You’ve reached the age of 40 and are having difficulty reading or seeing objects up close. Perhaps you’ve tried wearing store-bought readers, but your eye doctor recommends progressive lenses. Is it worth it to take the risk?
Progressive Lenses: What Are They?
Three prescriptions are combined into one pair of progressive lenses. You can do close-up work (like reading a book), middle-distance work (like browsing a website on a computer), and distance viewing (like driving) without changing your glasses. They’re also known as multifocal lenses.
Bifocal and trifocal lenses have been replaced with progressive lenses. The lenses of both of these more classic styles of glasses have distinct lines in them. Progressives have a uniform appearance. They’re sometimes referred to as “no-line bifocals,” although that’s not quite accurate. Progressive lenses should be referred to as “no-line trifocals.”
Progressive Lenses: Who Wears Them?
These lenses can be worn by almost anyone with a vision impairment, but they’re most commonly used by persons over 40 who have presbyopia (farsightedness), which causes their vision to blur when undertaking close-up activities like reading or sewing. Progressive lenses can also be used on children to prevent myopia from worsening (nearsightedness).
Consult your physician to see if progressives are right for you.
Progressive Lenses Have a Lot of Advantages
You won’t need to carry more than one pair of glasses with progressive lenses. There’s no need to switch between reading and ordinary glasses.
Progressives’ vision might appear natural. You won’t get a “jump” while switching from viewing something up close to something far away, as you would with bifocals or trifocals. So, if you’re driving, you can smoothly shift between looking at your dashboard, the road, or a distant sign.
They appear to be ordinary spectacles. People who used regular bifocals were given progressive lenses to trial in one research. According to the study’s author, the majority of people switched for good.
Progressive Lenses’ Drawbacks
Getting used to progressivism takes time. When reading, you should train yourself to look out of the lower half of the lens, straight ahead for distance, and somewhere in the middle for middle distance or computer work. Some people never change, but the majority do. You may feel dizzy and nauseated throughout the learning phase if you gaze through the improper area of the lens. It’s also possible that your peripheral vision is distorted (what you see on the edges when looking straight ahead).
Another item to think about is the price. Progressive lenses are more expensive than standard bifocals by at least $100.
Adjusting to Progressive Lenses: Some Pointers
If you decide to try them, keep the following in mind:
- Select a reputable optical store in Singapore that can walk you through the process, assist you in selecting a suitable frame, and ensure that the lenses are correctly centred over your eyes. People have a hard time adapting to progressives because they are poorly matched.
- Give yourself a week or two to get used to them. Some folks may require up to a month to recover.
- Make sure you understand how to use them according to your eye doctor’s directions.
- Stop wearing your other spectacles and start wearing your new lenses as often as possible. It will help you acclimate more quickly.
