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Ask Slashdot: Are Progressive Glasses a Mistake For Computer Users?
An anonymous reader writes I'm a daily, all-day computer user and use two 19-inch monitors for my work. I'm at the age now where I need reading glasses, and my optometrist steered me to progressive lenses. I don't need any correction for distance, only reading. I'm trying very hard to get used to them, but I hate them. The focal point seems to be about 1 inch big, with everything around that blurry. Reading books on my iPad is a struggle; I have to turn my head side to side simply to keep the line of text in focus, and when I do that, the page warps and flow in a dizzying manner. I don't think reading should be like watching a tennis match. And using my two monitors at work? Hopeless and frustrating! Has anybody here who uses either very large or multiple computer monitors figured out how to comfortably use progressive glasses? Or are they simply inappropriate for this kind of use?
I feel your pain. I wear progressives, and for my first pair, the optimal focal area was ridiculously small just as you describe. A couple of years ago I went to a new optometrist and explained that I wanted glasses that had a more natural feel for close viewing. That 'spot' effect isn't there, and I love them.
AC author should go to his nearest CVS (or rite-aid or whatever) and pick up a cheap pair of reading glasses to try. Hell, you can find some at your local $0.99 store. Test them out for reading.
I opted for a pair of Birth Control Glasses (as my wife calls them). They basically look like 'Santa' or 'Ben Franklin' glasses. Little half-sized rectangular lenses that sit at the tip of my nose most of the time. I just look over them for EVERYTHING except reading. When I sit down to work or read a book I push them back up to the bridge of my nose and read comfortably. They ran me something like $4. For "events", I have a normal looking pair of bi-focal glasses (not progressive). They are just clear glass on top and 1.25 mag on the bottom (those I spent ~$40 -- they are also transition lenses). They look decent for weddings and parties where I wont embarrass my wife (heh).
The reason why *I* opted for this is because I HATE taking glasses on/off all the time. This works for me. You might find that glasses with some type of string or cord that hangs at your neck works for you. Or glasses you hang on your collar when you aren't reading/working works for you. The point is that there are cheap alternatives and it's easy to test.
I've also tried progressives and don't have a problem with them -- you just need to learn to use your neck in place of your eye muscles. Tilt replaces eye focus. I prefer my little glasses right now, but I may move to progressives eventually.
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the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
I got progressives 20 years ago and it has taken some learning to get best use. Here are alternatives:
1. Get simple, fixed focus lenses for screen work. This is the absolute best vision quality.
2. The big tip: Forget about stylish narrow lenses. They don't have enough vertical space for progressives to work well.
3. The really big tip: Make sure that your optician doesn't set your normal vision spot too low on the lens. That crams all the progression in the bottom third of the lens. My normally head position is slightly "chin up". I make sure I'm looking at the optician slightly "chin down" has he places the mark on the lens for normal vision.
Presbyopia is hell.
Like you, I used a pair of progressive glasses and hated them. When it came time to replace them, I got the optometrist to write out three prescriptions:
1. Distance use as in driving or moving about.
2. Medium-distance for computer displays
3. In close for reading and reading only.
Three single-vision glasses have proved far better than those progressive lenses. If money is tight, look into buying them online.
I started life with coke-bottle glasses, and then got contact lenses right after high school. Now fifty years later, I have just stepped up to implanted lenses. These give me crisp distance vision again, and the Milky Way at night, with no more obscuring glare rays coming out of oncoming headlights. We're a Dark Sky Community, and I can now see M31 naked eye, which I never could reach before.
But implants are fixed focus, so I have to pay close attention to near-diatance correction. I bought Walgreens readers for the computer/reading distance and another pair for the "TV distance" of ten feet or so. This combination gives me a large focus area in both modes at very low cost.
THIS!
I'm in my mid-40s, but just as I crossed 40 I found I had to start looking over my regular lenses to read tiny print. I also found that if I didn't get away from the screen at least once an hour, I'd start getting eyestrain and headaches. I knew what was next.
My prescription is about -5 diopters. I've got a set of prescription lenses at about -3.5, with a slightly smaller PD (pupil distance) since your eyes narrow as you look closer. The nice optometrist gave me my full prescription written down, including the PD, and I was able to mail order new glasses - with nice frames - for about $30. I can use these at the screens all day without any fatigue.
I've got a set of bifocals as well, but my current manufacturer only does those in regular index plastic, so those are pretty thick. My single-vision lenses are pretty thin, however.
The higher refraction index means that you don't need as sharp a curve (and,The higher refraction index means that you don't need as sharp a curve (and, thus thickness) to achieve the needed focus correction.
The downside to high refractive index is higher chromatic aberration and more flare. The former means that things you aren't looking through the center of the lens at have colored edges. The latter is ... think of the annoying distractions during all of the bridge scenes in the new Star Trek movies.
I let the optometrist talk me into two sets of glasses -- both progressives -- the last time I got new ones. I really hated them, and I still don't like them very much. One has a band of far at the top, monitor-distance in the middle, and a band of reading at the bottom. The other is reading at the bottom third, far for the rest. When I forget to change to my "normal" glasses (the latter) when I leave work, I'm miserable.