Eye Tests, Prescriptions and Buying Glasses
Eyewear pricing combines a clinical service with a retail product, and separating them is where most of the saving is.
The eye test
An eye examination is a health check as well as a sight test. It can detect glaucoma, diabetic changes, high blood pressure and other conditions before symptoms appear.
Recommended intervals are typically around two years for most adults and more frequently for those with specific conditions or a family history.
Many systems provide free or subsidised tests for certain groups, including children, older adults and people with particular medical conditions.
Do not skip the test to save money. Its value is medical rather than commercial.
Your prescription belongs to you
After a test you are generally entitled to a copy of your prescription, and you may take it anywhere.
For spectacles you also need your pupillary distance, which can be measured at the practice and should be provided on request.
Contact lens fitting is a separate service and the specification differs from a spectacle prescription.
Where the cost sits
Frames carry high markups, particularly designer-licensed ranges which are frequently made by the same manufacturers as unbranded ones.
Lens options escalate the price: coatings, thinning, photochromic and progressive designs.
Two-pair offers are frequently structured so the second pair uses cheaper lens options.
Deciding what you actually need
Anti-reflective coating is generally worthwhile, particularly for driving and screen use.
Thinner lenses matter for stronger prescriptions and are unnecessary for mild ones, where they add cost and nothing else.
Progressive lenses vary considerably in quality and adaptation, and this is one area where paying more can be justified.
Scratch-resistant coatings are standard on most modern lenses rather than an extra.
Online purchase
Considerably cheaper for simple prescriptions and straightforward frames.
Less suitable for complex prescriptions, progressives and anything requiring precise fitting.
Check the return policy, since fit problems are common and not always predictable from measurements.
Keeping an old frame and having new lenses fitted is frequently the cheapest route of all where the frame is sound.
General information rather than clinical advice.
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