If you were born with imperfect eyes, or if you have developed any eye condition with time you might need to wear glasses, contact lenses or go through surgery. In my case, I have always worn spectacles since I was 4 years and I was diagnosed with myopia. At that time my myopia was pretty low, but it kept growing. Today, I am 27 (less a month) and I have high myopia with -7.50 on each eye and a little astigmatism. I have no problem saying that, because I do not think there is anything to be shy about. It's definitely not my fault and I can still live a normal life, as long as I wear my glasses all the time. So when you have high myopia finding the best glasses it's the key to being comfortable and feeling normal for what concerns your vision. Spectacles become your best friend because they bring the world closer to your eyes, thus making you able to see things you otherwise wouldn't be able to see.
Life without glasses......
Hence, finding the perfect pair of glasses which not only feel comfortable and allow you to see, but also make you look good and feel good about yourself is essential. The same applies to sunglasses. Everyone should protect the eyes from the sun, but this is particularly important for people with eye related problems. Of course, you can wear your contact lenses and buy non prescription sunglasses. But if you are like me, and hate the thought of having anything or anyone touching your eyes, you will have to opt for sunglasses. Plus, in my opinion, contact lenses with time can actually cause more problems to your eyes. And there are also people who cannot wear them at all because of some particular condition like dry eyes.
For these people, including myself, prescription or sighted sunglasses are the way to go. Once you have decided to buy prescription sunglasses there are many factors to consider. And the process is a little more complex than when choosing prescription glasses. You might want to start by considering the following points:
1. Finding the frame you like the most, and which suits your face and physique best is not the most important criteria to consider when choosing your prescription sunglasses.
2. The higher your myopia is the more difficult the process becomes....
3. Although, sunglasses are a fashionable accessory people with high prescription have limited choice in terms of which sunglasses frames they can choose....
Now that you have the above 3 points in mind, you can set lower expectations and also more realistic ones. This will help you choose the best possible sunglasses frame for you and your degree of shortsightedness.
The most important thing you should know before starting looking for prescription sunglasses is......
The higher your myopia the thicker your lenses will be, especially on the outside edge. This is because the correcting lens, needed to refocus the image on the retina, is concave or divergent also called negative lens.
This should explain why correction lenses for myopia
are thicker on the outside than on the inside.
This implies that the higher the prescription, the smaller the frame should be both in terms of width and height for the lens thickness to be reduced. Professional opticians will always ask to see your prescription before showing you any frames, since your prescription determines how big you can go. This is obviously a big problem when buying sunglasses, since the bigger the better when it comes to stylish and fashionable sunglasses. Nowadays, you actually find very few small sunglasses frames. But do not fear, while it might take you longer than you initially thought you will find the right pair for you.
The second most important thing to know when looking for prescription sunglasses is......
Nowadays, you can make your thick lenses look better by using high index lenses. These will make your lenses much thinner than they would otherwise be.
The higher the lens index used the thinner the final result will be. The index chosen will depend on whether you opt for plastic or glass lenses. Plastic lenses are in my opinion the best choice because they are lighter and less likely to break easily. However, while plastic lenses use an index which goes up to 1.74 (although I was told there is actually a 1.81 index for plastic on the market now) glass lenses can be thinned using an index of up to 1.9.
The third most important point to know is.....
The highest the index used to thin your lenses, the lighter the tint on your sunglasses.
Sunglasses are used to protect us from the sun. This is why they are dark; and the darker the better in terms of both protection and also style. So paying a lot (which you will if you choose an expensive designer frame and a high index lens to thin your thick lenses) for a pair of sunglasses with lenses being almost as white as your normal glasses is not reasonable in my opinion. This implies that you will have to find a compromise between the lens thickness and its tint. If you prefer a stronger tint you might have to accept a thicker lens and if you absolutely want the thinnest possible lens you might have to go for a slightly lighter tint. How big your compromise is depends on how good the brand you choose for your lenses is. Nowadays, there are many good brands out there. The one I choice was the best option available in my country and that is Hoya.
Knowing all of the above will help you be more knowledgeable about your options and therefore make a better choice. It will also help you understand which optician is the most expert and professional, and hence who you should trust with your prescription sunglasses. And believe me when I say that I have come across so many opticians who knew almost nothing about prescription sunglasses, which implies that had I not been aware of all the information I provided you in this post I would have ended making the worst possible decision and thus wasting my money and being unhappy with my sunglasses.
If you found this post useful please leave a comment and subscribe. I will be posting PART 2 - How to choose sunglasses and PART 3 by the end of this month. Part 2 will be all about my journey to find the perfect prescription sunglasses. And in PART 3 I will reveal my choice and show pictures of my new sunglasses (once they are ready).
STAY FAB
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