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| Image by bravissimos on Adobe Stock |
The process of getting glasses has changed a bit over the course of my lifetime. When I was younger, the doctor had to put drops in my eyes to dilate them, in order to be able to look into my eyes easier. After the exam was done, I had to wear sunglasses for a while because they were sensitive to light while the dilation was wearing off. While people still do this sometimes, I much prefer the Optomap that they do now. You put your eye up to a fancy camera, and it takes pictures. I also like this because I can then see the inside of my eye on the computer screen as well. It's a more educational experience, as the ophthalmologist can point out parts of my eye, as well as indicate any issues. I find that fascinating, and I like to ask them to send me the pictures. (I call it my super extreme closeup.) The Optomap costs extra, but it's worth it for me, particularly because then I'm not super-sensitive to light for the next while. I've never particularly been a fan of the part of the exam where they puff a burst of air in the eye to test the pressure, though. While painless, it's a weird feeling.
In a different part of the office, you sit on a chair, cover one eye, and read from an eye chart on the wall. Then you do the same with the other eye. Then they pull out the phoropter. It looks like this, or some variation on it:
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| Image by ijeab on Adobe Stock |
You look through the eye holes, which have panes of glass in them that the doctor can change. They look a bit like magnifying glasses in there. They then have you look at the eye chart and compare two thicknesses of glass... "Can you see better with 1...or 2? 1...or 2?" After going through these and trying different ones, they can tell your prescription. That part hasn't changed much at all in my experience.
There is of course more to the eye exam than that, but those are the highlights. This site has good descriptions and pictures of the common equipment, if you'd like to learn more.
Once that is done, they can give you a printout of your prescription, though you sometimes have to ask for it if you want it.
Then you get to select frames (I love this part). Once you've picked out your frames, the optician (in the front office) has you put them on and look straight forward, and marks the temporary lenses where the centers of your pupils are. This tells the pupillary distance (PD), which is important for the people adding the lenses. (If you order frames online, you need the PD, and you usually have to ask for it. There are other ways of measuring it if you aren't picking frames in the shop.)
I went into changing frame styles over my lifetime in my post about what the cool kids wore.
Anatomy of Glasses (some of these may seem obvious, but people may find this useful):
- Lenses. These are the clear (or sometimes tinted) panes that have the prescription. The rest of the glasses are there to hold these in place in front of your eyes.
- Frames. These go around the lenses to hold them in place. They are basically everything that is not lenses. They can be made of any number of materials, such as various metals (such as titanium) or plastic. The frames have several parts:
- Rims. These are the part of the frames that go around the lenses. There are also half-rim (also called semi-rimless) glasses, which have a rim around the top and a fishing-line-type cord made of nylon around the bottom to give the illusion of no bottom rim. (Occasionally, mainly in some readers, this is switched and the rim is around the bottom and the fishing line on top.) They also have rimless glasses, which don't have rims, but they drill holes in the sides of the lenses to attach the rest of the frame.
- Bridge. This is the bar (or sometimes bars) between the lenses that holds the sides together. It goes over the top of your nose.
- Temples. Also called stems or arms, these are the two bars that go from the sides of your glasses back over the temples of your face, and rest over your ears.
- Temple Tips. These are at the end of the temples to provide padding for the ears. They can be varying shapes, from straight back, to bent down a bit, to a half circle that wraps around the ears. (That latter one isn't very common any more in my observation.) If you wear headphones, I find it's best to have the ones that go straight back as there's less touching the ears that the headphones could squeeze.
- Nosepads. These are small gizmos that provide padding for the nose. Depending on the material of the frames, they look different between frames.
Over the centuries, there have been multiple kinds of eyewear:
- Monocle. This was a round frame with a lens that people could either hold over their eye, or scrunch their cheek and brow muscles to hold it in place. It only went over one eye.
- Lorgnette. This was a pair of glasses without temples/stems that people had to hold over their eyes. It often had an extra bit to hold so you didn't have to get fingerprints on the lenses.
- Pince-nez. Literally translated "pinch nose," this was similar to a lorgnette in that it didn't have temples, but you didn't have to hold it because it clamped to the nose.
- Glasses. For lack of a better term, as most of these could be classified glasses, this is what we normally think of as glasses. They have temples so they can rest on the ears.
- Bifocals and Progressive. Bifocals were invented by Benjamin Franklin and provided an option for both far vision and close-up vision in one lens. They had a line down the middle that marked sections. More recently, they have developed progressive lenses, which serve the same purpose, but eliminate the line. (I just got my first pair of progressive lenses a couple weeks ago. It is a bit of an adjustment, but not as bad as I was expecting. The biggest adjustment for me has been getting used to looking through the right part of the lens for what I'm doing.) Some people need trifocals, which add another level of complexity.
- Reading Glasses. Also known as readers, these have magnification rather than prescriptions. They generally sell them in drugstores, and they can be helpful for people who don't necessarily need a prescription, but do need to have their text magnified a bit. They are only used for reading or other close-up stuff, as they don't work for distance.
- Blue-light Glasses. These look like regular glasses, but have a film over the lenses to filter out harmful blue light from screens and other sources. (This includes computers, cell phones, tablets and more. I think many mistakenly think they're only for computer use.) This is a fairly recent development. Depending on the strength of the filter, it can look different from regular glasses, though. The strongest filter has an amber tint. The kind I prefer is clear, but has a bluish sheen if you look at it from certain angles. The past few years I have made sure my glasses have a blue light filter, but they are also available in non-prescription glasses, which I recommend even for people who don't normally wear glasses. They are most commonly worn when using screens, but as the biggest source of blue light is the sun, I think it's a good idea to wear them all the time, even if they are non-prescription (unless of course you have a blue light filter on your readers).
- Sunglasses. Some people call these glasses, and while they are a kind of glasses, I don't feel they count. They are very useful, though, and I feel everyone should have a pair. For people who wear regular glasses, there are several options. There are some that attach magnetically to glasses. Some clip on the glasses. Some are larger and fit over glasses. Transitions lenses are clear when you are inside and turn dark when you go outside. (While I like the concept of Transitions, I wish they had a way of turning the sunglasses off when you want to take pictures outside and sunglasses seem odd.)
- Smart Glasses. These have been developing in recent years and have various capabilities, depending on the brand. Some have earphones built into the temples and can play music. Some can take pictures. Some can count steps and do many of the things a cell phone can. There has been some controversy around these, and while I'm excited about the possibilities, I'm waiting for further development before getting some.
- Contacts. These are small lenses that fit in the eyes. I'm not a fan of the idea of putting something in my eyes, but they do have some advantages. For me, it isn't worth the eyedrops, keeping track of them, the risk of them shifting back in the eyes (I've heard horror stories, though I don't think this is common), and more. But that's just my opinion.
- LASIK. While not eyewear, this replaces eyewear. It is an operation where doctors use lasers to correct some vision problems. It doesn't work for everyone, and depending on your age and other factors, may or may not hold for long. For people who are good candidates, it works great. It is a bit expensive, though. In some cases, it is necessary to prevent blindness due to injuries.
- Sports Glasses. These are specifically made for people who are into sports. They are more durable than normal glasses, and often have better padding. (Speaking from experience, I don't recommend wearing regular glasses while playing basketball, because the ball hitting them is a painful experience, but I think sports glasses take that kind of thing into account.)
- Doggles. These are also a fairly new development, but now they have glasses specially designed for dogs with vision problems!
- Safety Glasses. These are generally used for industrial work, and anything where you need to protect your eyes from being hit by flying objects. They also have versions that fit over regular glasses.
- Goggles. These protect the eyes when diving, and for various other purposes.
- I'm sure there have been others, but those are the ones that come to mind.
