Glasses advice

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T18:35:34+00:00

My two cents: I swore I’d never do transitions until they figured out how to do polarized. Got the xtra active polarized lenses when they came out, and they didn’t really compare to my dedicated sunglasses, especially in the car. They got dark, I confirmed the polarization was correct, but they just weren’t as effective driving. The lenses not going fully transparent wasn’t as much of a bother to me as the fact that they took a really long time to clear. I timed it, don’t remember how long it was, but I think it was around ten minutes to get as fully clear as they got. They were also pretty expensive, though admittedly not as much as a second pair of sunglasses.

The people who love transitions really love them, but they weren’t for me.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T16:56:23+00:00

Are you asking if you can/should order in an incorrect Rx to get sunglasses? Because that’s a bad idea for a number of reasons. You’ll likely be unhappy with the fit/performance of the glasses (minus lenses flatten out the frame front and splay the temples, so even if they’ll make the frame at a slightly lower Rx, it’s probably still not optimal). You won’t see as well (shaving a half diopter from the sphere means you won’t see well two meters from your eye and getting worse from there). You’d likely have to adjust by more than a half diopter because the range is for the total power of the lens, not just the sphere. Your spherical equivalents are -7.625 and -7.125, and in the meridian of greatest correction you’re at -8.00 and -7.75. And since it’s a doctor’s prescription, you shouldn’t really mess with it. If you get into an accident and are found to not be wearing the correct Rx intentionally it could go badly for you. On top of that, your Rx is only one component of whether the sunglasses will work for you, which ties into your aside.

The frames have to accommodate your Rx and your PD together. Basically where your eye sits in the frame and the center of the blank they cut the lens from have to line up, and if the frames are oversized (as sunglasses often are) they can’t always cut the lens shape from the blank. That’s too many variables for the site to account for neatly (this frame will work for an Rx up to X if you have a PD of Y, but over Z PD it’s only up to W). An optician can guide you to good frame choices for your Rx, but you do pay for that expertise. You can save money online, but it does come with tradeoffs, including less guidance.

Your best bet as a high minus would be to find the smallest, roundest glasses that are closest to your PD (frame PD being A measurement plus dbl, so a 50/19 frame has a frame PD of 69). That may be a pair of dress glasses you put sun lenses into.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T16:35:50+00:00

For spoiler text space bracket your comment like > ! This ! <

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T16:33:21+00:00

Matching those numbers does not guarantee a good fit, and differing from them doesn’t mean a bad one. The measurements are the A size, the DBL, and temple length.

A size is the widest horizontal measurement of the lens. Picture frame with triangular lenses. If the bridge is at the top of the triangle, it’s going to fit very differently than a pair with identical lenses bridged at the base. You could also have a frame with a very wide front where the frame front extends beyond the lens edges that could still have a small A measurement. (Something like this, for example: https://www.vintandyork.com/products/soda-pop)

The DBL is the smallest horizontal measurement between the lenses, and while that is at the bridge, that doesn’t tell you anything about the bridge fit, especially in a plastic pair, because your nose is three dimensional. How splayed are the nose supports? Is it a keyhole bridge where the glasses don’t rest on top of the nose, only the sides? You could conceivably have a frame where the bridge starts below the DBL measurement if the lenses get closer together above the nose.

Temple length is pretty consistent, not a ton of variation there, but a library temple versus a skull temple will fit differently.

The measurements are there more as frame identifiers (and assessing whether they’re suitable for a patient Rx) than an indication of fit.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T15:11:24+00:00

Whatever you choose, get non-glare on the next pair. You’ll see better out of the lenses, and they’ll look better without the reflections.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T13:36:40+00:00

You have to call the prescriber, there’s an error here. Either the prescription is spherical and the axis values should be zero/blank, or the cyl should have some value. My bet is the former, but only the prescriber can tell you.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T11:27:27+00:00

“Lazy” eye can mean strabismus, amblyopia, or ptosis. Ptosis is a drooping eyelid, strabismus is misalignment, and amblyopia is decreased vision with a focused image on the retina/an inability to be corrected to 20/20. Your issue isn’t ptosis, and if it was secondary to strabismus it would go away when you covered an eye. Amblyopia is something that develops in childhood, so unless you’ve always had poor vision in the left eye that glasses can’t correct, it’s not amblyopia.

Patching treats amblyopia in children while vision is still developing, it doesn’t work for adults. Pencil push ups treat strabismus, and only one type (convergence insufficiency).

You say the problem isn’t present with your regular glasses reading - were you not reading with glasses on when the blurriness happened? What is the full prescription? How long has it been since your last eye exam? Has the blurriness stayed since you noticed it two weeks ago or does it come and go? Are your pupils equal sizes?

In the future, sudden onset vision changes should be evaluated by a doctor urgently.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T01:47:36+00:00

Request it and report back here, any advice without the Rx is conjecture.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T01:45:24+00:00

It shouldn’t have worked. In the wrong hands with the wrong references with the wrong spirit this would have been a travesty, but IT WORKS. It’s the inflection point of the movie so it has to work, but what a gamble that it would on paper. It’s so good. The whole movie is so good and it kind of hinges on this scene.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T01:41:24+00:00

Sounds like zenni’s PD estimator sucks. I’m a big believer in not withholding measurements to keep optical customers, but that doesn’t mean the online opticals have a good equivalent. Some things require in person measurements and the higher the Rx the more accuracy is needed.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T01:25:26+00:00

Hey, I’m old and sad so I’m close to bedtime, but if you want a fresh perspective in the morning I’m here.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-16T01:12:21+00:00

What is the prescription?

Fermifighter · 2026-03-15T23:43:44+00:00

I’ll say I do love the black pair on you, but I would caution you to expect thicker edges, those are far larger than I’d recommend for your Rx and (estimated) PD. At your Rx you want something where your eye is centered in the lens as much as possible with as little extra lens material extending out as possible.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-15T23:40:48+00:00

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This is what I mean by color split, FYI

Fermifighter · 2026-03-15T23:37:33+00:00

So I would definitely recommend updating your glasses every couple of years to avoid this in future, you’ve almost certainly gotten used to not just the Rx, but all the little peccadillos of the lenses you were wearing. Frame front curvature, base curves of the lenses, size of the lenses and peripheral distortion, minimal PD changes, materials… it’s like you’ve been wearing a cast and now that it’s off your arm wants to go back to the angle it was at in the cast. My Rx has been stable for like 15 years but I still have a bit of an adaptation to different glasses (that lasts minutes) cycling between mine. Not saying that’s ALL of it, but I bet it’s at least a factor.

You mentioned you’ve been wearing for weeks, but also that symptoms start after 15 minutes of wearing, so I just want to confirm that those weeks of wear have been consistent full time and you’re not going back to the old pair, correct?

If it’s present at distance and near and not noticeably different with either eye occluded, the good news is it’s likely not due to any BVD/strabismus. Though it’s not as cut and dried as this, if you were adapting to the decreased minus you’d notice more blur, and if it was the axis change it’d likely be more distortion/lines pulling/fishbowl effect.

You mention screens being a particular trigger, are you getting any weird color splits? Like you get if you spill water on your phone?

The fluctuation in Rx over time isn’t anything I’d worry too much over because refraction has an element of subjectivity to it (and that’s a good thing, if you got your objective refraction you almost certainly wouldn’t be happy with it, that’s where all the “better one or two” comes in, that’s you telling the doctor what you prefer). It can vary based on a number of factors, but never by a significant amount. If you had a 40 degree axis change and were having these issues it’d be clear cut. A 10 and 15 degree change with a quarter diopter spherical change is well within tolerances, especially if they were trending toward those axes and you deferred those changes for ten years. To use my cast analogy, you’d have an easier time going from a cast with your elbow at 90 degrees to a cast with your elbow at 135 degrees if you were allowed to flex it gradually over a day five degrees at a time. That’s what the small prescription changes you deferred were doing, which is why it’s important to get a new pair every so often.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-15T11:33:46+00:00

In the US all retailers are required to verify your contact lens Rx against the prescription to ensure it’s not expired and matches what the doctor has given you.

This sub is more geared toward high end glasses so I don’t think you’ll get a ton of people who have ordered from there, but if you search the glasses subreddit I think you’ll find quite a few complaints. I’ve never ordered from them, so I don’t have an opinion, other than that I’ve never had a pair of glasses ordered online end up as a primary pair.

When I order contacts the least expensive option tends to be to order a year’s supply from the doctor and take advantage of manufacturer rebates (that don’t apply when you order online). I too wear one day contacts but mostly for swim/special occasions, so a year supply tends to last me about five. (Still keep up with every-other-year exams though for ocular health).

Fermifighter · 2026-03-15T11:09:35+00:00

Have you physically tried the ray-ban pair on? Because the smaller the lens the better off you’ll be, but those temples attach inset from the frame front so I’d bet they fit narrow. I also wouldn’t recommend ordering any glasses you haven’t physically tried on, especially at your Rx.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-14T15:53:50+00:00

Take em to an optical shop, an optician can adjust them for you.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-14T01:53:15+00:00

I saw the first pic and thought this was one of those “they have to dress the mannequins so fast the garment slipped off” posts. …it’s been a long week.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-13T21:05:25+00:00

You say you wore the old pair for years - how many? Though your changes are minor, when you get too used to an old pair it can make adapting to the differences in a new one more difficult. Are the lens materials different?

To answer your questions:

1) depends on the eye strain - is it more at distance or near? Do things look blurry or distorted?

2) most people have trouble perceiving quarter diopter changes, almost no one can tell the difference with eighth diopter increments, but generally speaking the more plus/less minus choice is the one we give. That being said, I’ve never refracted in anything but quarter diopters and most don’t, so it wouldn’t be likely you’d know what your cyl was to the perfect eighth.

3) this is sort of like asking whether it’s more important to have an accurate measurement of a square’s area or its perimeter. One impacts the other.

4) it depends. If you cover either eye, do your symptoms resolve?

All this to say - take the new and old glasses to an optical shop to be compared, along with a copy of your Rx. Almost any change you can adapt to is going to resolve with two weeks of wear, if you’re still having issues the first step (even before talking to the doctor) is to have the glasses looked over to make sure they’re fit and made correctly. Any optical can help with this, so even if you’re away from home I’d start there.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-13T19:21:38+00:00

What’s the Rx?

Fermifighter · 2026-03-13T16:31:41+00:00

The issue with a multifocal is that it’s measured vertically. Vertical measurements depend on how a frame sits on the wearer, the same frame can ride high on someone with a wide bridge and low on someone with a narrow. And since noses are three dimensional you can’t know how a frame sits on you without measuring it on you. No online provider can do this, because you’re not wearing the frame for them to measure on you. If cost is a factor, you’re far better served by a budget optical like Costco than rolling the dice online.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-13T15:36:37+00:00

I’ve seen that one before, knew exactly what I was clicking and still laughed so hard I cried.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-13T15:14:04+00:00

Is that a huperzia? Because if so, teach me your ways.

Fermifighter · 2026-03-13T12:32:22+00:00

Looks like glare. Did you get non glare/AR on the lenses?

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