I sympathise. It took me a few months to get used to turning my head not just moving my eyes to use the progressives. A few days after getting my first pair I got out of a lift into a restaurant lobby decorated like an Arabian tent where there were zero vertical ‘lines’ for reference; I got vertigo and fell against the wall to stay up. Progressives also affect depth perception.
Some can adapt and many cannot.
I tend to look through under the frame to the steps, then up to see where I am going, then down again. This causes vertigo, and more than the occasional stumble.
I visited a small number of opticians to price getting my normal top end lenses put into my old frames. Everyone had the same price, none in writing. I might be suspicious of retail price maintenance but that evidence! None recorded.
Costco was having an optical sale so I figured why not. $300 for a pair of Costco ‘Kirkland’ house branded progressive lenses made by Eisslor put into my old frames, all the bells and whistles included. Costco was up front about how their product differed from my top enders, and claimed that with my correction I should not notice much if any difference.
Putting them on they were a bit different, but every new prescription has been. Bottom line after a day, $300 out of pocket instead of close to $800, I am totally happy with the product and almost $500 better off.
Anecdotally I might have been over-buying for many years. YMMV.
The reason the Opto finds difficulty is plain profit! The cheap plastic frames they sell make up nearly all of the profit - much more than the “X” lenses which are cast with micro particles to give much better gradation. I had a pair of titanium frames which were discarded as “old fashioned” and “worn out” !
went to get new glasses , was decided multifocals would be best. I the only thing I can do with them is see at a distance, cant read up close or anything. I cant afford not to read or lose that amount of money the optician is not replying to my contacts
Have you been back to your optometrist? What did they say?
Are these traditional multifocals or variables? Are they your first multifocals or have you been using them for some time?
Would you identify the optician? Are they an online supplier rather than bricks and mortar? Any reputable optician would check the lenses against the prescription as well as the glasses adjustment.
Have you sent email or rung them? Are they closed for the Christmas holidays?
You will notice I moved your post to an existing thread to do with multifocal eyeglass lenses. You may get some useful information from the preceding posts.
Did you attend the optician’s workplace? If so, can you go back there and inform them that the lenses are unsuitable because… (give them facts about what you can see, how far you can see it, difference between the two eyes, where in the lens you see best, etc.)
My eyes are unusually finicky apparently, and if the lens is even slightly wrong, it reduces my vision noticeably. I have gone back and been retested, and had lenses redone all for free.
So as with any other purchase you would make go back and ask politely for the fault to be rectified. Opticians provide a service, and optical lenses are a product, so both would be covered under the ACL.
For more information see the ACCC - Consumer Guarantees & Repair, replace, refund pages.
Both sets of frames were probably manufactured by the same company.
My main pair of glasses is in a frame that is at least ten to twelve years old and has seen a few sets of lenses in its day. My backup is even older.
I had progressives once. They made me seasick. Had to revert to two pair.
I have heard that from others. Apparently it is fairly common but some can use them and have no problem.
Another possibility for those who need glasses for close vision but want to look up to see into the distance is half glasses. These give you close up in the lower half and nothing at all in the upper half which is more accurate and comfortable than perching them on the end of your nose and looking over the top.
My first progressives took a while. About 2-weeks in while still trying to adapt I got out of a lift into a restaurant decorated in the style of an Arabian tent. Beyond the lift doors there were no visible vertical lines/surfaces for reference – I got vertigo and fell. Once I had a look around to find some reference surfaces I could stand again, but had to be purposeful and careful while there.
Some people adapt in hours but most I know including myself took about a month to get comfortable with progressives and how one learns to move the head, not just the eyes to pan a scene/page.
I read many years ago about some researcher who decided to experiment on his assistant by developing special glasses that showed everything to him upside down (which is in fact the way our eyes see the world, but our brains do some translation). After a couple of weeks the assistant’s brain inverted the image and saw everything as ‘normal’.
One wonders whether progressive lenses might even add some flexibility to the brain.
I was talked into progressive glasses once. I need a certain prescription for reading, and another for driving.
They drove me mad. Didn’t even last two days before I was back at the optometrist demanding my money back.
So, I have reading glasses, for that sole purpose, and driving sunglasses, for that sole purpose, now.
And never again will I listen to any optometrist sales pitch about multifocal glasses.
Therein lies a problem. You should have been advised about the difficulties of adapting to progressives and how long it usually takes. A follow-on issue with them is if the prescription changes much it can also take a week or two to adapt to the new prescription,
I’ve used multi-focals for years, probably much more than 20. My eyesight was dreadful. I found that with bifocals I could not play golf but multi-focals allowed that. I could see to write the score on the card and just viewing the golf ball was so much better. I still use multi-focals even though my eyesight is considered normal (lens replacements). I also pay more for good quality lenses as after all it is my vision. Depending how long you keep your glasses divide the cost by the number of days and it is really no longer exorbitant.
well the shop opens up again tomorrow ( Monday ) I can see the distance but I cant read no matter how I move the thing Im reading wish me luck
We look forward to an update as to whether it is the prescription, the lenses, or adapting to how to use them.
Saw the Optometrist today , he adjusted the glasses on my nose for a bitter fit and did some other checking , we also had a talk about the use of the glasses, It could take a while to get used to them they are to be used for distance and reading , he suggested I use my old glasses for the computer , and the new reading glasses for reading for any length of time
That’s great to hear.
For those of us who require glasses for driving, it raises an interesting question. I’ve had issues reading some of the instruments in the car dash because I don’t use bifocals or graduated lenses. The difficulty is mostly with the smaller LCD displays in the clock, odometer etc.
Is this a difficulty for others, is it a greater concern with more modern vehicles with all digital displays, and are standard prescriptions the correct focal length for reading the displays?
