Progressive Lens Wearer Discovers She Has Been Using the Wrong Zone for Everything for Six Months

First-time progressive lens wearer Donna Multifocal has spent the past six months using every zone of her new lenses for the wrong purpose, a revelation that emerged during a follow-up appointment when she mentioned that 'reading requires tipping my head completely back and driving requires tucking my chin to my chest.' 'She had it exactly reversed,' said dispensing optician Janet Fitting. 'The distance zone is at the top, the near zone is at the bottom, and the intermediate corridor connects them. Donna was reading through the top, driving through the bottom, and descending staircases through the narrow corridor while tilting her head sideways. It's like she was solving a puzzle nobody asked her to solve.' Multifocal, 52, who transitioned from single-vision distance glasses to progressives in January, reported that she had adapted to the lenses 'eventually' through a series of compensatory head movements that her physical therapist had been treating as a neck injury. 'My chiropractor was thrilled,' she said. 'I was seeing him three times a week for what he diagnosed as cervical strain. Turns out I was just reading at a 45-degree head tilt for half a year.' The confusion originated during dispensing, when Multifocal admits she 'wasn't really listening' to the optician's explanation of progressive lens zones because she was 'trying to read the receipt, which was blurry because she was looking through the wrong part of the lens.' 'I gave her the full progressive tutorial,' Fitting confirmed. 'Point your nose at what you want to see. Drop your eyes for reading. Chin level for distance. She nodded the whole time. She retained none of it.' Since receiving proper instruction, Multifocal reports that her progressive lenses are 'actually amazing' and that the world 'looks completely different when you use them correctly.' Her chiropractor appointments have been reduced to once monthly. 'I do miss the extra attention,' she admitted.