# Progressive lenses: Same? Better? Worse? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [December 8, 2016, 5:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184 "2016-12-08T05:41:50Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 9\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Mama\_Zappa](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/71e660/32.png) [@Mama\_Zappa](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mama_Zappa)\ **Post date:** [January 26, 2017, 3:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/41 "2017-01-26T03:37:06Z")
I tried my first pair of progressive lenses 14-15 years ago. HATED THEM. It was like an instant headache just putting them on. I tried them for weeks but could not get used to them. I wound up switching to two pairs of single-vision lenses: one for driving (or movies), one for everything else. Ultimately they suggested I consider a more limited range of progressives: room-distance to computer distance. Those have actually worked out well for me - apparently my issue with the full-range progressives are at least partly because my distance vision is so different in the two eyes, or something like that. I can’t see the TV very well with them but for other around-the-house stuff they’re fine. About 4 years ago, there was a misunderstanding with the optician and he made up full-range progressive. I didn’t realize it, so I picked them up and spent several weeks forcing myself to try to make them work. It was an exercise in constant, unremitting misery. I’m not one to throw tantrums but every single time I put them on I felt like nothing so much as throwing them to the ground and jumping up and down on them while shrieking at the top of my lungs. On a practical side, they do slightly limit your choice of frames; when I order new glasses they always check the size to make sure it has enough room to handle progressives. ---
**Author:** ![St8kout](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/90db22/32.png) [@St8kout](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/St8kout)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 10:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/42 "2018-03-07T22:06:00Z")
Count me in among the VERY dissatisfied with Progressives. Had Lasik done some 30 years ago that was great, but last year I barely passed the DMV vision test so it’s time to go back to glasses. Bought the supplemental Blue Cross Vision plan and ordered top of the line everything, Premium progressives, high index with extra clarity coating and autotint. -First pair: the optics store made a mistake and put the ‘reading’ area way down at the very bottom 1/8" of the lens, so they were useless and ordered a 2nd set of lenses. -Second pair: the ‘reading’ area was up much higher but every letter had a double ‘ghost’ image making it impossible to read. They were useless for anything no matter how much I tried to get used to them. I couldn’t read street signs, my computer screen, watch tv, read fine print, etc. I had to put on my cheapo $20 Walmart reading glasses to see to cut off a hangnail. After much discussion/frustration they redid the eye exam and found little difference. The only option left was to get a standard pair of Bi-focals. -Third pair: The Bi-focals gave me a Donald Sutherland “Holy Cow!” (Space Cowboys) moment the instant I put them on. Everything was crystal clear, and I could read fine print with no double image. I don’t why they can’t make Progessives that work this well. I think they were not made correctly for there to be this much of a night/day difference. I asked for a refund of the price difference ($90 co-pay) and they said it was up to Blue Cross, who then said I had to request it from Davis Vision, who said co-pays are non-refundable. I’m starting to think Progressives are a mafia-style racket, where when they don’t work you’re told, “Well, some people just can’t get used to them.” It’s hard to “get used to them” when you can’t read at all through them. I’m seriously considering going to Small Claims Court over this. The lenses should not be introducing a double ghost image of letters in words. ---
**Author:** ![ftg](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ftg/32/2801_2.png) [@ftg](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ftg)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 10:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/43 "2018-03-07T22:22:07Z")
Another person disappointed with progressives. Tried them a couple of times. The tunnel vision is unbearable. I now have bifocals. For the computer I have a pair of computer glasses. Full, clear, field of view. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [March 7, 2018, 10:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/44 "2018-03-07T22:38:29Z")
> [@sandra\_nz](#): > > I’ve stuck with two pairs of glasses, one for long distance, one for computer work. The computer work lens is as you describe the more expensive version, it’s a trapezoid area of focus. It took me all of one day to get used to them. I went with the two pairs also, but my long distance pair is (is? are?) bifocals and the computer glasses are progressive between middle distance and close. Overall I like both pairs / both solutions. The distance glasses are smaller. Bifocals work well, in my experience, in smaller lenses, so that the correction is consistently either x or y and not a blend. (The “line” does take some getting used to). Progressive lenses are better in a larger lens. ---
**Author:** ![Kiwi\_Fruit](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kiwi_fruit/32/12_2.png) [@Kiwi\_Fruit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kiwi_Fruit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 1:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/45 "2018-03-08T01:21:29Z")
This thread is a couple of years old so I don’t know how **buddha\_david** got on with progressives, but I don’t like mine much. To get the focus point on the right place I seem to have become one of those nodding men. I have to nod up and down to aim right. Glancing sideways as you often do when checking mirrors in the car or seeing where someone is in the next lane just doesn’t work. I got a pair last year and I leave them in the car as that’s where I thought I’d use them the most, but most of the time I pull out my prescription sunglasses or the single vision untinted glasses from their case. I do have occupational glasses for work. The lenses gradually change from close reading distance at the bottom to close computer monitor distance at the top. They are ok for that purpose and they don’t have a problem with looking through them other than straight ahead. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 9:20am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/46 "2018-03-08T09:20:13Z")
> [@AHunter3](#): > > Overall I like both pairs / both solutions. The distance glasses are smaller. Bifocals work well, in my experience, in smaller lenses, so that the correction is consistently either x or y and not a blend. (The “line” does take some getting used to). Progressive lenses are better in a larger lens. They have worked fine for me, but for my last pair of glasses I switched to larger ones, and this makes the reading part work much better. My wife uses two pairs of glasses due to eye issues, and she is always leaving them in the wrong places. No thanks. ---
**Author:** ![Napier](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/ce73a5/32.png) [@Napier](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Napier)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 4:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/47 "2018-03-08T16:43:49Z")
I think progressive lenses are a high profit item that they often try to sell on the basis that other people won’t see your bifocal or trifocal line and therefore won’t think of you as old. Optically, there are absolutely regions that can’t focus. There is no way to avoid this. My solution is separate single vision glasses for distance and for computer or reading. These have no such problem. I think it would be nice to be younger again, because it would mean I have more time left to enjoy life. But progressive glasses don’t accomplish that. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 6:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/48 "2018-03-08T18:30:21Z")
Progressives work well for some of us, and don’t work for others. Different people are different. As someone for whom progressives work well I don’t automatically assume they’ll be the solution for someone else. Those for whom they don’t work well shouldn’t assume they’re just gimmicks or terrible for someone else. There’s more than one solution for presbyopia (old people eyes, basically) and if one doesn’t work try another. ---
**Author:** ![Clothahump](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/51bf81/32.png) [@Clothahump](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Clothahump)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2018, 6:38pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184/49 "2018-03-08T18:38:15Z")
> [@buddha\_david](#): > > My optician has recommended that I get new eyeglasses with progressive lenses since I’m at that age where reading vision goes to poop. I have a few days to decide what to do. > > The one thing I really _don’t_ like, from the examples I was shown, is that the sides of the lenses appear to have no focus at all, which totally ruins peripheral vision. There are more expensive versions which widen the bottom “reading” part but none of them felt ideal. On the other hand, she recommended against standard bifocals since I spend several hours per day on the computer and the dividing line would be right in my field of view. (My understanding of how it works is that top = distance, bottom = close-up reading, and middle = computer stuff.) > > I’ve also been told that they take some time to get used to (esp. going up & down stairs) but I’m not terribly worried about that – it’s the peripheral vision (or lack thereof) that concerns me. > > So, progressive lens wearers – how’d they work out for you? Wonderfully. I’ve worn them for many years. No loss in peripheral vision and it only took me about one day to get used to them. I love 'em. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/progressive-lenses-same-better-worse/774184.md?page=2)