Eye glasses...
 

Completely off-topic from Mersenne primes, but I would welcome feedback from others out there who use glasses (or other eye-sight enhancement technology)...

I'm in my late 40's, and have worn glasses since I was in my early twenties. Until last year, these were only for "distance"; driving, etc.

Last year I had my eye's tested, and the optometrist recommended "progressives". I said I would think about it, and then came back to her with a request for a pair of glasses which were optimized for 60cm distance. The reasoning was that since I spend over 12 hours a day working in front of my monitors, having glasses which gave me a full field-of-view in focus at that distance made sense.

The new glasses were wonderful!!! All three screens are in perfect focus.

Then, last week, my six year old distance glasses broke, so I went back for another eye exam and to purchase new glasses. The optometrist once again recommended progressives. When I said I wanted just distance, she /strongly/ encouraged me to try progressives ("so you don't have to carry around two or three pairs of glasses to see near and far").

I agreed to give them a try.

When I picked them up earlier this week, the secretary casually mentioned "Oh, by the way, you don't have peripheral focus with progressives, so you'll have to turn your head to see properly...".

WTF??? Why didn't the optometrist mention this when she convinced me to try them? Could it be that she wanted the extra profit which comes from them? Thinking I wouldn't complain, and insist on the lenses being replaced (at their cost) to my distance prescription?

I know that glasses take some time to get used to, and I've done several experiments to determine if I'd be able to use them. But no -- the field-of-view in focus is only a degree or two of what I'm pointing my head at.

I'm not an owl -- I refuse to have to turn my head to look at things 45 degrees off-of-center when I can simply shift my eyes.

So, my questions are:

1. Has anyone else had this kind of experience (read: having an optometrist recommend a solution space which is to their financial advantage, but your operational disadvantage)?

2. Has anyone had a positive experience with "progressives"?

3. For those who use "bi-focals" or "tri-focals", in the vertical zones, do you have peripheral (read: horizontal) focus when you shift your eyes to the sides?

4. For anyone who's had laser eye surgery, what are your experiences and thoughts?

Thank you for any feedback given.

We have several pairs of glasses.

"Long distance glasses" for driving and watching TV/movies. They are utterly useless if we want to look at our watch or anything else close up. We have them made at better than 20/20 power, if that makes sense. We tend to "look over them" when dealing with phones and small stuff.

"Computer glasses" for, um, the computer. They are adequate for ordinary tasks and in an emergency we can drive with them on. We still have trouble with real close stuff, though. We specifically had them "optimized" for computer-viewing distances.

"Short distance glasses" for reading and working on small stuff. (AKA no glasses.)

We get very nauseated with progressive glasses.

been there done that
 

I'm not familiar with the peripheral thingie.
Never been an issue .... I think I always had them by default.

That said I personally like the freedom of only 1 pair (progressives don't take too long to get used to...days not weeks) no switching no searching always on my nose.

[QUOTE=petrw1;364348]I'm not familiar with the peripheral thingie.
Never been an issue .... I think I always had them by default.

That said I personally like the freedom of only 1 pair (progressives don't take too long to get used to...days not weeks) no switching no searching always on my nose.[/QUOTE]I too wear progressives. I haven't really noticed peripheral vision problems although I received that warning on acquiring them. Working in the near field has not worked out as well as I expected/hoped. I tend to prefer to remove them and place my face even closer instead.

As far as optician ethics, I am usually pressured into an upsell situation and think the tactics are similar to car salesmen. One time in a mall glasses store, I came in with an advertised price that I showed them and made my purchase but realized before I even left that they had substantially ripped me off, gave me an inferior product, and were not complying with the advertised price at all.

I tried progressive lenses once several years ago. I, like Chris, found them intolerable and took them back the next day for a refund. I went back to standard bifocals with no regrets.

I had a pair of progressives but threw them away when I almost fell going down some stairs, almost killing myself but for quick reflexes to grab a railing. It hurt my wrist plenty, though.
When you go down stairs, you must look thru the "near focus" ( lower ) part if the lenses, thus blurring the stairs and becoming disoriented.
I use Mike"s approach.
AFA surgery, some people I know thought it was great, at least one person thought it made their vision worse. It was fairly costly for most.

I have never had to use progressive lenses (in the UK, we can choose between bifocal and varifocal (three viewing distances)). Personally, I would avoid them at all costs as they are generally a danger to anyone and everyone within any viewing distance iff you don't have experience with the glasses. I have a rucksack with a pocket that's perfectly sized for carrying glasses cases so I just use two different pairs.

Near-sighted (-5) I had to do change glasses when I could no longer read my watch in bad light conditions. I have had no problem whatsoever to adapt to varifocal glasses. I was warned about the difficulty with going down stairs, but I never experienced a problem. Perhaps varifocals that must correct astigmatism as well are more difficult to adapt to.

As for peripheral vision, since the invention of varifocal glasses it has improved a lot and it concerns only the near vision. And for near vision (looking at a watch, sewing or any other precise and minute work) one tends to look straight ahead anyway.

The only problem or default I find is with computer vision, one has to look look through the right part of the glasses. That was the only thing I had to adapt to, but it came quickly.

In Belgium as well opticians try to push their customers to buy a very expensive product. But if one states ones wishes clearly they comply. Price comparison is as always useful.

My advice is to speak about it with your ophthalmologist and, if given a positive advice, to negotiate the possibility of a refund with the optician. Then try i out with a positive approach.

Of course individual opinions and experiences (mine included) are not a scientific assessment. But since that type of glasses is sold a lot I would think that a part of the population does find them comfortable. One must just keep in mind that some people, and that could be you, do not adapt to them. The wikipedia article [url=http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Progressive_lenses]Progressive lens[/url] is interesting.

Jacob

Ages ago when I was in highschool I found out I need glasses to see the blackboards if I don't sit in the front rows. Teachers told me I need glasses (and i was thinking "nee, are you stupid? I have perfect eyes!") and I convinced myself to accept the idea, so after seeing a doctor I put some glasses on, and never took them off again... Till an year or two ago.

Time proved that I was born with a myopia, not very advanced, but for sure innate, according with all the opticians I saw over the time, they all say mainly two things: one is that the acquired myopia gets worse in time, but some type of innate myopia does not advance over time (or it advances very slowly over the years), you are born with it and have it the same all your life. You can not know if it is innate or you got it from too much computer work, hehe, until you are old enough and see it does not advance. Which is my case, I had -1.00 in the high school, and -1.25 now.

To my question "why didn't I need glasses before high school?", the opticians reply - and this is the second thing they say - that I was too stupid to realize I was needing glasses when I was small. Well, they don't say this directly, but that is the idea which can be seen in their eyes, and they might be right. Fact is that I could see perfectly with glasses, far or near, till recently, and I never was put in the situation to take the glasses off to see things which are close to me. I could read the very fine pitch fonts (which I always prefer, to have as much programming code as possible in front of my eyes, and scroll as less as possible) on screen and paper, with or without glasses, and do things with small objects, or study small things with or without glasses. I could never drive without glasses.

Until recently. Last year I found out that I need to take the glasses off, to do things close to me. So, in the office, I was taking off the glasses and putting them on, hundreds of time per day. The main problem was that I was looking for them in different places than I put them, and never found them. The office is quite large, we have soldering desks, testing benches, computers, different instrumentation.

So, I was to visit the optician. He also recommended progressive lens, this is the fashion now. We have Hoya here in the city, so they are "local brand". However, he went deep into explaining me how the lens work, what are the differences between 15% band, 30% band, etc, why do you have to go through n accommodation period (wearing the glasses onlt when you sit, then when you walk, start from few minutes per day, etc.). You can read about those things on the web. The [U]band[/U] is very important, but the price of the lens (almost) double with every few percents you add to this bands. Physically, the lent progresses from up to down, but not from left to right (which is impossible to do with the actual technology for the same prices). So, you need to rotate your head to see sideways. Larger band, less head movements. But higher price. These things are very well documented on the web.

So, he told me that I can see well close to me, no need glasses, but I need glasses to see far away, which I knew, and he made for me some lens which progress from -1.5 (up) to +0.25 (down). Because he said I will not look "through the border" of the lent, but somewhere in the middle, from 0 to -1.25 or so. I chosen the lens with the second larges "band" and I paid a thousand dollars for the glasses. The "best" were about $2k, and the "normal" (narrow band) about $300. With intermediary steps and prices.

Getting used with them is a different story... It can take from few days to months. After more than one year, I still can not get fully accommodated with them. I don't need to take them off during working in office anymore, and I can drive well with them. But I still get dizzy when I walk. And I am not a picky guy, went in the army at parachutes (ages ago!), have some martial arts training (intensive for about 12 years!) and it is quite difficult for something to make me dizzy. Heights, or other conditions. But walking with these glasses, especially in a low-light conditions, is a pain in the ass!

Comparing, I can walk normally and see much better far away, with the old glasses, and I also can drive better in the night. Both have heliomatic (getting dark under the sun) an during the day is no difference. Close sight, with the old glasses I can not see and need to take them off. Without glasses, I still see better than with the new glasses, when I solder 0603 resistors, or when I read the text markings from an 0805 resistor.

My wife is a different story. She got used with them (we did them in the same time, her eyes are worse than mine in all directions) within a week or so, and she can't stop wondering aloud what a technical marvel the things are...

So, you see, opinions vary. You have to do your homework. You may also ask the guys if they offer any warranty in case you can't get accommodated with the lenses. For me, they do, like changing the glasses once or returning the money. It is not necessary, I am happy I don't need to take them off 100 times during the day in the office.

Thanks everyone!
 

Thank you all for your feedback and comments.

Clearly (no joke intended) glasses are a very subjective and personal thing. A function of each individual's eye's, needs, and ability to adapt.

In my case, I have a reasonably strong "regular astigmatism" (but only a "+2" difference between far and near), which might have an influence on my prescription and the behavior of the progressive / multi-focal glasses with regards to how much of the field of view is actually in focus.

All I can say is with my "computer glasses on", my entire field of view is in focus for the monitors 60cm away, even if I turn my head and look peripherally to the side at ~45 degrees. Same thing nodding my head vertically. Same thing doing both (lower left hand corner; upper right hand corner, etc).

Wearing my progressives, on the other hand, looking at the center of the text-box into which I am currently typing, only a few words are in focus; those to the left or right, above or below are blurry.

My take-away from this experiment (and the comments here) is I will never again try progressives. I may try bifocals in a few years, but only if they offer peripheral focus and I get to define where the focus zones are (upper 2/3 is distance, lower 1/3 is near).

Thanks again everyone! Your individual experiences have helped greatly. :smile:

Remember also that you can "de-power" your lenses by pulling the glasses slightly away from your eyes. This can help fine-tune things.