I've just changed opticians.

[ian]

Modern high water content lenses don't bother dry eyes. Though modern younger people probably cry all the time because of gluten or somesuch.

Managing menstruation at one remove is enough for me.

[sojournermike]

Modern high water content lenses don't bother dry eyes. Though modern younger people probably cry all the time because of gluten or somesuch.

Managing menstruation at one remove is enough for me.

If ever I needed a like button!

[mrcharly-YHT]

First experience of an island opticians.

Apart from the annoying habit of changing the diagnostic lenses as she said "One or Two?", very positive. Wallet looked like it had been attacked by piranhas (£800 for  two pairs of specs) and a prescription to help with my dry eye problem. She could see the start of damage to surface of eye, despite my using eye drops in the morning.

[Wowbagger]

Here we are, 12 years to the week later, and I've changed opticians again. I didn't realise I had until after the eye test, but it seems that the firm formerly known as Harvey  Rose, and up until recently run by his son Paul, is now just "Rose Opticians". It seems that Paul has retired. My eyes were examined by a very pleasant young woman and who used a glaucoma test which didn't have me leaping backwards.

Jan had an eye test immediately after I did and we are both due new spectacles. At an eye-watering price.

I was examined by the same very pleasant young woman again today. She seemed to think it was 18 months since I was last seen, and I do recall that this was my third appointment with her. For the second consecutive occasion, my eyes have changed so little that I am still wearing the same glasses I bought in June 2021.

I did have to get these frames repaired some while back because a weld had broken. They are remarkably flimsy titanium. That mend cost me £15.

Jan had her eyes tested as well, and she needs new distance glasses, which have set us back about £380. But she's worth it...

[citoyen]

Is it improper to have a crush on one's optician?

I've been going to the local Specsavers for the last few regular biennial check-ups where my optician is a lovely flame-haired Irishwoman called Siobhan. She can't half talk, and she talks very fast too, but she's great and I have to confess to having developed a bit of a soft spot for her. I like that she doesn't hold back on the technical detail, which I find fascinating.

Last time I went, we ended up chatting for ages about the macula.

[Wowbagger]

I feel a "Readers' Opticians" thread coming on...

[alfapete]

I've only ever been to one optician, a friend who sat across the table from me in A level Biology classes. And, after qualification, I was his only dentist until I retired.
We remained loyal to each other not just because of friendship but also because of the transparent way in which we conducted our practice, making the patient our primary concern rather than our profitability.

I'm seeing him again in a couple of weeks (poor soul, he's still working, but has been doing 3 days a week for the last ten years or more).

[TPMB12]

I've got a very low prescription, minus 10. Seems £380 is commonly the price I pay for glasses.i go for 1.67 refractive index or higher,  usually 1.74 tbh.  Without that my lenses would be so thick they're in another time zone!

Contact lenses? I got high water content lenses years ago now but they were toric. The better,  more comfortable lenses couldn't be found in toric lenses. They had me clawing my eyes out if I wore for longer than 3 hours. I once wore them for 6 hours straight! I needed new eyes after that.  Took a few weeks to get over it!

I was at the limit for wearing contact lenses due to dry eyes. Much drier than mine and I wouldn't have been suitable for contacts. Very dry eyes do affect wearing of them.

I'm seeing a new, to me,   local opticians. The one I got my contacts from 15 plus years ago. I'm not looking forward to the bill! I need main glasses but also computer glasses too. I might get a contribution from work,  must check on that. I might get driving glasses I think blue filter helps with that.  I might need reading glasses too. I think I could get away with 2 glasses but that could be costly as they're not a cheap place.

I'm also thinking of getting a pair of fl42 tinted glasses for light sensitivity related to migraines. That adds nearly £150-200 to the price of normal glasses. That's for a few months on though. When I'm more flush.

New glasses are essential but the price hurts my wallet,  and me,  a bit too much.

[mrcharly-YHT]

It is worth getting a blue light filter on your computer glasses.

[TPMB12]

I think I'll have to in order to get a contribution from work.  Although I might have to buy from a certain opticians in the town I work in. A pain!

[citoyen]

It is worth getting a blue light filter on your computer glasses.

The science on this is far from conclusive. Your eyes are exposed to a lot more “blue” light from normal daylight.

You should be far more concerned about the damage caused by UV light. (One thing that came out from chatting with my optician last time I saw her is that her children wear sunglasses more or less every time they go outside.)

[mrcharly-YHT]

It is worth getting a blue light filter on your computer glasses.

The science on this is far from conclusive. Your eyes are exposed to a lot more “blue” light from normal daylight.

My experience, as someone who had light-triggered migraines, is that lenses with a blue filter (actually a yellow coloured tint I believe), is that the lenses make a huge difference.

I can look at a screen without them, put the glasses on, and it is like cooling water poured on a burn. The difference is startling.

[TPMB12]

You should look into FL42  I think it's called. It was developed to protect the eyes of students in Birmingham University from fluorescent lights but they found out it helps quite a few m light sensitivity conditions. I've heard on migraine forums that if you get a good pair of true  tl42 tinted glasses they do help. However there are some very bad ones around.  It's a kind of reddish, orangish brown tint but some dodgy, online sites sell other, cheaper tints add fl42.

The true fl42 tint filters out two light frequency ranges that have been identified as triggering migraines.

[citoyen]

My experience, as someone who had light-triggered migraines, is that lenses with a blue filter (actually a yellow coloured tint I believe), is that the lenses make a huge difference.

Righto. I didn’t read TPBM’s post for context. Incorrectly guessed you were talking about protecting eyes from the damage supposedly caused by blue light emitted from screens, which is a pseudoscience health fad based on very limited evidence.

I know nothing of migraines, thankfully.

[TPMB12]

Lucky you! Seriously, you're lucky not to get migraines.

[ian]

Is it improper to have a crush on one's optician?

I've been going to the local Specsavers for the last few regular biennial check-ups where my optician is a lovely flame-haired Irishwoman called Siobhan. She can't half talk, and she talks very fast too, but she's great and I have to confess to having developed a bit of a soft spot for her. I like that she doesn't hold back on the technical detail, which I find fascinating.

Last time I went, we ended up chatting for ages about the macula.

I drank gin once with my content lens optician, but that's only because I bumped into her in the pub. It stopped at gin though, so don't get carried away. Hope she didn't have many more customers that afternoon.


I have one of those dentists who cheerfully carries on a conversation while shoving implements into my mouth so my only responses to his questions can be mmpfff hrrughm mmfflmm.

[Nuncio]

Is it improper to have a crush on one's optician?

You should marry her, for better or worse. Better? Or worse? Better with, or without?

[citoyen]

Is it improper to have a crush on one's optician?

You should marry her, for better or worse. Better? Or worse? Better with, or without?

[mrcharly-YHT]

Is it improper to have a crush on one's optician?

You should marry her, for better or worse. Better? Or worse? Better with, or without?

POTD!