# I'm getting progressive lenses. Any tips?
**URL:** https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551
**Category:** In My Humble Opinion
**Created:** [January 8, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551 "2013-01-08T22:39:31Z")
**Posts on this page:** 20
**Page:** 1
### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/1 "2013-01-08T22:39:31Z")
At the ripe old age of 35, I’m getting progressive lenses, aka bifocals. Although the eye doctor assures me that they will look just like regular glasses and will not have those little granny windows visible in them.
Anyway, they told me that the transition might be a little rough for the first few days so I thought I’d ask you guys if there are any good tips for easing that process.
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### Author:  [@chiroptera](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chiroptera)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/2 "2013-01-08T22:45:05Z")
Yeah. Don’t do it.
Seriously, I have gotten three different types of prescription glasses over the last two years and I can’t adjust to any of them. I’m still relying on drug store “readers” at 50-something.
One bit of advice that made sense though: Put your “readers” away and make yourself use the new glasses and nothing else for several days. Even if it feels weird or you can’t see as well with what you’re used to.
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### Author:  [@cher3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cher3)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 10:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/3 "2013-01-08T22:46:04Z")
I have trifocal progressive lenses–the top is for distance, the middle is for stuff like computer screens and seeing your dinner companion across the table. and the bottom is for reading. For about the first two hours I was sure that either my optometrist or I had made a terrible mistake, but after that I was fine.
I was anticipating all sorts of hair-raising problems like walking off steps that weren’t there and so forth, but that never really happened.
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### Author:  [@Icarus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icarus)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 10:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/4 "2013-01-08T22:59:49Z")
Well, the difficulty is that your distance vision only works if you are looking through the lenses at that exact spot, and your close vision only works if you are looking through that other exact spot. Usually that means eyes exactly forward, no turning the eyeballs. To look to the side you need to turn your head, not your eyes. I find that when I’m looking at someone close to me I have to tip my head back to see them through the close lens, which is tres geeky.
The rest of the time you feel like you can’t see quite right. But yeah, you can get used to it.
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### Author:  [@don\_t\_ask](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/don_t_ask)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/5 "2013-01-08T23:00:13Z")
I’m the same as **cher3** , even down to rge intitial response to my trifocals. Took no time to get the hang of them.
The only problem is the reading angle is only right if you have something at the normal reading angle. Reading in bed doesn’y work so well, but I have many pairs of cheap non-prescription readers all over the house, in my bag and in my car.
They also don’t work if you are lying down to watch TV or a movie as they require the angles to the viewed object to be correct.
ETA ditto to **Icarus**
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### Author:  [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/6 "2013-01-08T23:06:58Z")
With progressives, the functional portion of the lower/reading part is surprisingly narrow, and you may not want to wear them at your desk if you work in an office environment. If so, get your prescription and pupillary distance and go to one of the cheap online glasses sellers and order cheap prescription reading or computer glasses, or even a set of progressives with the main prescription for computer use and the bifocal for reading.
Here’s where I buy them, with a description of what to do:
[Zenni Optical](http://www.zennioptical.com/prescription)
I’ve had great results from Zenni. The glasses I wear every day now are from them. (And no, I have no connection to Zenni of any sort, other than making a few purchases from them.)
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### Author:  [@MsWhatsit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MsWhatsit)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/7 "2013-01-08T23:06:59Z")
Sigh. Well, this doesn’t sound good.
I do not understand the advice about getting cheap non-prescription readers. I am nearsighted and my vision is corrected from -4.75 in the left eye and -5.25 in the right. I’m pretty sure you can’t just buy cheap glasses at the drugstore with that level of correction. The reason for the progressives is because the distance prescription is still correct, but I need slightly less correction (apparently) for near vision now, due to aging eyes. Or at least that’s what the doctor tells me.
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### Author:  [@Ethilrist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ethilrist)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/8 "2013-01-08T23:18:18Z")
With my trifocals, my field of corrected vision is a cone that starts out about 3" wide and spreads to about a foot and a half at arm’s length, in spite of the fact that my lenses cover three times this much visual area; it’s just not corrected outside that area.
So, I have to be looking straight at anything in order to focus on it: if I want to see what’s in my side-view mirrors, I have to turn my head, at which point (if I glance to the left), I can’t see what’s straight ahead clearly.
Similarly, with my dual-monitor setup, if I’m looking at the left monitor and glance to the right, I can’t read what’s on it. I have to constantly turn my head so I can focus on anything.
The “reading” zone, at the bottom, gives me a corrected area about the size of the palm of my hand held 6" away from my face, which means that it’s more comfortable for me to just take the glasses off to read.
Next time I get glasses, I’m getting one pair that is just distance, for driving, and another that is arm’s-length, for computer use, and I may consider a third pair as reading glasses. I won’t buy trifocals again.
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### Author:  [@wonky](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/wonky)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/9 "2013-01-08T23:37:32Z")
I’ve been in bifocals (the lined kind) since I was ten. I remember walking out of the optometrist’s office that first day and nearly falling down the stairs. Be careful on stairs! But your brain can figure lots of stuff out if you give it a day or two.
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### Author:  [@LouisB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LouisB)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/10 "2013-01-08T23:41:09Z")
When I had to have bi-focals for the first time, I was advised to visit a supermarket and scan items from the top shelf to the bottom and to do that as long as I could stand it.
It helped.
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### Author:  [@Thylacine](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thylacine)
#### Post date: [January 8, 2013, 11:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/11 "2013-01-08T23:53:12Z")
Do not get on a mini trampoline! I terrified the hell out of myself with one after getting my last pair, it seemed I was heading off in all sorts of directions. I am on my third set of multifocals and they always take about 2 weeks before I stop occasionally thinking they made them up wrong in some way. Don’t switch between your old and new, commit and get used to them, then finding the sweet spot for whatever task becomes quite natural.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 12:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/12 "2013-01-09T00:08:02Z")
I have progressives and I love 'em. Closest thing yet to normal vision, IMO. With progressives you can bring almost anything into focus simply by altering the part of the lens you’re looking through. All it takes is slight movement of your head up or down. You will need to look at things basically straight on as the window of correction is somewhat narrow, but you get used to that in no time and soon you’ll be turning your head to look at things directly without even thinking about it. The reading part of progressive lenses is pretty small though and that makes reading in bed unpleasant/difficult. Also if you find yourself reading in such a position that one eye is farther away from your reading material than the other, it’ll throw things off and you’ll essentially be reading with one eye while the other eye is slightly blurry. For these reasons I also keep a pair of reading glasses handy for reading in bed. But again for everything but reading I love mine.
I read up on progressives on Wiki before I got mine so I already knew pretty much what to expect. The guy at the glasses store was surprised and pleased during my initial fitting when I immediately started moving my head slightly up and down to focus on things at different distances. Having read up on them beforehand educated me on the need to do that and which part of the lenses to look through to see clearly at different distances. The Wiki article I read is no longer up but here’s an article [with a lens diagram (about halfway down)](http://www.mastereyeassociates.com/progressive-lenses-no-line-bifocals/) similar to the one I read then.
Progressives aren’t for everyone though. Some people just can’t seem to adjust to them no matter how hard they try. But I took to mine like a duck to water, and I love having the ability to focus on anything no matter how near or far it may be. With bifocals and trifocals there was always an area between corrections that was out of focus and with progressives that isn’t a problem.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 12:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/13 "2013-01-09T00:27:05Z")
Oh, yeah, another piece of helpful advice I got was to forget I had them on. The temptation is to always be consciously looking at things from one spot in the lens to the other, and you won’t see things in a normal way when you’re always making judgements as to how things look through your new lenses.
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### Author:  [@zombywoof](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/zombywoof)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 12:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/14 "2013-01-09T00:33:24Z")
> [@Starving\_Artist](#):
>
> here’s an article [with a lens diagram (about halfway down)](http://www.mastereyeassociates.com/progressive-lenses-no-line-bifocals/)
Is the (seemingly large, to me) “out of focus” area (yellow in the diagram) not a problem?
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### Author:  [@Kansas\_Beekeeper](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kansas_Beekeeper)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 1:17am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/15 "2013-01-09T01:17:10Z")
> [@MsWhatsit](#):
>
> Sigh. Well, this doesn’t sound good.
>
> I do not understand the advice about getting cheap non-prescription readers. I am nearsighted and my vision is corrected from -4.75 in the left eye and -5.25 in the right. I’m pretty sure you can’t just buy cheap glasses at the drugstore with that level of correction. The reason for the progressives is because the distance prescription is still correct, but I need slightly less correction (apparently) for near vision now, due to aging eyes. Or at least that’s what the doctor tells me.
Zenni is prescription glasses. You don’t have to actually send them a written, signed prescription, you just need to know which prescription you want. The page I linked shows how to modify a bifocal prescription into a single prescription focused either at computer or reading distance, or modify it to different progressive bifocals prescription with the main lens focused for computer distance.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/16 "2013-01-09T01:31:25Z")
> [@zombywoof](#):
>
> Is the (seemingly large, to me) “out of focus” area (yellow in the diagram) not a problem?
No, you just don’t notice them. If you think about it most of the things in your natural line of vision are out of focus except what you’ve chosen to focus on. Near things are out of focus when you’re looking off into the distance, and vice versa. Same thing with progressive lenses. You only notice what you’re looking at and everything else fades unconsciously into the background.
The areas in yellow are the reason why you have to turn your head to look at things directly though. You only have sharp focus through the narrow areas that run top to bottom in the center of the lens, with intermediate and reading being the most narrow. To look at something outside those areas it’s necessary to move your head slightly to bring what you want to see into the correct area of focus. But again, you get used to that and soon find yourself doing it without thinking about it, just like you don’t have to think about applying the brakes at a stop sign. You just do it automatically and it’s no trouble.
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### Author:  [@Oakminster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Oakminster)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 1:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/17 "2013-01-09T01:31:57Z")
Be very careful on stairs. The damn things move the first few times you go up or down in bifocals.
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### Author:  [@Starving\_Artist](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Starving_Artist)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/18 "2013-01-09T01:42:24Z")
Yeah, curbs and slopes in the pavement too.
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### Author:  [@campp](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/campp)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/19 "2013-01-09T01:56:52Z")
I’ve worn glasses and contacts since the 4th grade. About 5 years ago I went to progressives and never had any trouble at all, past the first couple hours which were a little woozy looking.
I know my results differ than the above posters, but my experience is very positive. I don’t even realize I have them.
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### Author:  [@overlyverbose](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/overlyverbose)
#### Post date: [January 9, 2013, 1:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/im-getting-progressive-lenses-any-tips/646551/20 "2013-01-09T01:59:59Z")
You may want to consider wearing them for at least several hours or so (if not more) before you drive with them on. At least in my experience, you’re going to feel very weird when you drive for the first time. I feel like I’m sitting on a stack of phone books when I’m driving with my glasses, and it’s shocking (and embarrassing and, yes, dangerous) how much I’ve been tailgating people and not even realizing it.
If it makes you feel any better, I’m 37 and just got my first pair of progressive lenses about a week ago.
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