When your vision requires a prescription that aids near-sighted and far-sightedness, your optometrist will give you the option of progressive (sometimes called ‘no-line bifocals’) or bifocal lenses. But what are some differences between bifocals and progressives?
Do I Need Big Frames?
Those familiar with bifocal lenses know how they look. Bifocal lenses consist of frames with smaller windows at the bottom of each frame. The smaller frame will assist with your near vision (farsightedness), and traditionally are within big frames to fit both windows. With progressive lenses, you don’t need big frames to accommodate for this window, as progressive lenses transition from accommodating for farsightedness at the bottom of the frame, and nearsightedness at the top of the frame.
Progressive Bifocals Aren’t Made That Way for Aesthetic Reasons.
Although they will sometimes be called ‘invisible bifocals’, progressive lenses are actually made the way they are to support a variety of viewing distances. What that means is that, instead of having a drastic change in lens from the top portion to the bottom portion of your lenses, there is a gradual change. What you experience is a smooth transition from looking at far away objects to up-close objects, and what the lens actually contains is a set of incremental changes to accommodate that.
If You’re New to Progressive Lenses, be patient with yourself. There may be a period of time where you won’t quite be used to your new lenses. For some, this takes less than a day. For others, especially if you’ve been wearing bifocals for most of your life, this could take a few days. In time, your habits will change and you won’t need to tilt your head or change the angle of your gaze as much to get the right vision.
Are you a bifocal wearer, curious about progressive lenses? Doig Optometry is now accepting new patients, and as a welcome gift we’re giving away $25 to spend in our office on regular priced eyeglasses or contacts. Call us today to arrange an appointment (403)-333-3353