The Truth About Ready-Made Glasses and Their Impact on Our Vision
Vision is perhaps the most important sense for humans, and its significance is crucial for our daily lives. It affects the way we interact with our environment, other people, and our daily tasks.
If we need prescription glasses to ensure comfortable and clear vision, we must be particularly careful in our selection.
We often hear people complaining about frequent headaches while reading, experiencing blurred vision, or one eye seeing more clearly than the other while using prescription glasses.
Have you ever wondered why this happens?
One of the most common questions from our customers is whether to buy ready-made reading glasses, also known as “off-the-shelf” glasses, or to get custom glasses from an optical store.
What Are the Differences Between Ready-Made Glasses and Glasses from an Optical Store?
Perhaps the most significant difference between ready-made glasses and glasses from an optical store is that the latter are specially made for each customer.
Not everyone has the same interpupillary distance! We don’t all have the same eye height! These characteristics are different for each of us!
The specialized health professional, whether an optician or optometrist, will take precise measurements and calculations of all parameters to create glasses that are specifically tailored for you. This ensures that the optical center of each lens, where the lens power is located, is positioned directly in front of the pupil of each eye.
How can ready-made glasses then be worn by anyone? They are manufactured with specific distances and specific heights. It is practically IMPOSSIBLE for them to fit everyone.
Are our eyes the same? Why do we have the same lenses in the right and left eye in ready-made glasses? What about astigmatism?
Another significant difference is that ready-made glasses are produced with the same prescription in both the right and left lenses, while research shows that it is rare to find people who have exactly the same refractive power in both eyes, or the same prescription.
It should also be noted that these glasses do not include astigmatism correction. Therefore, any customer with this refractive error will NEVER be satisfied with ready-made glasses, as their astigmatism will always remain uncorrected.
What Is the Durability of Ready-Made Glasses?
Now let’s talk about the materials used to manufacture these glasses. We are talking about a plastic material that will break at the first signs of wear and tear on the frame. It cannot be compared in any way to a quality frame from an optical store made from good materials such as acetate, titanium, metal, etc.
Can ready-made glasses ultimately harm the health of our eyes? What do they really create in our daily lives?
Thus, we often end up hearing complaints about headaches, fatigue regarding close-up tasks, or significant distortions in images due to the creation of aberrations.
Strabismus phenomena or diplopia may also be observed, as the two eyes struggle to achieve binocular coordination. Additionally, we often notice an incorrect head position due to improper optical centers or some uncorrected astigmatism.
The result is that we do not enjoy a clear image and, in the long run, we may develop poor posture that will lead to neck fatigue and many other problems.
Most people attribute all of this to a tiring daily routine and stress.
Why Are They More Affordable?
However, the attractive aspect of ready-made glasses is their selling price. Because they are very easily found in the market: in pharmacies, supermarkets, optical shops, online, or even at street market stalls. Prices range from €5 to €25.
They are so inexpensive because they “fit” everyone, and their lifespan is very short due to the material.
YES! They are a very affordable pair of reading glasses that we could keep in our pocket to quickly check a price at the supermarket for 10 seconds. They are glasses we can keep in a drawer at work so that if we realize we’ve forgotten our glasses at home, we can still work.
For this reason, they are also available in some optical stores to help customers in urgent situations.
However, they are recommended for use of less than 10 seconds due to the long-term problems they can cause in binocular vision.
The importance of vision is not limited only to recognizing faces, perceiving colors and shapes, but extends to all aspects of our daily lives. From the need to read a text or drive a vehicle to simply taking a walk in the park.
Good and restful vision determines our quality of life.
THAT’S WHY WE TAKE CARE OF OUR EYES!!!
Best regards,
The Optical Center[:]
