Need help selecting progressive lens

[pbeinetti]

I am new to the board, and am looking for some help. I am 66 years old, wearing glasses all my life. I have been in progressives for many years. Always Sola, I think. I have most recently had Solamax, but have had difficulty reading. My eye doctor increased my overall prescription slightly, and suggested I go from my 2.50 add power to either 2.75 or 3.00. I have a rather small frame, so the optician suggested Piccolo, with the 3.00 add power. I now have the glasses and they are terrible. I am having great difficulty seeing my computer screen, and the keyboard. Plus, I don't like the "feel" of the lens. My eyes are very tired, and blurry. I have poly lenses, with AR. The optician says he can make one change for me at no cost to me -- then, I have to pay for additional changes, if need be. I realize there are compromises with short corridor lenses, and that I might need to get a separate pair of glasses for reading and computer work -- I've been resisting that so far. I'm looking for a lens that will be good all around (maybe not perfect in all areas).

My optician suggests I reduce the add power to 2.75, and go to a different lens -- he suggests the Kodak Concise. I have suggested the Sola One to him, because I have been in Sola all my life. He says the Sola One is not a good lens, it is not for short corridor frames (although I currently have an 18mm fitting height, and the Sola One litereature says that 18mm is their minimum fitting height. Plus their literature says the Sola One is good for regular frames, and small frames). He says that Sola will most likely pull the Sola One from the market within the year because of poor results.

I don't know what to do. I have one more lens to try at no charge, so I feel I have to get it right. Any help would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Peter

[Happylady]

Wow, I love the SolaOne, I think it is one of the best lenses on the market. I have worn it, my husband wears it, I put my neighbor in it. I just switched a woman from the orginal Kodak to Sola One since she was going into a frame that I fit at 18/19. She said the reading area was bigger in the Sola Ones then her Kodak's at 22/23.

I have worn the Concise and so has 3 other people at my office. We all got a free pair. I thought it was very swimmy and so did the other 3 woman. One was unable to wear it. I think the Sola One is a much better lens. Of course, different people like different lenses.

The Piccolo is considered to be a very good lens, too, so I am not sure why you are having problems. Did you have poly before? You mentioned you were having problems reading with the Sola Max but perhaps that was just because your rx changed. Were they okay at the beginning and then got worse? Sola Max is considered to have a decent reading area, but any progressive will be narrower as the add gets higher.

If you liked the Sola Max at first and then it got worse as your prescription changed, perhaps you should try it again.

As for the computer, is your screen straight ahead or is it lower? Do you have to raise your chin to see it? If so then the screen is too high. It needs to be where you look down at it.

[pbeinetti]

Happylady, thanks for your reply. Very useful. I'm thinking I should probably go back to the Sola, since I have worn that brand as long as I can remember. You indicated maybe I should go back to the Sola Max. Isn't the Solaone an upgrade from the Sola Max? My thinking is that if I go back to Sola, I might as well get their latest technology. What do you think?

Also, is there any truth to what my optician said? That the Solaone has been a failure for Sola, and that they will be probably taking it off the market?

Thanks,

Pete

[Happylady]

Happylady, thanks for your reply. Very useful. I'm thinking I should probably go back to the Sola, since I have worn that brand as long as I can remember. You indicated maybe I should go back to the Sola Max. Isn't the Solaone an upgrade from the Sola Max? My thinking is that if I go back to Sola, I might as well get their latest technology. What do you think?

Also, is there any truth to what my optician said? That the Solaone has been a failure for Sola, and that they will be probably taking it off the market?

Thanks,

Pete

Sola makes lots of progressives and they are all different. The make VIP, XL, Percepta, Sola Max, and Sola One. I have worn both the Sola Max and the Sola One. I perfered the Sola One, but that doesn't mean you will. It is their latest technology, though, and rarely have I had someone not like it.

Were you happy with the Sola Max until your prescription changed? It is a hard call whether you should go to the Sola Max or the Sola One. Some people don't do well when they change progressive styles. Some people have no problem changing. I don't know which group you fall into but you don't like the Piccolo which is considered a good progressive. I have never tried it, though.

I have not heard that Sola One has been a failure for Sola. I hope this is not true but I know nothing about it. I think I will call Sola on Monday and feel them out about it.

[pbeinetti]

Happylady, again thanks for the information. I am thinking that perhaps the short corridor lens is not for me. My optician says that the SOLAOne is not short corridor, but that I should have a short corridor lens. Frankly, I don't understand his logic. I am currently fitted at 18mm with the Piccolo. The Solaone specs show a minimum fitting height of 18mm, so I don't understand why I couldn't just go to the SOLAone. I assume, because the SOLAOne is not short corridor, that I would have less distortion (see below comment from Meister). Maybe you can shed some light on this. Below in italics is a response I received from Darryl Meister, and he seems to indicate the SOLAOne would be good -- and, that the true short corridor lens will "introduce optical compromises, including smaller fields of clear vision." I definitely notice that with the Piccolo. I am finding it very difficult to find points of clear vision, and my eyes are getting very tired. At the moment I have gone back to wearing my old Sola XL glasses (large, ugly frames, and using my last prescription which used the 2.5 add power.
From Darryl Meister -- "I can, however, reassure you that SOLAOne is an excellent progressive lens, and will provide as much near utility as any other general purpose lens fitted at 18 mm -- and probably more than most. Further, both SOLAMAX and SOLAOne provide considerably more near and intermediate vision than average progressive lenses. I can also tell that moving from a +2.50 to a +3.00 Add is a significant jump in power, which generally results in slightly increased levels of peripheral distortion and reduced fields of clear vision. Moreover, moving to a "short corridor" progressive will also introduce certain optical compromises, including smaller fields of clear vision."

Any further input you have would be appreciated. Plus, I'd love to know what SOLA says about the future of the SOLAOne.

Thanks,

Peter

[Happylady]

Happylady, again thanks for the information. I am thinking that perhaps the short corridor lens is not for me. My optician says that the SOLAOne is not short corridor, but that I should have a short corridor lens. Frankly, I don't understand his logic. I am currently fitted at 18mm with the Piccolo. The Solaone specs show a minimum fitting height of 18mm, so I don't understand why I couldn't just go to the SOLAone. I assume, because the SOLAOne is not short corridor, that I would have less distortion (see below comment from Meister). Maybe you can shed some light on this. Below in italics is a response I received from Darryl Meister, and he seems to indicate the SOLAOne would be good -- and, that the true short corridor lens will "introduce optical compromises, including smaller fields of clear vision." I definitely notice that with the Piccolo. I am finding it very difficult to find points of clear vision, and my eyes are getting very tired. At the moment I have gone back to wearing my old Sola XL glasses (large, ugly frames, and using my last prescription which used the 2.5 add power.
From Darryl Meister -- "I can, however, reassure you that SOLAOne is an excellent progressive lens, and will provide as much near utility as any other general purpose lens fitted at 18 mm -- and probably more than most. Further, both SOLAMAX and SOLAOne provide considerably more near and intermediate vision than average progressive lenses. I can also tell that moving from a +2.50 to a +3.00 Add is a significant jump in power, which generally results in slightly increased levels of peripheral distortion and reduced fields of clear vision. Moreover, moving to a "short corridor" progressive will also introduce certain optical compromises, including smaller fields of clear vision."

Any further input you have would be appreciated. Plus, I'd love to know what SOLA says about the future of the SOLAOne.

Thanks,

Peter

I agree with Darryl.

The Sola One is a short corridor lens but not an ultra short corridor lens. I don't know why your optician doesn't consider it a short corridor lens. The Sola Max is also a short corridor lens. I consider anything designed to be fit as low as 18 mms to be short corridor. Maybe other people have other opinions.

Were you wearing the XL before or the Sola Max? Or are you talking about two different pairs of glasses?

[pbeinetti]

Happylady: Yes, I was wearing XL before I went to the Solamax. I went to the Solamax because I decided to get a smaller frame. The Solamax was fine, except that I didn't have good reading. My new optician (not the person who fitted the Solamax) said I had very little reading area in the Solamax, which is why he put me in the Piccolo, with a higher add power. But, as I said, the Piccolo just isn't working. Maybe it's the much higher add, maybe it's the different brand of lens, maybe both. I think I should go back to Sola, and increase the add to only 2.75 (vs. 3.0), at 18mm height. (Do you think 2.75 is too much for an 18mm height?) Then the question is should I go with Solamax, or SOLAOne. I have been leaning toward the SOLAOne, just because it's newer technology, and if the literature is correct, the reading area is pretty high. I don't know about the intermediate for computer work with the SOLAOne. Any thoughts on that?

Thanks,

Peter

[Happylady]

I think it is interesting that you didn't have good reading with the Sola Max. Sola Max is considered to have a good reading area. Of course the smaller the frame and the higher the add the smaller the reading area. No progressive with a +2.50 add or stronger is going to have a huge reading area.

When you were reading with the Sola Max did you feel like you had to tip your head back slightly to read? Is it possible that the reading area was put too low in the frame and that is why it didn't seem big enough? It is possible for the optician to use the laser marks on the lenses to remark the fitting crosses. If the fitting crosses were are too low the distance area will be great but the reading will suffer.

It is possible that the Piccolo is placed higher then the Sola Max and that is why it bothersyou. Is the distance clear straight ahead or do you feel you need to tip your head down?

I could use my Sola Ones for the computer, but my add was only +1.75 and my computer screen was low, I wasn't looking straight at it. You might end up needing a different computer lens.


There are just so many possible things it could be. If you came into my shop I would remark all your lenses and see where they fit on you. If everything checked out I would proabably suggest the Sola One or the new Varilux Physico. I can't do that in cyber space, though. Take all your glasses to your optician and see if he will help you. Try to do this at an unbusy time, not right at lunch or the end of the day, as it will take a little time.

[pbeinetti]

Happylady:

The long distance with the SOLAMax was excellent. I don't think I needed to tip my head for distance. On the new Piccolo's it does seem that the "spot", as I call it, is slightly higher -- a slight tip forward. I'm getting close to making a decision. I would like to talk with a person at SOLA, if possible. Do you know how I can do that? Do they have a way a consumer can talk with a rep, or some other knowlegable person at their organization? One other question. I notice in the SOLAOne literature that they rate the 15 most common visual tasks -- and, it rates very high in most. Of course it's sales literature, so that needs to be taken into account. In one of the tasks, "TV/Movies", the lens rates lower than some of the competitors. Any idea why this would be the case?
Again, thanks very much for your help.
Peter

[Happylady]

Happylady:

The long distance with the SOLAMax was excellent. I don't think I needed to tip my head for distance. On the new Piccolo's it does seem that the "spot", as I call it, is slightly higher -- a slight tip forward. I'm getting close to making a decision. I would like to talk with a person at SOLA, if possible. Do you know how I can do that? Do they have a way a consumer can talk with a rep, or some other knowlegable person at their organization? One other question. I notice in the SOLAOne literature that they rate the 15 most common visual tasks -- and, it rates very high in most. Of course it's sales literature, so that needs to be taken into account. In one of the tasks, "TV/Movies", the lens rates lower than some of the competitors. Any idea why this would be the case?
Again, thanks very much for your help.
Peter

It is the shape of the reading area the rep told me. The reading area is wide high up and for some people it means the distance isn't as good as some other lenses. I have personally not had a problem with this with patients.

My husband just got his Physio 360 lenses today and was comparing them with his Sola Ones. The Physio is suposed to be the latest and greatest. Now the Physio is a +2.50 and the Sola Ones are +2.25 but other wise the rx is the same.

He like the new lens, but he likes his Sola Ones just as much. :(

[pbeinetti]

Happylady:

Wow, interesting! That your husband likes the SOLAOne as much as the new Physio 360. How much more expensive is the Physio 360 than the SOLAOne? Regarding your last post to me, maybe the SOLAOne can be spotted a little lower because of the large reading area. I would think that would help the long distance.

Peter

[Happylady]

I got the Physio's at wholesale and they were not cheap. I could have gotten the Sola Ones much cheaper. He says the Sola Ones have a wider reading area, but the add is also weaker, so that might make a difference.

I would put the Sola Ones where they belong. If you drop them on a frame with a 18 mm fitting height then you might not have enough reading area.

[Happylady]

I called Sola and asked them if they have any plans to discontinue the Sola One. She said absolutely not, that it is doing very well. I find what your optician said very fishy.

My husbands Sola Ones are at 18.5 and work very well.

[Chris Ryser]

.......................................I have a rather small frame, so the optician suggested Piccolo, with the 3.00 add power. I now have the glasses and they are terrible. ................................

Here is you problem simply and straight forward......................get yourself a good size normal or even large frame........................with a normal whatever progressive you had before and your problem is solved.

As the addition you are having now, the lenses are at their worst in the way of reading area.............like the smallest you can have, and if there is a small fitting error you suffer twice. Just follow my advise.

[QDO1]

Happylady, again thanks for the information. I am thinking that perhaps the short corridor lens is not for me. My optician says that the SOLAOne is not short corridor, but that I should have a short corridor lens. Frankly, I don't understand his logic. I am currently fitted at 18mm with the Piccolo. The Solaone specs show a minimum fitting height of 18mm, so I don't understand why I couldn't just go to the SOLAone. I assume, because the SOLAOne is not short corridor, that I would have less distortion (see below comment from Meister). Maybe you can shed some light on this. Below in italics is a response I received from Darryl Meister, and he seems to indicate the SOLAOne would be good -- and, that the true short corridor lens will "introduce optical compromises, including smaller fields of clear vision." I definitely notice that with the Piccolo. I am finding it very difficult to find points of clear vision, and my eyes are getting very tired. At the moment I have gone back to wearing my old Sola XL glasses (large, ugly frames, and using my last prescription which used the 2.5 add power.
From Darryl Meister -- "I can, however, reassure you that SOLAOne is an excellent progressive lens, and will provide as much near utility as any other general purpose lens fitted at 18 mm -- and probably more than most. Further, both SOLAMAX and SOLAOne provide considerably more near and intermediate vision than average progressive lenses. I can also tell that moving from a +2.50 to a +3.00 Add is a significant jump in power, which generally results in slightly increased levels of peripheral distortion and reduced fields of clear vision. Moreover, moving to a "short corridor" progressive will also introduce certain optical compromises, including smaller fields of clear vision."

Any further input you have would be appreciated. Plus, I'd love to know what SOLA says about the future of the SOLAOne.

Thanks,

Peter

I wrote a thread addressing this issue: http://www.optiboard.com/forums/show...41&postcount=4

[pbeinetti]

I've gotten my new glasses -- had them about one week. They are SOLAone -- changed from the Piccolo. But, still having major problems, so I'm thinking it isn't the lens type. I don't know what to do because the optician said I could only change lenses once (which I've done) before I would need to pay again for a change. But, these aren't working so I need to do something soon.

I'm thinking maybe my prescription is not compatable for my frame size. I'm wondering if anyone might comment on this, especially Happylady because you have been so helpful. My frame/lens size is about 2 inches wide by 1 5/16 high. My prescription is OD: -5.25+2.50x175, OS -4.75+1.75x164, add power +2.75.

The symptoms/problems I am having are that the eyes seems to be straining all the time, and feel tired/taut. My vision seems blurred alot of the time, especially when indoors. Outdoors it seems good. Reading is pretty good, intermediate fair. Overall, vision is just not clear most of the time which is very disconcerting. I have ordered computer glasses for reading and computer work but have not received them yet.

My guess is, as I stated above, that I should have a larger frame size. I did have SOLAmax lenses previously (in the same frame as indicated above), with about this same prescription, but with a 2.50 add power. They seemd great except that my reading was poor. That's why I went to the doctor and got a new prescription. They first moved me to a 3.00 add power, from 2.50 which was very bad in the Piccolo lens. The 2.75 power seems right now for reading.

Any comments or help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Peter

[Cindy Hamlin]

I've gotten my new glasses -- had them about one week. They are SOLAone -- changed from the Piccolo. But, still having major problems, so I'm thinking it isn't the lens type. I don't know what to do because the optician said I could only change lenses once (which I've done) before I would need to pay again for a change. But, these aren't working so I need to do something soon.

I'm thinking maybe my prescription is not compatable for my frame size. I'm wondering if anyone might comment on this, especially Happylady because you have been so helpful. My frame/lens size is about 2 inches wide by 1 5/16 high. My prescription is OD: -5.25+2.50x175, OS -4.75+1.75x164, add power +2.75.

The symptoms/problems I am having are that the eyes seems to be straining all the time, and feel tired/taut. My vision seems blurred alot of the time, especially when indoors. Outdoors it seems good. Reading is pretty good, intermediate fair. Overall, vision is just not clear most of the time which is very disconcerting. I have ordered computer glasses for reading and computer work but have not received them yet.

My guess is, as I stated above, that I should have a larger frame size. I did have SOLAmax lenses previously (in the same frame as indicated above), with about this same prescription, but with a 2.50 add power. They seemd great except that my reading was poor. That's why I went to the doctor and got a new prescription. They first moved me to a 3.00 add power, from 2.50 which was very bad in the Piccolo lens. The 2.75 power seems right now for reading.

Any comments or help would be appreciated.

Thanks,

Peter

Peter,
As a moderator of the OB I would appreciate if you would review the posting rules and particularly the section about consumer postings. This is clearly a request that you should ask of YOUR eyecare professional.

From the posting guidelines for OB:

Consumers are allowed to post on the Board, as long as the posts concern general eyecare related topics. However please be aware that any questions that involve diagnosing specific eyecare and eyewear problems are not appropriate for an online discussion forum. These kinds of questions should be discussed with a qualified eyecare professional who has examined you and is familiar with your situation. Posts asking for diagnostic help will be closed or removed.

[Steve Machol]

From tthe OptiBoard FAQ:

Consumers are allowed to post on the Board, as long as the posts concern general eyecare related topics. However please be aware that any questions that involve diagnosing specific eyecare and eyewear problems are not appropriate for an online discussion forum. These kinds of questions should be discussed with a qualified eyecare professional who has examined you and is familiar with your situation. Posts asking for diagnostic help will be closed or removed.

At this point you are asking for diagnostic help. Please go back to your Optician for assistance with this. Thank you. :)