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Glasses! I am new to eyewear. Help.
spookymuffin
( ° ʖ ° )Puyallup WA Registered User regular
( ° ʖ ° )Puyallup WA Registered User regular
So after years of video games and internetting, I have damaged my eyes to the point where I need corrective lenses. Shopping around in stores and online for glasses reveals this might be a very costly new aspect of my life. Onine seems cheaper, but of course, lacks the ability to try them on and make sure they fit my face. I've been screwing around on a few sites but not actually pulled the trigger and ordered a pair. Share with me your tips and suggestions, as well as any praise or horror stories for online ordering.
PSN: MegaSpooky // 3DS: 3797-6276-7138
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
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Ask your optometrist if you can get contact lenses. They are awesome, but they usually require more effort and planning than glasses.
I would not order frames online, having frames that fit comfortably is a thousand times more important than finding the ones that look just a little bit cooler. You are going to wear these every day, you want to be able to forget you're even wearing them. Especially if you've never worn glasses before you want light frames with smaller lenses so they aren't too thick. I've tried to put up with frames I didn't think fit perfectly because I thought they looked cooler, and a few weeks later took them back and got different ones.
I have small calluses on the bridge of my nose where the pads rest and if you don't have those I imagine you might get slightly irritated there at first. So watch out for that. I can't remember how that worked for me, I was four years old when I got mine.
Get the lightest, thinnest lenses money can buy and get the anti-glare coating; it starts to chip off after a while but I get about 2 years out of a set of lenses, which is about how long it takes my eyes to get half a diopter worse anyway. Then again I have -10.0 vision, maybe you can get by with other options.
If your prescription doesn't change much, when you get new lenses keep the old pair stashed somewhere as a backup. You never know. Even if you're half a diopter off your last prescription, a day suffering with that while you get new ones is better than a day where you can't see shit.
The nice thing about asking for advice on glasses is that a lot of us have had to put up with them every day of our lives for decades, so you can get help from a lot of people.
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
that doesn't mean you cannot buy the wrong frames, but if you go browsing and can't find anything that fits just right, don't worry, because I have never found that either
One thing to note: when you get your sexy new frames, don't ditch your military-issue birth-control goggles. Even if you never lose/break your new ones, you're eventually going to need to get a new set of lenses when your prescription changes or they get scratched, at which point you'll be glasses-less for up to like a week while the frames are off getting fitted with the new lenses.
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
Buh? Did you have a choice? I have a very light weight pair that I chose from a dozen or so options when my left eye started getting bad.
I have Astigmatisms in both eyes and wear contacts just fine. Like Esh said, you just get special kinds (mine are kind of football shaped). I haven't had any issues.
The only big issue with them is if they turn you can't see anything until you get them straight again. Personally, I hate contacts because I don't want to poke myself in the eye every morning.
Buy glasses online and save moniez, or go to a place like Visionworks that does buy one get one free or 50% off sales.
Here were my steps:
1) Looked up what to do online
2) Set up and went to a Costco eye appointment
3) I got my prescription (but forgot to ask for my Pupillary Distance, doh!)
4) Measured my PD in the mirror, along with head size and how wide I'd want the lense to be
5) Bought two pairs of eyeglasses from eyebuydirect (It was buy one get one free) for $50
6) Everything worked great
The glasses I got from them are the best I've ever worn. They were cheaper than any other glasses I've ever bought, even after I sprung for the superlight glass and titanium frames. They weigh nothing, look great, and feel great. (The free pair was a pair of black hipster glasses I got with a sale, mostly as a joke). Oh, and they came faster than expected, and came in a really neat hard-case with a magnetic snap.
I would heartily recommend purchasing online. I'm planning on getting a pair of prescription sunglasses for this summer and I'll be buying online for them too.
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
it (for me anyway) is about twice as expensive as the rest of your glasses, but you'll want it.
I know I had a similar issue, while I can get contacts the astigmatism in my left eye is such that they would be a huge pain in the ass to wear and fit apparently.
I recommend you get some vision insurance and then get some really nice frames and lenses. They'll be on your face enough that if you spring for a nice pair of glasses you may not have to re-purchase them for several years. My current glasses are 4+ years old, and they're still in good condition. Ant-Glare and Transition are a must to me now, on my first pair I didn't bother but now having had them, I think it's really really worth it.
Wii U NNID: MegaSpooky
In my younger years I often got the cheapest frames available that still looked ok to me and you get what you pay for.
Often cheap frames will bend easily, fatigue of the material will occur and after a couple of years they will fall apart.
My advice is to go to an established local optician if you can afford it. My current glasses are the most expensive I ever had(still got them a bit cheaper as last years model), the frame alone was around 200 € at reduced cost, but they are awesome and far better than anything else I had.
Going local also has the benefit that the optician will make sure the glasses fit and you can go there to get the glasses fixed if something breaks(oftentimes for free or a very marginal amount in my experience) and they will get your glasses back in shape if the frame got bend out of shape due to whatever clumsiness happened.
And this will probably happen, especially if you are new to glasses.
first of all. playing video games and internet tv's ect did not dammage your eyes. anyone that tells you this simply has no idear what they are talking about.
shopping online riddle with desaster. i have seen so meny people ripped off. not getting the lenses thay payed for or not getting lenses made up to exactly the right prescription. and haveing noware to go.
now a proper optican will be more expenceive, but you are paying for expert. a good independant optican will talk you threw diffrent lens brands, advatages disadvatages. take into account your lifestale. then talk coatings etc. a lens isnt just a bit of clear plastic. also all of the mesuerments the web site tell you are easy to take. are inface very very imporatant and realy need to be taken by someone who knows what they are doing. and thats evan before you get to picking a frame. and haveing a bricks and morter store you can go back for free adjustments and fittings as much as you need.
Any good optometrist will give you your Rx with the major measurements (bridge, width, etc) on it anyway. I've never ordered online (I have good vision insurance so I wouldn't save anything anyway), but it isn't out of any great love for the optometrists I've had.
Don't skimp on lenses, just don't. If you have anything approaching a 'serious' prescription, dole out for the high index lenses. They are expensive, and insurance doesn't like to cover a lot of it, but they are amazingly light. If your prescription is more moderate, you can go with a regular polycarbonite, but don't go with plastic unless you have no choice. If you are going to be wearing these all day, you want them to be as comfortable as possible. The lighter the lens, the more comfortable it will be on your face.
Don't skimp on frames either, but you don't have to buy the super fancy brand name ones. Just buy a nice solid pair that you like the look of. The flexy metal ones (of various brand names) can be nice if you find that you are very rough with your glasses.
Now I still have trouble when i get new glasses...some people will just slap on a pair and be happy but I've always been very specific about my needs. I need to be able to read from pretty long distances, and retain a rather sharp focus without straining since i wear them all the time.
A few things ive learned about having astigmatism.
I cant wear polycarbonate lenses. I dont need glass, but the material covered by most cheap insurance policies does not work for me. it makes my vision very swimmy and unbearable. I've had to move up to the heavier/thicker plastic lenses everytime ive tried it.
Do NOT be satisfied by 'good enough'. Give yourself 2 days with the new lenses, if the still feel swimmy after that time, Do not be afraid to bring your lenses back and have the company remake them as many times as you need to. usually after one remake if the same problem remains its due to your eyes having problems with the material used in the lenses . They will not recharge you for this.
I've avoided contacts mostly because i really dont like to touch my eyes, but feel free to see if they work for you.