There have been a few good questions lately about the benefits of online eyeglass purchasing. While it may be attractive from a purely cost-based perspective, there are some important things to know before adding those glasses to your online shopping cart and entering your visa number.
1. The Measurements
Prescription eyeglasses are custom made medical devices. Who is taking the necessary measurements, and how accurate are they? Here’s a primer on some of the data we look at carefully during your eyewear selection and measurement process:
The pupillary distance, (PD) is the distance between the very centers of each of your pupils. It’s impossible to make glasses accurately without this. Depending on the nature of your prescription, we may also need an optical centre height, which is the distance of the centre of your pupils to the bottom rim of the glasses frame ultimately chosen. We also look at the face form tilt, or the curvature of your eyeglass frame as seen from above. Certain prescriptions work well in a higher face form tilt while others need one much lower. The new high-technology digital progressive lenses also require vertex distance (measurement from the back of the lens to the front of your eye) and pantoscopic tilt (amount by which the bottom of your frame tilts inward towards your cheekbones).
Many of our patients look through their glasses every waking hour. The costs of just one critical measurement being off even slightly can result in vision problems, distortion, eyestrain, headaches and poor visual efficiency.
2. The Adjustments
Eyeglasses, by nature, are subject to lots of wear and tear. Are they sitting properly so that the weight is evenly distributed? Sometimes just the right amount of bend in the temples, nosepads or bridge can make all the difference in the world. Make sure these are being done by trained professionals with the right equipment. Certain frames may actually feel good on your face without prescription lenses, then feel totally off once the lenses are added in. A trained optical professional knows when to place the order and adjust for the differences later, or move on to the next frame selection.
3. The Professional Advice
What options are absolutely critical for you to get in your eyewear, and what could you do without? Are you being advised on the right type of anti-glare coating, UV protection, anti scratch, Transitions, polarized or high index? Would an aspheric lens give you better results than a non-aspheric lens? What colour and shape of frame looks the best on you, complements your features, suits your professional attire and (very important) works with your prescription? We use our eyes every single day, the advice of a professional is important when selecting eyeglasses you may be wearing for the next year or two.
4. The Product
If something seems like too good a deal, be careful. All eyewear products are not the same. There have been many changes in lens and frame technology that most people are not aware of, as well as huge differences in factors such as error tolerance during lens grinding, verification processes, anti-glare and anti-scratch quality, presence of aberrations (poor quality images) and safety profiles. Where is the product coming from, who made it, and are they willing to back it up with a no-hassle warranty? As the saying goes, time is money. Packaging an unsatisfactory product and mailing it back repeatedly in hopes of finally getting a favorable outcome can be costly.
5. The Service
Are the people you are dealing with interested in selling as many pairs of glasses to as many people as possible? Or, are they committed to providing their customers with a purchasing experience that is second to none, resulting in eyewear that is comfortable, accurate, looks great and fits their needs perfectly? Your prescription eyewear is a highly customized medical device with complex elements – let us simplify it for you. Our job is to collect all the relevant data and information (including what is most important to you) and provide you with the best eye and vision care solution available.
For an interesting article on this topic from www.allaboutvision.com (which includes a story from a secret shopper who attempted to purchase glasses online)
click here
-Dr. Wilk
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Our optometrist tries Progressives..here’s what he thinks
It finally happened. Maybe I was in a bit of denial, telling myself “it’s really not that bad yet”, but fine print was starting to get harder and harder to see clearly. As so many of my patients have told me, almost overnight it seemed that I was doing the “trombone” thing – moving my arms out further to see up close. OK, maybe not overnight, but definitely within the past year. And lighting – who turned down the lights lately? If I was wearing my contacts in a dim restaurant, I had to hand the menu to my wife (Dr. Michele to most of you) to read it, which really burns me because I am actually a couple months younger. She also told me many times how tired she is of me looking under or over my glasses to see things better up close. So she got me in for an eye exam, and afterwards with a little gleam in her eye said “it’s official, you need progressives!” (I am still wondering why she is getting so much amusement out of this)
Katrina measured me up using our new iTerminal – this technology measures exactly how a frame sits on your face to get subtle dimensions like tilt angles and distances from lens to eye – no more drawing little dots on lenses and using outdated instruments. She analyzed the data and told me that I have a slight head turn to the left during most viewing conditions. I had no idea I had this although we have picked this up on many other patients – this helps us design their lenses with the greatest possible precision. She also adjusted the frames perfectly prior to taking the measurements. I chose an Etnia frame (purple, believe it or not) for my Nikon Seemax Power progressives, and an OGA frame (bit more conservative) for my Zeiss Individual progressives. I added Transitions to both pairs of course for auto-darkening and UV protection. The benefits of the digital lens technology that Nikon and Zeiss pioneered are too numerous to list here, however, I trusted them to deliver me a superior result as I have observed in so many of my patients.
The verdict? The OGAs with the Zeiss lenses came in from the lab first. My first experience upon putting them on – ZERO eyestrain while looking up close, but a hint of distortion off to the side. I did notice that my distance viewing zone was somewhat smaller than what I was used to, and it was a bit difficult to “find the zones” which required me to do some head bobbing to establish clear vision. To say I was completely comfortable with the glasses within the first few days would be a stretch. Night driving was also a little off compared to what I was used to. My optical staff observed that a slight adjustment was needed to the tilt of the frame – once this was done it really helped a lot.
So, as I have advised many of my patients to do, I persisted. After the first week I was driving home from a particularly long and busy day at the office, and I suddenly noticed that the road signs were crystal clear! My brain (the part of me that actually does the “seeing”) had figured out how to interpret the new signals and had adapted. Right around this time I got my Etnias with the Nikon lenses. Totally different frame with a longer “corridor” (the part from where my eye sits to the bottom rim) and even though the lens design was different from the Zeiss lenses, I adapted within about two days.
I now enjoy clarity of vision and top vision performance at all distances with absolutely no distortion. I now also completely understand what all my “40+” friends have been going through. It may take a little longer in some to learn the new way of seeing but the outcome is well worth it. I had a bit of an unfair advantage though – I knew from experience that accurate measurements, superior products and cutting edge technology would deliver the best result (any one of these variables can significantly affect the outcome if not done correctly) . With this winning combination we have the best chance of enjoying the visual experience of life in true HD quality.
Now, if only Dr. Michele needed them too…we’ll see, she’s due for an eye exam soon.
-Dr. W