Eye tests

Raymond Lin said:
I know 2 people who had it done in their 20's, both are now back wearing glasses, albeit lower index than before.

I have considered it too, but I don't mind it. I can see the benefits but the downside doesn't bother me.
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My missus had it done a year or so after me and wears glasses again now. Although, she was a worse prescription than me to start with and is now only about -0.5 so she doesn't have to have milk bottle glasses and has a lot more flexibility in frame styles.
 
Street said:
going swimming and not having to wear glasses. I also do a lot of outdoor sports and not having to faff with glasses is a huge improvement.
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swimming with prescription goggles is not too bad - but agree any multi-day outdoor stuff, for safety, you need to think of having a spare pair..
I though plastics with high refractive index had resolved thick glasses issue - maybe you get aberration.

Bassmansam said:
Thats why i wouldn't buy glasses online with a prescription like mine. The pupil distance is too important to get wrong but i really don't like paying out £500 for glasses especially if its only a small improvement in vision..
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hadn't really thought before but pupil distance doesn't change - it's not frame specific either . so, either existing prescriptions
or, you can more easily take good photos with mobile phones yourself too, to help.
jpaul said:
Anyone who has used specsavers , how extensive is their fitting process ?

looked back at the last 'fitting' I had which measures a lot of stuff to ensure varifocal lense is positioned correctly for frame. (eye glass distance ....)
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I have a condition called Keratoconus- corneas are coned shaped so affects vision. Most of the the KC wear contacts which I can’t get on at it all. Tried and failed. Also having one ear lower than the other means the poor optical assistant has to spend ages adjusting the arms.

This why I don’t want to use online opticians.
 
Bassmansam said:
Hi all

I have my 2 year eye test appointment on Saturday and i was thinking if my eyes have got worse but I can get around fine in my current glasses, do I really need to pay £500-ish for a new pair of glasses to see slightly better?
My prescription is -5 and -7 so new glasses are quite expensive and it just seems that opticians just herd you to the salesman after the testand pressure you into buying a new pair. Is it really necessary if for example my prescription changes by less than 1 diopter. Surely if it had changed by more than that I would be struggling generally i would think.

tldr: is it bad to wear glasses that are understrength?
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You don't "need" to purchase new specs but its highly recommended and if you're driving its essential - but you ought to have a regular eye test as they also test for medical conditions like glaucoma etc
 
That’s a good point, by having my eye test every 2 years I am also getting a health check on my eyes, which itself can pick up early signs diabetes and other illnesses. If my vision is fine I will likely not bother, which may not be a problem but it’s a piece of mind nevertheless.
 
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Bassmansam said:
I go to an independant opticians, it is £50 for the test but they are very thorough so i don't mind paying that. If i can get the glasses cheaper elsewhere like specsavers though i will certainly look into that. Thanks for info, there must be a huge mark up if specsavers can do it for much less!
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Do your independents offer the OCT tomography scan for eye health inc glaucoma? I had this last time at Specsavers and it's well worth it.

Raymond Lin said:
I don't find the optometrist in my store to be less thorough than Vision Express, they do the same tests, in fact it's been updated now on LCD monitor and also the usual puff test for the eye ball, the scan to the back of the eye. There is some kind of graph/chart that compares eyeball/blood vessels to the population to check if you are within range for your age group. All kind of stuff.
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They seem pretty advanced / current in tech.

Bassmansam said:
I would never do that. Have read far too many horror stories about it. Some people are happy to take that risk but not me!

What do you mean improvement in quality of life? I can see fine in glasses, they aren't a big deal to me. Been wearing them since i was about 10(32 now).
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If having laser eye surgery then there is only one sensible option being the London Vision Clinic. There is a reason it costs more.

I had a work colleague go elsewhere due to a cheap offer, had issues and ended up at the LVC for remedial and corrective treatment.
 
Raymond Lin said:
Pupil distance is important, it is where it align to your eyes. They do this too at all high street opticians. It’s quite hard to measure this yourself.

After you get the eye test done and tried on the frames, they asked me to put it on and then they measured it and marked it on the lens itself from off the shelf.

It’s useful because I used the same information and bought lenses for my Oculus Quest, so I can play VR without glasses.
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This is very good advice. And the Oculus Quest is the reason I now use to get my PD because they don't like giving it out. They will say it is normally at the dispensing stage they do it so will try not to provide it until you purchase a pair but every person doing the eye test can measure you. With a bit of bravado, some sweet talking and a story of Oculus Quest lenses (which obviously the optician can't provide and don't have a competing product for) I've convinced 80% of my eye testers to measure my PD. You only really need one to do it because it doesn't change as radically as your prescription does. Mine hasn't at all in the last 12 years.

I'm even cheaper than most. I've tried lots of online opticians and found one whose products I'm comfortable with quality wise that never cost me more than £50 a pair even after lens coatings and things - and they often have BOGOF type offers. I've got dozens of pairs and kind of like mixing up different colour frames and styles from time to time for fun. The lenses are OK, nowhere near as anti reflective as some more expensive options I've had in the past from independent high street opticians even when specced as anti-reflective, but for me it's OK. Price goes up an awful lot if you need vari-focals.

edit: Also to add to the good practice as a regular check up, it was the high street optician who picked up signs of my retinopathy that led to my eventual diabetes diagnosis. I was presenting no other symptoms. As a result went for an hb1ac blood test at the GP and it was caught nice and early and thus more manageable. Now I'm entitled to a proper full on eye hospital examination once a year for free!
 
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Scrutinize said:
Do your independents offer the OCT tomography scan for eye health inc glaucoma? I had this last time at Specsavers and it's well worth it.



If having laser eye surgery then there is only one sensible option being the London Vision Clinic. There is a reason it costs more.

I had a work colleague go elsewhere due to a cheap offer, had issues and ended up at the LVC for remedial and corrective treatment.
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Happy enough in glasses, but yes I have heard good things about LVC.
 
I've worn glasses since I was young (I blame being too close to the tv in the days gamers mostly used their tv).

I think my eyes only got worse once. On my last check, which was about 15 years after the previous one, my eyes hadn't changed.
 
Was up at the hospital last week for the latest round of tests. Thankfully my eyesight isn't getting any worse but the keratokonus in my right eye has become a bit more pronounced, so they have recommended a crosslinking procedure. Apparently they drop in some anaesthetic drops, strip the outer layer away with an alcohol swab and then apply in some B12 drops before hitting it with 13 minutes of UV light. The UV causes the B12 to react and harden which should stop any more progression.
 
£500 is varifocal terrain too -
if you're using a computer and need far distance correction too, aren't varifocals the easiest option, avoiding multiple pairs of glasses.
 
The last time I had an eye test, I was advised to try varifocal glasses, although they did say it was up to my own personal preference. I thought I'd get away with regular glasses and I do for close-up work. But not too good for computer use, which is what I really wanted. But the cost of varifocal glasses put me off, being in excess of around £250. :(

I think it's rubbish that we have to put such prices for our health. It's almost verging on profiteering, just as vets practically pray on an owner's love for their pet.
 
jpaul said:
£500 is varifocal terrain too -
if you're using a computer and need far distance correction too, aren't varifocals the easiest option, avoiding multiple pairs of glasses.
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It depends. I went for varifocals last time and they were useless. I found out afterwards that in some people a combination of a high refractive index lens and enough astigmatism in the eyes blurs peripheral vision enough to be a major drawback...and I'm one of those people. So I went back to two pairs and with a lower refractive index.

Also, some people just don't get used to varifocals. They're not necessarily better than multiple pairs. Different, but not necessarily better. Not for everyone, anyway. They're great for some people. I might give them another go (with lower refractive index lenses) next time.

darael said:
The last time I had an eye test, I was advised to try varifocal glasses, although they did say it was up to my own personal preference. I thought I'd get away with regular glasses and I do for close-up work. But not too good for computer use, which is what I really wanted. But the cost of varifocal glasses put me off, being in excess of around £250. :(

I think it's rubbish that we have to put such prices for our health. It's almost verging on profiteering, just as vets practically pray on an owner's love for their pet.
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I'd love to pay as little as £250 for my glasses. They can charge me as much as they like and I'll pay it. My natural eyesight is bad enough to be classed as functionally blind, so I'll pay graphics card money for glasses if necessary. IIRC my current ones were £430, with the cheapest frame in the shop. But they replaced the lenses with lower refractive index ones for free, they fitted and refitted them until they were just right and they did a slew of health checks and referred me to an eye specialist at a hospital because they weren't entirely happy with the health check results. So probably worth the money.

You might find three lenses are the best fit - one for close up, one for short distance (e.g. computer use) and one for longer distance. Varifocals can provide that in one pair of glasses, but you need to be looking through the right part of the lens. They're not a perfect solution. There isn't a perfect solution.
 
I have just been to specsavers for my 2 year test fortunately not much change despite being in front of a screen for like hmm 38 years ish So yay for me.
I do want different frames as reading cooking cooking instructions and the detail on motherboards is a bit hmm.
I paid 99 queens english bucks ??

I found specsavers really cool I have never used glasses much is just really for small print or long term coding things.
The girl was great and spent a lot of time with me choosing frames. - To be fair I would have picked the first one I looked at!
But she told me no is not too good on your nose, is not on your cheeks, is too wide too thin, etc
 
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