Troubleshooting & Best Practices

Progressive Troubleshooting

Use this guide as the standard office workflow for progressive complaints before requesting a remake.

Symptoms

Distance, intermediate, or near is blurry in only one area of the lens.
Patient reports narrow reading, distorted sides, stairs feel unsafe, or computer work is uncomfortable.
Patient says the new progressive is worse than an older pair.
Patient can see clearly only by moving the frame or changing head posture.

Frame adjustment or fit changed between measurement, order, and dispense.
The selected design does not match the patient’s dominant task or frame size.
Measurements are technically plausible but not matched to the actual wearing position.
Rx, add power, prism, anisometropia, or material change increased adaptation demand.
The patient was not coached on progressive use or adaptation expectations.

Start with frame adjustment: level, face-form, pantoscopic tilt, vertex, nose-pad placement, and temple fit.
Verify lens markings and compare ordered measurements to the current wearing position.
Neutralize the lenses and confirm Rx, add, prism, material, and design ordered.
Ask the patient to identify the failed task and demonstrate posture in the office.
Compare against prior eyewear and note frame size, design, corridor, material, and fitting-height differences.
Decide whether the solution is adjustment, education, design change, occupational lens, measurement correction, or lab review.

Contact the lab after completing fit, measurement, Rx, and task-use checks.
Provide order number, exact complaint, failed task distance, verified measurements, frame dimensions, prior-pair comparison, and requested outcome.
Ask for design guidance before remaking into the same issue when the patient’s work pattern suggests another design.

Build a repeatable progressive complaint checklist and use it before every remake request.
Fit the frame first, measure second, and troubleshoot in that order.
Use occupational designs for long computer or desk work instead of forcing a general progressive to solve every task.
Write remake notes that describe the patient’s real-world problem, not just “cannot adapt.”