Tips For Buying Prescription Sunglasses

It seems like each day there is a new study showing just how damaging the sun can be to your eyes. While many of us once thought that UV protection on our regular glasses was optional, we simply wouldn’t imagine getting glasses without it now. The same goes for owning a pair of sunglasses. The perfect solution to this problem is to buy prescription sunglasses. A pair of prescription sunglasses contains your prescription in them but are tinted or darkened like a pair of sunglasses. Here are a few things you need to know about buying the perfect pair of prescription sunglasses.

Your Eye Exam

Every pair of eyeglasses, both sunglasses and regular glasses, starts with an eye exam. If you have shown to have no degradation in your eye and you have had an eye exam in the last six months, you can go ahead and use your old prescription to get your pair of sunglasses, but if not, you may want to consider going to the doctor first. On average, an adult with healthy vision can go two years between appointments, but if you are going to get prescription sunglasses, it never hurts to have things updated so you receive the best possible glasses you can.

Styles

There are a whole host of different styles you can get when it comes to prescription sunglasses. Some are truly outrageous, while others look very similar to the glasses you already own. If you find a frame that you like, in most cases, you can get tinted lenses put in them, so you may not have to choose a pair of “sunglasses” if you don’t want to. Modern technology these days is capable of almost anything, so make sure you ask your eye care specialist about what is possible.

Clips Ons

Clip ons can significantly reduce the overall cost of getting prescription sunglasses. Clip on lenses come with a clip on feature (usually where the bridge is) and they often employ a magnetic feature so they easily stick to the frame of your existing glasses. Using clip ons is easy, but some don’t care for the way it looks since it adds an extra layer to your glasses and the clip ons are easily lost. In addition, you will have to see if clip ons can be made for your current glasses. Of all of the different ways in which you can have prescription sunglasses, this method is likely the least popular but it also one of the least expensive, so the choice is up to you.

Polarized Lenses

No matter what style of prescription sunglasses you choose, it is important to make sure the lenses are polarized. Polarized lenses do a magnificent job of blocking out a large amount of glare from the sun and from objects that reflect the sun’s rays. You can even have your regular lenses polarized if you like but since sunglasses are specifically made to wear outside in sunny conditions, it is extremely important that you get this extra layer of protection added. It is important that you do not confuse regular anti reflective coating with polarized lenses. A polarized lens does far more to reduce the amount of glare that your eyes have to put up with, and that means that your eyes don’t have to work as hard to focus on things in a bright environment. If you are getting these prescription sunglasses for driving, for working in a place with lots of glare like by the water or in a place like a car dealership or parking lot, you are especially going to want polarized lenses.

Photochromic Lenses

Chances are, if you are interested in prescription sunglasses, your eye doctor will ask you about transition lenses. What many people don’t know about this technology is that it is far from new. You can find ads as far back as the 1960’s and 70’s for transition lenses, but back then, the amount of time it took for the lenses to go from dark to light and back again was significantly longer than it is now. In addition, modern technology has allowed for the lenses to become much darker than they used to. If you had transition lenses 15 or even 10 years ago and didn’t like them, you should really give them another look because they are completely different from what you are used to. These days, there are almost as many transition lenses sold as regular lenses and many can be fit right into the same kinds of frames as your regular glasses. They may not be for everyone, but when you consider they save you from having to buy a whole extra set of frames, transition lenses are a real winner in most people’s eyes.

High Performance Sunglasses

For those folks who are extremely active during the summertime and need sunglasses that work with their bodies, high performance sunglasses may be what you are looking for. These frames are often in a wrap around style or in a goggle style and are perfect for playing basketball, hiking, biking and any other high impact outdoor activity. On average, these prescription sunglasses are a bit more expensive than what you would normally buy, but you can’t beat the safety and look of these high performance eyeglasses.

As you can see, there are a lot of factors that go into buying the perfect pair of prescription sunglasses. You first need to make sure that your prescription is up to date and accurate, and then you need to decide if you want stand alone sunglasses, clip ons, transition lenses or something else. Finally, you need to make sure that your sunglasses contain both anti reflective coating as well as polarized lenses so that your eyes are fully protected.

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