 4 feet. I take them off when driving, etc. Took no time to get used to them. I never realized there were so many of us with eye problems!

Wear a mask! The life you save might be your own!

[Harrison Pratt]

You need a second set of glasses optimized for coding. A set of Walmart "readers" may work if you don't have astigmatism or left-right asymmetry in your vision.

[rnbergren]

I have multiple cheap reading glasses. Which drives me nuts. They are only for really close work like carving wood or something. I have progressives. I cannot wear them to write code. Just cannot do it. Reading the notes here. I wonder if I should get some computer glasses with only that midrange single vision just for writting code on a monitor at about 2ft of distance. The progressives are awesome for everything else. Driving Oh my goodness wonderful. Reading. Sure. Playing with the phone. Yep they are great for that as well.

To err is human to really elephant it up you need a computer

[agolddog]

I don't recall how long it took to get used to progressives, but it was at least a little while. One thing to get used to is actually moving your head to focus on other things instead of just glancing. A good example of this is stepping off a curb. With single lenses, you just glance down. With progressives, that's your "close" prescription, so the street is all out of focus. You need to get used to actually looking down. I know when I was still developing, there were times that I'd just remove glasses altogether to read the screen.

[obermd]

You didn't by any chance get tri-focal progressives. I found the reading band with these to be too small and dropped back to bi-focal progressives.

[Kirk 10389821]

Charlie, I hate progressives, and prefer bifocals to the point that I had my daughter in bifocals at a young age (she has since outgrown the need for glasses, and that's the point). Myopia can be slowly reversed (I halted my progression 3 decades ago, when I learned it is worsened by getting glasses for near-sighted people, and sitting in front of a computer. You are using binoculars to read the screen, in effect). So I switched to ONE pair of LIGHTLY prescribed reading glasses (the Ophthalmologist fought with me!), and 1 month later, he had to lower the Rx in my REGULAR glasses (used for driving and true distance), he was shocked, and suddenly interested! Amazingly, for 10 years, my Rx never changed (Later I learned if I had lowered my "Computer Glasses" Rx slightly every year, I could have probably reversed further... 30 years later, as in recently). 20 years ago, I got LASIK. I go out of my way to setup my monitors so I do NOT SQUINT or have trouble focusing. I have a 55" 4K monitor, logically divided into 4 monitors of 1920x1080. At 54, I am starting to need reading glasses only for small print (I swear some bottles are using font s that did NOT EXIST 20 years ago)... And that's after spending 10+ hrs/day in front of the computer. After the LASIK I did not wear any glasses. What a gift. == So, my advice, glasses are CHEAP vs. the value of your eyes. Spend a few THOUSAND dollars if you have to making the glasses YOU NEED (finding your recipe). If you need 3 fields of vision, or 2, that's up to you, but the goal should ALWAYS BE: No Eye Strain/No Focusing Effort for each field of vision in front of the computer/reading. How do you accomplish this? I get paper... And I Print out what my screen reflects, trying to match PERFECTLY the screens I look at (I post-it to the monitor, and get it as close as possible). I bring in a book or other text I read in front of me, to the eye doctor (I just saw him for my 5yr follow-up). I have him dilate my eyes, and he holds the paper the same distance my monitor(s) sit from me. He adjusts it forward/back and tells me how far to set my monitors so I don't have to ACQUIRE the image! I then attempt to read the normal paper/books at normal distance. This represents my 2 primary fields. At 54, I can say he said their is NO NEED for glasses, except maybe readers if I want to have them. His father did my LASIK, he has my full history. And if he said I should be using glasses in front of the computer, we would get the S

[Ed C Colton]

Progressive lenses didn't work for me going back over 10 years ago. I went to two sets of glasses, one for distance, and another for closer work. Eventually I simply adjusted things so I can do coding without glasses. Keep in mind I don't use a built-in notebook display, but a 23" flat panel hooked up to two notebooks with a KVM switch.