Bifocals vs Progressive

NHWannabe

NHWannabe

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NHWannabe
Question for corrective lens pilots.

My medical expires at the end of March, the first time around although I passed the vision test I had a difficult time wearing my progressive lenses.

Wondering what most people do?

Thanks
 
Progressives all the way. Not even close.

If you had difficulty, the question becomes whether your script is wrong or your best corrected vision stinks. That's what you need to answer. Bi/tri/progressives are just a matter of getting used to.

One caveat: my first couple go rounds with progressives I selected frames with small lenses. Therefore the sweet spot for any given distance was also very small and finding the right head tilt was difficult sometimes.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Progressives all the way. Not even close.

If you had difficulty, the question becomes whether your script is wrong or your best corrected vision stinks. That's what you need to answer. Bi/tri/progressives are just a matter of getting used to.

One caveat: my first couple go rounds with progressives I selected frames with small lenses. Therefore the sweet spot for any given distance was also very small and finding the right head tilt was difficult sometimes.
Click to expand...

True, opticians are finally admitting size matters.

OP, When you say you had a difficult time wearing the lenses what exactly do you mean? Progressives can need time getting used to. There are also different ways they can grind the lens to give maximum vision in close and peripheral. But first, if it's an old prescription your eyes might have changed and you need a new one. They can even change as quickly as every year or two when middle aged presbyopia strikes. If you've just gotten them it can take time or they may not have been done properly.

Progressives vs bifocals, I have done them all; bifocals, trifocals, skinny progressives and deep ones. Bad ones and good ones. The best IMO is progressives with good depth "the vertical dimension" which fortunately is today back in style. Progressives done right give you the infinitely adjustable distance where bi/trifocals you get only on distance per zone, and the visible line bothers me. YMMV

But the most important thing is to get them from a very good and experienced optician, face to face getting the right measurements and then getting them properly adjusted on your face.
 
Progressive for me. I started with bifocals and they worked out ok. Went to trifocals, and immediately saw the drawbacks of the different focal zones. Went progressive and wondered why I waited so long. They do take some getting used to, though. And don't be shy about telling your eye doc if you have problems. There are ways to adjust the lenses (they'll have to be remade), and usually there's no extra charge.
 
Ken Ibold said:
Progressives all the way. Not even close.

If you had difficulty, the question becomes whether your script is wrong or your best corrected vision stinks. That's what you need to answer. Bi/tri/progressives are just a matter of getting used to.

One caveat: my first couple go rounds with progressives I selected frames with small lenses. Therefore the sweet spot for any given distance was also very small and finding the right head tilt was difficult sometimes.
Click to expand...

Script was correct - the rub is as you stated above the head tilt. The "machine" for the eye test doesn't really allow for much head tilt when you look in. I have no problem with an eye chart on a wall.
 
Rushie said:
True, opticians are finally admitting size matters.

OP, When you say you had a difficult time wearing the lenses what exactly do you mean? Progressives can need time getting used to. There are also different ways they can grind the lens to give maximum vision in close and peripheral. But first, if it's an old prescription your eyes might have changed and you need a new one. They can even change as quickly as every year or two when middle aged presbyopia strikes. If you've just gotten them it can take time or they may not have been done properly.

Progressives vs bifocals, I have done them all; bifocals, trifocals, skinny progressives and deep ones. Bad ones and good ones. The best IMO is progressives with good depth "the vertical dimension" which fortunately is today back in style. Progressives done right give you the infinitely adjustable distance where bi/trifocals you get only on distance per zone, and the visible line bothers me. YMMV

But the most important thing is to get them from a very good and experienced optician, face to face getting the right measurements and then getting them properly adjusted on your face.
Click to expand...


Sorry I should have been more specific, the difficulty is when I put my head against the "viewing machine" it's difficult to get the correct head tilt to get to the proper focal point for distance, mid and close and was wondering what others did. I have no problem with a test that involves an on the wall chart.
 
I wear readers at work most of the time on the computer; it's single distance. The rest of the time I use bi-focals. Largely because that's how I started with sunglasses. Everything over the dash (car or plane) needs distance. Everything below the dash needs near sight. The line fits where the dash is. Works for me.

I may try progressives some time, but bi-focals work for now.
 
I used to have a pair of progressives that I liked for everything but flying. the horizontal range is what bothered me. As a result I got a pair of flying glasses that had my mild distance scrip everywhere but a panel distance rading scrip in the bifocal. It sounded like a good idea but those were no better. My subsequent new progressives have been much better in the perioheral vision area. Progressive lenses are much better than they used to be, and so is the fitting of lenses assuming you’re going to a good optometrist who does good fittings.
 
NHWannabe said:
Sorry I should have been more specific, the difficulty is when I put my head against the "viewing machine" it's difficult to get the correct head tilt to get to the proper focal point for distance, mid and close and was wondering what others did. I have no problem with a test that involves an on the wall chart.
Click to expand...

Ahh.

Yeah, I have that problem too. I just mess with my head and spectacal position until I can get things in focus.
 
I tried bifocals way back when. The dividing line was just at the distance from my eyes to the radio stack. In darkish conditions (not night) my pupils opened up which reduced what a photographer would call depth of field, and I couldn't read the radio stack frequencies with either top or bottom lens.

Progressives were the answer. Once I tried them, I never looked back.

-Skip
 
I prefer bifocals. I tried progressives and they worked fine in the airplane. But when walking on the ground, the lines in the sidewalk waved up and down and it made me uncomfortable.
 
I have had progressives since I needed to get the reading correction (actually, most of my reading correction is just removing the distance correction). It took me only a few hours to get accustomed to them. Never had any problem in the plane or the ground. What I most detested is that they stopped really doing glass lenses and I'm not a big fan of the polycarbonate. THey had a lot of chromatic aberration but even that I've gotten used to.

I order stuff from Zenni optical now. Can't be the price (even cheaper than Costco/Sams Club).
 
NHWannabe said:
Sorry I should have been more specific, the difficulty is when I put my head against the "viewing machine" it's difficult to get the correct head tilt to get to the proper focal point for distance, mid and close and was wondering what others did. I have no problem with a test that involves an on the wall chart.
Click to expand...

Ah I see! If it's very difficult can the AME just use a handheld chart for the reading near portion? That's what my retina doctor does with me. Is it mandated you use a machine? I'm not up to date with FAA medicals in that respect.
 
There is no requirement that the AME use the machine. It's purely convenience. Actually, the machine has lousy contrast in my opinion and alot of them are misaligned relics. I almost always do better on a conventional eye chart. My ophtomologist (the most prominent in the state) doesn't believe in them either. He has a projector that puts various eye charts up on the wall. Reading/near testing is done with a card hanging off the front of the phoropter. My AME just hands me a card of text and (this I don't know if is legal or not) am allowed to "stretch" my arm to any position to read it.
 
NHWannabe said:
Sorry I should have been more specific, the difficulty is when I put my head against the "viewing machine" it's difficult to get the correct head tilt to get to the proper focal point for distance, mid and close and was wondering what others did. I have no problem with a test that involves an on the wall chart.
Click to expand...
Yeah, likewise. Nothing is clear with the machine. And they insist on "no glasses" testing as well. "Sorry, I can't see crap."

And why do they do the color test every time? It's not like you're suddenly going color blind...
 
For operation of aircraft, I've gone to bifocals near focused at about 28". That's where the panel is.
Progressives for the rest of my life.
 
I prefer bifocals for flying. I have a pair of bifocal flying eyeglasses. I measured the distance to the instrument panel and the lower lens is tuned to that distance.

I can use progressives during the day, but I have to move my head more because the sweet spot is actually through an hourglass shape in the center of the lens. In the cockpit instrument flying, the less head movement the better. VFR the head needs to be on a swivel.

At night, I really need the hard bifocals. When I scan the horizon for a flashing green and white beacon, too much is blurry with progressives. Hard bifocals give me much better focus over the entire horizon at night.
 
bbchien said:
For operation of aircraft, I've gone to bifocals near focused at about 28". That's where the panel is.
Progressives for the rest of my life.
Click to expand...

Dr. Bruce do any of your patients who wear progressives have trouble with the eye test? Do you use the "viewing" machine when administering the vision test? That is where I have my issue hard to find the sweet spot when your head is against a machine. I have no issue with a wall chart.
 
I fired the viewing machine. they're very tough on anyone with even a hint of astigmatism.
So long as their distant correction works, I have about every variation of near vision correction in the cabinet. You get certified with whatever combination you need, to pass.
 
From what I've read on various pilot forums, progressive lenses can be bad for flying because there are significant distortions in your peripheral vision which can make it more difficult to judge the flare (among other things). I also found this at http://www.allaboutvision.com/lenses/progressives.htm:

Minor peripheral aberrations are unavoidable in progressive lenses. It is impossible to create a seamless (line-free) multifocal lens that has multiple powers for different viewing distances without also creating unwanted aberrations somewhere in the lens.

Lens designers and manufacturers have made significant strides in minimizing these aberrations and "pushing" them to the periphery of modern progressive lenses. But peripheral aberrations will be present even when progressive lenses are flawlessly produced using the latest manufacturing equipment and processes — they are an unavoidable optical limitation of all progressive lenses.

Because of these aberrations, if you glance to the far right or left, especially when looking down, you might notice your vision is slightly blurred. Peripheral aberrations also might cause you to experience a sensation of "swim" when you make quick head movements.
​
I'm normally a contact-lens wearer and I had been using a monovision prescription (one eye optimized for near, the other for far) before I started taking flight lessons. Of course monovision is a no-no with the FAA so I tried a bunch of different stuff to see what would work best for flying. I ended up with a normal contact lens prescription that gives me a reasonable compromise for casual activities, and then prescription bifocal glasses (one pair of sunglasses and another pair of clear glasses) which I wear along with the contacts when I need the best possible vision. The glasses have just a slight negative power for distance and a slight positive power for reading. That works well for me because my full prescription would result in pretty thick, heavy, lenses with a lot of distortion if I picked sufficiently large frames to provide good peripheral vision and enough height for a bifocal prescription. I also use a pair of single-vision glasses with a slight positive correction when I'm working at the computer for long periods of time. Neither bifocals nor progressives work well when you're working on a 30" monitor around 18" in front of you :)
 
I have been using progressives for 19 years. Yeah, those issues are there, but in my case, I was able to easily adjust to them. I wouldn’t go to bi- or tri-focals unless something significant happened to preclude the use of the progressives.
 
Everyone is different. I wear contact lenses optimized for distance but which leave me in slightly minus territory (-0.25 to -0.50). With that script, cheaters in the +1.50 to +2.00 range work well for me in the cockpit. I wear them like granny glasses and look over the rims for distance. No need for bifocals, trifocals, or progressive lenses. Of course (didn't I say this?), everyone is different. YMMV as always.
 
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Greg Bockelman said:
I have been using progressives for 19 years. Yeah, those issues are there, but in my case, I was able to easily adjust to them. I wouldn’t go to bi- or tri-focals unless something significant happened to preclude the use of the progressives.
Click to expand...
My thoughts exactly. I can't imagine flying with anything other than progressives, although I know there are pilots who swear at then, not by them.
 
I've been wearing progressives for nearly 15 years. I wear them from the time I get up until I go to bed. I wear them while driving, flying, working on the computer, watching tv, watching a movie, etc. No complaints. They do what they are supposed to do....

...make me look sexier than I already do.
 
I just got a progressive Rx filled today, and so far I like 'em. I was having trouble seeing the LCD screen on my Aera 660 GPS with my single vision Rx for distance, and would have to raise my glasses to see the screen clearly (no correction). I measured the distance from my nose bridge to the GPS display at 26" and the ophthalmologist prescribed the lower third of the progressives for that middle vision. I tried them out today, and it's great not having to lift my glasses to see the display clearly. I haven't noticed any issues looking down while walking around which seems to bother some people.
 
bbchien said:
For operation of aircraft, I've gone to bifocals near focused at about 28". That's where the panel is.
Progressives for the rest of my life.
Click to expand...

Exactly what I have done, only wear progressives at work and have my bifocals lowered to suit me.
 
Used my progressives in the airplane for the first time a couple of days ago, and they're perfect. The Aera 660 LCD and panel instruments are crystal clear looking through the bottom third of the lenses, and distant vision is still 20/20. I couldn't have asked for a better outcome.
n601ke%20panel%20sm_zpsy5lvfllj.jpg
 
Bifocals with the line custom located to match the glare shield. And the top lens with tint but no tint in the bottom bifocal lens.
 
I wear progressives when working and flying. I normally don't when driving, but the dashboard is a little farther away and I rarely need to read anything on it. Of course I wear my glasses a lot more of the time now than I did a couple of years ago. My VSP covers a pair of glasses annually; I don't need new ones for working so I think I'm going to get some lenses made for my AO sunglasses.
 
DaleB said:
I wear progressives when working and flying. I normally don't when driving, but the dashboard is a little farther away and I rarely need to read anything on it. Of course I wear my glasses a lot more of the time now than I did a couple of years ago. My VSP covers a pair of glasses annually; I don't need new ones for working so I think I'm going to get some lenses made for my AO sunglasses.
Click to expand...

Check out www.zenni.com for some frighteningly low prices. I bought a "test" pair of single-vision sunglasses for $35. They were good enough that after my next exam, I bought transitions for every day use and two pair of sunglasses (one each for my truck and the wife's car) for less than $200 . . . . That's less than my after-insurance payment used to be on my one pair a year at the doctor's office.

But my Vision insurance now only pays for an exam every two years.
 
Hank S said:
Check out www.zenni.com for some frighteningly low prices. I bought a "test" pair of single-vision sunglasses for $35.
Click to expand...
I bought a pair of single vision rimless glasses from Zenni after a very disappointing experience with boutique rimless specs costing $350 (they kept falling apart where the nose bridge and temples fasten to the lenses). The Zenni Optical Rx glasses were $40 and I've worn them daily for three years without any issues. An amazing value IMHO.
 
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