Some points to consider and discuss with your optometrist before buying glasses for the first time.
If you can see better close up you're SHORT SIGHTED. Short sightedness is often hereditary and can be exacerbated by spending long periods each day looking at computer screens and books.
If you can see distant objects but have trouble reading you're LONG SIGHTED. Long sightedness often comes with age.
Some people are both long and short sighted, and will need MULTI FOCAL lenses. Many people have different vision in each eye. If you have exactly the same vision in each eye and no astigmatism (you'll know this from an eye check up) you may be able to get away with buying the cheap glasses available on racks in big discount stores. For you, there's little need to spend hundreds of dollars on expensive glasses. But if each eye is different or you have astigmatism or other specific needs, get your glasses specially made.
1.Some optometrists offer a two-for-one deal on glasses. You may be wondering about the point of having two pairs. What if you intend to look after them - you shouldn't need two pairs, right? In fact, you may need a different pair of glasses if you spend a long time (more than 3 hours per day) in front of books or a computer. If you're short sighted you may benefit from a slightly weaker prescription for for close up work. Make sure that the glasses you'll wear on the computer have anti-reflective coating. This will reduce glare from a computer screen and your eyes won't get so tired.
2.Bear in mind that anti-reflective lenses require cleaning more often. I don't know why this is, but they seem to 'attract' dust and fingerprints.
3.When cleaning your lense use only the cloths and spray designed for use on glasses. Many people use their shirts or a handkerchief but the fibres in these fabrics will scratch your glasses.
4.Avoid placing your glasses lens-down. Friction with surfaces will result in scratches. If you think your glasses will be scratch prone, or if you're buying glasses for children, consider scratch resistant coating.
5.If you live in a bright environment (such as Australia) you'll need sunglasses. There are several options: corrective sunglasses, tinted corrective lenses, or clip ons. The disadvantage to wearing a separate pair of corrective sunglasses is that you're more likely to lose the pair you're not wearing at the time. The advantage is that you can wear designer sunglass frames which don't look at all like corrective lenses. Bear in mind that it will be more expensive to get them polarised and quite a lot more expensive to fit lenses into wrap-around frames. Even if you avoid losing them, plastic frames do degrade over time and they may snap. Tinted lenses have improved recently, with fairly rapid transitions (they're called transitions lenses) but in the car they may not work as well as you need them to because the coating on your windscreen means they don't get very dark. You still need dark glasses, however, if you're driving straight into the sun. Clip on sunglasses can be better for people who do lots of driving. Make sure you buy a pair of glasses which have a matching pair of clip-ons. Some frames even come with specially matched magnetic clip-ons. Other frames don't meet the 'sunglass standards' and you'll not be able to buy matching clip-on sunnies. In short, consider your sun protection needs when you initially buy your corrective lenses.
6. There are some unexpected disadvantages to wearing glasses for the first time. They steam up (in humid conditions, when you open the oven); they need frequent cleaning (especially if you're cooking splattery food); you can't wear glasses and lie on your side to read without glasses digging into your face; you probably want to take them off to kiss; glasses are harder to find when they're off (partly because you're sight-impaired, partly because glasses are basically transparent); they feel uncomfortable around the ears when you're wearing a headband; they can fly off or become dislodged if you play sports. So if you do lots of cooking or sports you might want to consider contact lenses. Bear in mind you'll still need glasses - contact lenses should not be worn all day long even if you think your eyes feel fine.
7.Some people assume people with glasses are more intelligent. Some studies have shown there to be truth in this, although the cause of intelligence may also be the cause of needing glasses: lots of close up work such as studying and reading may cause short-sightedness over time. Short-sightedness is about 50/50 environmental/heredity factors, so if your parents are shortsighted AND you do lots of studying, you're much more likely to need glasses. 8.Being short sighted means you're a bit more likely to become long sighted a few years earlier than average. (The average is about 40 years of age for long-sightedness.) You'll then be considering multifocal lenses in your late thirties. Consider a health insurance plan that includes glasses before then; multifocal, transition, anti-reflective, scratch resistant lenses are expensive.
9.If you have a shallow nose-bridge (eg. due to Asian ancestry) you may need to avoid frames with those little clear, sticky out bits that sit on the bridge of the nose, instead opting for nose support that is 'built into' the frame itself. Try both kinds on and see which feels more comfortable.
10.The cost of a pair of glasses includes correct fitting. You may need to go back to the optometrist several times before you feel your glasses fit properly. Incorrectly fitted glasses will lead to a sore nose bridge, sore backs of ears, or the constant need to push glasses back up onto the nose. It is annoying for others to see someone constantly pushing up their glasses, and must be annoying for the wearer themselves! Go back and have the glasses adjusted if you find yourself pushing them back up onto your nose. If the optometrist can't seem to get them right, consider 'sports grips', which are little rubber, grippy sleeves that sit on the ends of the legs to keep the frames resting at the right place behind the ears.
