Eye Glasses ---- variable focus

[Larry N.]

I've got two sets of glasses. I have a regular pair of bifocals, except that the near- focus lenses are small and near the nose -- good for limited reading (limited because of head angle) and very close work. They're great when outdoors (they are Corning's Thin & Dark?, photochromic, but darker than PhotoGray when in the sun, and quicker changing), and I wear them for pretty much all outdoor activity, as well as for driving, both day and night,  and indoors for TV watching.

But I had the doc make me a pair of what I call "computer glasses" which allow me to read the computer screen just fine, even from almost twice arms length, yet also allow me to read comfortably in an easy chair, with only a single lens, only at the cost of very fine detail very close up, which the bifocals can deal with on those rare occasions when I need that. The frame on these is small enough that I can push them down on my nose to look over the top, yet can also have them cover the whole eye. As a result, I wear them most of the time when indoors.

 

[blw2]

yep, i'm sorry I can't help you with 1st hand experience with these adjustable things......
but my guess is that they would be a nightmare.... with the adjustment always one 'click'..... or even half a 'click' off from optimal.....
and there will likely always be variations and distortions.... much like you get with progressives, only different
I'm guessing they would give me headaches....

If you don't like progressives I'm betting you won't like these...... but if they are only $30, I look forward to reading your report!

Have you looked on youtube for some reviews?

Everyone says it takes only a few days to get used to progressives.  That might be true after you've worn them a few years..... at least that was my experience.... but I never did get 100% used to my first pair.  They were a rather low to mid range lens.  A slight step up in money for my second didn't prove any better....

I'm on maybe my 6th or 7th pair now, and I still don't feel like I'm 100% used to it....I guess I am "used to it", just don't accept the flaws with a happy heart!
but I do see a big difference in stepping up to the high end expensive progressives..... with an accurate prescription they are as close to perfect as I think you'll ever find in this day.... I just only recently got a new pair, and had to go back after a week to have the lens remade since the script was a miss for one eye....
I'm in a varilux S series lens.  Not cheap but the best I have experienced so far.

 

[Lou Schneider]

I've pretty much settled into the two pairs of glasses routine - one cheap cheater pair for reading, the other for distance. 

I've been blessed with better than 20:15 sight my whole life, not needing glasses for close-up work until presbyopia began in my late 40s.  Unfortunately, I waited too long to address the close focus issue and as my lenses hardened they settled into a 6-10 ft. focal length instead of the infinity focus I had earlier.  I can still pass a DMV eye test without correction, but far distant objects aren't as crisp as they used to be.  Thus the distance glasses - I mainly use them when driving or sitting a distance away from an HDTV or theater screen, and they sharpen the distance focus to what it used to be.

I was never happy with bifocals, and couldn't tolerate the pair of progressive lenses I tried.  I move my eyes back and forth too much to keep them centered in a bifocal patch and progressive lenses are even worse, with the progressive part only in the bottom center of the lens.

 

[blw2]

I was never happy with bifocals, and can't tolerate progressive lenses.  I move my eyes back and forth too much to keep them centered in a bifocal patch and progressive lenses are even worse, with the progressive part only in the bottom center of the lens.

I'm the same way.... that's why I had to settle on the more expensive progressives that offer a bit wider field and a bit more forgiving periphery.  As I wrote, still not perfect but ok.

 

[ArdraF]

Re the original question with the changeable vision lens.  I think I'd avoid them because changing constantly might prevent your eyes from adjusting to a normal situation.  With trifocals like mine, I have three vision corrections for near, middle and far.  My eyes readily go back and forth between those three and they "settle" into whichever is appropriate.  But with the adjustable, you might end up with maybe six or seven vision corrections and I doubt that would be good for your eyes.  Too gimmicky for me.  Our optician has commented in the past that when you get a new prescription you need to start wearing them immediately and continuously so that your eyes can adjust.

By the way, that Bates thing has been around forever and I personally think it's a crock.  Your eyes have a basic shape which gives you 20/20 vision, nearsightedness, or farsightedness.  No amount of exercise is going to change that shape which is why some of us need to wear glasses and others do not.  Eye exercises are appropriate if you have what is known as "lazy eye" in which a patch is put over the strong eye and the lazy eye is exercised.  But to correct vision, I doubt it.

ArdraF

 

[carson]

yep, i'm sorry I can't help you with 1st hand experience with these adjustable things......
but my guess is that they would be a nightmare.... with the adjustment always one 'click'..... or even half a 'click' off from optimal.....
and there will likely always be variations and distortions.... much like you get with progressives, only different
I'm guessing they would give me headaches....

If you don't like progressives I'm betting you won't like these...... but if they are only $30, I look forward to reading your report!

Have you looked on youtube for some reviews?

Everyone says it takes only a few days to get used to progressives.  That might be true after you've worn them a few years..... at least that was my experience.... but I never did get 100% used to my first pair.  They were a rather low to mid range lens.  A slight step up in money for my second didn't prove any better....

I'm on maybe my 6th or 7th pair now, and I still don't feel like I'm 100% used to it....I guess I am "used to it", just don't accept the flaws with a happy heart!
but I do see a big difference in stepping up to the high end expensive progressives..... with an accurate prescription they are as close to perfect as I think you'll ever find in this day.... I just only recently got a new pair, and had to go back after a week to have the lens remade since the script was a miss for one eye....
I'm in a varilux S series lens.  Not cheap but the best I have experienced so far.

Brad, 2 entries on youtube...1 from Holland and 1 from Uganda.  Not much help.

Interesting entry on Wikipedia,  >>> http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Adjustable-focus_eyeglasses      "focusspecs"

  I think my goal is to adjust one eye for reading the newpaper/books and the other eye for watching TV 12-15 feet away. Don't need 3D for that.

I'll wait till after Xmas to order
  Too much stuff being shipped right now .. a mad- house, I bet.

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

I have trifocals also and they are nolines, I love them.  Mine are also treated for glare, Audra is correct you
have to have a bit bigger frames but that's ok.  I don't even notice my eyes are adjusting to 3 different lenses basically.

There is definitely a difference in lense material also, we make sure we get Veralux lense material.  Tom and I
both tried Walmart frames and lenses, despite what they say it is not the same. The veralux has a wider vision
field then the others.  And yes its very hard to find good opthamalogists. Sue Anne and I are going back to our
eye doc in Texas.  I think I finally found a good one here at UAP clinic in Terre Haute but we had our appointments and decided to keep those in Texas for this year. I had glasses made up here and can't see out of them, called back and the gal said oh just keep wearing them you will get used to them.  No way, I've had glasses for years and only took a few hours  to get used to them not days.

Now good glasses plus well fitting frames are not cheap, ours runs about $550 a pair each but we get a lot of upgrades including scratch resistance coating. I will never go cheap on eye care, mom had glaucoma and either didn't understand she had it or tried to hide it.  Either way the end of it was tragic. So I get checked annually.

 

[cadee2c]

I had glasses made up here and can't see out of them, called back and the gal said oh just keep wearing them you will get used to them.

When I was in college in Spokane, I went to a place there to get glasses made. Same thing happened to me. I was told the same thing after taking my glasses back 4 times. Because of my impossibly busy schedule, I did not have time to keep going back so I just dealt with it and my eyes did finally adjust but only to the point where I wasn't getting dizzy when I walked. I still had a bit of trouble seeing fine details.

Once my schedule calmed down, and I got moved to Minnesota I went in to have my eyes checked. The tech kept looking at my glasses, and then looking at my eyes.  She then called in the doctor who did the same thing. Come to find out, the original place had messed up when they made the glasses. I have astigmatism in my left eye and I'm farsighted in my right. They had my left lens in the right side, and my right lens in the left side.

I think I was able to adjust to them because at the time, they were pretty mild corrections. I would not be able to see out of them if that happened at this point.

 

[PatrioticStabilist]

By the way those glasses were not made at UAP clinic, my husband just went to it and his are fine. 
I went to an independent opthamologist and he might have been ok but he had assistants doing everything
and the exam was poor to not complete in my opinion.  I went to one of the best in Conroe and I'm going back.  He checked the complete eye and made sure they are healthy.  I go annually to make sure I don't end up like mom.  And
Sue Anne has a complicated prescription, she has something like 40/200 vision or some such without glasses.
We started with an excellent eye doctor for her, long long ago retired, when she was a tiny baby, they told us that he did a great job with her through the years and if he had not her vision wouldn't be as good as it is.  I remember worrying she would not wear the glasses or break them.  The doc said as soon as she realizes they help she won't have them off and it didn't take long.  Keeping them clean was and still is the biggest problem!

We have found a very good dentist and even Tom likes him, so slowly we are finding good medical care folks.  I
also really like the internal medicine doc we have in a small town here.  She works out of the city and travels also
to clinics in a couple of towns.  Must be a tough schedule for her as her husband is a doc and he does the same.
So things are going well.

 

[MN Blue Skies]

There is definitely a difference in lense material also, we make sure we get Varalux lense material.  The veralux has a wider vision
field then the others.  Now good glasses plus well fitting frames are not cheap, ours runs about $550 a pair.

I have been wearing Varilux lenses for years.  Varilux is by far the best progressive lens I've tried.  I think even Varilux has a few different types of lens configurations to choose from.  Not all places offer Varilux and yes they are expensive.  My first pair cost $800 with exam, "designer" frames, Varilux lenses and upgrades. 

The next time I needed glasses I went with a cheaper version of progressive lenses.  There was a HUGE difference!  I got distortion, halos, and limited peripheral vision.  I tried a cheap version for about three weeks and then had them replace the lenses with Varilux  Here is link for more info: www.variluxusa.com.

The third time I need new glasses I went to an opthamologist to have my eye exam.  I went to America's Best Eyeglasses and took them up on their deal to buy two pair of frames for $69.95.  The salesperson was surprised when I passed on the free eye exam and that I didn't want any lenses in the frames.  Then I took the prescription and the frames to Walmart and had them special order the Varilux lenses for my everyday glasses.  In the second pair of frames I had Walmart put in their cheap brand of lenses only corrected for distance. 

It was a very complicated way of getting my Varilux lenses in the frames I wanted plus a pair of sunglasses but I think I saved about $300 doing it that way.  I'm not sure I could get the same deal now because: (1) I don't know if Walmart will still special order Varilux lenses.  I know I had to be politely persistent to get them to do it for me and, (2) I have noticed most advertisements now say you get the special prices on the frames only if you order the lenses from them.  (I guess they caught on to people like me.) 

I'm amazed at the markup on eyeglasses.

 

[ArdraF]

The other day I commented about the difficulty in getting good prescriptions and good glasses.  It's very "Person" vs "Training" directed.  The absolute worst prescription I have ever had was done by an ophthalmologist who also teaches at a prestigious medical school.  When I got the glasses with his prescription I couldn't believe how bad it was.  I could not see the large numbers on the building across the street that I could see easily with my previous prescription.  I returned to the doctor and he redid the exam with the same results.  I told him it was the worst prescription I had ever had in 60+ years of wearing glasses.  That person should stick with teaching and surgery - definitely not prescriptions!  And by the way, it was checked by the optician to make sure it had been done correctly.

Interestingly, the previous prescription was by a Kaiser Hospital optometrist who was excellent.  I went to him for several years and he always did a good job.  I grew up going to ophthalmologists but the Kaiser rule was you see the M.D. if there's a problem or every couple of years for the medical updates.  Otherwise we went to an optometrist.  I wasn't too keen on that, but it worked well.  And it just goes to show that it's the person and how good they are at their craft rather than their training.

ArdraF

 

[driftless shifter]

I wear bi-focals for distance and mid range, works for most things including light reading. When reading a book I wear cheaters. Here's the funny part, cracks DW up.  When I get to where I can't get far enough back to see what I'm doing, under dash wires or something, I wear both glasses at the same time and peer through the mid range and cheaters together, I can read the small print on labeled wires upside down in the darkness under a dashboard. However they do not help me climb back out from under the dash.

Bill