Many people assume that wearing eyeglasses is a no-brainer! When your prescription changes or you switch to a new lens, questions start popping up! It’s common for newcomers to eyewear to ask their eye doctor a handful of questions when they are told for the first time that they need to wear prescription glasses. More questions arise when prescriptions change and someone goes from wearing only single vision lenses to multifocal glasses. By the time you get around to choosing your new frame and lenses, your optician may be dizzy from the third degree! Wearing eyeglasses should be an easy experience but many people are uninformed about what’s going on with their vision. Here are the answers to the top questions that occur for people who wear eyeglasses.
If my vision is 20/40 in one eye and 20/50 in another – why is my doctor telling me I need glasses? Isn’t this considered good vision?
“Good” vision is subject to personal interpretation and while not wearing eyeglasses won’t harm your vision, wearing prescription eyewear will help you see more clearly. No one should have to walk around with blurry vision and you may not even notice that your vision is a bit blurry. Wearing glasses won’t harm you and you may not need to wear glasses all the time – start off with wearing them when you drive.
My prescription is extremely high (-7.50/-8.25) and I understand that my lenses will likely be thick but is there anything I can do to make them look more attractive?
Opt for the thinnest lens available to you! High index lenses will reduce the thickness of the lens and make them look aesthetically pleasing. Look for a high index lens of 1.67 or 1.74 – it will reduce the bulk of the lens by up to 50 percent. Additionally, you may want to look for a thick-rimmed plastic frame that can mask the rest of the bulkiness.
I have a positive (+) prescription in one eye and a negative (-) prescription in the other – what lens can I use to make them both seem normal? Right now, one of my eyes appears bigger than the other.
The first thing you want to ask your eye doctor or optician is to balance out the thickness of the lens. This is achievable by purchasing aspheric or high index lenses. Due to the way each lens is produced, a positive prescription will yield a lens where the thickness lies in the middle of the lens; and a negative prescription will yield a lens where the thickness lies in the outer rims of the lens. Aspheric lenses (especially high index lenses) will help combat the inequality but you may also want to consider contact lenses as an alternative to wearing glasses.
What’s the difference between getting an anti-glare coating for my lens and opting for polarized lenses?
Anti-reflective coatings will cut out most of the glare and reflections caused by light bouncing off one surface and the off of another when you’re wearing prescription glasses or sunglasses. Polarized lenses act like a set of blinds you hang over your window: they cut out the light from an entire meridian – like the horizontal one. This minimizes the glare in a more effective way than typical anti-reflective coatings that can be used on any eyeglass lens. Unfortunately, it’s hard to find un-tinted polarized lenses because they’re usually made for sunglasses, so opt instead of the anti-glare coating which can be used on any type of lens.