I have been working in the optical industry for 16 years. I have always measured at the center of the pupil for the fitting height. Today, my new co-worker informed me that he always measures progressives like bifocals. He measures at the top of the bottom eyelid. I never heard such a thing. Has anyone else heard of this before?
I bet all his progressives are too low. I have never heard of measuring progressives that low. You need to set him straight. How much experience does he have?
Oh, he has years of experience as a lab manager. I'm not sure how long he has been a dispensing optician. He says that some old man taught him that. I am wondering if he is remembering correctly what that old man taught him. If you measured progressives like bifocals, that would mean the reading area would be cut out, and the patient would be using the intermediate area for reading, right?
It would mean the old man taught him how to measure straight top bifocals and it's been so many years since, he doesn't fully recall what the old man was trying to teach him.
Segment height fitting
Center of pupil for progressives
Bottom of pupil for office work bifocals
Lower eyelid for day to day use bifocal
You're right ~ lab manager "confused" or just plain wrong. :shiner:
I wonder if "the old man" told him this YEARS AGO ~ back in the old days, when I first started dispensing (17 years ago), I worked with XL and VIP progressives.
I was taught to measure center pupil and drop 2. ?? (which certainly can't be lid region).
Is this person dispensing now? I think he needs a brush up on fitting ~ good luck with that one! :cheers:
the only thin I can think of is if he measured at the area and then added some.
Center pupil for some lenses, bottom pupil for others. Lower eyelid for the person who won't stop looking down when you ask them to remain still. Center of forehead for the one who complains about the fitting even after you've spent hours trying to get it right, but they won't keep their head in one position for more than .001 second. Back of the head for.... anyway.
Maybe the old guy had it right... fit 'em wherever you want and make them like it! After all- they'll adapt, eventually.
Oh, I wish it were so.... :DOriginally Posted by hipoptical
It's like being a travel agent... I help people see the world!
I always take the center of the pupil for normal progressive lens. Every company has rules and they tell us where to take the measure. I have always taken the center and, thanks god:) , everybody is o.k. And there is something else- i only recommend qualitative brands of progressive lens.
I have become used to measuring from the bottom of the pupil.I also think to error on the low side is better than on the high side especially with frames with adjustable pads. Also if there is an add increase the patients notice the change sooner and feel that the bifocal is too high.On a first time presbyopes with a plus 1.00 or 1.25 add there seems to be a lot of room for error. I trained a district manager once who was not in the optical field when he purchsed his 1st pair of progressives and was complaining that he was having diffuculty reading and an optician told him they were problably fit too low and needed them raised up .I took the time to dot them up and it turned out they were single vision lenses not progressives!!Talk about a mark up in profit! Also in was an indication on how some opticians are careless in their aproach to what they do and say.
To measure progressives I use a penlight to mark the corneal reflex of the patient's eyes. I mark this with a marker. I draw a line right below it and usually place the fitting cross there. Depending on how the patient holds their head and the progressive I will sometimes drop it a millimeter or two.
If we haven't fit the patient's last progressive I usually remark them to see where they are fit and discuss if they were happy with them or not.
I always adjust the frame first and let the patient put them on. People often wear glasses higher or lower then I would have placed them.
Another thing I have done when fitting is to mark the lens - have the patient get up and take a "stroll" around the room, sit back down and THEN I see where the dot is at ...
Often, people get really "rigid" and unnatural in their posture when measured - I have found this works well to get a more accurate measurement.
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