Our Top Tips For Buying Reading Glasses Online
Are you squinting more often than usual lately? Especially when you are trying to read something or working on your computer. Or are you constantly adjusting the distance between your eyes and the page? If so, you might need reading glasses.
While reading glasses sometimes have a bad perception to them, buying them online can be a convenient and affordable way to improve your vision. In this guide, we will share our top tips for selecting the perfect pair of reading glasses online, ensuring a safe space to explore your options.
What Causes the Need for Reading Glasses?
As we age, our eyes have to put in more work for us to see clearly. After we’ve reached a certain age, mostly around the age of 40, the muscles that contract the lens in our eyes begin to weaken. In addition, fibrosis causes our crystalline lens to harden, which causes us to have trouble focusing close up.
This age-related condition is called presbyopia. When we pass the halfway point in our lives, presbyopia is by far the most common "entry point" to wearing glasses, regardless of whether we had glasses before. Our eye muscles naturally weaken after about four decades, which reduces the degree of contraction, so we have a harder time seeing things up close.
Understand Your Prescription
Before purchasing reading glasses online, you should understand your prescription. Reading prescriptions usually include factors such as the lens power needed to correct your vision and the pupillary distance (PD), which is the distance between your pupils.
If you’re unsure about your prescription, consider visiting an optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam to ensure you’re getting the right strength of reading glasses for your needs.
Measure Your Pupillary Distance
If you’re shopping for your reading glasses online, your pupillary distance (PD) is an important measurement to consider. It determines the proper alignment of the lenses with your eyes. To measure your PD accurately, follow these simple steps.
- Stand in front of a mirror with a ruler positioned horizontally across your brow.
- Hold the ruler against your brow, making sure it’s level.
- Ideally, have someone else measure the distance between the centres of your pupils in millimetres.
- Repeat the measurement a few times to make sure it's correct.
What Type of Reading Glasses are Best?
When you’re shopping for reading glasses online, you’ll come across two main options: ready-made reading glasses and custom reading glasses.
Ready-made reading glasses are pre-manufactured with standard lens powers and frame sizes and are usually found in your local pharmacy. They come in a range of prescription strengths and frame styles made for one-size-fits-all which makes them a convenient and budget-friendly choice for those with mild correction needs.
Or for those of you, who prefer to have several glasses, each pair lying around every corner of the house, car, and possibly garden, readily available when needed.
Custom reading glasses, on the other hand, are personalised to your specific prescription and preferences, such as frame materials, lens types, and lens coatings. While they might require you to invest a bit more, custom reading glasses address your vision problems more accurately and are a more reliable set of specs.
Benefits of Investing in Quality Reading Glasses
Unique Lenses:
One of the most compelling benefits of custom reading glasses is that they offer precise tailoring to your unique optical needs. It is quite common for each of your eyes to have slightly different requirements when it comes to vision correction.
This is where ready-made reading glasses don’t make the cut as they typically have matching focal powers in both lenses. For instance, if you go for +1 reading glasses, both lenses will have a power of +1.
With prescription custom reading glasses, each lens is tailored to the specific needs of your eyes. So, regardless of any difference between your eyes, each one gets the right amount of correction.
Lens Coatings:
Getting reading glasses that fit your prescription can transform your reading experience. But on top of your tailored prescription lenses, custom reading glasses will give you the option to enhance your glasses with additional lens coatings.
This way you can really fine-tune your reading glasses to match your specific preferences and lifestyle. Some of the options include:
Customising your reading glasses with these additional coatings provides added protection and comfort on top of clear vision.
Avoid Eye Strain:
If one of your eyes needs a different lens power than the other, one of your eyes might have trouble adjusting and achieving proper focus with ready-made reading glasses.
Unfortunately, having mismatched prescription lenses can lead to eye strain. Despite the magnification of the lens, one or both of your eyes are working harder to focus properly with the wrong prescription. Custom reading glasses, however, are customised to your eye’s specific needs, which helps to prevent such issues.
Frame Quality:
With ready-made reading glasses, you will most likely end up with low-quality frames too. Those inexpensive one-size-fits-all reading glasses are made with low-grade plastics and sometmes even harmful metals. This can lead to skin issues such as rashes or them breaking more easily.
With customised reading glasses, you can be sure they are made of long-lasting and hard-wearing materials to support all of life’s adventures.
Warranty:
Ready-made reading glasses usually don’t come with a warranty, which means that if they break or you change your mind, it’ll be too late. Purchasing quality reading glasses will come with a warranty, guaranteeing at least a month of free return if you change your mind or run into issues.
Better Style:
And the last thing you should consider is that off-the-shelf-ready reading glasses are very standard. Mass-produced somewhere, they tend to lack individuality and often come in uninspiring designs.
Custom reading glasses, however, give you the chance to let your individuality shine and find the perfect pair of glasses to fit your style.
How To Find a Pair of Reading Glasses Online
One thing left to talk about is, how to actually find a pair of reading glasses online. While you know that understanding your prescription and measuring your PD is important, another crucial factor is how to find glasses that fit your style online. There are a few important steps to consider if you want to find reading glasses online that not only help your vision but elevate your look.
First of all, you need to understand your face shape and what frame shapes accentuate or worsen your overall look. Next, you need to consider your skin tone as well as your eye colour to find the perfect match to bring out your best features.
For more guidance on how to find a pair of glasses that suit you, check out our article here.
Conclusion
Choosing the right reading glasses online doesn’t have to be an intimidating task. By understanding your prescription, measuring your pupillary distance, and choosing the appropriate type of reading glasses for your needs, you can make sure you are choosing comfort and clarity for all your reading adventures.
Investing in quality eyewear is an investment in your health and quality of life, so don’t hesitate and find your perfect fit at Glasses2You.
Share This Post
