Progressive lenses aka bifocals

[bethben]

I am starting to think about ditching my contacts and just wearing glasses all the time.  I am pretty nearsighted and am at the age where I need readers to read any small print.  My arm has officially gotten too short.  😊 I'm nearsighted to the point that I can't read a book without my glasses unless the book is six inches from my face.  If I have my contacts in, I can't read some books without readers also.  Are bifocals hard to get used to?  Also, if you look down for instance when you go downstairs, is everything blurry because you're looking through the "reading glasses" part of your glasses? When smaller glasses were all the rage, I hated wearing them because I could not see the stairs when I was going downstairs and had to tilt my head to see my feet.  I strained my neck a lot and just gave up and went back to contacts.  If I want to tie my shoes for instance, am I going to have to tilt my head a ton so that I can see through the near sighted part of the glasses?  I have a little bit of a progressive lens right now, but not nearly what I need and I really need to change my lenses.  

[EKS]

It took me about two seconds to get used to my progressives.  I never have worn actual bifocals, but my understanding is from people I've know who have worn them is that they do take an adjustment.  My husband, for example, had bifocals and never could get used to them, so he just used readers for many years, then recently he switched to progressives and never had a problem.

I've never had a problem with stairs or tying shoes.  The only problems I've had have come when my prescription needs to be changed.

[Pawz4me]

I've only had progressives. When I started having trouble reading in my early/mid-40's and first went to have my eyes checked they found a few more issues, including a bit of a problem with my distant vision. So progressives were the recommendation. It took me a couple of hours to adjust to my first pair, and about thirty minutes to adjust when I've needed prescription changes since then. No blurriness or any trouble at all going down stairs except for during the very short adjustment period (and even that is minimal).

[Annie G]

You’ll get used to them. Here’s the thing- you  do still have to turn/move your head instead of just moving your eyes. If you don’t already do that, it feels weird at first but once it clicks you do it without thinking. It’s very SMALL movements- don’t worry- it’s usually very easy to adjust to progressive lenses. And then you won’t need to put reading glasses on and off all day long!

Edited January 21, 2020 by Annie G

[vonfirmath]

30 minutes ago, bethben said:

I am starting to think about ditching my contacts and just wearing glasses all the time.  I am pretty nearsighted and am at the age where I need readers to read any small print.  My arm has officially gotten too short.  😊 I'm nearsighted to the point that I can't read a book without my glasses unless the book is six inches from my face.  If I have my contacts in, I can't read some books without readers also.  Are bifocals hard to get used to?  Also, if you look down for instance when you go downstairs, is everything blurry because you're looking through the "reading glasses" part of your glasses? When smaller glasses were all the rage, I hated wearing them because I could not see the stairs when I was going downstairs and had to tilt my head to see my feet.  I strained my neck a lot and just gave up and went back to contacts.  If I want to tie my shoes for instance, am I going to have to tilt my head a ton so that I can see through the near sighted part of the glasses?  I have a little bit of a progressive lens right now, but not nearly what I need and I really need to change my lenses.  

 

Progressives and bifocals are two different things -- different solutions for the same problem.

 

I tried Progressives first (for two weeks!) and could not get used to them -- it seemed like everything was blurry all the time. I ended up with bifocals and they work much better.  I can look in two distinct parts of the glasses.  OTOH the "reading" part of my glasses is very light still.

Edited January 21, 2020 by vonfirmath

[ashfern]

I have progressives but I don't have to wear glasses full-time. I think if you wore them all the time the adjustment would be quick. I only put them on to read and sometimes I have to use them for watching TV or movies. You do have to move your head and not just your eyes, which is the major issue. I think when I go back for my next apt, I'll get two separate glasses. My one eye is perfect but the other one needs correction. I probably should get it corrected again (had Lasix 19 years ago).

[klmama]

If you go with progressive lenses, be aware that going with cheaper materials can lead to motion sickness for some people because the distortion is greater.  High index lenses work well.  FWIW, Costco progressives with high index lenses are much, much cheaper, if you can find a frame you like.

[Lanny]

I have no personal experience with Progressive lenses. I have worn Bifocal lenses. My wife wears Bifocal lenses. We get our glasses from ZenniOptical.com  I suggest you give a quick read to this article on their web site about different types of lenses. Obviously, the Progressive lenses have a much longer "Learning Curve" for the typical user.   I believe that the majority of people who get them and are patient with them will eventually be happy with them. I also believe that some of the people (I think my BIL) have quite a bit of a problem trying to use Progressive lenses, for example Nausea or Dizziness and that most of those people are eventually happy users of Progressive lenses.

NOTE: Very important, for Bifocals or Progressive lenses, that you only look at the Frames that say they are OK for Bifocal lenses. I believe that a lens with more Vertical Height allows much more room for the lens and a better possibility of success. A lens with a small area would IMO be problematic.

https://www.zennioptical.com/blog/which-eyeglasses-are-right-for-you/

[Storygirl]

I've had progressive lenses for 15+ years. I always take a little time to get used to any new prescription. When I first switched to progressives, it took a little more time than usual, but not significantly.

Yes, there are times when I have to tip my head a certain way to get things into focus, but it's just a natural habit; I don't have to think about it much. Looking down to tie shoes or go down stairs or pick something off of the floor are not problems at all. The times that I need to adjust my head are when I am switching between two tasks, such as reading on my laptop while also watching TV (I do this all of the time in the evenings). Sometimes I have to adjust my head to refocus on one of the screens. You can get a prescription that has a middle distance set for computer use (I don't have that, but maybe should the next time).

You can also get multi-focus contact lenses, if you prefer to keep wearing contacts. I only researched them a tiny bit, but because I also have astigmatism, they were going to be pretty expensive for me, so I didn't pursue it.

One more option, which seems radical to me, but my mother did it, is to wear two different contacts, so that one eye sees distance and one eye sees close up. I think that would drive me crazy, but it didn't bother my mom at all.

[Violet Crown]

My Eye Doctor Guy said if you have to spend any time 'getting used to' progressives, they weren't made right and you should return them without hesitation. Possibly an exaggeration, but do be aware that they can be made incorrectly and it's not your job to adjust to bad lenses.

Another vote for CostCo by the way; I got a membership just for the progressives. There was no adjustment period.

[almondbutterandjelly]

I can't wear progressives or bifocals, so I have regular glasses and reading glasses.  Progressives give me terrible motion sickness.  Bifocals give me motion sickness and terrible headaches.  My cousin also cannot wear those, so it might be a weird genetic thing.  YMMV

[Sherry in OH]

It took me almost a week to get used to my first pair of progressive lenses.  I was so nauseous the first few days that I almost gave up on them.  I got motion sickness just turning my head.  My optometrist warned me that many people with my prescription had discomfort with progressive lenses and that if I did not adjust within a week that I should try traditional bifocals.   Also, I have almost no peripheral vision when wearing them.

Subsequent prescriptions were better although I can never just put them on at the optometrist's office and go.  I adjust best if I put the new glasses on first thing in the morning and keep them on all day.   

 

 

[mom2scouts]

I just moved from reading glasses to progressives this past week because my distance vision was getting worse. They are such an improvement. I'm not putting on and taking off glasses all day long. The progressives were very easy to adjust to, but it did take a few days to get used to walking down stairs. As someone else said, you do need to move your head a little more. 

[HollyDay]

I went from single vision contacts (and glasses) to monovision type contacts: one eye corrected for near, one for far.  After about a year, I continued with monovision and got my first pair of progressive glasses.  That first pair took quite an adjustment.  I'd recommend going to an office with lots of progressive experience.  Also, not all lenses are created equally.  Do some research.

Now I wear multifocal contacts in a mini mono fashion and I have a pair of progressive glasses for when I don't wear contacts. 

[TravelingChris]

I have bad arthritis in my neck so I chose first bifocals and now, in the last five years,  trifocals so I can see mid distances.  My dh has progressives since he does not have the same neck issues I do.  I think he had a bit l8nger adjustment issue than I did.

[Tree Frog]

I tried progressives for 6 weeks and couldn't adjust to them. I was told it was due to the prism and astigmatism in my prescription. I now wear bifocals, but am quickly finding I need trifocals. I had Chemistrie lenses for awhile and loved them. You wear a base pair of glasses and they make lenses to clip on (with magnets) to create reading glasses or sunglasses. This last pair I tried bifocals, but I'm going to go back to the Chemistrie when I get my new pair.

Edited January 21, 2020 by wilrunner

[MEmama]

I love my progressives. I gave in a couple years ago when it became too annoying to deal with readers all.day.long. It did take me the full two weeks that’s recommended to get fully used to them, but since then I haven’t had any issues. 
 

Progressives are different than bifocals though. No advice on those.

[bethben]

1 hour ago, HollyDay said:

I went from single vision contacts (and glasses) to monovision type contacts: one eye corrected for near, one for far.  After about a year, I continued with monovision and got my first pair of progressive glasses.  That first pair took quite an adjustment.  I'd recommend going to an office with lots of progressive experience.  Also, not all lenses are created equally.  Do some research.

Now I wear multifocal contacts in a mini mono fashion and I have a pair of progressive glasses for when I don't wear contacts. 

I always wondered about these contacts.  How do you drive and check your blind spot?  

[bethben]

My eyes are such that if I wear only glasses and ditch my contacts, I won’t be able to switch between pairs of glasses anyway since I would have to layer.  I’ve done this even now at night.  In order to read smaller print, I have to add reading glasses to the top of my distance glasses.  I’m so nearsighted.  I will ask the optical place about both bifocals and progressives for my particular prescription.  I LOVE Costco’s prices on frames and lenses but am hesitant since I’ve gotten lenses that were bad and the company seemed unable to get them corrected.  

[teachermom2834]

4 hours ago, Storygirl said:

One more option, which seems radical to me, but my mother did it, is to wear two different contacts, so that one eye sees distance and one eye sees close up. I think that would drive me crazy, but it didn't bother my mom at all.

This is what I do. I had given up contacts when I needed the progressives but I really don’t like wearing glasses all the time.  I also have astigmatism which I guess means I can’t have bifocal contacts? Not sure but a saw a different eye doc who suggested this and it sounded insane to me but I gave it a try with a sample pair. I love it. She told me to commit to wearing them five straight days to get used to it but it didn’t take that long. Maybe two days it was a little weird. I love having my contacts back and my vision is so clear. Crazy though!

[bethben]

32 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

This is what I do. I had given up contacts when I needed the progressives but I really don’t like wearing glasses all the time.  I also have astigmatism which I guess means I can’t have bifocal contacts? Not sure but a saw a different eye doc who suggested this and it sounded insane to me but I gave it a try with a sample pair. I love it. She told me to commit to wearing them five straight days to get used to it but it didn’t take that long. Maybe two days it was a little weird. I love having my contacts back and my vision is so clear. Crazy though!

Still—-the driving thing?!?! How does one check their blind spot with their “reading eye”?   What about peripheral vision in your reading eye?   I love my contacts for the most part but sometimes my eyes are looking “old” and I want to cover them up.  I’m figuring at some point I’m just going to have to stop the contacts...I’m getting older and know no woman in her 60s or 70s with contacts.

[HollyDay]

1 hour ago, bethben said:

I always wondered about these contacts.  How do you drive and check your blind spot?  

?? 

[Carol in Cal.]

I am extremely nearsighted, and yes, progressives were easy to adjust to, EXCEPT I felt dizzy looking down stairs, AND I started falling when I was hiking, weirdly randomly.  I didn't connect those with the glasses for probably two years, since my balance was never all that great to start with and also I get mild vertigo at times.  But once I realized that the progressives were contributing, one year when I had extra glasses in my insurance I got my eye doctor to give me a special progressive prescription for hiking that had a focal depth at my feet for the 'reading' portion.  That meant that I could only read maps by holding them very close and looking over the tops of my glasses, but I stopped tripping due to depth perception issues.  For the stairs, I look straight ahead rather than down and I'm fine.

Recently after about 12 years of wearing progressives I found that I was getting neck aches from holding my head in a certain, very specific position when I was on the computer, and asked about computer glasses.  I found out that they have GREAT ones now, like progressives without a distance prescription, high side for computer work and low side for reading.  Since I am extremely nearsighted, this means that my reading area is bigger than on my regular progressives, so I wear these for almost all reading and computer work even though I still have 'regular' progressives for everyday use.  They are wonderful.

[bethben]

Just now, HollyDay said:

?? 

As in when driving.  Let’s say I’m driving and need to change lanes.  I look over my shoulder and whoops!  It’s my reading contact side and it’s super blurry on that side!  Or someone approaches me on my reading contact side—-super blurry!  I have to turn my head completely around to see them?

[teachermom2834]

3 minutes ago, bethben said:

Still—-the driving thing?!?! How does one check their blind spot with their “reading eye”?   What about peripheral vision in your reading eye?   I love my contacts for the most part but sometimes my eyes are looking “old” and I want to cover them up.  I’m figuring at some point I’m just going to have to stop the contacts...I’m getting older and know no woman in her 60s or 70s with contacts.

Um... I don't know. Never thought about it. I haven't noticed an issue????

 

[bethben]

1 minute ago, Carol in Cal. said:

I am extremely nearsighted, and yes, progressives were easy to adjust to, EXCEPT I felt dizzy looking down stairs, AND I started falling when I was hiking, weirdly randomly.  I didn't connect those with the glasses for probably two years, since my balance was never all that great to start with and also I get mild vertigo at times.  But once I realized that the progressives were contributing, one year when I had extra glasses in my insurance I got my eye doctor to give me a special progressive prescription for hiking that had a focal depth at my feet for the 'reading' portion.  That meant that I could only read maps by holding them very close and looking over the tops of my glasses, but I stopped tripping due to depth perception issues.  For the stairs, I look straight ahead rather than down and I'm fine.

Recently after about 12 years of wearing progressives I found that I was getting neck aches from holding my head in a certain, very specific position when I was on the computer, and asked about computer glasses.  I found out that they have GREAT ones now, like progressives without a distance prescription, high side for computer work and low side for reading.  Since I am extremely nearsighted, this means that my reading area is bigger than on my regular progressives, so I wear these for almost all reading and computer work even though I still have 'regular' progressives for everyday use.  They are wonderful.

So yes!  You get my going down stairs thing!  That’s my main concern.  I didn’t even think about hiking , but yes—same problem.  This sound way more confusing now.

[stephanier.1765]

I got some a pair within the last year and hated them. Put them on in the store and would have handed them right back if they hadn't given me a week to get used to them. And get used to them I did.  Now I can't tell the difference at all and it's so nice not to have keep taking my readers off and on constantly in the store.

 

[teachermom2834]

1 minute ago, bethben said:

As in when driving.  Let’s say I’m driving and need to change lanes.  I look over my shoulder and whoops!  It’s my reading contact side and it’s super blurry on that side!  Or someone approaches me on my reading contact side—-super blurry!  I have to turn my head completely around to see them?

No. That does not happen at all. My eyes work together. I cannot even tell you which is the reading side and which is the distance side without closing one eye and actively trying to figure out which is which. I have had them about a year and cannot remember ever having the sensation of not having peripheral vision or having to turn my head to see. Definitely better than wearing glasses and not having vision for anything outside the lenses of the glasses. 

I can't explain it but it works for me. I also had progressive lenses and had no trouble with them. 

[Carol in Cal.]

3 minutes ago, bethben said:

So yes!  You get my going down stairs thing!  That’s my main concern.  I didn’t even think about hiking , but yes—same problem.  This sound way more confusing now.

It was still kind of subtle.  I didn't feel the room spinning or anything like that.  It was more like a mild earthquake that you don't feel but something seems 'off'.  Also, FWIW, before I realized that the hiking issue was due to the glasses, I tried hiking poles to help me stay standing, and the sensory input from them mostly overcame the false depth perception from my eyes.  My brain needed to get the right information from SOMEWHERE, LOL, since it was a little 'off' from my eyes.  So I think you could get the progressives and make them work great with the hiking poles (if you hike) and with looking straight ahead rather than down the stairs, and they really are easier on my eyes and give me much sharper vision than my contacts did.

[VaKim]

5 hours ago, Storygirl said:

 

One more option, which seems radical to me, but my mother did it, is to wear two different contacts, so that one eye sees distance and one eye sees close up. I think that would drive me crazy, but it didn't bother my mom at all.

 

13 minutes ago, bethben said:

As in when driving.  Let’s say I’m driving and need to change lanes.  I look over my shoulder and whoops!  It’s my reading contact side and it’s super blurry on that side!  Or someone approaches me on my reading contact side—-super blurry!  I have to turn my head completely around to see them?

 

8 minutes ago, teachermom2834 said:

No. That does not happen at all. My eyes work together. I cannot even tell you which is the reading side and which is the distance side without closing one eye and actively trying to figure out which is which. I have had them about a year and cannot remember ever having the sensation of not having peripheral vision or having to turn my head to see. Definitely better than wearing glasses and not having vision for anything outside the lenses of the glasses. 

 

This is what I do too. And like pp said, I don't even notice which eye is doing what. They work together. I use both eyes when I look over my shoulder while driving. And peripheral vision is not really clear anyway, even with perfect eyesight. However, because I am so nearsighted and have such bad astigmatism, I still can't see to read anything small. I was looking at this thread because I am so sick of having to hunt down reading glasses all day long. I can still read just fine without my contacts in. But if I wear contacts that totally correct my far vision in both eyes, even my hands are blurry, as is anything remotely close to me. The mono thing takes care of that problem, even if it doesn't allow me to read small print.

[Bambam]

I wear contacts - have for years. I need readers, so I wear them whenever I'm reading or using the computer.

I had eye surgery (ptosis) and had to use my glasses (bifocals) which I had never really used before (currently script - 3 months old). Argh. Argh. I didn't have progressives (I didn't want to spend a lot of money on glasses I wasn't going to be using much at all!). I finally got used to the stepping up/over/on things, but chopping anything in the kitchen was always at a difficult distance for those bifocals. 

I'm happy to be back in my contacts just adding readers as necessary. 
 

My vision is much better in contacts. I do not want to switch to glasses!

[HollyDay]

20 minutes ago, bethben said:

As in when driving.  Let’s say I’m driving and need to change lanes.  I look over my shoulder and whoops!  It’s my reading contact side and it’s super blurry on that side!  Or someone approaches me on my reading contact side—-super blurry!  I have to turn my head completely around to see them?

I've not had that problem.  My vision with my multifocal contacts has been excellent and more natural than with glasses

[PeterPan]

8 minutes ago, HollyDay said:

My vision with my multifocal contacts has been excellent

My dd used bifocal contacts for a year or two and liked them. Her eyes are really persnickety, especially with her astigmatism, so she finally went to progressives. But yeah, if op likes contacts then it's worth at least trying the multi-focal contacts. 

[Momto6inIN]

I had the same problem - I kept reaching my phone out farther and farther to read it lol! I got what I call bifocals contacts. I don't know if that's their official name, but my eye dr knew what I was talking about. I think the case says they're for presbyopia. I have no idea how they work, but they are delightful and I can read close up and see signs far away and still no glasses 👍👍👍

[Storygirl]

37 minutes ago, bethben said:

Still—-the driving thing?!?! How does one check their blind spot with their “reading eye”?   What about peripheral vision in your reading eye?   I love my contacts for the most part but sometimes my eyes are looking “old” and I want to cover them up.  I’m figuring at some point I’m just going to have to stop the contacts...I’m getting older and know no woman in her 60s or 70s with contacts.

My cousin, who is in her sixties, wears contacts. My aunt, who is in her eighties, wears them. I bet there are a lot of older people with them, and you just don't realize it. I don't think age itself is a reason to stop wearing them.

[PeterPan]

Total aside, but I wear both regular progressives *and* workplace progressives. If you go with multifocal contacts, you don't have all that hassle, as your eyes are automatically looking out of the correct level of correction as they converge. But me, I'm not a contacts person, no way, so I plunk out for double glasses. The workspace progressives make it easy to use my big screen computer without straining and craning my neck, and the regular are just for everyday. 

So I use progressives from Sam's Club that were fine, no trouble adjusting. Then I got these higher end "digital" progressives from my $$$ optometrist in the big city. I paid for the budget package ($200 total, no joke), but still they're digital lenses. They're cut line by line, and they're REALLY PERSNICKETY. First they milled a pair wrong, and then the girl could not adjust them evenly on my face. So at that point you're literally looking out of two different scrips at the same time (if they aren't even on your face, if they're tilted), and THAT creates the issues with the stereo vision, too much 3D, problems on the stairs, etc. I kept calling my optometrist like what is going on, this is awful, I can't deal with this, everything looks wrong... It blew my mind after a year of perfect peace in my economical Sam's Club glasses that suddenly I was having trouble with glasses from a swankier place!

So I think don't take reviews on progressives even at face value, because there might be more involved than just whether it's a progressive or not. And it's pretty personal. Like if you want to wear glasses, wear 'em. If you want contacts, try the multifocal contacts and see if they make you happy. If you don't, then just go with glasses, no biggee. Just me, but the glare coating they put on my budget from the $$$$ eye doctor glasses is the BOMB, amazing. I have astigmatism, and only one other time in 20 years have I had a coating this good. I can actually drive at night safely. 

[PeterPan]

7 hours ago, bethben said:

When smaller glasses were all the rage, I hated wearing them because I could not see the stairs when I was going downstairs and had to tilt my head to see my feet.  I strained my neck a lot and just gave up and went back to contacts.  If I want to tie my shoes for instance, am I going to have to tilt my head a ton so that I can see through the near sighted part of the glasses?

My mother wears hers smaller than I do. I started with really BIG frames and loved that, so easy. Then I went to medium-ish this year, and I kicked myself like that was dumb, that was dumb. But my brain figured it out and now I don't notice. Truly. And I'm a really OCD, hard customer, pissy, awful to please kind of person. Seriously. And I got used to it. Now me, would I go *small*? No. There are limits on how small they'll go anyway to get the range, but me I would just probably not be happy super small. But medium and large are in right now, kwim? 

I think they say to give the progressives two weeks. So go digital, get them measured well and adjusted properly on your face, and probably within two weeks it will be a non-issue. It will be at first, but it shouldn't *stay* that way. Your brain will figure it out and do the math and it will be fine, automatic, no problem.

Or just go multifocal contacts and not deal with that. 

[PeterPan]

Ok, sorry for the book here. The answer on the side vision and moving your head to the side quickly is to ask the dispenser to be HONEST about what will be in focus. They can draw you little diagrams. At Sam's Club, if you paid for their best lenses, a lot was in focus. Lower lenses, not so much. With my digital lenses, which again are the $200 budget out of a box package glasses NOT the Ivanka Trump wears 'em designer option, I have very little that's out of focus. Now when they were milled incorrectly (they left the cylinders for astigmatism correction off my left eye), THAT made the sides out of focus something awful. Like if I looked at all to the side it was serious BLUR. I was so, so so upset, and the optical chick wasn't listening and I was beyond frustrated. 

But yeah, with digital, once you get them adjusted on your face, almost nothing is blurry. And having boring, robotic head movements helps too, hahaha. With my Sam's Club pair, I had to take them off to play ping pong. With my digital progressives, I don't. 

[matrips]

8 hours ago, bethben said:

I am starting to think about ditching my contacts and just wearing glasses all the time.  I am pretty nearsighted and am at the age where I need readers to read any small print.  My arm has officially gotten too short.  😊 I'm nearsighted to the point that I can't read a book without my glasses unless the book is six inches from my face.  If I have my contacts in, I can't read some books without readers also.  Are bifocals hard to get used to?  Also, if you look down for instance when you go downstairs, is everything blurry because you're looking through the "reading glasses" part of your glasses? When smaller glasses were all the rage, I hated wearing them because I could not see the stairs when I was going downstairs and had to tilt my head to see my feet.  I strained my neck a lot and just gave up and went back to contacts.  If I want to tie my shoes for instance, am I going to have to tilt my head a ton so that I can see through the near sighted part of the glasses?  I have a little bit of a progressive lens right now, but not nearly what I need and I really need to change my lenses.  

It took me a couple days before they were second nature.  I couldnt drive with them on the way home, but could a day later.

[Harriet Vane]

I have pretty severe nearsightedness with astigmatism. I adore my progressive lenses. I puffy-heart LOVE them. I was scared of them and reluctant but WOW!!! The improvement was unbelievably amazing for me. Opened whole new vistas. I heartily recommend them.

[bethben]

Thanks all for your insights!  I may wind up buying a pair of progressives from Costco and seeing what happens.  I think I can get lenses and frames for what frames would cost me at my regular eye place.  The lenses themselves would cost more than a whole new pair for that matter.  I need a new pair of glasses anyway for my prescription.  I can even get a blue blocking feature for them which would be helpful for me at night.  When my eye exam comes due, I may try some different contacts though since I do like contact lenses overall.  Honestly, I've thought about the one eye for distance, one eye for reading thing and it just seems weird to me.  I may give it a try though.  Thanks!

[Pen]

I’ve had more than one pair of progressives.  Luckily my first pair was great, so I know they can be.

My most recent pair has had problems and had to be redone because the right position for the progression was not achieved.  They are better now than they were but still not quite as good as my original ones.  

[PeterPan]

2 hours ago, bethben said:

a blue blocking feature for them which would be helpful for me at night.

Personally, I would only want blue blocking for computer, and I don't like it even then. It's off my workspace glasses this time and I'm glad. If you wear it all the time, you're blocking your full spectrum light, which could affect your melatonin levels. I just turn down the light on my monitors at night and many tech devices now have night time modes, making the blue light blocking lenses irrelevant.

Yeah, some people do different scrips in each eye for contacts, but the multi-focal are like tree rings, all the scrips in one contact. You look through the correct part as your eyes converge, really cool.

[mmasc]

@bethben Update? Did you try them? Like or not?

I’m trying to decided right now between trying my first pair of progressives or just going with single lenses for distance. I’m to the point where I don’t need readers, but I DO have to lift my glasses up to see my book or whatever. I’m not sure if that makes it worth the hassle of trying progressives or not. Plus I don’t even have to wear my glasses all day long—only for tv, driving, etc.