I've been wearing progressives for many years and had no trouble adjusting to them. However, I've always been highly nearsighted, and my ophthalmologist told me that people with prescriptions like mine (I was -8 in both eyes until my cataract surgery) generally have an easier time getting used to progressive glasses than those with milder prescriptions.

They were not difficult for me to get used to at all, although it might take a couple of weeks. It's definitely worth it in the long run.

I have separate glasses to wear when I am using my computer, and their range is between close-up for reading and distance for driving. The computer glasses have one focus and therefore are not progressive, but I do have to change glasses when I want to use the computer.

I think Bookwoman has hit it -- if your vision is bad, progressives can be great (and mine is poor enough I MUST be wearing them all the time). If it's not very bad (like my Mom) she finds progressives really irritating. That said, we spend a lot of time looking for whichever pair of glasses she put down last, LOL.

Get progressives. It is a real pain to keep changing them back and fourth. They do take a few days to get used to and you will wonder why you got them in the beginning. I go through it with every new pair as well. But it's so much easier especially for driving. Why switch pairs of glasses if you don't need to

Progressives, of course! And while you are at it, get the Transitions coating so that they are your sunglasses too. A miracle of science.

If I'm at work, I just need to see the computer/read. My cheapie readers are fine. At home, the tv screen is not sharp...but if i'm watching tv and want to look at my phone, I don't want to have to switch glasses...same with driving. So I was leaning towards a progressive lens.

Took me about twenty minutes to get used to mine, and most of those twenty minutes were on stairs. Loved them.

Unfortunately those sank to the bottom of the harbor in a jet skiing incident, and when I went to get new ones they were not the same quality, peripheral vision was awful. I argued about it with the optometrist, she insisted I got the latest and greatest technology and I insisted they were far inferior to my prior glasses. She actually called the old place to see what I had, told me it’s no longer available and again insisted what she gave me was better. Got my money back and am strictly on contacts now, generally monovision depending on the day.

One of these days I’ll try again but next time I’ll go to a chain where I won’t feel as bad about throwing them back at them. I didn’t enjoy making the indy eat it.

Not all progressive lenses are created equally. The so-called "geometry" of the lens, which depends on what company's equipment is used to make the lens, can result in wide differences in clarity, field of view and usability from one to another. Unfortunately for some, it's the more expensive lenses that are the most satisfactory. This was explained to me by an optician at the pricey one off optical shop where I got my most recent new pair of glasses, I half believed it and half didn't but I did like the glasses they made much better than the ones I had before so I think there was something in what he said. The "geometry" he sold me was not the most expensive option they had.

About six months later, I thought I should probably have a cheap second pair as a backup. I went to Costco, found a frame that was okay and went to the counter. The optician asked me to take off my glasses, he looked at them and said something like " Our progressive lenses aren't as good as these. Ours are average to good in quality, these are much better. You may not find our lenses acceptable. If not, you can return the glasses". They turned out to be okay but not as good as my main glasses. I'm not suggesting the paying more always ensures better quality, but that was my most recent experience.

It's been about 25 years since I first got progressive lenses. I found them easy to adjust to. I was given the very good advice that to read, you need to keep your nose up and point your eyes downward. Rather than looking downward. I'm sure the same is true for bifocals. In a short period of time, that approach became habitual (as I'm sure it does for most) and now I don't think about it.

I couldn't adjust to them, perhaps because my vision problem is more due to severe astigmatism rather than being near or far- sighted (post vision correction surgery 30 years ago), which gives me double vision, as well as fluctuating vision. So, I have my "computer" prescription, which does the job for 90% of my daily use, including driving, and my "distance" prescription, which I use when watching TV or driving at night (and some days). And one last prescription, for "reading" which is usually too strong for reading or computer, but some days is needed due to the fluctuation in my vision.

My DH loves his and has had them for years. He only got one bad pair that were not made right and when the company refused to see what was wrong, he went elsewhere and has done well. I dislike them and am much happier with glasses on/off. I have about 6 pair so I change them when the mood strikes me.

It took me a little while. Mine have the lines. They say the others are even harder especially you you have been using the lined ones.

I have astigmatism and am very near sighted. I have been wearing glasses full time for over sixty years, and moved to progressives about 10 years ago. Those first ones were the best available at the time - Nikon lenses - and I adjusted to them within a day. I have always had high index progressive lenses, which have a much higher refractive quality than ordinary glasses, and which are therefore much thinner. If memory serves, my current glasses have an index of 1.76, which is the top end. Each lens costs about $400 AUD.

I have had mine for many years. No issues here buy DH could not master them. Needed the line. Only one way to know...give them a try.

Elmer - Would you know the brand name of your lenses? I believe Varilux were the ones I was not happy with, compared to whatever my old ones were.

I love my progressives and had no trouble adjusting to them. A lot of your satisfaction will come from having a good optician place the reading area correctly for you. I like mine to be just a smidge low.

My lenses are from an Israeli company called Shamir. I got the from a local independent optician.

Love my trifocal progressive lenses! And do get the ones that turn into sun glasses when you go outside.

A thinner high-index lens does NOT equate to better clarity.

High index gives a thinner lens, but a lower Abbe. The higher the Abbe, the better optical clarity and less distortion.

The refractive index indicates how efficiently the material refracts/bends light, related to how fast light travels through the material. The higher the index, the slower light moves through it, which results in greater bending/focusing of light. The higher lens index, the less material needed to bend light. A high index material lens will be thinner. Common range: 1.498 (thick CR-39 plastic) to 1.74 (thin high-index plastic).

The Abbe determines how much abberation the lens produces. Lens materials with low Abbe can cause noticeable, bothersome aberration, most apparent when looking through the periphery of lenses. Abbe values range from high 59 (glass), to low 30 (polycarbonate). The lower Abbe, more likely lens material is to aberration.

food on a stump, unfortunately, I don't.

What I remember is that the optician seemed to be well informed about what was available and said they had access to every product family and product type from a variety of labs. He told me not to get hung up on brand names because each brand had a handful of different "geometries" to choose from and from even a given company some were better than others. He referred me to a new offering from one of the premium ones (I forget which, Zeiss or Seiko or another) that he said he'd been very impressed with because it had larger than normal uniform viewing area and had a quick transition. He said if I didn't like it, they would redo it with a different one.

If you wound up unhappy with what you got, it's possible the optician didn't choose the model of that company what was most suitable for what you wanted or expected. Or didn't measure its placement well. It's possible that a different "model" of the same brand might have been better.

I'm picky about these things. I was immediately won over by what he recommended. when I took delivery. As above, the backup pair I got from Costco came out as the optician there described - they're adequate but I wouldn't be happy with them as my everyday glasses. The viewing area is much smaller than with my regular pair.

Never had them however, my husband did and did not like them. He said going down stairs was scary and made him nervous. Stepping off a curb did the same. He wore them on and off for a few months and brought them back. He went back to two separate glasses for reading and distance and was glad he did.

Jane

Have 2 sets of progressives, one for everyday use/driving, another "computer" pair for work (esp. suturing). Because zones vary between specific lenses, it may be helpful to the optician to know how often you use a computer or do close work (e.g., sewing), so they can choose the best lens for you.

I’ve had no trouble adjusting to progressives in any pair of glasses I recently decided I’d like a fun frame for rx progressive sunglasses After being assured twice that a -12 rx would be fine , it turned out it wasn’t. When they inputed my numbers after picking out frames, the computations brought the number higher than what they could do This happened at an eyeglass store, Costco, and Zenni I’m not sure whether an eye drs lab would have a different result I also don’t want to pay $600+ for sunglasses Maybe I’ll just get transitions in the future I’ve given up for now I mostly wear contacts anyway

I have one pair of transition glasses, and I do not like them. The main reason is that they stay dark for a very long time after I am inside, and they do not get very dark when I am in the brilliant sunshine of the desert. If it never gets very bright outside where you are, then I guess they might be okay, but the transition from outdoors to indoors still takes way too long.

I didn't like the transition lenses either, for the same reason Lars has cited. I even have two different pairs of non-prescription sunglasses, one much darker than the other.

I've been fine with progressive lenses for decades. Yes, stairs take some getting used to. I also discovered the lenses were why I was having neck pain when I vacuumed or mopped. I was ducking my head in order to look through the top (distance) part of my glasses. I stopped wearing my glasses when I do those chores.

DH just spent three months trying to get new reading glasses -- the only type he needs. We now have a collection of five different prescriptions from three opticias and one new frame -- unusable. (He was able to return the rest.)

Guess what he's settled on at last: The decades old pair he 'thought' were straining his eyes. The final prescription from the second independent optician (within the office of an opthalmologist) was almost identical to his old pair. Two totally wrong scripts were from Costco; one was absent any correction for his astigmatism.

One script was from an independent optical shop. He may have the wrong script replaced in the frames he bought from that place, just to have a backup pair.

I liked transitions for everyday use, but for me they didn’t replace sunglasses when going to the beach. Partly because they weren’t dark enough, partly because they weren’t big enough. Transition time was just a minor annoyance except in very cold weather when they’d take longer to lighten. My main complaint was they’d always give off a purplish look, but that may be the fault of other coatings together with the tint, not the transitions themselves.

The first day or two with the progressives was kinda hard. A co-worker told me to hold out another day and then it was fine! I love the progressives. I didn't like switching glasses all the time. I'm thinking about doing photochromic on next pair as well so I don't have to switch to sunglasses all the time.

I don't know why I should be surprised to learn there is different quality of lenses. This is the first time getting prescription glasses.

The problem with the standard Transitions lenses is that they dont darken in the car, which makes them less than useful for me. There's a newer Transitions lens which does darken in the car, but the lens indoors is not clear; it's greyish.