I have a prescription for new glasses with bifocal lenses, which I got filled as-is. Only the bifocal are horrible and I’m getting horrible eye strain and constant headaches.
Does anyone know if I could get glasses with the prescription, but without the bifocal component? Or, would I have to get another prescription?
I don’t know anything about bifocals. But if I were getting horrible eye strain and constant headaches, I would assume that there was something wrong with either the glasses or the prescription, and I would want another eye exam before assuming that the prescription I already had would be useful.
I’d recommend another appointment as well as you may still need bifocals but something went wrong with the examination and/or prescription. Just make sure you’re well rested as tired eyes might give wrong readings.
The only time I’d do a refill if I didn’t like an option add to the glasses, such as the anti-reflective coating. I had on one pair that got all scratched up. I refilled it without a prescription to lenses without it.
I’m sure they would fill a distance-vision-only prescription, but like the others, I recommend going in and complaining about the last set. You shouldn’t have to pay for a pair of glasses that is causing you that many problems. It could have been an error in getting the refraction, an error in writing down the prescription, or even an error by whoever ground the lenses, so it’s worth figuring that out.
I heard so many horror stories about bifocals that I had a separate pair of reading glasses made with the “bifocal” part of my prescription. If you have your prescription written out, you’ll see that there are separate numbers for each part of your glasses.
It is also possible that they got your pupillary distance wrong. This measurement is usually made by the folks fitting you for glasses, not the doctor writing your prescription. A bad PD can give you headaches. One thing that may have happened is that they used the same PD for both distance and reading (the reading one is generally three centimeters less).
It is entirely possible to get a distance only set of glasses. You can get a good education about how the prescriptions work by going to an online eyeglass place (I am not suggesting you order your glasses there, just read about the process).
Sure, you can get the prescription filled for single vision, but why did you get bifocals in the first place? So you could read without taking your glasses off; at least, that is why got mine. It got to the point that I couldn’t read with my glasses on and, if I took off, I had to hold the paper less than 6 inches from my face. Not that much of a problem with a book, but in meetings, not really the best image to send out. When it got so bad that I couldn’t read the computer screen, I had to do something.
My ophthalmologist recommended progressive lenses instead of the traditional bifocals. That might help. They are not ideal, but they do help. I do remember when I first got them, I hated them. I couldn’t read signs on the highway and I couldn’t read. And the headaches. I went back to the ophthalmologist and complained. They examined me and my glasses and said everything was correct. Then, they asked how long I had been wearing them and if I was still using my old glasses. I had been wearing them about a week and, yes, I was still using my old glasses to drive, so I could read the signs. I was told to get rid of my old glasses, that I needed to get “used to” the new glasses and eventually my brain would figure out how to use them.
They were right. In less than another week, things were much improved, and now I wouldn’t give them up. I have a pair (several, actually, gotta love Zenni) of single vision in addition to my dual vision pairs, since watching TV from bed doesn’t work with the dual vision as I am looking through the lower portion of the lens, the near-vision part, so I can’t see very well. Unfortunately, I have them with the same style of frames, so sometimes I get the wrong ones. Once, I got all the way to the car before I noticed that I couldn’t read the instruments as well as I used to and figured out that I had the wrong pair.
So, take them back to where you got them, since it is possible they got the prescription wrong. If it checks out, give them some time. You may want to try progressive lenses, if you haven’t. They aren’t for everyone and they aren’t perfect, but they work for me.
excavating (for a mind)
On the other hand, some people simply don’t get on with progressive lenses (known here in the UK as ‘varifocals’).
I recently had my eyes tested and was recommended varifocals, but despite trying very hard, I utterly failed to adapt to them - turning my head so that my eyes find the right bit of lens for the distance just isn’t ever going to feel natural for me - and the notion of having lenses that have zones that are not usable at all (an unavoidable feature of blended prescriptions) is just like walking around with someone’s finger in my eye, all the time.
Fortunately, there was a satisfaction guarantee and I just went back to have my prescription split into an everyday pair and a reading pair.
I was told by an optician that they are only permitted to fill a prescription exactly as written.
I’d go back to the prescriber so they can check if the prescription was filled properly first.
This might vary by state or seller. A month ago I was asked ‘bifocal or progressive?’, I replied ‘distance only’ and that is what I got
There are dozens of places to order glasses online and they never check your prescription. You can order whatever you want.
That surprises me very much. How can the online dispensary know how to correct your vision if they never check the prescription? Perhaps I’m misunderstanding what you’re saying.
I’d go back in for a re-check again and make sure they got the readings/measurements right. Also mention the problems you’re having. When I first got bifocals I had bad headache problems and couldn’t manage the computer screen at all - went back and was put into trifocals. No problems from there out - just needed a different “view” for the computer. So maybe something like that - or the progressive lenses like others have said - would help you.
They take your word for it that you know your own prescription.
I don’t think I’d want to deal with that kind of service. If that’s legal, IMHO it shouldn’t be.
Absolutely…I have a prescription for bifocals, but I did not want it. So I asked the nice lady behind the counter to make it as 2 separate pairs - one for reading and the other for vision.
Works great for me. Except when I am in meetings and I have to constantly switch glasses to look at a screen and to look at my laptop.
What I don’t get are these glasses these days where the lenses are so small. I would think that with bifocals especially it would be better to have a physically bigger lens.
I tried to help someone pick out glasses once and they got talked into some tiny frames, I figured it was a mistake, but what do I know. Then as it happens they almost never want to ware their glasses.
I think fashion has recently moved to bigger lenses again, but wonder if this two pair thing may be the trick.
Why? They’re eyeglasses, not drugs.
A prescription for Varifocals / bifocals is exactly the same as a prescription for one pair of distance glasses and one pair of close/reading glasses.
The configuration of those two prescriptions into separate pairs or one blended pair, is not intrinsic to the prescription itself.
In that case, I can practically guarantee you that you’re paying about ten times as much for your glasses as I am for mine – for identical results. Lens grinding is straightforward and can be done reliably by anyone with the proper equipment; it’s not like formulating drugs, for example.
More imporantly, the markup on “mom-and-pop” glasses is astoundingly high. My local optomitrist’s office quoted me $590 on a pair of prescription polarized sunglasses. I got them online for $42 – and they’d have been $14 if I hadn’t sprung for the memory-metal frames.