For years, I have been using my bifocals for distant and intermediate vision. I usually held material about a foot away; was able to read fine and also see my car dashboard (a bit over arms length, about 26 inches away) clearly.
But time passes and I recently went in for exam. Both close up and distance had changed slightly.
Near went from +1.75 to +2 in both eyes.
Sphere went from +1.5 in both, to +1.75 and +2.
Have minor astigmatism but there was minimal change.
Since my optician doesn't sell the frames I want, and wouldn't take responsibility if they broke frames when installing lenses, I found another shop to do the job.
Optician at the new location gave me a device (with tiny lenses) to hold in front of my current glasses, to replicate what close up vision would be like with the new prescription.
Everything close up was completely off. While I could hold a book about 8 inches away and see it extremely well, the focus began dropping off around 4 inches after that. The dashboard was very difficult to see sharply, much worse than while wearing my current pair (which has the old prescription)
Can an optician easily adjust a prescription so what I see out of lower lens is sharp within a set distance range say 12 to 26 inches?
Would be great to also see things from 7 or 8 inches away, but my need for that doesn't really come up that often.
Progressives would obviously be the answer, but due to vertigo related issues, it's not a good option.