prescription eyeglasses

[Bestwifeever]

I'm not a Costco member (as a retired single I don't buy enough to justify a membership). I recall hearing that some products can be purchased at Costco by non-members.

Does anyone know if glasses/optical services fall into the "able to be purchased by non-members" category?

omni

The optometrist is independent and you can use his or her services without being a Costco member. You cannot buy glasses or contacts at Costco without being a member, however. I believe the same is true for the audiologist (no membership required) and the hearing aids (membership required).

 

[Jeffman52]

PD is really important. It can be the difference between satisfaction with your glasses and annoyance with them. While most of the time they go with the distance between pupils, some use separate right and left measurements, starting at the center line of your nose. Makes a difference with some people, not with others.

"

QFT - If the PD isn't correct you are looking out of the wrong part of the prescription and that can have a horrible impact on your vision as well as give you headaches. I've only had one pair where the PD isnt correct and I took them back and had them re-done.

For me though, I work for a very large Eyewear company so I get free glasses every year with whatever I want on them. Anti scratch, yep, anti glare...yep, progressives....yep.... I get all of the bells and whistles. Cost would normally be $800 or more... free. But when I retire, I lose that benefit so I will either get my vision fixed or find a lower cost eyewear company to order from.

 

[omni550]

Need help with booster glasses Rx question

I've been wearing rigid contacts for 47 years with great corrected (mono)vision.

I noticed that when doing my 19-hour cannonball run to/from Michigan-Florida, after a long day of driving, driving after dark was getting to be a strain on my tired eyes. Years ago, I spoke with my optometrist about this "tired eyes straining after dark" issue and she prescribed 'booster' glasses that I can wear while wearing my contact lenses. Basically, they give me corrected stereoscopic vision (seeing distance with both eyes). And they help a lot.

I am wanting to order another set of these 'booster glasses' and would prefer to get them from Zenni or elsewhere online to save $$, especially since I only use them a few times a year.

I've had the booster glasses for ~10 years and the Rx is no longer in the system at the optician's office. Last week I had an eye exam and while there, I asked the tech if she could tell me the Rx of the driving booster glasses. She put them in some sort of measuring instrument and gave me the "Sphere" reading for each lens (Right -2.25 and Left -0.25) which she also entered in my file.

My question is --- does anyone here know --would "booster" glasses also need to have specific cyl, axis, and add measurements like typical eyeglasses have? OR would all 3 of those values simply be set to "0" (as I'm only ever using them for distance vision while driving after dark)?
I have copies of the last few old Rx's for my "everyday" glasses (which were purchased for back-up and have never been worn as my contacts work so well) so I know what the cyl, axis, and add values were. I have some astigmatism and the last few Rxs for glasses also were basically (progressive) bifocals. too.

--

As a bonus puzzlement, I glanced at some of the printout that the tech had (I think it came off the piece of measuring equipment that sort of pre-measures your vision correction (you stare into a scope with each eye at picture of a hot air ballon in the distance while it focuses/unfocuses and somehow measures your uncorrected vision) and it showed PD=63! However, this is a bit different than the PD of 67 that I measured myself by putting pinholes in a strip of paper until I could see out of both pinholes. Hmmmm.

omni

 

[LOL!]

Just saw this thread. I had an eye exam this week. I had lost my glasses while traveling and am using an old pair of clear lenses with a frame from a pair of prescription sunglasses that I ordered off the internet years ago.

My prescription did not change since 3 years ago. The optometrist wrote: "Make lenses exactly as before. No changes whatsoever."

My internet sunglasses were in identical frames as my regular glasses, were progressive lenses, polarized, extra dark, etc. I measured the PD myself back then. The frames of my regular glasses were purchased about 8 years ago and discontinued shortly thereafter which is one reason I ordered off the internet because places in Hong Kong and India still had the discontinued frames available. My internet sunglasses have no issues that I could tell from comparing to my expensive optometrist glasses. Indeed, the lenses were better cut to fit into the frames. The only issue for me is that it took almost a month to get them, but that's because US internet sources did not have the frames I wanted.

Because I had the same frames for clear and sun glasses, when I lost my clear glasses, I simply removed the dark lenses and put old lenses in my sunglasses frames. On the same day, I searched the internet and found the same discontinued designer frames for a cheap price on E-bay. I did this while I was still on vacation. I bought them and they arrived in the mail a few days later before my eye exam

At the optometrist, I ordered new clear lenses and they will be put into my new cheap internet frames. OK, the frames are not cheaply constructed, but I didn't pay much for them. And now I am back to two identical frames, so if something bad happens to my frames, I can repeat the process.

Was that too long of a post? I don't think it helps the OP with measuring PD or having bifocals for an asymmetric face. I wouldn't own bifocals, but I might be one of many people who have absolutely no problems with progressives and wouldn't choose anything else.

In other news: My wife had cataract surgery, so she uncharacteristically signed up for vision insurance for 2017 beforehand. We have met all the deductibles (and used up our max FSA contribution), so my top-end progressives including scratch insurance (which I always seem to use) were inexpensive for me.

 

[omni550]

Because I had the same frames for clear and sun glasses, when I lost my clear glasses, I simply removed the dark lenses and put old lenses in my sunglasses frames.

Q: Were these metal frames or plastic frames? I've never observed the process so I'm wondering how one removes/inserts lenses when dealing with a plastic frame? Is heat used to soften the plastic?

omni

 

[LOL!]

^They were metal frames so screws were easy. But in Ye Olde Days when I got plastic frames re-glazed, they would hand hot frames to me. I have put lawn irrigation plastic in boiling water to make it pliable, so I think something similar is used with plastic frames though I have not ever seen it done with my own eyeballs. I have seen them put my plastic frames in a heating block filled with glass beads in order to adjust the temples. I did something similar with PCR microfuge tubes.

Maybe Jeffman52 can shed some light on the procedure?

 

[Texas Proud]

^They were metal frames so screws were easy. But in Ye Olde Days when I got plastic frames re-glazed, they would hand hot frames to me. I have put lawn irrigation plastic in boiling water to make it pliable, so I think something similar is used with plastic frames though I have not ever seen it done with my own eyeballs. I have seen them put my plastic frames in a heating block filled with glass beads in order to adjust the temples. I did something similar with PCR microfuge tubes.

Maybe Jeffman52 can shed some light on the procedure?

I used to have plastic when young and get the warm frames back... asked about it and was told it was hot sand, not water... maybe the have changed it over the years...

 

[omni550]

Q: ..... I'm wondering how one removes/inserts lenses when dealing with a plastic frame? Is heat used to soften the plastic?

omni

For anyone who is interested, I found this video on the Zenni site...and basically, working from the back side of the frame, you use your thumbs to gently push a lens out of a plastic frame. No heat needed. The same technique is used to insert a lens from the back side of the frame.

How To Videos for Eyeglass Questions | Zenni Optical Glasses

There's also a video on their site on how to relace a lens in a half-frame (the ones that have fishing line holding the lenses in from the bottom.)

omni

 

[Jeffman52]

^They were metal frames so screws were easy. But in Ye Olde Days when I got plastic frames re-glazed, they would hand hot frames to me. I have put lawn irrigation plastic in boiling water to make it pliable, so I think something similar is used with plastic frames though I have not ever seen it done with my own eyeballs. I have seen them put my plastic frames in a heating block filled with glass beads in order to adjust the temples. I did something similar with PCR microfuge tubes.

Maybe Jeffman52 can shed some light on the procedure?

The lenses and the frames are not always perfectly fitted for each other. There is a % tolerance that is considered acceptable. For plastic frames, the person fitting the lens in the frame will always try to get the lens in without heating first. If the lenses go in and aren't loose, then GREAT. If not, then the frames are heated to soften the plastic enough to get the lenses into the frames. If the lenses still don't fit then they use an edger to trim the edges. Obviously if its too loose and wont stay in properly, then they try a different frame (same frame just getting a new one to see if that one was a defect) , or they have to remake the lens which is much more expensive to the lab making them.

 

[explanade]

Yeah my Zenni lenses move around a bit and the plastic frames creak when I wipe them.

I contacted them and they said I can mail it in but haven't gotten around to do it.

 

[omni550]

I've been wearing rigid contacts for 47 years with great corrected (mono)vision.

I noticed that when doing my 19-hour cannonball run to/from Michigan-Florida, after a long day of driving, driving after dark was getting to be a strain on my tired eyes. Years ago, I spoke with my optometrist about this "tired eyes straining after dark" issue and she prescribed 'booster' glasses that I can wear while wearing my contact lenses. Basically, they give me corrected stereoscopic vision (seeing distance with both eyes). And they help a lot.

I am wanting to order another set of these 'booster glasses' and would prefer to get them from Zenni or elsewhere online to save $$, especially since I only use them a few times a year.

I've had the booster glasses for ~10 years and the Rx is no longer in the system at the optician's office. Last week I had an eye exam and while there, I asked the tech if she could tell me the Rx of the driving booster glasses. She put them in some sort of measuring instrument and gave me the "Sphere" reading for each lens (Right -2.25 and Left -0.25) which she also entered in my file.

My question is --- does anyone here know --would "booster" glasses also need to have specific cyl, axis, and add measurements like typical eyeglasses have? OR would all 3 of those values simply be set to "0" (as I'm only ever using them for distance vision while driving after dark)?
I have copies of the last few old Rx's for my "everyday" glasses (which were purchased for back-up and have never been worn as my contacts work so well) so I know what the cyl, axis, and add values were. I have some astigmatism and the last few Rxs for glasses also were basically (progressive) bifocals. too.

omni

So, I went ahead and ordered a set of 'booster' driving glasses (to be worn over my contact lenses for long drives at night) from goggles4u.com. They had a sign-up offer on their site for $9.90 incl. shipping.

I asked their online help person if I needed to add astigmatic correction to the Rx I sent to them....and they said "yes', so I grabbed the cyl and axis measurements (along with PD) from my latest glasses prescription. For the sph correction I used the values the tech read on my old glasses in her measuring instrument.

The glasses arrived in 10 days. I trialed them driving last night. I'm very pleased. I especially like that they are light weight and have larger lenses than my old 'booster' driving glasses that are ~10 years old (when smaller lenses were in vogue.)

So now I have a back-up pair, just like I wanted, for under 10 bucks.


omni