UKH

Ive just picked up a new pair of glasses – bifocals – the second pair I have had.

Long distance is fine but close up they are only in focus in a very specific area.

In terms of peripheral vision it looks like im in a goldfish bowl and is out of focus and curves around.

I have the lenses thinned and normally its not been a problem.

Ive never been in a position where it seems so wrong after getting a new pair of glasses.

Im going to take them back but don’t want to be fobbed off and would appreciate some indication of the issue.

It cannot be anything ive told them in error could it?

Did you get them from a high street bucket shop or from the web? Or from an independent optician? The optician should have spent at least ten minutes and nearer twenty measuring your eyes and calculating the zones. Did you get bifocals or varifocals? I've used varis for about the last 15 years and am delighted with them; it usually takes a few minutes for the brain to adapt to a new set of glasses but I've never had the effect you describe. I would phone the optician at the very least to let them know there may be a problem, then give the brain a few hours for a chance to relearn before taking them back. 

Hello 

Thanks for the reply.

Its was from well known  high street chain. They appeared to be fine when I picked them up but it was only after that I noticed the gold fish effect. 

I guess when I was asked about them for close up reading I did notice a little out of focus but assumed that I needed to get used to them. I have worn varifocals for several years and remembered that they did need getting used to.

When I got to work and used them then I noticed more as I work from two screens and it was a pronounced difference. 

You probably noticed the fish-eye effect when seated in front of the screens because the text gave you lines for reference. Is it any better now after a day or two? The brain does relearn amazingly fast.

I have some wraparound ski glasses, for which it's quite challenging to make lenses. The last lenses had an aberration in them, which I didn't notice while skiing thanks to the almost blank snow but as soon as I tried them in a town environment I spotted the movement as straight objects moved through the area of aberration. The optician agreed and got the lenses re-made.

I'm an optometrist. I'm assuming you mean varifocals not bifocals (they're the ones with a separate, visible reading segment and wouldn't cause the type of problem you describe).

If the long distance is fine, then it's likely that the prescription and frame measurements are correct. What you're struggling with is most likely the design of the varifocal lens.

As you get older, you need a stronger reading prescription, and as your reading prescription increases ("reading add" actually - the amount of difference between the distance and reading prescriptions), you need to squash more change into the varifocal. So, your first pair of varifocals (when your reading add is about +1.00 at age 48) are easy to get used to, but by the time you're 60 you'll need +2.25 of change squashed into the lens. This creates more peripheral distortion and gives a smaller reading area in the lens. The older you are (up to 60), the higher reading add you need, the more distortion and smaller reading area you get.

So, you might just get used to it. You will need to give it 2-3 weeks to see if your brain adapts and the effect just disappears by magic. You might be surprised how good the brain is at creating "normal vision" with a bit of practice. Or you might not, in which case you'll need a solution.

First thing I would do is phone the optician and tell them the problem you're having and agree that if you can't get used to them, they'll sort it out. Which they will. But they'll want you to see if you adapt to them first. You could go in and get them to check the measurements and fit, which can improve things (they should have done this when you picked them up).

If you've gone from a better quality varifocal brand in your old specs into a cheaper one, I don't think you'll adapt. You'll need to upgrade to at least what you had before.

But either way, you'll need to let them know you're struggling with them, and if you don't adapt then they'll need to work methodically through and check everything to find you a solution. That might involve upgrading to a better varifocal brand if there is nothing wrong with the prescription and measurements. But whatever you do, make sure that you get it sorted rather than just putting the new glasses in a draw, wasting your money and then bad mouthing the opticians!

By the way, measuring up varifocals needs to be done accurately, but it's not rocket science. You just need to mark the position of where you look through the lens straight ahead and provide the two co-ordinates. Some lenses need more measurements, but usually these are only relevant in high prescriptions. If someone's taking 20 minutes, they either don't know what they're doing, or they're putting on a show.

Also, all the high street chain opticians are perfectly capable of accurately dispensing a high quality pair of varifocals, so long as the staff doing it are trained and capable. And if an optician won't sort out a problem for you, complain. 

What's the significance of the 'brand'? Since this is 'all just optics', why should some brands be better than others?

(Serious question from a satisfied wearer of varifocals.)

I believe there's quite a variety of different materials available for the lenses. It can take a few minutes to work out the best balance of density (and hence weight) vs. refraction vs. cost.

Each company that makes varifocal lenses has a range from basic to top-notch. A basic varifocal has a smaller reading area and more distortion, while a top-notch one uses lots of clever maths and programming in the manufacturing to personalise the lens according to the prescrition and frame to give the largest possible area of the lens which is clear for each distance.

Some brands are great, and only chronic whingers ever complain about those ones. Some people simply have a personality defect that means no matter what you do, they'll always moan (I try to spot these people during the eye test and subtly encourage them to have a look at all the lovely frames they can get in the other opticians in town). Other lenses are crap, and the moaning they inspire is at least party justified - although if you want something good, rather than something crap, you tend to have to pay for it.

The material can make a difference to the vision, but in this case, it sounds like it's about the design/brand of the varifocal. People who are (or claim to be) visually sensitive to different materials are fussy and generally can't be pleased. An optician should advise on the appropriate material for the prescription and frame.

....then there are the coatings. I always have anti-reflective because it does make the vision clearer by "darkening" the surface of the lens to reduce reflections. For my last set I allowed my optician to talk me into photochromic but I hated them, firstly because they don't darken inside the car (so a bit pointless) but also because my lenses are frameless and quite small so you end up with a dark patch in front of your eyes and light all around, which is distracting. My wife also said they made me look like an ageing sex pervert!

'It cannot be anything ive told them in error could it?'

I'll just add this - it sounds like you've had a sight test at one practice then bought the specs elsewhere. Although perfectly legal, this is a BAD IDEA, particularly with more complicated lenses like varifocals. Can you imagine being measured up for shoes at one shop then buying them somewhere else? And with varis there are a shed load more variables - you might have been having an off day when your sight was tested, the optometrist might have been having a bad day and not done a very good job, so your prescription wasn't quite right in the first place - doing a limited number of re-tests to check is a standard part of an optometrists working day. Whoever took the measurements to fit the lenses into the selected frame might have got it wrong, the lab may have made them up wrong... Sorting these issues out is all so much easier if you are dealing with just one company or practice.