Clearly Expensive
By pgn
@pgntwo (22408)
Derry, Northern Ireland
April 24, 2016 12:11pm CST
I finally found myself in the position of having to get glasses with varifocal lenses, a necessity after having had an artificial lens implanted in one eye a few weeks ago. The why is a long story, and one I will not dwell upon here.
Now I must acclimate to having both distance and reading glasses, in the same spectacles frame, perched on my nose during every waking moment. Modern optical engineering is truly amazing.
In several decades of glasses wearing, I have seen some expensive optician/optometrist bills - but none to top the price of these eye-opening marvels. What price clarity of vision? I am glad I can see clearly once more, even if one of the first things I have had to read has been the bill...
Varifocal progressive lens technology allows your eyes to look and feel great and for you to also maintain your visual performance for far, near and anywhere...
22 people like this
22 responses
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
24 Apr 16
I wear progressive lenses, have for about 8 years, no problems. Took about a day to get used to the first pair. Expensive, like $500.
5 people like this
@AbbyGreenhill (45494)
• United States
25 Apr 16
@pgntwo We get $25 off an eye exam, that's all the eye care benefits our insure. gives.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
24 Apr 16
Yes, that price sounds about right. No insurance covers glasses here, although there is a tenner a month scheme that help reduce cost of lenses by a about one third, and frames to a lesser extent. Even so, your figure is close to what I have had to pay for the regular clear lenses, installed in a frame I already had.
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
25 Apr 16
Mine too, but once I paid over $700. The frames were titanium, very light and very strong.
1 person likes this
@jaboUK (64354)
• United Kingdom
24 Apr 16
You have to wear them all the time now? I tried bifocals but didn't like them at all - I had to keep angling my head when I was reading. I've got one pair for distance and TV and anothet for computer and reading.
I hope you get your money's worth out of yours.
5 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137602)
• United States
28 Apr 16
@pgiblett Wait! Do you mean that wasn't a joke? You can really get contacts that are varifocal?
I have no problem wearing contacts or glasses, but I much prefer contacts! (I look like a geek, no matter what the glasses look like, so I prefer to look like a geek wearing contacts!)
2 people like this
@norcal (4889)
• Franklinton, North Carolina
24 Apr 16
I got my "progressive" lens glasses at Costco. It was a pretty good deal, and they are the best glasses I have ever had. I am actually happy to be able to wear my glasses all the time instead of constantly taking them on and off.
3 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
24 Apr 16
@norcal Oh, Costco have an in-store optometrist service, wow! I thought you meant the glasses with set lenses in them that some stores sell, so you can get "good enough" lenses rather than ones that exactly match your needs. Cool!
2 people like this
@DaddyEvil (137602)
• United States
2 May 16
I can read just fine, @RussTeed . I need my glasses/contacts when I drive. Of course, there are "reading glasses" scattered here at home and a few pair kept in different spots at work... LOL! Either way, there are glasses everywhere!
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
25 Apr 16
It is necessary to get used to them. I found them very helpful as a teacher. I had to read what was in the book in my hand, but also had to see the students at the back of the room. With the varifocal lenses, everything is in focus whether near or far. But, it was a pain to adjust.
2 people like this
@Asylum (47893)
• Manchester, England
25 Apr 16
@ElizabethWallace Bifocals serve the purpose and were easy enough to wear because I instinctively look down to read and up to look forward. Varifocal have gradual lens changes, which I found to be quite strange.
2 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 Apr 16
If I were still interested in seeing the world clearly, I would probably want the progressive lenses. I never would have gone for the old-fashioned bifocals. I just gave up worrying about seeing anything far away, and without the correction for near-sightedness, the problem with the far-sightedness goes away. I keep my world close, and require no correction. 
2 people like this
@Rollo1 (16679)
• Boston, Massachusetts
25 Apr 16
@pgntwo In the office, when I wore contacts to correct the near-sightedness, I would just put on a pair of magnifying glasses from the dollar store when I wanted to read any fine print, etc. When I was out of contacts, I used to put my magnifying glasses on over my regular glasses and wear two pair of glasses at once. I remember a couple of weeks when I didn't even have regular glasses and wore prescription sunglasses and a pair of dollar store magnifying glasses over them in the office. I know people thought I was odd. I guess I was odd - am odd, actually. You know, it's about what you want to see and how badly you need to see it.
2 people like this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
25 Apr 16
@Rollo1 I want to see as much as I can, very badly... 
I can see how two pairs of glasses, or contacts and regular magnifiers, would work. I never got into contacts, though. I bet you got a few odd looks, but like you say, it depends on what you want to see, and how badly you need to see it! 
I can see how two pairs of glasses, or contacts and regular magnifiers, would work. I never got into contacts, though. I bet you got a few odd looks, but like you say, it depends on what you want to see, and how badly you need to see it! 1 person likes this
@rebelann (112977)
• El Paso, Texas
5 May 16
I have amblyopia, had it since birth, and have worn glasses since I was 2. When they first came out with these I bought a pair ($600 for the whole shebang) and found out that my lazy eye would go directly to the most magnified part of the lens ..... dang, what a headache I got in that eye, the worst part is they wouldn't give me the money back 
1 person likes this
@rebelann (112977)
• El Paso, Texas
6 May 16
It's a shame too @pgntwo and whats worse is those eye doctors that dispense the eyeglass prescriptions don't always care if the patient doesn't get what's needed to correct their vision.
I am grateful I wasn't born in the 13th century tho.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
6 May 16
@rebelann I agree about the 13th century, scary thought. It has only been in the last year I have appreciated the difference between opticians or optometrists and ophthalmologists. Sad I had to learn the hard way, but things are stable now and glasses are doing the job, for the most part.
1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137602)
• United States
25 Apr 16
Hmmm... Sorry you got a bill like that, but very happy you can see clearly with your new glasses, pgn! (You really didn't NEED that new car, anyway, right? You can make your 30 year old car last a few more decades, right? )
)1 person likes this
@DaddyEvil (137602)
• United States
28 Apr 16
@pgntwo Hmmm... well, that depends on whether you are going to be the passenger in the old car when it gives up the ghost and you and your wife have to walk the last twenty miles home... will SHE be happy about that, do you think? (teasing you!)
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
28 Apr 16
@DaddyEvil Now there's a thought... Chief Cook, Bottlewasher and Chauffeuse, or whatever a lady chauffeur is called.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
25 Apr 16
Oh, and I had to get sunglasses too, and to add a polarized coating adds about $50 per lens. They will have the same prescription as my normal glasses, but with an 85% grey tint, for outdoors and daytime driving. The sunglasses are a thicker plastic, as they are in a plastic frame, so are about half the price of the clear lenses, before I asked for them to be polarizing... 
1 person likes this
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
25 Apr 16
I have had this variety for decades. They are expensive, but necessary. Be careful on stairs, especially walking down. Objects are not really exactly where you see them. When I had my first pair, I hurt my hand reaching for the glass door of the shower. Boink. Ouch. For ages, I took them off when walking downstairs. Now I don't, but I do hold onto the rail.
1 person likes this
@pgntwo (22408)
• Derry, Northern Ireland
25 Apr 16
@ElizabethWallace Ah, double whammy. In my case, just the glasses drive me to hold onto the handrail. Being 6'2" makes the ground seem a long way away. And a fall/impact would risk putting me back where I started this whole shenannigans, a detached retina.
@ElizabethWallace (12074)
• United States
25 Apr 16
@pgntwo My right knee is not stable, so handrails are my friend for this reason and not just the glasses.
1 person likes this
@arthurchappell (44998)
• Preston, England
27 Apr 16
mine are varifocals too and I quite like them
1 person likes this
@Dragonairy1 (1722)
• Newcastle Upon Tyne, England
24 Apr 16
My husband has to wear them now, and they are expensive.
1 person likes this
@garymarsh6 (23404)
• United Kingdom
7 May 16
I found varifocals easy to use and adapted to them quite easily. As you rightly say the price is quite shocking. £400+ they are not cheap but they are well used. I need them more for reading than for distance as I had lenses implanted after the removal of cataracts last year and have 'never looked back so to speak'.
1 person likes this
@Missmwngi (12915)
• Nairobi, Kenya
6 May 16
A bill ha haa lol
Hope you have been able to see a lot of smiles as well
1 person likes this
