Bifocals! Bloody Bifocals! (Advice and Comfort Requested)

Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share
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Thanks everyone. I managed to get through the drive to church and the service which provides a nice assortment of ranges of vision. I’m also getting over the frustration of realizing my body is aging, even if I refuse to admit my mind is. I also got a good ribbing from the friend I was going to visit.

I just have one correction to make. Southern Sky, I may be showing signs of geezerhood, but I am not a Baby Boomer! Sheesh! Insults like that belong in the Pit! :wink:

CJ
Generation X and proud of it!

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Yikes! The Gen Xers are gettin’ bifocals now! Is it really a quarter 'til midnight?

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I’ve been wearing no-line bifocals for several years now. My first pair was ok. My second pair was the relative expensive Varilux-type of lenses that as_u_wish referred to. They were great for distance, but I could NOT wear them at the computer or for much close work. I keep them for driving, where it’s useful to be able to see far away.

I still take my glasses OFF to read. I don’t want lasik or contacts + reading glasses because it would KILL me to HAVE to put on glasses to read. It’s a personal quirk – no offense to anyone else who has to wear glasses to read. I’ve always been able to pull mine off to see close-up. If I couldn’t do that, I’d have to learn a whole new way of living in the world.

A cautionary tale:

When I got my most recent pair, I went back to the less-expensive version of the progressive lenses.

It took them 3 different tries to get the lenses right! :smack:

The first time, they didn’t grind the bifocal part right. Back the lenses went to the lab for re-doing.

The second set of lenses had the right lens ok, but in the left lens, the bifocal part was in the lower outside part of the lens, instead of the lower inside part of the lens, where it should be. So I could see out of both eyes if I turned my head to the right and looked left and down. :frowning: So they sent the lenses back again and 3rd time was the charm.

So if you’re having trouble with progressives, be SURE they’ve made the lenses correctly! You’ll NEVER adjust to them if the bifocal part is in the wrong place. I’ve since wondered if some of the people I’ve read about that couldn’t adjust to the progressives were having this problem.

The optometrist I got the glasses from isn’t one of the Big Eyeglass Companies. He’s a local guy who participated in the vision plan my former employer had. They were nice about it, though they did try to tell me maybe I just needed to get used to the lenses. Uh, no. I’ve been wearing glasses for 42 years, and I KNOW by now what is normal adjustment to new lenses, and when the lenses are just WRONG!

I’m glad I stuck to my guns this time!

Best wishes with the new lenses!

24

Sorry to be so late posting to your thread, CJ, but I’ve been looking up faggots on the Internet (the Black Country meatballs for Eve’s thread; get your mind out of the gutter! ;)).

I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 13, and bifocals for the last twelve years. What I’ve found is that they’re convenient for swapping between near and far (e.g., checking the speedometer or radio dial quickly while driving, and reverting attention to the road) but that I am more comfortable with steady close work (on the computer, reading, manipulating paperwork) with them off entirely.

BTW, I wear bifocals with obvious insets, rather than the no-line kind. Barb got them the first pair of bifocals she needed, but has found she prefers the classic style.

25

I got bifocals. What annoys my wife to no end is that the non-close portion is non-corrective. She told the optometrist that I wouldn’t be able to brag about having vision that was 125% better than normal anymore. To her dismay, he told her that my vision was every bit that good as long as I didn’t have to focus close to my face.

I insisted on having very “Ben Franklin” looking spectacles. If I’m going to be an old coot, I’ll play the part to the hilt!

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Not just good advice, but good sig material here.

I’ve been wearing bifocals since 1994. I really could use trifocals, but without glasses at all my eyes are pretty well focused at the two foot distance so I just take them off while using the computer.

Working under a car is difficult though because you are constantly looking up through the long distance lens. Taking the glasses off under the car is not a good option because your eyes are constantly bombarded with falling black crud. I think the blink reflex weakens when you wear glasses for many years.

:smack: This smilie actually shows someone with black crud in their eye because they took off their glasses while working under a car.

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Hey cj! I finally got mine at lunch today, so I’ve only had’em for 6 or 7 hours. It’s going to go much better this time.

The one thing I’ve learned so far is, when you want to look at something with the near vision portion of the lens, point your nose at it.