The world's changed since then. If you go to the right online glasses providers, you can get progressives for much less (<half) than the cost of a pair of single power glasses in a high street store.
i.e. I'm near sighted now (need reading glasses) and have astigamatism (I've always had that but until I needed reading glasses I never bothered with glasses so my brain has adapted, if I wear lenses that correct for the astigmatism everything looks the wrong shape for quite a while before eyes adjust then when I don't wear them everything looks the wrong shape but the other way so in the end I just went for glasses for close vision work (screen/reading) since that was less bothersome than "fixing" a problem that isn't really a problem).
My eyes got really tired a year ago and I got glasses for short distances. But now they got much worse and I think I'll have to order new lenses.
I was thinking about progressives but it looks like a lot of people have issues adapting. Since my myopia continues low, I think I'll just focus on the reading glasses for now.
Any advice welcome.
I no longer needed my glasses to drive or go to the movies. Granted it was only -1 but still.
Now a decade on, my diet isn't so clean any more, far away details are somewhat blurry but still better than they used to be. The biggest impact is the amount of sleep I had the night before.
Progressives are fine as long as they aren't being sold as a lens for all situations. For example a lens that would be good for driving or playing golf (using mostly distance vision) would be terrible for sitting at a desk (using mostly the reading area). Depending on your lifestyle there may or may not be a design available that is less annoying than just changing glasses. Bifocals are even more limited in this respect. This trade-off is not related at all to the issue of adaptation which is something else.
So the first question you have to ask is if having both a distance and reading Rx in the same lens is something that is better for you compared to separate distance and reading glasses. My monitors are at head height so simple reading glasses are the best solution for me when working at my desk. If I wore progressives with this setup I would have to tilt my head back in order to view my monitors through the reading area of the lens which is at the bottom of the lens. If I instead worked on a notebook computer all day, looking down at a screen, then viewing that screen through the reading area of my glasses wouldn't be a problem.
I'm currently wearing a pair of fancy fully personalised progressives that retail for £2000 a pair but I still use some cheapish reading glasses for working at my desk. However to be fair to the progressives I adapted to them just about instantly; the design just wasn't suited for reading for long periods of time.
The adaptation issue is another issue and another thing you should consider. Adaptation refers to the ability to become accustomed to the distortion that often exists at the edges of progressive lenses. They can make you feel a bit dizzy when you first wear them. The general rule of thumb is that if you have a small "add" then it will be easy to adapt to them but if you have a large add it may be difficult.
If your add is small now and don't see the point of progressives but are thinking of trying them later as your near vision deteriorates you may want to consider starting on them early just to make it easier to adapt to them later. Otherwise you might get stuck with bifocals which make you look old.
Anyway if I had to boil that advice down to just a few quick points I'd say:
- If you're planning on using the glasses just for working at a desk then I would just get reading glasses (that also correct your astigmatism).
- For other situations where you need both distance and reading then progressives can be nice.
- If you're not quite sure about progressives but think you'll definitely want them later in life then it is better to start on them now.
- If you're buying online I would only get single vision lenses. To get a nice fit for progressives you need to get a bunch of stuff measured that doesn't get put on your prescription.
I also used Japanese Tora and French Essilor Crizal lenses (cylindrical, not progressives), and they had good resolution with superb coatings.
Currently I'm using a domestic lens with blue filter, and my eyes are happier than ever.
My mother uses progressives. A bad progressive is a life quality reducing expense, so paying the price for a good lens pays in dividends over the short and long run.
Last two sets of glasses I got were progressives from zennioptical.com. You have to be happy to fit the glasses yourself (worked okay for me), but I've been happy with the quality of the hardware and the quality of vision and fit. The last pair I bought was in 2020 and I'm still wearing them all the time. All up cost was US$108 including frames with progressive lenses, high refractive index plastic, oleophobic coating and delivery. I'm about -6 with an astigmatism in both eyes.