Sometime in your mid-30s, it happens; you pick up a book or your smartphone and realize you can no longer see the words as clearly as you used to. In an effort to bring everything into focus, you extend your arms and move the phone away from you, and everything comes back into focus.
It’s then that you know you need reading glasses. Magnified glasses (aka reading glasses, cheaters, specs, etc.) help you if you find yourself with a little age-related farsightedness: presbyopia.
Most of us can get by with a few pairs of drugstore cheapies until we have to see our doc to get prescription lenses. However, if you work in a field that requires safety glasses, you could find yourself in an uncomfortable situation.
Let’s check out what’s available in terms of magnified safety glasses and how you can protect your eyes (and preserve your close-up vision) at the same time.
What Are Safety Glasses?
Safety glasses are glasses designed to help protect your eyes against potential dangers like:
- Flying objects
- Debris
- Chemicals, biological liquids
- Flames, heat, or sparks
If you’re in a situation that could risk the integrity of your eyesight, safety glasses can lower that risk to virtually zero. Because safety glasses protect your eyes, they have specialized, tested features. Safety glasses aren’t just for healthcare professionals; pretty much everyone should grab a pair of safety glasses.
Impact Resistance
Safety glasses undergo rigorous testing to ensure they can withstand practically any environmental hazard they come up against. Impact resistance is one of the most important safety features a pair of safety glasses will have.
Impact resistance testing involves two different types of tests:
-
High mass impact. Safety glasses must be able to withstand impact from a weighted object dropped from a height of four feet. During this test, neither the frames nor the lenses can break or shatter.
- High-velocity impact. For safety glasses to pass a high-velocity test, they must not break when impacted with a steel ball bearing traveling over 200 miles per hour.
Not all safety glasses feature both types of impact resistance, but ones that do will be marked with an ANSI Z87.1 certification.
Side and Top Shield Protection
Safety glasses protect every area around your eyes where a potential eye hazard could enter. Where most glasses have gaps on the sides and tops, you’ll find safety glasses have shields that connect with your skin, offering a level of protection to your temples and above your eyes.
These shields are sometimes removable; however, removable shields are fraught with problems. If they are taken off and replaced incorrectly, they can falter and end up injuring you if they are impacted by an object. There’s also the human error factor: you could forget to put them back on your face.
Spill/Splatter Resistance
Safety glasses should also pass a spill/splatter resistance test. Glasses tested to this standard have been shown to keep liquids from entering the eye area when exposed to them. This is especially important for anyone working in the medical field around biohazards or around chemicals.
What Are Magnified Glasses
Magnified glasses are a fancy way of saying reading glasses. Unlike prescription lenses, magnified glasses can be purchased at practically any drug store over the counter. Available in standard strengths, they are designed to help people bring close-up objects into focus.
Age-related farsightedness is very common, affecting virtually everyone as they age. It happens because the lens of your eye becomes less flexible, making it harder for you to focus on objects close up.
Magnified reading glasses make it easier for you to see writing and projects that are closer to your eyes. Reading glasses seem like a quick fix for anyone having these types of vision issues, but what happens if your work requires safety glasses?
Are you doomed to switching back and forth between safety glasses and reading glasses every time you need to answer your phone, look at a manual, or your computer?
Magnified Safety Glasses
Magnified safety glasses are safety glasses that are available with reading prescription lenses. These allow someone who suffers from farsightedness to easily wear safety glasses and see tedious, up-close work or text without removing their safety frames and switching to reading glasses.
This is beneficial because the removal of safety glasses poses a threat to overall eye safety. Anytime you remove your safety glasses, you expose your eyes and risk your vision. Additionally, reading glasses don’t offer the same level of protection as safety glasses, so if you switch to reading glasses while you’re still involved in an eye-hazard situation, you place your eyes at risk.
Prescription Safety Glasses
At some point, most of us who have tried to “make it” on reading glasses will eventually need to see an optometrist and get corrective lenses. Not only is this a more permanent solution, but it also gives you the ability to have your vision custom-corrected, not to mention you’ll have a lot more options for stylish frames.
Luckily, prescription safety glasses are available, so you can get the same customized vision correction in your safety glasses. Prescription safety glasses are perfect for anyone, even if you don’t work in a field that requires safety frames. The ability to work on at-home tasks like yard work or home improvement without switching to your reading glasses every time you need to answer a text is incredibly convenient.
However, glasses-wearers are probably familiar with this unique problem: the provider of your safety glasses usually doesn’t offer the ability to pop your prescription in your safety glasses. That’s why it’s best to look for safety glasses that offer in-house prescriptions, like...
Enter our segue: Stoggles.
The Stoggles Difference
When you’re ready for the safety glasses of the big leagues, Stoggles has your back. We combine all the elements of safety you depend on to keep your eyes safe from hazards with all the style you’d expect from a pair of custom frames.
Every pair of Stoggles comes standard with some pretty amazing features:
Certifications
Every pair of Stoggles has the ANSI Z87.1 certification. No matter what comes in contact with your protective safety glasses, they’re certified to be impact-resistant and protective. Our polycarbonate frames are also super lightweight and comfortable, so you never have to worry about them hurting your head or feeling heavy on the bridge of your nose.
Anti-Fog Coating
One of the biggest complaints safety glasses users have is a pair of protective glasses that continually fog. This presents a risk to eye safety because glasses that fog have to be removed and cleaned exposing the eye to hazards and taking you off task.
Blue-Light Blocking Protection
Our glasses won’t just protect you from flying objects, splatters, and spills. You’ll also get blue-light protection to ensure that no matter how many times you return to the computer or device you use, your eyes will be protected from potentially harmful blue light.
Superior Style
Wearers of safety glasses everywhere, rejoice. You can now wear safety glasses without feeling the same misery you felt as an awkward teenager in biology class. Our safety glasses are innovatively designed and available in fresh colors and shapes that you’ll find yourself wearing outside of your job or project.
Zoom In
Magnified safety glasses help you see up close and protect your eyes from hazards. They work much like standard reading glasses but give you the ability to wear one pair of glasses instead of switching back and forth.
Stoggles offers safety glasses with prescription lenses for fully customized vision correction and impeccable style, so you can stay safe and look good simultaneously. You know it’s time to get corrective lenses; trust Stoggles to protect your eyes in style.
Sources:
Presbyopia (Age-Related Farsightedness): Symptoms & Treatments|My Cleveland Clinic.org
Reading Glasses - Science Updates
