Archive for August, 2009

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The Long & The Short of It

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

My husband and I had an interesting time this week, unravelling the mysteries of online optician ordering. We thought we were fairly savvy shoppers, but we realised we needed some advice when it came to buying glasses. After a few mails back and forth to the IGC’s customer service dept, and we’re now sorted, so we thought we’d share our new found knowledge.

My prescription is quite different to my husbands, a fact we’ve always been aware of as we can’t share glasses! I’m minus 4 ish in each eye, he is plus 3.5 and 4.75. Love really must be blind! Apparently, short and long sighted people have different issues when it comes to choosing spec frames, so this was a learning curve for us.

My husband wanted semi-rimless glasses, but this flagged up a potential problem with his lenses. We were told that if you’re long sighted the edges of your lenses are very thin – and if they make them thicker it makes the middle of the lens thick, and husband hates that magnified eye look he gets if his lenses are thick. A semi-rimless exposes the edges of the lenses, so this could make them prone to chipping. He also picked quite a wide frame, and the bigger shape increases the eye magnification.

I chose a big shape because I wanted a dark lens to wear as sunglasses. This was flagged up because with my lens power the lenses are thick on the edge, and the bigger my lens shape the more thickness I get. We were disappointed that we couldn’t have our choices, but pleased that there were explanations and advice for this.

I decided that even if the edges were thicker it wouldn’t bother me, as the tint would disguise it. The IGC agreed with me, and now that I’ve got them, I’m glad I was warned, and I’m happy with them. My husband decided to get a smaller frame with a full rim. We tried some at home first, and picked a pretty funky pair!! We’re pleased with those too, they’re cool and the lenses look really good. The advice helped us to make informed choices, and I was really glad that the orders weren’t just done, as we had the chance to pick products that were better for us.

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The Truth About Photochromatic Lenses!

Sunday, August 30th, 2009

Photochromic lenses are one of the cleverest inventions we can think of in every day use – how cool is this? You go out in the sun – they go dark. You come indoors – they go clear again. All without flicking a switch or the wearer thinking about it at all. A remarkably clever concept that for millions of happy customers makes every day life that little bit easier. We’d like to answer some of the queries we come across about these intelligent lenses.

My old photochromic lenses look really dark compared to my new ones – do they make them in lighter shades?

The older the lenses, the darker they will stay. Over time and constant exposure to UV they stay darker, so a new pair will always look lighter.

Will they look dark indoors?

No – it’s the Ultra Violet in sunlight that makes them react, so only direct exposure to the sun will make them change. This is why some windscreens will inhibit the reaction, as they filter UV out.

I broke one lens and the optician says I have to replace both, why?

As the lenses are worn the colour will alter over time. The colour won’t match if you try to replace one lens.

I’m quite short sighted, the optician says my lenses will look dark round the edges. Why?!

If you’re short sighted your lenses are thicker round the edge than at the centre. The higher your prescription, the more exaggerated the effect. Photochromic lenses contain crystals which react on exposure to UV, rather like the film in a camera. The thicker the lens, the more dense the crystals, so thick areas will look darker.

Do they give UV protection if they react to UV?

Yes, check the brand you’re ordering if this is a concern to you, but all the brands we are aware of don’t let UV through to the eye.


What difference do the colours make?

The common colours nowadays are grey or brown. They go equally dark, brown is warmer to look through, but does alter colours slightly. Grey is cooler, but much more neutral.

Can you drive in them at night, do they count as tinted lenses?

Although they always have a pale residual tint, photochromics are practically clear n the absence of UV. Therefore they are perfectly safe to wear at night.

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The Nuts and Bolts

Saturday, August 29th, 2009

We recently had an enquiry about those tiny, but vitally important little frame components that seem to get a few of you a bit irritated – or maybe just those of you with a screw loose! Always a problem for spectacle wearers – those pesky screws that hold the lenses, sides, and nose pads on.

Plastic and metal frames are very different in construction, and the parts that hold them together therefore differ. A plastic frame has three parts – the front and two sides. A tiny screw holds the sides in place. Sometimes there’s a separate trim piece, so the side is attached to the trim, and this is attached to the front. All of these parts require screws to keep them in place. A metal frame has more bits – a screw holds the rim together, and there might be more screws to hold the nose pads on.

Of course without your glasses on you can’t even see the screws, and it’s not until one works loose that you even know they’re there! You’ll find yourself in queue of traffic with one lens in your lap, or a lone side tucked behind your ear, and not even know that the screw has vanished! As manufacturers we use screws in case you damage a part of the frame. Some old frames used rivets, but it’s more useful to be able to remove and replace damaged parts, and for this you need a screw fixing.

So what can you do to hold it all together?! Well firstly, keep an eye on the screws. Borrow or keep a pair of specs handy to check the screws once in a while, and make sure they’re not working loose. You can buy tiny screwdrivers, but if attempting to use one yourself hold the frame carefully and don’t let it slip – you could scratch your lenses. An optician can repair your glasses by replacing the screws, or if they’re from an online optician mail them to see if you can return your specs for repair. A drop of optical locking glue can make things a little more secure if the problem persists.

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For Good Measure!

Friday, August 28th, 2009

The art and science of making glasses is an interesting blend of expertise, experience and complex physics. With respect to making your spectacle lenses, we have to take your prescription and accurately make your lenses to the powers stated by your optician. The strength they give us corrects your sight for the required distance; – far, intermediate and near.

Besides the power, we need another piece of information – the measurements that put the lenses in the correct place to make your sight comfortable. For all glasses we would ideally like to know the distance between your pupils, the inter pupillary distance. For very high prescriptions – over plus or minus ten, this could cause problems with eye strain if it’s not right. For lower powers it’s not too much of an issue, although we always make it accurate for any strength.

You can ask your optician to give you your pupil distance after your eye test, or if you haven’t got it, take it yourself – see the IGC website for instructions – could make for a fun evening’s entertainment if you enlist the help of a friend!

If you can’t manage this then don’t despair, we can still make glasses for you. Thanks to our huge amounts of data regarding patient age and gender we can calculate a pupil distance. We also check all of our orders as they come in to make sure that distances our customers give look logical for the data we have. If the pupil distance is ever wrong – and we’re proud to say that we’ve never had any spectacles returned to us so far – you would not suffer any long term ill effect. At worst you’d get a bit of eye strain or a slight headache, which goes when you take the spectacles off. Of course if you do have any problems with your glasses we’ll just change them for you.

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Ageless Fashion

Friday, August 28th, 2009

As us ladies reach that certain age buying clothes becomes a bit of a nightmare. We reach for the latest must have item and are suddenly seized by doubt  - Too short? Too tight? Too low? Don’t despair ladies!  With eye wear fashion things are much easier. Some spectacle frames are clearly too young – too small or emblazoned with logos that are definitely for the younger crowd. Most eye wear however is pretty much ageless, so at least there’s one fashion that we not only need, but can totally indulge our girly tastes and go for what we want!

If you’re an understated dresser and have started buying classics rather than the season’s latest fad, you can pep up your look and try a taste of fashion with your specs. Simple clothes in plainer colours can be given a lift with some stylish eyewear, so go for a warm colour and a discreet amount of jewellery-type detail.

We’ve written before about colours for greying hair, and the rule is, stick to colours that always suited you – but go for shades that won’t drain you – warm pinks, reds, hot purple or tortoiseshell brown. Steer clear of crystal coloured big plastics or deep metals – unless you really want to look like your Grandma!

You may not squeeze into size zero designer clothes, but the specs will always fit you! A pretty Christian Dior with diamante trim or a Marc Jacobs with cool detail will re-awaken your fashion taste buds and give you back some cutting edge style. Keep an eye on the fashion pages for this season’s colours and the designers who are hot.

Age should never be a barrier to fashion – we just need to choose carefully and make the kids jealous of our style! With Coco before Chanel on release the fashionistas are predicting a return to more graceful, grown up style, and we can all be grateful for that!

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Bridging the Gap!

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

As you all know, the top of your nose is called the bridge of your nose, that bony ridge between the eyes that’s very useful for your glasses rest on! The space between your spec lenses is the bridge of your frame, the area that links the lenses. There are a few things to take note of with frame bridges, so let’s have a think about them….

Firstly, the bridge is important with respect to the comfort and the successful fit of your glasses. There are different points to note with metal and plastic frames. On a metal frame, the bar that connects the lenses should not sit on the nose. If it does actually come into contact with your skin it may cause a rash and ultimately wear the surface of the metal. The bridge will have a plastic lining that fits all round the nose, or separate nose pads that provide a resting point. The pads should not ‘grip’ your nose – just sit against it. You can alter the pads by gently pressing against them to move them. They can be replaced if they discolour through wear.

Plastic frames do not usually have a separate bridge piece, the plastic is moulded to fit around the surface of the nose. If you are sensitive to the weight of specs, plastic frames may be better as the weight is spread out over a greater area. The bridge should fit snugly, but not be tight enough to leave a red mark!

The pad bridge on a metal frame will lift the frame away from your face slightly, so if you have a tendency to mist up then these may be for you! A plastic frame sits closer, so especially if it’s a deep frame, you’ll constantly be living in a fog when you go indoors on a damp day!

A simple frame feature like the bridge can make a great difference to how easy your specs are to wear, and day to day convenience. If you’re ordering new glasses have a think about your present specs, and whether a change of bridge can make life easier.

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Hanging By A Thread!

Thursday, August 27th, 2009

In the search for perfect eye wear you may have seen some frames that have no rim across one side of the frame – usually the lower rim. These useful and lightweight frames are called Supras – so let’s have a look at them in detail.

About five years ago we saw a huge return to popularity for totally rimless frames. New materials and manufacturing techniques made them strong, light. and pretty funky. A few years down the line however, many patients are moving on from rimless, wanting something equally light but a little different. This is where the supra comes in, a useful cross between a full frame and a rimless.

Rimless are vulnerable because as well as the lack of rim, the lenses are delicate as we have to drill holes in them to attach the sides and bridge. A supra or semi-rimless style is of a tougher construction. It utilises a nylon thread to hold the lenses in place, so they are not drilled. The nylon thread makes the lens look as if it floats within the frame, but the thread fitting makes it flexible but not flimsy. The joints are not industrial and bulky as they are with a rimless, and these frames often have a clean and uncluttered look to them.

The thread can be across the bottom, the top, or the temple edge of the frame, which is useful if you have a metal allergy – if frames usually sit on your skin then think about where the frame touches, and find a supra with a thread along that edge. They are also very tough – if you sit on the frame the lens might pop out, but can easily be put back in.

They are suitable for all prescriptions, but steer clear if you are very long sighted, as the ledges of your lenses are thin. We have to cut a groove into the lens edges for the thread to sit in, and a thin lens edge can chip easily. For most prescriptions however they are a cool and comfortable option.

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Any questions?

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

The experience of having your eyes tested – secluded in a darkened room with a healthcare professional, glasses taken away from you, impending costs – can render the strongest amongst us a little dazed and confused. Even if you buy glasses online, you do however have to keep your spectacle prescription up to date, and it’s also important to get your eye health checked. So here are some answers to a few of the questions you may have liked to ask….

What on earth is an astigmatism?!! Opticians throw this word around, but patients often don’t really understand what this means. Astigmatism is just another part of your prescription – nothing sinister, nothing to worry about – it just means that your eye is shaped more like a rugby ball than a football. You need one power in your glasses to correct the long axis of the rugby ball, and one to correct the short. It may vary through your life, it may come and go. Without your glasses on what you see will be a stretched image in one direction.

Will wearing glasses make my eyes weaker? No, long term wearing or not wearing your glasses will not alter your sight. You just get used to seeing clearly with them on! You’ll also get a headache  if you strain to see something without them.

Do varifocals have to go in big frames? No – nowadays they can be fitted into even quite shallow frames. No optician will make them up for you if the depth is not sufficient.


Does using a VDU damage your eyes? No research has proven this, but be aware of a few simple rules. Blink often and give your eyes a rest by looking away from the screen at regular intervals. Wear your glasses if you’re been prescribed them for computer distance. An anti-reflection layer added to your lenses will reduce uncomfortable glare.

My prescription is high, why do my lenses always have to be so heavy? The thickness and therefore the weight of a spectacle lens is governed by the power, so higher prescriptions will always be heavier. You can reduce the thickness by choosing a thinned down lens, and a small frame. A plastic frame will spread the weight evenly across your nose.

Any other questions? Contact your optician, even if it’s after the event. Watch this space or mail the IGC, we’re always happy to help.

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Reading Made Easy!

Wednesday, August 26th, 2009

There has been lots written about presbyopia, and what your options are at this stage. We do however gets lots of queries, so here is a quick re-cap on what your choices are.

Around age forty you’ll find your arms get too short! You can still thread a needle or see small print, but you have to hold it further away. Your eyes have become presbyopic and you need help for reading. To decide on the solution to this problem you need to think about whether you need correction for reading, middle, and/or far distances.

A)  If you only have a reading prescription – buy single vision reading glasses. This gives you a wide field of view, they are cheap, easy to wear, and you can keep several pairs by the phone, at work etc. Choose small shallow frames, and then you can look over the top of them to see in the distance.

B)   If you have a reading and middle distance prescription – you can have separate pairs for middle distance and reading. This will work if you only do one thing at a time, like read small print (reading specs) or use a computer (middle distance specs) If however you need to multi-task, then you could go for varifocals – see close, middle distance and far away – good if you don’t use a computer all day long. If you do lots of VDU work, you could have a bifocal, with middle distance power in the main part of the lens, and reading in the segment at the bottom.

C)   If you have a reading, middle distance and distance prescription – then you need varifocals, which have all three powers in one lens. This will let you do everything without swapping glasses around. If you do lots of VDU work or lots of close work, then you could have a separate single vision pair for specific tasks.

Mail the IGC if you need advice, remember that buying from an online optician is cheap enough to let you have separate pairs for your individual needs. Our qualified opticians and dispensing opticians can give you professional help at bargain cost.

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Midsummer Madness!

Tuesday, August 25th, 2009

In order to save you from the same fate as the unfortunates we’re going to tell you about now, we’re going to share some stories to make you think, so have a successful speccy Summer!

We knew the heat was on last week when the temperatures soared, but we’ve never had this problem before – a lady mailed us to order some glasses, which were urgent due to a calamity on Tuesday – she left her plastic frame on the dashboard of the car all  afternoon. the frame ‘went all bendy around the edges” one lens fell out on a gravel car park and she trod on the other one!!

Two different clients squashed their glasses – without cases – into bags and the frames snapped in the middle. Remember that glasses are not flat, they are curved!! With some frames there is a big space between the folded sides and the front. Shove them in a pocket and they’ll flatten and ultimately break – why are we telling you this – it’s really good for business!!

One young lady had a few too many Pimms at a BBQ, tried to take the same contact lens out twice (ouch!) damaged her cornea and has had to order specs as she can’t wear her lenses at the moment. A chap in charge of the school PTA BBQ had a few beers (well it is thirsty work) fell over on the way home, and has no idea where the specs went…..hope they didn’t end up in a burger bun!

Usually a couple of pairs go over board at this time of year, and some are lost in lost luggage. We will supply insurance quotes if you are in need of them!! Mail us for details. You are often covered with house contents if for instance the dog eats them, although the vet bill is another matter….

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