People who wear glasses, or are opticians, thoughts requested.
I’ve worn contacts about every day for 25 years. About 8 years ago I finally got some glasses. I only wear them for 30 minutes of TV before bed, I try to wear them at least if I am lazing at home on weekends for as long as I can.
Last week I scratched my cornea somehow, so I tried wearing my glasses all day over last weekend to give it a chance to rest. Unfortunately my glasses were in sad shape. The prescription was still dead perfect, but they are scratched, don’t darken, and the frames are tied with thread where the screw hole stripped out a while ago.
So I decided to get new glasses, which I just picked up, and took out my contacts to drive home like the man said. And they are horrible. I remember my first set 8 years ago I hated as well, taking a while to get used to them(both sets are progressive), but this seems worse. I got a bit nauseated in the car. The basic world is clear, but at first I thought the world was in the wrong aspect ratio, like someone squashed 4x3 into a 16x9 format. But then I realized that wasn’t really the problem, objects in the top 3/4 of my field of vision are the right H/W ratio. The problem is that the ground is too tall. My eyes and my sense of Proprioception combine to tell me the ground I am walking on is a plane that intercepts my lower calf, and the asphalt is only about an inch under my ass in the car. It’s very disconcerting.
Is that a common thing with switching to new glasses? Will I get used to it, or should I go back for a do over? Is it something to do with the progressive… progression? Will saying the ground is too high mean anything to them, or will he think I am crazy and full of shit?
I wore contacts for many years and then switched to glasses when they started bothering me after a few hours in front of the computer. Then, about 5 years ago, I started having trouble seeing the computer (or my dinner partner) at all and got progressive lenses (trifocals). It took me a few hours to adjust to them, but there were no serious issues like the ones you are describing.
Former (15 years experience) optician here. It is because of the progressives. If you’re keeping your head up and looking down with your eyes then yes, the ground will appear higher. You’re looking through the part that magnifies for near vision. We always advised new wearers to lower their head to look down. If the lenses were made correctly (and that’s a pretty big if*) you do get used to them, usually within two weeks.
*Unfortunately, most states don’t have any licensing for opticians, so there’s no guarantee that the people who helped you knew what they were doing. Progressives are tricky to fit correctly and require careful measurements at the time of ordering and careful adjustment when the spectacles are dispensed.
I am not a professional, however I have worn glasses and contacts interchangeably for the past 15 years. As a possible pertinent point, I am very badly astigmatic.
When I switch between contacts and glasses, there is always an adjustment period ranging from a few minutes to a half hour or so, where nothing, especially on the floor, is exactly where it is supposed to be.
I was concerned about this and asked my eye doctor, and her answer was that because the contacts are on my eyeballs and the glasses are further out, even if they are the same prescription, they won’t be identical, and that my experience with switching and noticing differences was normal and expected.
I will say that it’s frustrating and klutz-inducing enough that I don’t switch during the day unless I have to.
When I got progressive bifocals a couple of years ago, I had to go back in once to get my glasses refitted as they were giving me terrible headaches. The store clerk rechecked everything, fidgeted a bit with the frame and put them back on my face, sitting a smidgen of an inch higher than I was used to. End of problem.
So, while “the ground looks closer” does happen (it does whenever my prescription is updated), you’ll get used to it. The nausea is probably from trying to look through the corners of your lenses instead of turning your head. It does take a while to get used to wearing glasses, but once you do, it’s fine. If there’s a fitting problem, it’s fairly simple to fix. The only thing that would be a complete pain is if they cut your lenses wrong.
I had that “ground looks closer” problem with progressive bifocals. I actually solved the problem by going back to no-lines. If I look out the wrong lens, everything is blurry, so I’ve learned to automatically adjust my gaze.
I’m nearsighted, and have been getting worse for decades. Every new prescription is stronger. And each change brings the ground a little closer! I feel like I’m shrinking!
For me, it wasn’t progressive lenses, just myopia-corrective lenses.
Every time I change prescriptions, something bad happens! I’ve tripped and fallen a good number of times, and had two (minor!) auto accidents. The world’s fundamental geometry is altered with every new pair of glasses.
Also, new frames bite into my nose and ears. If they aren’t too tight…they’re too loose! It takes months to get them to fit just right.
I usually wear 30-day contact lenses. I spend a day or two between pairs wearing glasses, and the distortion is really jarring at first. I get used to it before too long, but I certainly wouldn’t drive right after switching.
Nearsighted, I used to have this problem with every single new prescription. It was horrible.
Contact lenses, no problems.
I have managed to get a couple of pairs of glasses in my life that did not do this. I didn’t have to adjust to them, they were fine and notably improved my vision from the first time I wore them.
But the usual reality is that I fall down the steps leaving the optician’s.
I have been wearing progressives for many years, and every time I get a new prescription, I go through the same horror you’re describing. As soon as I walk out of the optical shop, I’m thinking, HOLY SHIT!!! THESE ARE COMPLETELY WRONG!!! THEY SCREWED UP MY PRESCRIPTION!!! I feel as if I’ve got tunnel vision; things directly in front of me at eye level are okay, but everything else around me is either out of focus or funhouse-mirror distorted. I do the white-knuckle drive home and have to be excruciatingly careful on stairs for a couple of days. Then I start to think that I can probably get used to them, even though they’re still pretty bad. Two or three weeks later, I’m completely back to normal and not even thinking about the glasses anymore.
I don’t know why this happens, because the optometrists always tell me that my eyes haven’t changed much; at my last exam, I was told that my vision had actually improved.
You did not mention if your contacts are hard or soft, nor if you are nearsighted or farsighted.
Hard contact lenses can “shape” the cornea somewhat. It can take awhile before the cornea resumes its normal shape after wearing contacts. I see much better through my glasses in the morning than I do in the evening (after taking out the contacts).
Yep, in the words of Game of Thrones, This Is Known. Your brain got used to your old corrective glasses. A new pair will make the world look funny from anything from a few hours to a few days, very occasionally for some people weeks.
I speak as a man whose worn glasses his entire adult life and picked up a new pair about a month ago.
After two weeks of wearing progressives I still felt like I was swimming through the pavement, so I took them back. I now have a great pair of bifocals; the main glass area is for TV/movie screen distance, the inset for reading distance. Perfect! I find the sharp edge between the two corrections much easier to cope with than the graduated one.
What’s the best way to find someone that understands what they’re doing? I have issues every time I get new glasses, from choosing a less than optimal frame (and nobody corrected my choice) to what seems to be mis-placement of the various strengths. I need to get my eyes checked and new glasses, but this makes me really dread it.
Ask if their opticians are ABO certified. If they have advanced or master certification that’s even better. (Master opticians are pretty rare. AFAIK there’s only one in my state.) Certification requires passing a competency exam, and keeping it requires a certain number of continuing ed classes every three years. There’s also some professional standards that certified opticians are required to follow.
I’ve never had that problem with my bifocals. I got them when I started to have to lift my glasses up to read my dashboard instruments. I think I’ve never had your problem because it’s pretty clear to me where the reading lens starts and the distance lens ends. I also considered tri-focals for mid-distances (like when I’m looking at my monitor screen). When I mentioned it to my ophthalmologist, he said to save my money. He suggested I just buy some off the rack reading glasses that worked well when the text on the rack was readable from 2.5 feet away.
So, next time you get lenses, I’d say pass on the progressives.
Ok, I’ll give it a try over the weekend and hope I get used to it. And hope I can over ride the impulse to goosestep everywhere to get on top of the floor.
I’ve never experienced what the op described but I did have a problem with a pair that made certain colors stand out. Literally. It gave depth to reds as if they were 3 dimensional. Took them back and got a different type of plastic lens.
If I could stand contacts in the least little bit I’d wear them all the time.