Help with first pair of glasses

In My Humble Opinion
1

I grew up with 20/15 vision, but age is catching up with me and I just got my first pair of glasses at age 45. They are progressives with a different prescription for each eye and are taking some getting use to (I’ve had them for two weeks). I was hoping for some advice on how to deal with them, and maybe advice on if I need to get a different set than I am using.

I am a little nearsighted in one eye and farsighted in the other. So, when looking straight at my monitor right now I see the right side of the screen, top to bottom, appears bigger than the left side. So the whole thing is a trapezoid. Does your brain eventually get use to this? Will I see this as a rectangle some time in the future or will it always look like a trapezoid?

With the progressives, I find myself leaning forward to look through the top of the glasses, even for my monitor, which is about 4.5’ away from my face, and to walk down steps I need to basically touch my chin to my chest. Is this normal? It seems to me that maybe there isn’t enough of the lens devoted to distance. I bought them from Zenni Optical, and they offer three choices, Standard, Mid-range, and Near-range.Standard is primarily for distance vision with smaller near and midrange sections (and the only one recommended for driving), so I think I picked the right one. The lenses are 30 mm in height, but they sell them up to 37 mm. I suspect if I get the taller lenses that I will have more area for each distance range, and since the increased height means the glasses extend lower on my face (as they already reach eyebrows I don’t think there is any higher they could go), then maybe I would need to tilt my head less. Is this everyone’s experience?

I have frameless glasses but am finding the little bit of metal that holds them together extends into my visible range just enough to be distracting out of the corner of my eye. Do you get use to this or would framed glasses help avoid the issue?

Also, does anyone have general advice for new glasses wearers? Things I am not even thinking of that I should know about?

Thanks, I like that my vision is significantly better with the glasses, but they are proving a lot to get use to.

2

My short answer is …

IMHO, you’re not a good candidate for buying your first pair of eyeglasses – progressives, particularly – from an online optical shop.

If I were you, I’d find the best optician – preferably independently owned (as opposed to a chain store) – in my area, and take your prescription to them.

There are any number of parameters that can affect your satisfaction with progressive eyeglasses that need to be evaluated and considered to get you the glasses that will work best for you.

Having one nearsighted and one farsighted eye is a bit uncommon. Having a monitor that you view at 4.5’ distance is a bit uncommon. You may benefit from a high-index lens, but understanding these issues and which progressive lens (material and) design will work best for the way that you use the glasses takes some physics, some math, some experience, and some smarts.

Lots of people have an adaptation period for their first progressives, but I wouldn’t even try it with the wrong eyeglasses, made incorrectly for me.

These are your eyes. Spend some money and work with the best optician you can find.

Good luck !

3

Thanks,

I was planning on getting vision insurance this year to make the $800 or so glasses it was looking like they would cost more reasonable, but due to a couple reasons was not able to change in the allotted window, so no insurance until next year. So, I figured online would work better as they run just over $100 for what I am looking for.

Is it possible to get the glasses I have now checked at an optician or would this be like buying replacement auto parts and bringing them to a shop to install? I imagine they wouldn’t like looking at glasses you didn’t buy from them.

4

That’s probably right, but … it’s a pretty good chance to test drive that local optician.

If they just trash out what you bought and push you to buy from them, that’s probably not a good sign.

If, OTOH, they explain to you precisely what, if anything, is inadequate, suboptimal, or wrong about the glasses you bought, and what they would seek to do better, then that may be a good sign.

If you’re bored, and/or like to geek out on this stuff, this is a pretty good overview (PDF):

5

I agree with this. I’ve been wearing eyeglasses for decades, mostly bought in person and a couple of years ago, bought my first pair of progressive lenses, also in person. The optician took careful measurements and marked up the dummy lenses, presumably where the change in prescription should occur. And I had no problems adjusting to the progressive lenses, though she warned me that some people find it takes some time to adjust.

And your computer monitor is about 4 1/2 feet from your face? That seems really far away.

6

I have an appointment with the optician associated with my optometrist for tomorrow morning. Hopefully they will help.

7

It is. I sit on the couch and the monitor is on a raised element on the coffee table. If I ever go back to the office I will have a more normal set up.

8

Perhaps get single-vision glasses designed for that distance? I think some opticians can prescribe what they call computer glasses.

9

That might be the way to go. I dislike the idea of having to switch between glasses constantly though. I figured if I was going to be stuck with them for something other than reading, I’d like to have a single pair I just leave on all day.

10

But progressive lenses are an adjustment even for people who have been wearing glasses for decades. For someone’s first lenses? I’m not sure that’s best. And if your budget is constrained, single-vision lenses from an online retailer might be best.

11

Some people can never get used to progressives. I can’t stand them. I’m much happier with my plain old trifocals.

I’d second the advice of those who say the OP should find a local optometrist/optician. I say optometrist, not just optician, because maybe he/she needs a second opinion on the prescription.

And it’s possible that progressives may not be the right option. It seems to me that everyone pushes them lately. My last new glasses, I actually had to really press for the optician to make my prescription as trifocals. He kept insisting that my insurance would only pay for progressives, and I had to get the insurance company to email me the language in their policy that showed they covered trifocals. Even then, he was still pushing.

I think the profit margin on progressives must be higher.

Anyway, yeah, online suppliers like Zenni probably aren’t the best choice for the first pair of what sounds like a complex prescription.

12

A few things I should have added:

I find that taller lenses help for multifocal lenses like yours (and mine). My glasses are 40mm, and they’re pretty comfortable as trifocals.

I also have rimless glasses, but a very old-fashioned kind that have screws holding them to the frame, which is not really a frame, I guess, but I don’t know how to describe it. Here’s a pic:

And yes, I think you’ll get used to seeing the little bit of metal you mention. Soon enough you won’t even notice.

As to the “trapezoid” thing, I don’t know. This is what you should talk to an optometrist about. Maybe you’ll get used to it, or maybe something is wrong with either the prescription or your lenses.

With my own glasses, with the latest prescription, at first there seemed to be a lot of curvature of things at the edges of my glasses. The prescription is stronger than I’ve had in the past, and apparently I have cataracts in one eye, and the prescription takes that into account. In any event, the brain somehow compensates, and after a couple of days, everything looked perfectly normal again.

13

I didn’t want to get particularly technical, but the OPs situation – nearsighted in one eye, farsighted in the other – is known as anisometropia.

The nearsightedness is corrected with a ‘minus’ (concave) lens. The farsightedness is corrected with a ‘plus’ (convex) lens. Each lens induces its own degree of prism, which – when needed – can be used to correct for a misalignment in eyes.

But when not needed it can mess with otherwise ‘normal’ eyes.

https://iovs.arvojournals.org/article.aspx?articleid=2690941

Presuming that your prescription was evaluated correctly by the OD (and that’s always worth double-checking), it’s usually up to the optician to understand the particular intricacies and demands of your prescription, and then recommend the best product, and use the best techniques, to give you the best result.

I don’t know how strong your prescription is (care to transcribe it and post it here, minus personal info ?), but – even at fairly weak levels of correction – better quality lenses can minimize this issue and some of the visual weirdness you’ve noticed.

Depending on your Rx, and on the lenses they’re looking at, it may be necessary to change where they place the ‘optical centers’ of your lenses in order to game the inherent prism thing (ie, optical decentration).

There’s a lot here/there, and I am not an eye care professional, but I know enough to know how many different parameters come into play, and how many ways eyeglasses can go wrong :wink:

Opticians that work with your optometrist offer one obvious advantage: no pushback if it turns out the prescription isn’t exactly correct (you shouldn’t get pushback anyway, but … it happens … particularly when the eyeglass shop and the eye doctor aren’t under the same roof).

14

The others have made some excellent suggestions and I mostly agree. When I went to bi-focals, I went straight to progressives without any problems.

So, my advice for you is NEVER use tissue or any sort of paper to wipe your glasses, always use clothe. Using paper will put tiny, fine scratches on the lenses and eventually fog them if you do it often enough. Those lens cleaning kits you see all over really are a good idea.

Always use your glasses case. Bare glasses left on the nightstand are really easy to knock off and they will always land lens down. Never put your glasses down on the lenses. Your lenses are expensive and you don’t want to scratch or nick them.

If your glasses need adjusting, go back to where you bought them and ask for help. Pick up a repair kit, you are going to lose a screw at some point (and probably won’t be able to see to find that dinky thing without your glasses).

I hope you get your prescription figured out soon, eye strain headaches are the worse.

15

Just what I was going to say. Kenobi’s post is right on.

Different brands of progressives have different sweet spots for different distances and you need to be fitted for the best choice when you are in person in front of a professional optician, especially for your first pair.

16

Lots of good advice here. I’ll say mostly the same thing but with different words.

I became a full time glasses-wearing-person just about when I hit 40. I went straight to progressives and adapted instantly, in part because I had them professionally fitted, and in part because my first pair, the overall strength was not much, and the difference between the near and far part of the prescription was not much either. So an easy test case to ease into.

12 years on, my prescription is a little stronger now. I continue to go to a skilled pro to get them fitted and even then, when I get new frames, especially frames of a different shape and vertical size, it sometimes happens that I need to get the lenses remade after a short trial period. Most commonly its that the ‘divider’ between the near and far distance is slightly off, even when carefully measured when I bought the glasses, I think because each pair of glasses settles into a natural position that might not be exactly as you are wearing them in the initial fitting. I know my current place will remake the lenses up to 3 times (not counting if it’s their mistake) in the process of getting it the way I want. Never had to go that far though.

What I will add that’s a little disheartening is that the premium lenses are the only way to go IMO. I tried the Costco digital progressives hoping for a cheaper option, but I have found that as the price goes up, the width of the corridor gets much wider. I hated the Costco lenses and went back to the expensive ones.

Last but not least, computer glasses are a must. I have two large monitors, and trying to use those with progressives is a nightmare of constantly cranking my head around to focus. My optometrist just added a line on my progressive prescription for the computer glasses based on my gestures of about how far away my monitor is. I have no interest in the constant swapping from readers to progressives, but it’s fine for my office as my computer glasses always sit right there.

17

I always had excellent vision, until I was 45, and presbyopia set in. I tried reading glasses, and I hated them and didn’t really use them. I very quickly went to progressives. I got used to them quickly. One thing you may need to do is turn your head more, rather than moving your eyes. Also, as my prescription has gotten stronger, I did wind up getting office glasses, which provide more mid-range coverage, and less of the lens is devoted to distance.

But most importantly, I agree with everyone saying you need assistance from in-person pros. Your monitor distance is unusual, as is your prescription.

For stairs, the advice I got was look straight ahead and hold the handrail. Looking down is more likely to cause a problem.

I also think you got glasses with overly short lenses, especially for your situation – new to progressives and with that monitor distance. I have a fairly small face, and I don’t go below about 39mm tall.

18

This is what I do. I actually have 3 different scripts:

  1. progressives for every day tasks. I find these impossible to use on the computer as the intermediate corridor is too small.
  2. single-vision intermediate for computer work. I typically put these on at my desk and wear them for the working day indoors
  3. bifocal with the top 1/3 distance and the bottom 2/3 intermediate. In Olden Days in the office, I would use these if I was in a meeting room and need to see my laptop and the board/projector at the same time.

Close in work - like on my iPad as I type this - is usually glasses off.

Is it a pain? Yes, but I’ve worn glasses for almost 45 years and I’m in my early 50s so I’m used to it.

19

Particularly as the OP was getting glasses online, a single-vision lens might be easier to fit.

BTW, a question for the OP; how did you get the pupillary distance and the temple arm length? It’s a lot easier to buy glasses online if you can pull some of the dimensions off an existing pair of eyeglasses.

20

Yes, they can. I have a pair. Single vision computer glasses might be the right use for Zenni cheap pair cause not the precise fitting needed since the lens is all one lens power, but you’ll have to get that lens strength from your prescription. But the 4.5 foot viewing distance might mean you actually need those pair to be your distance script.

Anyhow, hope it goes well with the optician. I remember that getting used to my first progressives, fitted by an optician in person, was pretty carefree, certainly not more than a day ot two, then became automatic.

Another choice might be to get a pair of progressives from Costco, if that is possible where you are. You’d recoup the annual membership fee easily in what you would save and have all the benefits of in-person optician and personalized fitting.