How to Test Progressive Lenses

Progressive lenses, also called no-line or invisible bifocals, have multiple focal points, allowing you to read and see at many distances, not just far away and up close like regular, traditional bifocals. But the multifocal feature of progressive lenses takes some adjustment. There are specific ways to test and verify your progressive lenses.

Instructions

• 1

  Check the fit of the glasses. Make sure your frame is sitting as close to your face as comfortably possible. This ensures that you are looking through the right part of the lenses.

• 2

  Look into the distance with both eyes open. Don't try to test your lenses with one eye and then the other. Turn your head from side to side slowly as you look across the room, at least 20 feet away. If you are looking through the correct, top, part of the lens, things should appear clear. If you see wavy lines or distortion, then you are catching part of the bifocal and your lenses are sitting too high on your face.

• 3

  Check your reading vision. Hold a page with normal-sized print where you normally read, usually about 14 inches in front of you. The print should be in focus as you look through the very bottom of the lens. Bring your chin up if things do not look clear and check again. Progressives are designed to read straight ahead, so turn your head to read anything that is off to the side in your peripheral vision.

• 4

  Check your intermediate range. The best part of progressive lenses is that you can read and see in the "in-between" places that bifocals do not let you see. This is accomplished through a progression of power from the top of your lens to the bottom. In the middle corridor, also called a channel, the power gets stronger as it goes lower into your reading portion. Test this by reading out at arm's length or looking at your dashboard or computer screen. Tip your head up and down to bring the intermediate vision into focus.

• 5

  Don't worry about the blurry area in your peripheral vision. This is a normal blending of power, and there is always a distorted area to the sides of progressive lenses. Eventually you learn to look around the blur and become oblivious to the distorted portion of a progressive lens.