Got my eyes checked today...

Got my eyes checked today. First time in 4 years. I need correction for up close AND distance. I've been using two sets of readers. It's been working fine for me, but I hate having to switch. And I have to have two pairs with me at all times. It also means I can't wear my cool polarized Tifosi sunglasses when mountain biking or driving.

These are my options:
Continue as always with two different pairs of cheap readers.

Get progressive lenses. (I tried them four years ago and disliked them.)

Get bifocals and figure out what to do with mid ground focus.

Get mono focal contact lenses. One eye gets the close lens, the other the long lens, and my brain adapts.

Get multi-focal contact lenses. They have concentric rings of varying power that, again, your brain adapts to.

Get single focus contact lenses for distance and use readers for up close.

It should be noted I HATE WEARING GLASSES. I detest having anything in my field of vision and periphery. It should also be noted I am lazy and may struggle with the daily ritual of putting in and taking out contacts.

I am intrigued by being able to see again with nothing sitting on my nose unless they're sunglasses.

I would consider good quality frameless glasses that are light weight and presumably less noticeable to me. Polarized lenses can be magnetically attached for biking and driving, etc.

What is your experience with any of the options I've shared?

TIA!

I started wearing bifocal contacts a couple of years ago.  They're not perfect in that you trade off some of your far vision for more near vision but they work 99% of the time for me.  Something to look into?

I am myopic/ nearsighted, about -4.5 in both eyes, plus astigmatisms.  I went for years with a weird setup for contacts. I could drive fine, autocross, use a computer, and still read text 0.050" high.

I had one plain toric (toric corrects for astigmatism) contact in my dominant eye, and one multifocal toric contact in my other eye.  It worked great, until it didn't.  I was corrected to about 20/15 or better.  After a while (maybe 10 years, 45-55) my eyes naturally lost the range of focus I needed to make the up close stuff work.  They tried me on a newer type of multi focal toric lens, but it just didn't do it for my eyes.

Now I have progressive lens glasses. They avoid the harsh transition from near to far that old-school bifocals have, and I can read pretty small stuff.  If you work on a computer a lot, make sure you specify 'computer glasses', which set the correction blend higher on the lens so you don't have to tip your neck back so much to see the top of the monitor.

Good luck!

In reply to Duke :

I did not know "computer glasses" were a thing. I will inquire.

As your eyes wear out, far vision and near reading vision isn't enough for arms length computer viewing. I am near sighted (-6.5) and am now up to tri-focals.  I tried the progressive lenses when I first got bi-focals but couldn't stand them. The sharp lines don't bother me after I got used to them but learning to look down to read sure gave me eye muscle strain at first, evidently if I wanted to look up or down, I used to just tilted my head. You are going to want to place your computer monitors as low as you possibly can so you don't get tilted back neck pain.

The biggest pain is if they don't get the lines perfectly lined up with each eye and you get a double line messed up view.

And then if you work on cars, you might want to get a second set of mechanics glasses with the near vision on the top of the lenses.

I had the multi focal contact lenses for a few years, and they worked great, so if you're ok with wearing contacts, I'd try that vs glasses. 
 I had surgery 2 years ago which replaced the lens of my eyes with a permanent  version of the same thing. If you ever need cataract surgery, ask about the multi focal lens vs the standard one. 

The only advice I can offer is, when the optometrist tells you what you need, and what you want, and it's not what you think you want, make sure they'll replace them at no charge when they don't work out.

Every single optometrist I've ever dealt with thought they knew what I wanted better than I did.  And I've had a lot of lenses replaced on their dime

I have a fairly weak prescription, so I commonly only wear mine while working, but I did ge the perscription for progressive bifocals in Highschool. As I recall, you need to pretty much make yourself wear them all the time for a few weeks to adjust to them and you will have some headaches and disorientation through the process, but once you adjust to positioning your view through the relevant part of the lens its a non-issue. I still wear them while working with pretty much no issue.

You would likely have a similarly difficult transition to any of the other solutions.  It sucks to get through the "training" period, but once you do...

Another thing is that there are a number of online outlets that once you have your prescription and measurements you can get additional pairs of sunglasses and safety glasses fairly inexpensively, may be worthwhile for the outdoor and shop activities.

My primary problems with wearing glasses have more to do with increased sensation of oily facial buildup, so I basically make a habit of washing or at least splashing water on my face up to a few times a day depending.

Great information so far. Still considering my options. Thanks 

I wore contacts for decades, then needed bifocals.  Never got the bifocals.

Tried the bifocal contact lenses, but my optometrist said they would not work for me.  she said type A people hate them.  I guess the eyeballs don't adjust fast enough for the impatient brain.

So I went with progressive lenses.  Love them!  Gave up the contacts as I can see better with the glasses.  I'm near-sighted, so I still remove them for things up close.

My progressives have the transition to sunglassess and the coating to reduce the blue light emitted from screens.  Coupled with lightweight titanium frames and I'm a happy person.

How long did you wear the progressives, and how much were they?  First, it takes a while to get used to them, and second... progressives are not all the same.  The cheap ones are just basically warped lenses that leave you with a very narrow field of vision for each "zone."  Good ones maximize the size of each zone and the transition to the next zone is somehow both seamless and very quick.

I hate glasses as well, but most of my correction is for astigmatism, and toric contact lenses don't really work well for me.  My eyes are weird.  Every contact I've tried just sucked, so glasses it is.  I've been offered the "one close, one far" option before and never tried it.  Seems to me like not having the use of both eyes would drive me insane.

Best option I see there is progressives.  Second would probably be bifocals which you can get in no-line version, but honestly it's such outdated tech compared to progressives.  I don't use readers for the same reason I don't use sunglasses.  I never remember them.  If I leave work and drive home into the sunset, I think, "gee, it would be nice if I had those sunglasses sitting on the coffee table at home."

Progressives are an all-in-one package that, if you can get used to them, are the industry standard for corrective lenses for nearsighted with reading correction.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

After about 2-3 days your brain gets used to the mismatch and it is not an issue. You'd never notice the difference.  There's no apparent shift of authority between eyes - it's not really different than any other time you look away or down.

That being said, the far/near contact setup did not work for DW.

I have -4.5 and -6 eyes and recently (about two years ago) got some +1.5 bifocals and hate them.  Everything I need to see near is always up, not down.

I was given the option of getting "+1.5" glasses and will probably go that route soon for use at work.  That is to say, glasses that are straight -3/-4.5.

Not in your options list but I'll put it out there.  I've worn glasses all my life (starting at age 5).  Im not vain, I dont mind glasses, but Im hard on them, new glasses had a life expectancy of about 4 weeks before they got a scratch in the lenses.  In my teens/20s I did contacts but that was an effort unto itself.   In my 40s I finally said eff it and got lasik.   Best decision ever.   I still could probably use readers in certain situations but I generally get by without them.  Is my vision perfect?  No.  But as someone who was classified as legally blind on my military intake I can say I see just fine now.   In the 10+ years since the procedure I've more than recouped the cost in replacement eyewear and general quality of life.

In reply to Pete. (l33t FS) :

Ask for mechanic's glasses. They have the near vision on top and the far vision at the bottom.  But you'd need the regular kind for driving.

Duke said:

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

After about 2-3 days your brain gets used to the mismatch and it is not an issue. You'd never notice the difference.  There's no apparent shift of authority between eyes - it's not really different than any other time you look away or down.

That being said, the far/near contact setup did not work for DW.

 

I can't even go back to an old pair of glasses and adjust after a month.  I guess it's like Ford/Chevy/Dodge.

My brain really likes its depth perception.  It's just my opinion but it seems counterintuitive to make one whole eye for near and one whole eye for far when progressives or bifocals allow both eyes to be both.

In reply to Curtis73 (Forum Supporter) :

It may be counterintuitive, and it may not work for all people, but if it works it works great.  Zero problems with depth perception.  I could autocross just fine with that lens setup, and that calls for very precise analysis of rapidly-shifting depth perception.

I was seriously myopic. (-6.5)  I got to where I was uncomfortable driving with my progressive corrective lenses.  I did the Lasik 15 years ago and enjoyed 20/15 vision for about 12 years.   The Lasik also made my dry eye problem worst to the point I always carry around a bottle of artificial tears.   They told me 10% of patients have this issue.   I use 1.75 readers for computer work and 2.25 for reading a book.   (Don't let them correct one eye for distance and one for close up - Your depth perception will never be the same from what I read.)

Then I developed cataracts and started having a lot of problems driving at night so I did the replacement lenses surgery.    That was good for awhile  but I am now between 20/20 and 20/25 and I needed time for my brain to adjust to them.  I had to re-learn to juggle because my hand to eye coordination was not in sync with the picture the new lenses was sending to my brain.   

 There is another layer in the eye that goes opaque so I started having night vision problems again and was having trouble seeing the clay targets of Sporting Clays.  That problem was fixed with another laser zapping.    One thing to note, if you get Lasik its not a good idea to go with multi-focus replacement lenses - my doctor said a flat "no way".     Basically without modern technology I would not be able to drive and computer work would have become almost impossible as well.     

I have used the bifocal conacts for years and love them.  BUT I still use reader glasses for close up work.  So there are a pair by the computer, on the coffee table and in the garage.  Has not been a problem.  I don't mind the glasses for detail work, in the garage they are safety readers which forces me to do the right thing.

Progressive lenses for me and I wear computer/midrange lenses pretty much all the time. It takes about 2 weeks to get used to wearing progressive lenses.

The glasses you buy can also help a lot. Heavy glasses drive me crazy. They are constantly slipping down the nose and fall off when you are looking down unless they are adjusted to be tight around your ears. I can't stand that. I buy the thinnest titanium frames I can find and put the thinnest polycarbonate lenses in them. The frames I use are 6 grams. The lenses are another 5-6 grams. They stay put and aren't particularly noticeable. The poly lenses catch a lot of abuse and with a scratch coating aren't easily damaged. I don't know that I've ever scratched a lens. I usually break the frames. When I order glasses I usually buy one pair of glasses and an extra frame. As bought from Zenni the glasses cost about $100 and the frames are $40. I get a year or two out of a set of glasses. Which reminds me, I need to go order some more. 

I have considered LASIK but decided against it based on my sister's experience. She has had it done, twice. The first round only lasted her about 5 years before they had to do it again. The second try lasted about 8 years and she is back to wearing glasses. 

My brother had lens replacement surgery to get rid of his glasses. He's now dealing with "floaters" and halo effects at night. 

Add to that the advantage of always wearing a polycarbonate safety lens and I decided to stick to glasses. 

In reply to Toyman! :

Thanks Toyman. I'm going back tomorrow to see the optometrist and discuss glasses or contacts.

So I have appointment in two weeks to try multi-focal contacts. If I don't like em no cost to me. I also have a set of nice progressive lenses/frames picked out with magnetized polarized tinted lenses, uv, anti glare, yada yada. Here goes nothing!