More questions about progressives

[randymus]

Okay, I’m a dumb consumer, though not really dumb, just uninformed in this confusing and option-filled area. And I know you've all answered similar questions a zillion times, but.....



I’ve read as many of the threads on progressives as possible. Several posts have stated that the optician preferred to stick with the same progressive brand or design if the customer has been happy with previous glasses. How can I tell what I currently have (bought at a lenscrafter-type store who-knows-where years ago as an emergency pair after breaking more expensive pair)? Can the optician tell whether what I currently have is a short-corridor/long-corridor lens, with lopped off reading portion/all of the available reading portion, Rx set high or low? You must have a gizmo for this….



What is the difference between fitting height and the B measurement (vertical dimension of the frame if I am not mistaken)? I hate the new small frames but also hate the old giant frames. I’m happy with the look of frames with a vertical height of about 33 – 34 mm.



Can you mix-and-match lenses and coatings? For example, can you put a Crizal coating on a Zeiss lens, etc.? (From what I’ve read so far Zeiss Top Gradal seems to fit my needs; Crizal Alize seems to get raves.)



What lens material would be good for me? (See my situation below). Different opticians have given me vastly different opinions on polycarbonate vs. regular plastic (CR39??? whatever that is). What else is there? (As if I’m not already confused by the vast array of options in this world of eyeglasses.) I’ve heard the term “index,” such as 1.59, whatever, but not sure what that means, other than perhaps the ability to make a lens thinner. Seems my prescription is already pretty thin. Tradeoffs?



How do I find a great optician in the San Diego area? I’m new to the area and the few people I know here can’t seem to recommend anyone.



And finally, here’s my situation:

-- 50 years old

-- Have successfully adapted to a few pairs of progressives, and not adapted to a few other pairs (swimming, headaches). I move around a lot so it is hard to stay with just one optician. I adapted to my first pair of progressives six years ago, which I know were Zeiss but not sure which Zeiss.

--My new, stronger prescription is Spherical -1.75, Cylindrical -1.50, Axis 095, Prism ½ base up, with the other eye being -2.25, -1.00, Axis 075, Prism ½ base down, and with a +2.00 add to both eyes for reading. (All previous prescriptions have had Prism 1 base up in the first eye, with no prism in the other eye.)

--For both work and study (currently a student—again!) I need a full range from distance (driving, movies, general stuff) to reading, with decent intermediate. I spend a lot of time in class, both lectures and lab work, where I look alternately at the lecturer/blackboard/projections (distance) and the desktop for reading and writing notes/exams/looking at oscilloscopes (fairly near). Though I desire to do a little reading with my progressives, when reading, say, a book or newspaper at length, I use single-vision reading glasses or no glasses, though with no glasses the print is a little too blurry for my liking. I plan on getting new reading glasses too, but my concern is mostly about progressives. Help!



Thanks, Randy

[Happylady]

Lots of good questions. The optician can tell what progressive you are wearing by looking at laser marks the manufacturers puts on progressives. I have a booklet that shows all the progressives and what their symbols are. I know many of them by sight but I do have to look them up sometimes. This also allows me to remark the lens and see how it fits on you. If you hold up your glasses to a good light you might be able to see them on the sides of the lenses. It also says the add power and usually there is a symbol for the lens material.

You are correct what the B measurement is. The fitting height is where your pupil sits in the frame. The same frame will have different fitting heights for different people.

Sometimes you can mix and match different manufactures lenses and coatings and sometimes you can't. Zeiss makes Carat Advantage which is an excellent AR coat.

There are many indexes of lenses which refers to how it bends the light. The higher the index usually the thinner the lenses. Polycarb is 1.59. Standard plastic(cr39) is 1.50. The highest index you can get in the US is 1.74. You don't need this. If you got your last pair at Lenscrafters they are probably poly. The optician can tell for sure.

Your optician can recommend material depending on what you are wearing and what your needs are. Poly or 1.6 would be good choices for many people with your prescription.

If you have had problems with previous progressives I suggest you take them with you so the optician can see them. It could be just how they were fit but some progressives are swimmier then others. If there were a couple you liked a lot show them to the optician, too.

My brother lives in San Diego and I sent him an e-mail asking who he goes to. He has told me he goes to a private shop and likes them a lot. He had a couple bad experiences before he found this place.

[Chris Ryser]

[QUOTE=randymus]
-- 50 years old
I adapted to my first pair of progressives six years ago, which I know were Zeiss but not sure which Zeiss.

--My new, stronger prescription is Spherical -1.75, Cylindrical -1.50, Axis 095, Prism ½ base up, with the other eye being -2.25, -1.00, Axis 075, Prism ½ base down, and with a +2.00 add to both eyes for reading. ,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,but my concern is mostly about progressives. Help!

[ /QUOTE]

You are not a complicated case. You know what it is all about............have had and liked progressive. The RX is nothing out of the ordinary.

It does not really matter which brand you take as long as the optician can take the proper measurements and fit the glasses the way they should be.

Progressive lenses are basically all the same..................but with a lot of advertising hype.

[QDO1]

Progressive lenses are basically all the same..................but with a lot of advertising hype.

You keep claiming this, can you prove it?

I started a thread to thrash this out
http://www.optiboard.com/forums/showthread.php?t=15818

[John Sheridan]

Progressive lenses are basically all the same..................but with a lot of advertising hype.

Chris, I have only had 2 pairs of progressives and I already know this is wrong. I tried to go "cheap" with my first pair, and bought from a chain store. My vision was very limited, and there was so much swim that I couldn't walk down a corridor without getting dizzy. It wasn't the fit, because each eye individually had the same problem and moving the lens around in front of the eye did not help at all. All this, with an add of only +1.5.

I returned these, and went to another optician who gave me Varilux (Comfort or Panamic, not sure which). The difference is like night and day! No swim at all, and peripheral "distortion" (as you are so fond of calling it) almost not noticable.

If you want to say "all the best PAL's from the top manufactures are very close in quality" then maybe I could agree with that. To say "they are all the same" is clearly wrong.

[Happylady]

Chris, you keep claiming that progressives are all the same. Sure they are, they have the distance at the top with a channel or corridor down the middle to the reading at the bottom. So, yes, in this way they are all the same.

However, within this design there are major differences. I am right now remaking a pair of glasses back into the Sola XL that a patient had been wearing for years. Someone switched him to Panamic and he finds them hard to use at the computer. These lenses are very different.

I have also personally worn many different progressives and I find plenty of differences between them.

[randymus]

Lots of good questions. The optician can tell what -snip-

My brother lives in San Diego and I sent him an e-mail asking who he goes to. He has told me he goes to a private shop and likes them a lot. He had a couple bad experiences before he found this place.

Dear Happylady,

Please send me the name of your brother's optician in San Diego. I will not take it as an endorsement or a recommendation, just another option. You can send me an email directly if you like, either way.

Thanks, and also thank you for your first reply to my questions. Your response helped a lot.

Randy