We’ll admit it. When you start exploring the terminology involved with eyewear, things get a little fuzzy. So many different terms, so many different types of vision correction, and of course, so many stylish eyewear options can make the field of optometry seem particularly daunting.
Never fear, your Stoggles eyewear professionals are here. We’ll give you the vision-related tea before you hit up your eye doctor so you can better understand what they mean when they offer you options like corrective lenses and eyeglasses.
We’ll address some of the most common vision correction issues, explain the difference between lenses and glasses, and help you make a more informed decision about your vision correction. Get ready, we’re going to deep dive into our favorite subject: the eyes!
Vision Correction 101
Most vision correction stems from issues called refractive errors. Refractive errors are very common, affecting more than 150 million Americans of all ages. Some people are born with these types of errors while others are developed over time, as the result of injury or simply the aging process.
The four most common types of refractive errors are myopia, hyperopia, presbyopia, and astigmatism. Let’s talk about each briefly.
Myopia
This vision condition can make far-away objects appear blurry. It’s also referred to as nearsightedness because you’re able to see objects close up (like your smartphone) but not objects far away (like a stop sign in the distance).
Hyperopia
If you can see distant objects easily but have trouble seeing close up, you have farsightedness or hyperopia. There’s a caveat to this one: If you’re under the age of about 35 and dealing with this type of vision issue, you’ll likely be told by your ophthalmologist you have hyperopia. If you’re over 35, it’s more likely presbyopia.
Presbyopia
Farsightedness, but make it for middle-aged people. Presbyopia is the term given to people who suffer from farsightedness as a result of the aging process. With age, the lens of the eye becomes stiff and inflexible, making it harder for the lens to properly focus light onto the retina, which enables you to see.
If you live long enough, you’ll develop presbyopia. It’s as natural as death and taxes, and one of the reasons drugstore reading glasses are so popular among the 40+ crowd.
Astigmatism
The last type of refractive error that is correctable with corrective lenses or glasses is astigmatism. This is an issue with the shape of your lens. Instead of being round like a basketball, the lens is shaped more like a football, which causes the person to see halos and starbursts of light around bright objects (like oncoming car lights). Having astigmatism can make it particularly dangerous to drive at night.
There are numerous other vision issues that can be “fixed” with corrective lenses or glasses, but these are the most common. It’s also possible to have more than one vision issue. For instance, you may have astigmatism and nearsightedness.
Once your ophthalmologist or optometrist diagnoses your vision problems, they’ll get busy helping you understand what you need to fix them.
Vision Correction
Vision correction comes in the form of single-vision or multi-vision lenses or glasses. This means that, depending on your vision issues, you could have more than one correction in your lens.
- Single vision. A single vision correction is given to someone who only has one type of refractive error. Reading glasses, for instance, have single-vision lenses that only help a person see objects that are close up. They don’t offer correction for far away objects.
- Multi vision. You’ve heard of these. Their street name isn’t very popular (bifocals or trifocals). No one likes the idea of having lenses with lines, and that is what we most commonly associate with multifocal lenses. However, if you have more than one type of refractive error, you’ll need multifocal lenses.
Thankfully, multifocal lenses are now available in very low-profile designs and are called progressive lenses — which are more common now, as bifocals and trifocals are slowly becoming more obsolete. Progressive lenses typically have two to three different vision correction zones and require a little practice to learn how to use them. For instance, you may need to focus your gaze at the top of your lenses for close-up vision, the middle of your lenses for near-distance vision, and the bottom of your lenses for far-away vision.
Once you know what you need, you can decide the format you’d like. That means you’ll have a choice between corrective lenses and eyeglasses.
What Are Corrective Lenses?
Corrective lenses are also known as contact lenses. Unlike eyeglasses, they sit directly on your cornea. Prescription lenses have evolved, too. When they first became available, they were only able to correct a single vision refractive issue. Now, they can even be used for cultivation correction.
What Are the Benefits of Corrective Lenses?
There have to be benefits for anything that requires you to put an object directly into your eye, and there are. Contact lenses are a great fit for people who are active or simply don’t want to wear glasses.
In addition, they:
- Are more cost-effective than some other types of eyewear. Don’t want to splurge on designer frames? No worries. You can get your eyewear prescription filled with contact lenses, which are generally less expensive than frames.
- Are disposable or reusable. You can pick whether you’d like to purchase reusable contact lenses or whether you’d prefer the convenience of daily disposable lenses. Disposable lenses may be a good option for kids or for people who aren’t great at keeping track of personal items.
- Offer fashion options. You read that right. Contact lenses can offer a variety of fashion options in their coloring. If you’ve always wanted blue eyes but were born with brown, now’s your chance to try on a set of baby blues with colored contact lenses.
If the thought of placing something directly on the eye makes you squirm, fear not, you’ve got options. Eyeglasses don’t require any eyeball contact and are still 100% on trend.
What Are Eyeglasses?
They’re the OG of vision correction, and they aren’t going anywhere anytime soon. Eyeglasses are worn in front of the eyes as opposed to directly on them. They are corrective lenses that are held in frames.
Eyeglasses are the most common option for vision correction. In fact, only about 45 million Americans wear contact lenses, so if you choose spectacles, you’ll be in good company. Although it might seem like eyeglasses are less convenient than contacts, there are some advantages to choosing them, too.
What Are the Benefits of Eyeglasses?
Wearing prescription glasses is imperative for vision correction if you aren’t going to wear corrective contact lenses on the surface of the eye (which is admittedly a little tricky to get used to). But eyeglasses aren’t just for people who can’t stomach the thought of touching their eyes.
They offer benefits like:
- Zero user error. It can take time to learn how to put in contact lenses. Eyeglass lenses simply pop on and off your face with no learning curve.
- You can easily remove them when you don’t need them. If you only need single vision correction for nearsightedness or farsightedness, you may not want to wear corrective lenses continually. For instance, if you have presbyopia, you may only need near vision correction.
It would be pretty hard to remove your contact lenses every time you weren’t looking at something close up, but glasses are easily removed when you don’t need them.
- They offer a bit more protection than contact lenses. Part of maintaining your eye health is protecting your eyes, which are totally exposed to the world. While eyeglasses won’t protect your eyes from all hazards, they’ll generally provide a barrier that contact lenses simply can’t offer.
While we’re on the subject of vision protection, we’d like to submit this: you need vision protection, whether you realize it or not. We’ll explain, and tell you how to find the very best.
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Why Is Vision Protection Important?
Even if you don’t regularly operate heavy machinery, you still need vision protection. Your eyes are exposed, and your vision cells are precious. Retinal cells are limited in number and don’t regenerate, so if they become damaged, part or all of your vision could be lost for good.
Most of us don’t think about vision correction until it’s too late (i.e. we sustain an eye-related injury). At Stoggles, we make eye care our mission and style our vision (and we also love a good play on words). Here’s how to get the very best protection for your eyes in a style that is unmistakably your very own.
What You Need for Vision Protection
Vision protection requires a few basics, and you’ll find that every pair of Stoggles checks the boxes. Here’s what you should look for in safety eyewear.
Shatter Resistance
Keeping your eyes safe from strikes and scrapes requires a level of durability that typical eyeglasses cannot offer. Stoggles are all tested to the ANSI Z87.1-2020 standard, which means they are rated for high-velocity impact.
Our eyewear is made from ultra-lightweight polycarbonate material, which is durable without being bulky or heavy.
Anti-Fog
Fogging eyewear can drive an eyeglass wearer insane. Keep your sanity with fog-resistant lenses. Stoggles are pre-treated with an anti-fogging compound to ensure they resist fogging no matter how steamy your situation *ahem* becomes.
Light Safety
Keeping your eyes safe from intrusive light rays is essential for eye safety and preventing the early onset of certain eye diseases like macular degeneration and cataracts. Stoggles’ polycarbonate lenses are naturally UV-blocking, but we went a step further.
Stoggles are also injected with blue light-blocking compounds to ensure they protect your eyes from intrusive light coming from smartphones, laptops, and other devices.
Side and Top Shields
Your regular corrective eyeglasses leave your eyes vulnerable at the tops and sides. Top and side shields fix the issue in a streamlined and low-profile way. Wraparound lenses can also offer protection, but if you need prescription safety glasses, these could cause a warped look and may be close to impossible to get.
Bottom line: Stoggles offers the safety features you need, but with the style you crave, so you can keep your eyes safe and still look great at the same time. The best part? We offer our Stoggles with prescription lenses. Just upload your prescription to our website, and we’ll take care of the rest.
Seeing Straight
When your vision fails you, go ahead and make the appointment to see your eye doctor. Remember, you’ve got options for vision correction and eye safety. You don’t have to settle for thick-rimmed glasses unless you want them, and you don’t need to wear bargain-bin safety glasses that make you feel like a chemistry student. Stoggles offers vision protection with stylish finishes and frames that look like your favorite specs — and we also offer Readers for those looking for reading power. Plus, we aim to make every step of the process streamlined and hassle-free… because your eyewear should relieve stress, not cause it.
Sources:
Refractive Errors | National Eye Institute
Presbyopia | National Eye Institute