One of the best presentations on the topic that I’ve come across. About ten years or so back, I was thinking about using progressive lenses, but was discouraged by someone who had tried them and they didn’t fit in with their working environment, but a few years later I did switch to them. The optician I used at the time was a bit sceptical as to whether it work out, and there was a “trial” period of time (I think this is, or was, standard then) of abut a month, but it only took a few days. Both of my eyes are short-sighted, with one being noticeably different from the other (-4.75/-2.25). More recently, I’ve been doing more close up desk top things with a large screen, in which the narrow horizontal angle of focus is awkward. e.g. reading wide columns of text can’t be done just by scanning by eye movement with a steady head. Also, when walking with a properly balanced head, the minimum distance ahead to focus on the ground is a bit further than I’d like. So, for some things, I tend to use older fixed focal length ones which are reasonable for mid-range focus, at least for one eye. I have never tried using traditional bi-focal lenses, though.
Hi John ✌️ Thank you - and your experience is very typical. Having dedicated pairs for some tasks is always best practice, but progressive lenses work very well for most things nowadays...
Brilliant description and explains entirely why I’ve never got on with varifocals. The places I’ve been to literally never mentioned the size of frame I needed to choose or the impact of the angle of them and distance from my eyes. No wonder!
I've been wearing progressive lenses, aka varifocals, for over twenty years with good results. I couldn't get used to standard bifocals (with the line), but my brain adjusted to progressives almost immediately. As you've noted there are compromises, in particular the loss of corrected peripheral vision, but I guess I just turn my head more now 😀 I hope in time it will become possible to further widen the "corridor" and reduce distortion along the sides, but as is this is the best solution for us old "presbyopes".
I've just got brand new varifocal glasses to replace the last ones that broke. Prescription has slightly gone up..however, I've been having daily headaches now for about 4 weeks and it is mostly emanating from my eyeballs and side and back of my head and including neck and trapezius. I've had no issues of headaches from my previous glasses ,but these new ones do 😩
@@thespectaclefactory i have the exact same symptoms that @Jojoscaggs but with the difference that mine is a new prescription (i have worn progressive lenses for 2 years now). Before (with the previous prescription) the transition from mid to long distance was smooth, now it seems i have to "focus" all the time.the lenses i have now are zeiss individual 3. i'm just a simple glass user (i have been using glasses 40+ plus years) but i have a feeling that my measurements are wrong like the height of the lens. I asked about that to my optician, and they said that the measurements zeiss used are the ones from my previous prescription since the frames i use are the same.Any thoughts? thank you.
I agree with other comments here about this being an excellent explanation about how these lenses work. I have been wearing traditional lined trifocals for 3 years now. I have never had any problem with them. The lines are not a distraction at all. In fact, I like them very much. But I have heard it suggested that they are getting more and more dated and that the fewer and fewer people request them and that the materials needed to make them are getting hard to come by and that trifocals could end up no longer being dispensed. I hope it is an exaggeration but I was thinking of trying to change to varifocals in preparation for having to do so anyway. Hopefully I will have little problem, though I still hope that maybe lined trifocals will stick around. I don't here the same death knell about lined bifocals for some reason. But still, what are people supposed to do who need close, far, and intermediate correction but just cannot get along with modern varifocals?
It's true that trifocals are dying out 🙁 sad because they are great for the right person... I think it's a purely cosmetic thing as try telling most people they need 2 lines on their glasses and they run a mile (even though optically it's sometimes the best option!) I personally don't think they look so bad anyway
@@thespectaclefactory But aren' they almost compelled to maintain trifocals for people who need close, intermediate, and distant vision and who are not able to adapt to varifocals? Are they to be told that they will just have to give up their clear intermediate vision? I would think there would have to be some accommodation for them.
Thanks for a really interesting informative video. I have never heard of 'Energise Me' lenses before for contact lens wearers like me. Sounds interesting. How do they work (briefly)? The visufit 1000 is a great bit of technology. Those frames you're wearing look cool. What model are they please? Great content on your channel btw all explained so well. Thanks again😀
Sure, so EnergiseMe lenses are designed to A) Give you an easy transition between wearing your glasses and wearing your contacts and B) Relax and refresh your eyes in between contact lens use. They do this via a combination of extra focussing power and a blue light filter
I need some drive safe ones to complement the ones i wear for computers and office work. All I need to do is decide on the Barton Perreira to complement then
You need to come in and choose a pair! Exclusive invite just for you - I'm meeting the BP rep with the full collection in a few weeks. Would you like to join us and view every style that they make?
What a great video. If someone were to buy Varifocals and do a lot of walking at night and some moderate driving; would you still suggest the DriveSafe or is the reading area too small for general use. I already 'digital varifocals', which I am very happy with. So I was thinking another pair.
Hi John, yes absolutely. DriveSafe lenses technically have a smaller reading zone but most people in my experience don't seem to notice. And compared to 'basic' varifocals the reading zone is still larger than average. For walking at night they would be great as the distance zone is very large.
And here I thought something was wrong with my verifocal glasses. I initially had reading glasses for the computer but started to see blurry in my right eye at far distances so I got the verifocal. I am a graphic artist and constantly watching everywhere on the computer screen. Turning my head all the time to watch a point with the verifocal was frustrating. I just ended up using the reading for the computer and the other for everything else. I really did not know any of this.
Hi, this is a brilliant video and is so timely because I am really struggling with my new varifocals. I am not entirely sure why because my last pair were varifocal too. Everything you describe in the cons section is what is driving me crazy. Please can you advise on the following: I live in London and went to Vision Express. They don't do the kind of prep work that you described here. I am unable to travel to Preston. My questions: (1) My metal frame is >3 years old, I generally find plastic more comfy (my reading glasses are plastic). I am ~ -4.5 in both eyes. My new lenses were fitted in my old frame, might going to plastic also for my regular glasses help? (2) I was told that my prescription had changed by 0.25 for distance and 0.5 for reading and hence I needed to change the lenses. Could I have done without? Is that a large enough change to change lenses. I am missing my old lenses (3) Could I be taking longer to adjust because my reading power went up more than my distance power and hence perhaps a greater difference for my eyes to adjust to?
I just returned my new progressive lenses because my side to side eye movement made me dizzy. They would be so much better if there wasn't the distortion in the bottom corners
Hi, Ive been using Varifocals for 20 years and always had the best because of driving, My latest pair, from a popular high street retailer, I noticed i had double vision in the distant part of the lens, the reading part was fantastic, they replaced them with prisms in them, they were the same if not worst than before, my last pair are still good but they suggested new ones as these are 7 years old, ????
My optitian has given me a +0.5 for distance at the yop of my varifocals. Now i have the glasses, my distance vision is WORSE with the glasses on!!! Im confused.
I really wanted to like progressives. I gave it a three year run. Hating to go up and down stairs, riding a bike, trying to find the sweet spot and the difficulty with reading digital devices was what caused me to give them up. I finally bought a conventional pair of lenses and two pair of reading glasses. Now I'm ready to give progressives a shot again. Thanks. I feel better equipped this time around because of this video.
Hi Robert. I must say your videos are very informative. I have been wearing variofocals for about 20 years now and I like them once you get used to them. I got a new prescription recently and I have gone for the wider vision where you get hardly any peripheral distortion. My problem is that my reading and middle range are fine but I feel like I can't see far enough with my distance. It is fine indoors but outdoors seems like my distance is not very sharp. I have a slight tint as well. Any ideas why this is. Thanks Yvonne
All this equipment you have to measure properly they dont have at specsavers they just use a ruler this is why i think i am struggling with my first ever varifocals
@@sajidkhanmahmood In most countries, that is a normal price. It's only in the UK and developing countries that we under-value optical professionals' time so much. Ours is £65 btw and we give a £20 credit towards eyewear.
can you use these lenses after having multifocal cataract surgery? I wore regular progressives until I had cataracts removed 3 yrs ago.. lets just say it didnt go well. I healed just fine but the implants the dr chose were less than ideal. For every day living I am doing ok.. but every thing is a tad blurry (astigmatism) .I tried to get bifocals but they didnt work great. I have a new job that requires a lot more reading small print and computer work. After spending almost $5k for the multifocal lenses, very leary about spending more for glasses that may not work.
Do your research. Check out who has the best reviews in the area you are prepared to travel (many of our clients travel around 5 hours to us) and then make a few enquiries
Most people don't understand that if they want the cheapest of something nothing will be good. I spent 1,000 total on high end frames and zeiss top level varifocals and there are zero problems with them, even on a PC screen, zero distortion BUT you HAVE to spend a lot, you pay for what you get. Varifocals are perfect. If you want perfect vision SPEND THE MONEY!!!!!
