Posts Tagged ‘varifocals’

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Accommodation Wanted!

Wednesday, January 12th, 2011

We all know that deep inside us our brains are hard at work, managing our bodily functions with very little help or effort on the part of our conscious minds. More juggling goes on than we could imagine, all in the interest of us keeping fit, healthy, and able to go about our day to day lives. If you’re under the age of forty there’s one miraculous task that goes on, and you won’t even notice it until it’s gone….

Accommodation is an amazing function of the eye, and it allows us to see clearly both far away and close up, effortlessly allowing us to switch focus so we see at any distance. Look up from your desk to the horizon and back to your fingernails, and accommodation is what’s allowing you to see at all of these focal lengths.

Your eyes accommodate from babyhood upwards, thanks to a wonderful little organ called the crystalline lens, which works hard all day every day inside your eyeball. The lens is suspended by ligaments which hold it in place, and they contract and stretch as you look around. This changes the shape of the crystalline lens and therefore it’s power, making it stronger or weaker to focus near or far away. And you never feel a thing!!

At birth, we have very stretchy lenses which allow us to see really close too – for important things like Mummy’s face! But as time goes on the lens continues to increase in layers within the eye, and it loses elasticity. With this change we start to notice we can’t see very close too any more, and desperately move things further away to try and focus on them! One day your arms get too short and your optician has the job of replacing the function of the crystalline lens with a spec version.

This ageing change within the eye is called presbyopia – Greek for ‘old eye’ – and there’s no escaping it, it comes to us all! So if you had perfect sight, short sight or long sight, at some point from the forties onwards you’ll need glasses for close work. You may choose separate specs for reading, varifocals or bifocals, as specs or contact lenses, and they will do the job that accommodation once did for you. So if you’ve still got it, appreciate it now, and if its’ gone, just get some varifocals and pretend

Varifocal Glasses

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Our Christmas Wishes!

Sunday, January 2nd, 2011

If we were sending our letter to Santa we’d be asking for some brilliant new products  to help our customers through the year ahead. Although lens and frame technology has come a long way, there are still a few bits and bobs Father Christmas and his Elves could do for us…….

Glass Lenses that aren’t heavy……..Glass is still a useful product for some patients, for instance those who work in gritty, dusty environments. Although all plastic lenses are scratch resistant today they are not scratch proof. Glass is pretty tough, but is still breakable and is heavier than plastic.

Thin Lenses for Everybody………..The end result you get in terms of lens thickness depends upon your prescription, the distance between your eyes, and the size of your frame. While we can make lenses thinner then standard, we can’t make them wafer thin for higher lens powers in big frames. The manufacturers are researching constantly for thin lens materials, so maybe if Santa gave them a hand…..

Photochromic lenses that work whatever the temperature……….lenses that go dark and light in the sun are triggered by UV, which changes the crystals within the lens from light to dark. They do love the cold though, so they go very dark on bright, chilly, sunny days, and are a bit sluggish in very hot weather. If you ‘bake’ the lens by leaving it on a dashboard on a hot day it will take some time to go back to normal.

Instant Adaptation Varifocals…….Varifocal lenses have constantly evolved since their introduction in the 1960’s, and most people do adjust to wearing them very quickly, usually within a day or two. It’s not instant though, and for some it can take up to a week. This is a small price to pay for years of convenient, natural sight, but it does put people off in a few cases.

Unbreakable Frames……Of course this wouldn’t suit us, we do have to earn a crust you know!! But specs do get terribly abused by some cruel and uncaring wearers. They get sat on, squished in flat cases, stretched on top of heads, eaten by dogs, dropped overboard…..the list goes on! Plenty of frames would have a much longer lifespan if they were stored lovingly in rigid cases, put away safely, and cleaned with warm soapy water instead of on grubby shirt tails, so it’s up to you lot to help Santa with this one!

Varifocal Glasses

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Your New Year New Looks!

Saturday, January 1st, 2011

Depending on your opinion of glasses, your worries about your eye health and your love of shopping, you’ve all got different feelings about choosing new spex. This year saw some changes to the eye fashion trends, and to the choices of some of our customers. Here are some reviews of new looks over the past twelve months:

Grace, 19 First pair of specs, black geek frame;

I didn’t mind being told I’ve got to have glasses because I think they’re pretty cool. My Mum and my friend looked online with me, I got a thick frame, like the one Mark Ronson wears. I’ve got blonde hair so I love the drama of it. Everyone says they like it so I’m happy!

Gerry 57, Swapped bifocals for varifocals;

I had bifocals because varis were so expensive at the High Street Optician. Now I’m online all the time I need the middle sight area, so I got varis from the IGC. I only wear them at the pc, for looking at my work, then the screen, and across the room at the clock. Brilliant, I won’t go back to bifocals.

Jake, 28, Went from rimless to heavy metal frame with photochromic lenses;

I had rimless glasses at first because I wasn’t confident about seeing myself in specs. I kept bending them and then the lens snapped so I chose a really sturdy frame with really thick sides and lenses that turn to sunspecs in the sun. They look fantastic! Everyone has commented on how funky I look! I’m getting married next year so I’ll order the same again but clear lenses.

Liz, 46, varifocals in red frame with diamante;

I’ve had reading glasses for a couple of years but kept losing them around the house! So I ordered varifocals because there was a refund if I didn’t like them. I now wear them most of the time because it’s easier to keep them on. I hated them for the first day but then I forgot they were there. Nice frame that’s comfy helped too.

Varifocal Glasses

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Question Time Again!

Monday, December 27th, 2010

We’ve run a few blogs replying to some of the questions that come up after eye exams or as a mails we get with your queries. Obviously you all have your fave opticians that you go to visit, but the consulting room can be intimidating, or you simply don’t like to go back and ask having left the building. So in case you are all wondering about the same thing, here are our FAQ’s of 2010!

I don’t know if my new glasses will work because I’m not sure I answered the Optician properly. I wasn’t sure if one or two was better….

The optician checks and double checks your answers, repeating the test in tiny steps until your answer makes senses to them! They also use your previous prescription, and their Retinoscope to make sure everything is as it should be.

My Mum and Dad hated varifocals, why are you suggesting them to me?

Varifocals first appeared in the Sixties, and like all other technology they’re improved since then! The failure rate is minute now. If you are one of the tiny percentage of people who doesn’t get on with them, we’ll refund you anyway, so there’s no risk!

My new reading glasses are great for small print but now I can’t see the computer. What do I do?

Stronger reading lenses let you see tiny detail, but at a shorter focal distance than an older, weaker pair. Either wear your old readers for the computer, or order varifocals if you need to see small print and computer screen distance at the same time.

My Optician wouldn’t let me have the big frame I love, just because I’m a bit short sighted. Can you make them for me?

We don’t turn you down on your frame choice just to be mean! If you’re short sighted your lenses will be thick at the edges, with the thickness increasing as the frame gets bigger. Fall in love with a scaled down version, you’ll be much happier with the result!

We hope you all enjoy wearing the glasses we’ve supplied over 2010, we enjoy communicating with all of our customers and doing our best job for you. We love hearing from you, so feel free to add to our question list any time!

Varifocal Glasses

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Sixty is the New Thirty?!

Friday, December 17th, 2010

As the baby boomer generation grows older they’re showing no sign of growing up, and increasingly the line between fashions and eye wear choices of the young and old is more and more blurred (!) Unlike with clothing, specs don’t really have an age specific look anyway, with everyone from Anne Robinson to Chris Evans wearing geek plastics and funky finishes and shapes. So if you’re already Botoxing your blemishes and disguising your grey, what do you do with your eyewear to enhance your youthful looks and attitude?

The obvious first point is to avoid any specs that tell the world you are presbyopic, a change to vision that occurs when you are over forty. This is when the arms get too short and you need help for reading, so don’t delay! As soon as you find yourself pushing menus further away and squinting to thread a needle, get an eye exam and get some varifocals. No visible line, nothing to show you have a reading prescription in the lens, and you pretend you’re not a day over 39!! You can wear them all day every day, and no squinting means fewer crow’s feet into the bargain!

If you have a sprinkling of silver in your hair, avoid all frames with shiny metal, which will twinkle like tinsel and enhance your own, unwanted, natural highlights. Go for matt metal or preferably plastic, which will enhance your original hair colour. Bold plastics are seen as more youthful, and to detract years bling is seen as a bit more ageing than cool, geometric trims and detailing.

Frame shapes should be uplifting; as anything with a droop will enhance anything you’re got that’s drooping! Shapes that lift at the temple will lift your temples too, and detract from softening jaw lines. The retro cat’s eye look is perfect for sexy pizzazz – (and a tip – men love that strict secretary look, you have been warned!) If you have to wear varifocals, don’t assume that you need deep frames, as we did in the past. They’ll now fit into even the shallowest frame, so don’t let your lenses restrict you. Your mature years should mean you’re comfortable with your own style nowadays, so don’t let anything stop you – including your age – from looking stylish, sexy, and far less than sixty in your spex!

Prescription Glasses

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Top Ten – Why Wear Varifocals?

Tuesday, December 7th, 2010

It comes to us all, that certain age when we’re grateful that our presbyopia means we can’t see our wrinkles, and policemen look young enough to be your grandson, not just your son! You’ve perhaps managed with reading glasses for a while, and then your friendly optician suggests varifocals. Scary thought? Knew that thirty years ago your Dad couldn’t get on with them? Worried about taking the plunge? Times, and technology, have thankfully changed. Top ten reasons for trying this top notch lens….

  1. They’re less ageing than other option, such as bifocals or wearing granny- half-moon-half eyes. No one will know you’re over forty!
  2. You can do everything in them – read up close, see music and computer screens at arm’s length, far distance for road signs and driving.
  3. They’re convenient – one pair of specs for everything, no more forgotten glasses, stick them on your face and get on with your life.
  4. They’re like natural vision. Your eyes used to change focus for you, now the lens does it for you, so you’ll adapt to them quickly.
  5. You only need one pair of glasses, so they’re often cheaper than separate specs.
  6. Even if you only need reading glasses, you can wear varifocals with no power in the distance, so you always see to read, as and when you want without scrabbling around to find your glasses.
  7. They even fit into the smallest frames now, so you can look fashionable and youthful, unlike bifocals which need a deep frame and have an ageing visible line.
  8. If you use a computer, they are the only thing that will let you see small print, the VDU, and your family and colleagues across the room!
  9. There’s no risk – try them and see if you like them. If you don’t, we’ll refund you.
  10. Why on earth wouldn’t you?!! After all, fifty is the new thirty, and bifocals are so last millennium!

Glasses Online

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Size isn’t Everything…..

Saturday, October 30th, 2010

When it comes to specs, sizing can be tricky issue to get right. It’s easy to select a size with shoes or clothes – you might need wellies in a five or they won’t stay on your feet, or jeans in a thirty waist so they stay up without creating a muffin top. Despite a bit of variation from store to store, and diet to diet, we all usually know what will fit us. When it comes to specs though, it’s a slightly different matter – there are several factors that govern the perfect spec for you. While fashion and your face size and shape do come into it, your lens prescription and your lens type also play a part in what will be suitable, in terms of the look and the vision.

Fashion often dictates the choice and availability of items we choose, and this is very evident with eyewear. Remember the seventies when we bumped our cheeks on our glasses every time we smiled or ate? Or the nineties when we could practically look around the edges of our frames? In those days, there was little variation the size of frames available. Big in the seventies, bigger in the eighties, minute in the nineties, creeping larger in the Noughties, and now we actually have a broad range of sizes on the shelves. This gives the consumer choice in their look, and is very practical when it comes to catering for prescription and lens types.

If you are very long or short sighted, then a smaller frame will give you thinner, lighter lenses. You have to balance the optimum frame size with respect to your lenses against what will suit your face. A wafer thin lens in a tiny frame that looks terrible is worse than slightly thicker lenses in a frame that flatters your face shape. Lens types also come into play – for sunglasses you need enough lens area to keep the sun out, for varifocals you need enough depth to the specs to enable the lenses to work.

So what’s perfect for you? The beauty ideal is a frame that doesn’t rest on your cheeks, and is roughly the width of your temples. Within that, you need to decide what suits your face shape, hair style and lifestyle. Look at the size stamped on your present frame for a guideline. Typically it will have figures something like 50/20. The first figure is the size in millimetres of the lens width or diagonal, and the second is the distance between the lenses where it sits across your nose. If your prescription is an issue, your optician will inform you of any limitations within your lens type. If ordering from us online, we vet every order to ensure that the specs will do the job for you.

Glasses Online

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Making Progress

Wednesday, October 27th, 2010

Progressive or varifocals lenses have been with us now for over fifty years. As with any other product that’s been on the market for that length of time, advances in design and therefore ease of use have come on in leaps and bounds. We do however have a lingering attitude that not everyone will be able to wear these lenses, and that they can be a hindrance to our daily lives rather than a help.

So what do varifocals do for us? And what can go wrong with them? Over the age of forty, our eyes lose the power to change focus for close work. Where we could see even the tiniest print, we now have to move it further away to read, and then it becomes impossible wherever you hold the page! Put simply, varifocals do what your eyes used to do, in letting you see clearly at any distance without changing glasses. They incorporate your prescription for near, intermediate and far away within one lens, with no visible dividing line. This means you can read, look at the computer, and drive without having to think about which glasses to wear.

In theory, you get your new varifocals and after a day or two of adaptation, you can get on with your life and not have to think about digging out reading specs, or remembering to carry distance glasses with you if you need to drive. For a small percentage of wearers however, there are problems which are at best annoying, or at worst lead them to give up on varifocals and return to endlessly swapping reading, distance and computer glasses around.

The problem may be due to the lens design, the prescription, or the positioning of the glasses. If you buy varifocals online, you’ll obviously wonder where on earth to start in rectifying the problem. We tackle this with a four step approach. Firstly, we talk to you over the phone to discuss the problems you are having. Often this clears up the difficulties at once, and many patients carry on happily with their specs after some simple tips and a little reassurance. We may ask you to send your glasses back to us for an adjustment or to rectify an issue with the fit or position of the lenses. If we think it’s the actual lens power which is causing the problem, then we may suggest that you have a re-check with your optician, or that you seek a second opinion. If all fails, we’ll give you a full refund, so don’t panic that you may be stuck with specs that don’t work forever!

It’s actually very rare that we cannot make varifocals work for you and that clients give up on this useful and effective lens format. So don’t worry about the risk of trying varifocals – we’re happy to give advice and support if you have problems, and we have plenty of happy clients to prove it!

Glasses Online

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Make Progress with Progressives -Varifocal Glasses Online

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Over fifty years after their initial launch progressive or varifocal lenses are still a product that the public love, loathe or worry about in equal measure! Despite their success and constant evolution varifocals are still surrounded in myth and anecdotal evidence as to what they can and can’t do. So are you thinking of taking the plunge? Are you at that difficult age when your arms aren’t long enough? Read on and see if we can allay your fears and make life a whole lot easier…..

Most people need help for reading around age forty, for some it’s earlier, for some later, but you can’t avoid it and it happens to us all! At first, simple reading specs make threading a needle or reading the phone book easier. But if you have a distance prescription too, or use a computer, or drive, or want to walk around and see small print when necessary, then readers won’t help you for long. Something a little more specialist will be required. A varifocal lens lets you see far distance – driving, sightseeing, watching TV, middle distance – computer screen, reading music, and close work – reading and sewing all in one lens. The powers you need are blended together all the way down the lens, so as you look from the horizon to the window sill to your watch, all will be clear and you won’t even be aware of the difference in lens strength. What could be more perfect? No tell-tale line on the lenses to let people know you won’t see forty again, no swapping specs!

So why do you hear negative comments about them? The very first varifocals that reached the spec buying public were not a perfect product by any means. You needed a deep frame, deeper pockets, and masses of grim determination to get used to wearing them. Over the years however, like all things, these lenses have changed. Now they are easy to wear, you can fit them into very slim frames, the price has come down, and the adaptation time is short. It may take a day or two, but soon you’ll forget you’ve got them on, and get on with your day to day living without specs causing you any hassle. We guarantee them too, so if they don’t work we’ll simply refund you. Our failure rate is less than half a percent on all varifocal jobs we do, so you’ve got nothing to lose! We can’t help you with any other signs of ageing, but we can do a really good job of this one!!

Varifocal Glasses Online

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Did you Know?………Varifocals …

Sunday, September 12th, 2010

The spec wearing public are pretty well informed nowadays, about glasses, contact lenses, and eye problems. But a few little queries do crop up with surprising regularity, so here are our top eye queries that you should all know the truth about by now;-

1.       Varifocals have to go into deep frames – we still hear this all the time, but it’s not 1975 anymore! Varifocal designs have moved with the times and the fashions, so now they fit into all but the tiniest frames. Not even Deirdre Barlow wears Deirdre Barlow specs any more, and you don’t need to either!

2.       Children need to be able to read to have an eye exam – this is a dangerous myth that puts sight at risk. We can check eyes from few months of age, with or without the baby’s cooperation! We don’t have to use the letter charts we make you adults read. Some eye conditions can threaten sight if not detected, so book a test as soon as possible and don’t worry about teaching your six month their alphabet before they come!

3.       I can’t wear contact lenses – well what makes you so special?! People think this due to their astigmatism, their age, their need for reading glasses, the list goes on….in truth, thanks to new materials, lens designs and wear regimes, nearly all of us can wear contacts, even if only for specific circumstances or activities. So talk to your optician and let them allay your fears. You’ve got nothing to lose except your specs!

4.       Wearing glasses makes your eyes weaker – now if this were true, couldn’t we also do something to make them stronger? Nothing can alter your prescription permanently, except some highly specialised therapeutic contact lenses. Wearing your specs makes your vision clearer, and you get used to this, so when you take them off things can seem very fuzzy. Not wearing them will give you a headache, so put them on and get on with your life!

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