What sort of glasses do I want?

February 2, 2024 6:28 PM

I need glasses to read. I generally find that wearing bifocals works great for me, but aesthetically, I don't like the way the line looks. Progressives get rid of the line, but I find them uncomfortable to wear - I find myself having to tilt my head down to look at distant objects, and I think l'm really okay with just two kinds of lenses. What are my options? Is there such a thing as a bifocals without the visible line? Or some solution to the problem with progressives?

I have presbyopia- need glasses in order to read (around a 2.0).

For distance vision, I'm okay without glasses, but a (very mild) prescription makes things a bit better (+1.0 // -1.0 // 120).

I know the deal with progessives is to try them out for a while and see. I did that a while ago, and still didn't love them. Maybe I didn't try as hard as you are supposed to. The advice is "wear them all the time" but they seemed terrible for computer work (I'd rather just use reading glasses and not have to tllt my head up), and I did not love them in regular contexts

posted by ManInSuit to Health & Fitness (9 answers total)

I have progressives for daily use but for the computer I just have a pair of computer glasses at the right distance prescription. I generally do just fine reading without glasses for print hardbacks or for reading on a tablet at with my current vision, but if I needed a different pair to read books, I'd just ask my ophthalmologist for a prescription for that too.

If you want reading glasses and it's not out of your budget, there's no reason you can't just get reading glasses with the correct prescription strength. I know the theory is you should have one pair of glasses that covers everything, but for me the computer glasses vs outside glasses has made computer work much easier. Just talk to your opthalmologist/optometrist and see what they say.
posted by gentlyepigrams at 6:48 PM on February 2, 2024 [5 favorites]

If you’re having to severely tilt your head to see distant objects with progressives, either your prescription needs to be re-checked, or the lenses themselves were made wrong. You might also have this problem if your frames (and, thus, lenses) are really narrow.

I’ve been wearing progressives for decades and have never had this sort of issue, but it definitely helps if your optometrist is fully aware of your needs (like distance and angle to computer screens) so they can write the prescription correctly, and then have the right frames fitted. I’m extremely picky about my sight and just recently put the people down at my local Warby-Parker through the ringer getting everything right. They had my glasses remade three times before we hit it perfectly. They were great to work with.
posted by Thorzdad at 7:36 PM on February 2, 2024 [4 favorites]

I'm also not mega interested in bifocals and so for the past 5 or so years I've just been using 2 separate pairs of glasses. I find that I don't mind switching back and forth, and I guess I'm disciplined about them in the sense that I keep good track of them and don't put them down in random spots, so I always have the one I need close at hand.

I imagine at some point I'll get sick of this or my prescription will change enough that bifocals are necessary.
posted by BlahLaLa at 7:48 PM on February 2, 2024 [1 favorite]

I have two separate pairs - reading and distance. Like you, my distance prescription is mild, so I keep those glasses in the car (the main time I need them). I'm considering getting a third pair for computer distance that would just stay on my desk.

I tried progressives briefly and just didn't like them.
posted by lulu68 at 8:00 PM on February 2, 2024

My first ever pair of progressives was not well made, and the break between distance and middle vision was a bit too high. I ended up wearing them part way down my nose to find the distance vision spot. The reverse can also happen. If it feels off, get them remade (this never occurred to me at the time).

The key seems to be that they will check your pupil positioning when you're measured for glasses, and you should be very sure that your glasses are on your face how you want to wear them, not a bit away from it or a bit too close.

These days I have a stronger prescription, and in order not to get a stiff neck when working (same reason as you) I have a pair of computer vision progressives - the distance vision is half usual strength and perfect for monitor distance, and I can still read with them. With Costco optician pricing they were cheaper than the single pair I'd bought the previous time around from my local optician, so I'll be going there again.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 8:30 PM on February 2, 2024 [1 favorite]

This is a question (or a series of questions) for your eye doctor. I have found eye doctors as a rule to be people who don't ask enough questions about how you plan to use your glasses. They just default to what's best for most people, and I'm not sure their idea of "most people" is even still true anymore. My eye doctor thought I'd be fine with progressives while working at a computer all day, but he didn't account for the fact I had two 27" monitors and thus I'd have to tilt my head up all the time to see the top third of my screens. And even after I got him to realize that I had huge monitors, he didn't believe me when I told him how far I sat from those monitors. Once he understood all that, he agreed with me that I needed dedicated computer glasses. When I had my cataract surgery, which corrected my distance vision but left me in dire need of reading glasses, the surgeon's office recommended a reading power that assumed the standard reading distance of 14" … but I'm tall, and I hold my reading material farther away with my long arms, and the power they recommended is not at all a great reading power for me.

Just to illustrate how many options you have: Before my cataract surgery I wore progressives, but would swap them out with a dedicated pair of glasses for use at the computer with the 27" monitors. Now, because I already had some lying around, I have off-the-shelf readers at +1 that I use with our 27" iMac, different readers at +1.25 that I use with a laptop, and a third set of readers at +1.75 that I use when sitting down to read a book. I don't need distance correction anymore (thanks, cataract surgery) but I still have progressives that I wear when I leave the house. On the bottom they have a standard reading power, and on top they're +0 in one eye and correct for a little astigmatism in the other. I'm still 20/20 for distance vision without them, but being able to leave something on my face instead of having to manage (or look over) ill-fitting readers made it worth also correcting the minor astigmatism I still have in one eye. Can I use a laptop with my progressives? Kinda. Would I rather switch out to lenses that only correct for that distance? Absolutely.

Talk to your eye doctor and let them know you're not really happy with the progressives you have, and why, and work with them to come up with a good solution. They can provide you with the perfect glasses, but in my experience you have to get them past the defaults first.
posted by fedward at 11:10 PM on February 2, 2024 [2 favorites]

I can't wear progressives. I went back to the bifocal and I really don't care about the line.
Try out Readers.com. They sell nothing but reading glasses. I have a pair that's really great.
posted by james33 at 6:54 AM on February 3, 2024

Everyone is shaped differently, and everyone's eyes are different. Bifocals or progressives may work great for some wearers, and may be consistently disappointing for others. The first couple times I had progressives made, I had the same issue as you: For distance or driving, I had to tilt my head down and look through the very top of the lenses. Turns out, in both cases, the lenses were made incorrectly. The "distance" portion of the lens should have been at pretty much the center of the lens, progressing into reader magnification toward the bottom. Instead, they had put the "distance" portion near the top of the lens, progressing through the entire height of the lens down toward reader magnification at the bottom.

I have had consistently better results ordering glasses from Zenni than from the shop at my optometrist's office. I prefer bifocals over progressives, because bifocals seem to have a larger "sweet spot" for reading. Even with progressives I've had that were made correctly, the "sweet spot" for reading was so small, I was constantly aware of having to make minor adjustments to my head position or how I held the reading material, to keep things in focus. It felt like a chore. For me, bifocals are much more forgiving in this aspect, and I am much more comfortable reading for extended periods.

I think most bifocals and progressives are a compromise, in that they'll give you distance and reading, but not excel at either. Dedicated distance glasses for when that makes sense, dedicated readers for extended reading sessions or working on projects, and bifocals/progressives for everyday "good enough" use.

I really appreciate sources like Zenni or EyeBuyDirect. My basic bifocals are like 30 bucks delivered; cheap enough that I'm willing to experiment with different frame styles, order nice proper-prescription readers, prescription sunglasses, etc. I know it may not be a hit for everyone, but wow was it a game changer to find affordable glasses that also worked better and were more comfortable than anything I'd got from my optometrist.
posted by xedrik at 8:52 AM on February 3, 2024 [2 favorites]

A round segment/round top bifocal has just the two powers you want, but no visible line. The height of the near segment will be the same as you're used to, but shaped round on top instead of flat.
posted by fritley at 5:27 PM on February 3, 2024 [1 favorite]