Welcome to Eyecare Insights with your Jenks eye doctor, Dr. Kyle Tate
Today we are starting a new series to discuss cheap glasses. As you know at Insight Eyecare we focus on high quality eyeglasses, but you may not know why our focus is that. As your Jenks eye doctor, I want you to know and understand why high quality eyeglasses are an important thing for your day-to-day life. Today we will be discussing why cheap eyeglasses do not last as long as high quality good eyeglasses. So let’s dive in.
The number one problem that we see with people who have purchased cheap eyeglasses are inaccurate prescriptions for their glasses. One study found that 50% of all cheap glasses sold online did not have accurate prescriptions. A brick-and-mortar eye doctor or any type of optical shop selling glasses, whether they are high-quality glasses or cheap glasses, must follow regulations to have accurate prescriptions within specified tolerances. These are called ANZI standards and are required to be followed by any lab that makes eyeglasses. The optometry and eyecare communities have sought to have the government make regulations keeping an equal playing field to brick-and-mortar and online opticals. However, due to lobbyist efforts and current regulations many online retailers do not have to follow the same rules. At Insight Eyecare we tell our patients to only shop online when you need a bare minimum or backup only pair of glasses. This would be something that is only used temporarily or in the slight chance that you have an eye problem with your contacts.
The number two problem we see with cheap eyeglasses is in the low quality of the frames used. It is very common for cheap eyeglasses to snap on the frames. Cheap eyeglasses will also break at the temple or the hinge very commonly. There is a very large difference in the quality of materials in glasses that are more expensive. These different metals and plastics will be more durable over time. At Insight Eyecare we have witnessed people who purchased high quality glasses over 50 years ago that are still usable today. One of the main reasons for reduced quality of eyeglasses is the company Luxottica who owns some of the popular names such as Ray-Ban, Oakley, Prada, and Coach. In the 1990s Luxottica moved their manufacturing out of America and into China. With this, the eyecare industry witnessed these eyeglasses going down in quality compared to what we have always enjoyed. It is very sad to see such well-known name brands that in the clothing industry are known for quality to have their names reduced by cheap eyeglass materials. As your Jenks eye doctor we see more manufacturing defects from Luxottica brands than all the others that we carry. For these reasons we especially focus on trying to find unique independent brands that only use high quality materials.
The third biggest problem we see with cheap glasses are scratch and no glare treatments that easily come off and blur your vision. It is quite annoying to have blurry vision in glasses that are only about three months old. This is from the coatings not being high-quality and being removed. We have witnessed patients buy cheap glasses online whose coating came off when they cleaned their glasses. The types of materials that eyeglasses are made out of affect your vision, your safety, and how long the glasses will last. The most common lens material used in the United States will actually distort your color vision and is not chemical-resistant to stronger cleaning chemicals. We do not use poly carbonate at Insight Eyecare due to those reasons. We use a material called Trivex because it gives good color vision, it is impact resistant, and the material will not degrade with cleaners such as rubbing alcohol.
As you can see cheap eyeglasses may cost less money up front but they do not last as long, they do not provide as good of vision, and they provide a lot more maintenance. One of the topics we did not discuss today is that cheap frames will not hold an adjustment. This causes you to have to return to your doctor over and over again to keep the frame from sliding off your face. At Insight Eyecare we recommend getting a high quality pair of glasses that will be dependable and reliable. Cheap eyeglasses cost you more in the long run and cause more frustration. That is why we do not sell cheap glasses at Insight Eyecare. If you would like a pair of glasses that stays fitting your face well, that lasts you for years, that stays cleaner, that is more scratch resistant, and that makes you feel more confident about yourself then come see us, your Jenks eye Doctor.