The 3 Things That You Need To Know When Getting Prescription Eyeglasses

*Collaborative Post

There are many signs that you are starting to notice that mean that you need to start thinking about your vision. There are times when you get a headache while reading. Or, you notice that the text is blurry. These are signs that you are headed for your first prescription glasses.

Having to wear glasses shouldn’t be a big deal. There are plenty of frames and lenses that will suit your prescription needs as well as your style. You can get purple eyeglasses frames to match your quirky personality, and the lenses will make sure that you can see everything perfectly. The issue is that people get nervous about making the lifestyle changes they believe have to happen when they are getting their first glasses.

1 – Have a vision test

The signs are there that you need a prescription, but what type of problem you are having needs to be sorted out before you can get a prescription. Just knowing you have a vision problem isn’t enough for an optician to know which lenses you need to correct it.

This means that you have to go and have a vision test done. The first part of the test is a series of questions the eye doctor is going to ask you. They will want to know about the specific problems that you are having such as when the text is blurry and if you get headaches.

They will also ask you about your medical history to make sure the vision problems are not tied to other health problems. For instance, if you have diabetes or are at risk of getting it then they will want to eliminate this as a possible reason. If your vision problems are a result of other health issues then glasses won’t help. You’ll need to be treated for those health problems first.

The next part is going to be when the actual exam takes place. If the doctor is satisfied that your vision is not a result of another illness then they will proceed to the exam.

The first segment of the exam is the one most people are familiar with. This is when you stand in front of a chart of symbols of varying sizes. This is called the acuity exam and is designed to help the optician understand at what point the vision begins to deteriorate.

The field test is also performed in which your peripheral vision is tested. The doctor wants to see what your field of vision is. The entire exam takes roughly an hour and also includes a glaucoma test to see if your vision needs correcting by surgery instead of just with a prescription for glasses. Glaucoma is a disease in which the nerves going to the brain are damaged and no glasses will correct poor vision in this case.

If glaucoma is detected then a follow-up exam is scheduled so there can be a plan put in place to correct the vision problems.

2 – Getting used to wearing glasses

Patience is the name of the game when it comes to wearing glasses for the first time. It will take a little while to get used to them. It’s very important to wear glasses every day. This will result in you not even noticing that they are there at a certain point. If after a week or more you still feel discomfort then you may have the wrong frames. You can get better frames with less of a profile or are more lightweight to see if that helps.

You should also wear them all the time to make sure that you aren’t further hurting your vision. If you aren’t disciplined in wearing them all the time then your vision problems won’t get better.

3 – Know when the prescription needs to be updated

It is highly unlikely that the first prescription that you get will be your last. Your eyes will still end up going downhill slowly over time with your vision problems changing. You will need to get an updated prescription at some point.

You should be going to the eye doctor every two years or so to understand if your prescription is still working as it needs to be. Even if nothing seems to be bothering you, the eye doctor may find some problems beginning to develop so it is best to be ahead of the problem instead of waiting for it to get worse and worse.

*This is a collaborative post. For further information please refer to my disclosure page.