progressive lens
 

:( I got new lenses today. I got the progressive lenses. I had been told they took getting used to but having had bifocals in the past I didn't think too much about it.

The first thing I notice is that I don't have distance vision fully across the lens. To see something clearly I have to turn my head and fully face it. So far I really don't like it. And I'm concerned about how that can affect my officiating. The people at the vision center had made no mention of that effect.

Do I need to get straight distance glasses for officiating? And use these for the part of my life that has more variety in distance viewing?

Rita

I switched to contact lenses 2 years ago for refereeing games and love them. Yes, I'm Nearsighted, Yes, I have Astigmatism, and Yes, now I'm at the age where when I wear the contact lenses, I need reading glasses to see small print. But I'd never give up the lenses. The improvement in peripheral vision is dramatic. It has totally made me more comfortable at L while watching the paint, I still have a good idea of where the ball is without turning my head. With glasses I was always sneaking a look at the ball. Exam and 6 lenses for each eye was less than $200. I wear glasses when I'm not refereeing, so 6 lenses, with proper care, will last me at least a year.

I wear regressive lenses. They give my hindsight 100% accuracy. ;)

And in hindsight, what have you learned? I'd like to learn from your mistakes. :)

Are you talking about contact lenses? Or new lenses in your spectacles?

I only wear contacts when I ref, and I use a "single-setting" correction. I took some samples that were in the range of what seemd about right, and tried different ones until I discovered what worked best for reffing. I don't need to see details really sharply more than 50 feet, and I don't need to be able to read (I can use reading glasses for the score book). So my sharpest focus is at about 20 feet and I find that the drop off in detail isn't enough to be a problem for me.

I have astigmatism, and my daily wear glasses are set for that, so when I first put on my contacts, my eyes have to adjust how they process the edges of my vision. BUt if I give myself a half an hour before the game, I'm fine by the toss. When I first started wearing contacts, I tried the bifocal type, and they were awful. I just couldn't make them work. WHat I've got now works for me.

One word....Lasik.

Best decision I ever made. I'm between 20/10 and 20/15 in my left eye and 20/15 and 20/20 in my right...my right had an astigmatism.

No one's brain is big enough to process all my mistakes. Sorry. :p

I prefer my lenses be conservative rather than progressive, but I've noticed I see better to my right side.

Sounds like pretty good strategery to me. ;)

Don't misunderestimate me.

I am nearsighted, have an astigmatism (or did), and haven't worn glasses since about 1979 or 1980. I wear contacts in whatever I do, whether officiating or skin diving. Switch to contacts or have surgery. If I had to wear glasses, I'd have to retire. I sweat so bad, glasses wouldn't do me any good.

Rita, you don't need the progressives for officiating, only you need them to check the book. You should tell your optometrist that you need a single vision Rx for officiating. Or, as others have suggested, single vision contacts would work. There are situations where people with astigmatism, like Texas Aggies has, can't wear contacts or would need torics. In laymen's terms, astigmatism means that your cornea is shaped like a football rather than a basketball.

Lasik won't help you when you get to the point that you need bifocals/progressives. As we get older (by the time most people are 50), our eyes lose the ability to focus as an item moves closer to your eyes. It's known as accommodation. Lasik can't do anything for that as it has nothing to do with reshaping the cornea. That's why we all need help reading as we get older.

But it still fixes the other part of the problem that you'd need the single vision lenses for...as someone who wore contacts for over 15 years, it's not a lot of fun, it's expensive, and even the disposables do damage to your eyes that will eventually mean you can't wear contacts anymore.

Well, that is not quite true....lasik can help.

There have been poeple who have one eye Lasik'd for reading distances and one eye Lasik'd for longer distances. The person just uses one eye for each type of task. I don't know how well it works but it has been done.

LASIK can't do jack for loss of accommodation. It may be possible to reshape the cornea to compensate, but the lens is just going to get worse as the patient ages.