Transcription
Today I want to talk about progressive lenses. There's a lot of confusion, a lot of questions as it comes to progressive lenses, and so we're going to keep it super simple, super casual today.
First of all, we need to realize that there's different terms for progressive lenses. You can call it a no-line bifocal, you can call it a multi-focal. These are all terms for progressive lenses. How they work in general is at the top of the lens, you have what you need to see out for your distance. And when your eyes are cast up, you should have clear vision. As you go down the lens, thus the term progressive, you're going to get your distance that's ideal for a computer distance, and that's at the middle of the lens. Then as you go down to the bottom of the lens, you're going to get your reading power. And so it's built for the way your eyes work when they're cast up and then down to the computer or conversation distance, and then down to either a book or tablet or phone, that reading distance. So there's actually three different focal points within one lens. All you need to get a progressive lens is you need a distance power, you need a reading power, and then they make the mid power based on those two powers. So distance, reading from your optometrist, and then you can make a progressive lens from there.
So there are different styles of progressive lenses, and that's more what I want to talk about today. So we have an overview of what our progressive lens is. And next, let's think about some questions to ask when you're buying a pair of progressive lenses. And this is really, I think, helpful for a lot of people. I get this question so often, it's like, what should I be asking for? And obviously, we sell glasses here, we sell lenses, but more importantly, I want you to be empowered to find the right progressive lenses, no matter where you buy them. And always with my clients, I'm trying to educate them and make sure they understand what they're getting and what is optimal for them specifically.
Number one question I would recommend asking when buying a progressive pair of lenses is, how wide is the field of vision? The more you pay for a progressive lens, and the better the technology, the wider field of vision you're going to have. In every progressive lens, where technology is right now, you're going to have a little bit of distortion on the edges. You can't get away from that. But the nicer the lens, the better the lens, the wider field of vision you'll have. This will be a good example of kind of seeing it in real time. And so this on the left is a wider field of vision, you can see the distortion is less. And then on this side, there's distortion is more. And so based on the lens design that you're buying, there's going to be either more or less distortion, and that's just the way the lens is designed. Some people will notice it more than others, but the reality is, is there's going to be more distortion on one than the other. And so that's the first question to ask when you're buying a pair of progressive lenses is, how much distortion or how wide is my field of vision? And the different brands that you're going to hear is like SLR, Shamir, Hoya. These are all different types of lens designers, and then they all have their own designs. And then there's even in-house designs in progressive lenses as well. And so that's what we're talking about, those different brands. Maybe you've heard of them, especially SLR is a very popular one. But all of those brands will have certain designs, and you can ask the optician, what does my design do? How wide is that field of vision in the particular progressive lens that you are buying? And so that's the first question to ask.
The second is, what is my the design that you're selling me? What is it designed? What is it optimized for? So what is each lens, obviously has a certain width, but it also has a certain ideal person or patient that it's made for. There, it's going to be more optimized for someone that reads more, someone that's on the computer more, or somebody that is looking out into the distance more. And so not only do we have lens design, but then we have different optimizations for certain people. And so your optician should be asking you some questions about how you're going to wear your progressive lens. But you truly need to ask them, what is my lens design that you're selling me? What is it optimized for? So the first question is, how wide is the field of vision? And then second, what is my particular lens, the progressive lens you're selling me, what is it optimized for?
And then the third question that's very important when it comes to progressive lenses so that you can see clearly and be happy is, are you taking custom measurements? Because based on those measurements, that pinpoints where the eye sits in the lens, and that's going to help you see or not see appropriately. So wherever that measurement is pinpointed, from there is where the reading starts down. And obviously, the middle is going to be that computer distance where the pupil sits. And then above that, where your cast your eyes up, you're going to see into the distance. And so you want to make sure that they're taking custom measurements for each progressive lens that they sell you in each frame, because obviously, each frame fits us differently. And so you want to make sure they're taking those custom measurements.
So three questions that will get you on the right track when buying a progressive lens. Number one, how wide is the field of vision? Number two, what is this lens optimized for? And then number three, how are you going to take my custom measurements? I've seen lots of people struggle wearing their progressive lenses, and then once we were able to answer those three questions and get them into the right lens, all of a sudden, the whole world opens up to them. And so maybe you've had one of your friends complain about their progressive lenses, and they just can't see very well. Well, it could be lots of different things, but I would start with those three questions. And maybe you're new to the market and you're like, man, I'm starting to like really struggle to read now. Well, it might be time for a progressive lens. But don't be afraid, don't worry about what your friend said. Just ask those three questions to your optician or to your optometrist, and make sure they get you in the right progressive lens.
I'm very passionate about making sure all my clients, and all my friends and family, and you out there on YouTube, get the information you need to make the right choice and to truly ask the right questions. So share with a friend that might be going through this process right now. It happens to all of us at some point in our life. We all need some kind of reading power, and the best way to solve that is with a progressive lens. Thanks so much for watching, and I hope you have a great day.