FAQ

Frequently Asked Questions

Q. How important are regular Exams?

A. Yearly eye examinations are recommended; unless you have a medical condition that can affect your eyes, then the doctor recommends every 6 months. The doctor not only examines your eyes to see if you need glasses, but also check the overall health of your eye. Some medical diagnosis' such as glaucoma, high blood pressure, diabetes, etc. can take an effect on your eyes. Our doctor will take a digital picture of your eyes, allowing him to get a closer look at your blood vessels, optic nerve, and macula. Taking these photographs can sometimes lead to early detection of common diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetes, and cancer. The doctor also has available for contact lens wearers, patient who have had surgery or injury to their eyes, eye infections, cataracts, etc. a digital camera to take photos of the patient's cornea.

Q. Why should I buy glasses when I can go to the drugstore and buy a pair of reading glasses?

A. Reading glasses are not “one size fits all”. If you have a different prescription in each eye, have an astigmatism, or eyes are not centered in the lens, then the inexpensive reading glasses will not work well and can lead to headaches.

Q. I am interested in glasses that turn into sunglasses outside.

A. Transitions® lenses when exposed to UV light becomes darker. When driving a car they may have a light tint, but they will not turn to shades. Reason is your windshield blocks the UV light.

Q. How often should I get a new pair of glasses?

A. You should get a new pair if your prescription has changed; your doctor will let you know. However, if your prescription does not change often, or at all, just get new glasses when you are tired of the style you are wearing.

Q. I can see fine to read and drive, but certain tasks at work are getting harder to see.

A. This is a common problem for computer users who wear bifocals or reading glasses. Computer monitors are in a zone called your intermediate vision. There are some solutions you may want to try. Progressive lenses are multifocal lenses. They have an invisible line and are the closest to natural vision you can get in a pair of glasses. Trifocal lenses are a lot like bifocals except you have two lines instead of one. You have a large distance area, a small intermediate area, and a medium reading area. Computer glasses are glasses strictly for computer use only. You are able to get them in single vision or bifocals. The newest concept to help with computers are office glasses. They are progressive lenses that give you a small distance area, a large intermediate area, and a medium reading area. Remember to be as specific as possible when talking to the doctor about your needs If possible, give the doctor information about the distance you are comfortable reading. Also, the distance of your monitor on your desk, if you wear a bifocal or multifocal lens. This information is very important in making your glasses comfortable for you.

Q. When I get glasses, my lenses seem to be so thick. What can I do?

A. There are several options you can choose. Depending on your prescription, we will recommend high index lenses or aspheric lenses. A high index lens is a compressed lens to make your lens thinner and lighter in weight. An aspheric lens has a flatter curve than regular lenses. You can also add a coating called an Anti-Reflective coating. This gives an appearance of an “invisible lens”, in which it actually masks the edges of your lens to hide thickness. Frame selections can also help. Depending on your prescription and what you like can play a key role in how your lens will look. A thicker metal or plastic frame may work better for you versus a rimless frame.

Q. Do my glasses protect me from the sun?

A. Many people use plastic lenses which do not fully protect your eyes from the sun. You may need to add a UV Protection Coating to your lens. Even though you may not want or feel like you need sunglasses, you can get UV Protection on your clear lens without adding any tint to the lens. The biggest misconception is that sunglasses are the only type of glasses that can protect your eyes from the sun.

Q. What are hi-def lenses?

A. Sometimes in eyeglass lenses there are some aberrations, even if your glasses fully correct your nearsighted, farsighted, and/or astigmatism. These aberrations may be due to optical characteristics of your eyes or can be caused by optical limitations of conventional eyeglass lenses. But as technologies become more advanced, lens manufacturing has made it possible to correct these aberrations. By correcting these aberrations it can give you sharper vision than in conventional lenses. Hi-def lenses are designed to provide sharper vision in all lighting conditions and reduce glare for night time driving.
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