If it’s been several years since you’ve updated your glasses prescription, it may be time to come into our Vancouver optometry clinic for a new one. You have much more than improved vision to look forward to when you purchase a new pair of glasses.

The technology available for different lenses has dramatically improved in just the last few years. The newest lenses and lens coatings available for your specs now come with a list of impressive features. Not all of these features can be combined onto the same pair of lenses, but any one of them could seriously improve your life:

Super Light Lenses

The newest types of lenses are made from polymers that weigh far less than glass. As this technology improves, lighter and lighter lenses are available for even the thickest of prescriptions. These new materials also have several other advantages over traditional glass lenses. For example, they are not as easy to shatter.

Many of the newest coatings available for lenses are also designed specifically for these polymer lenses. What follows are just some of the popular coatings that are available.

Sun Safe Lenses

If you have sensitive eyes, or you’d rather not wear sunglasses, you can still protect yourself from UV radiation. That’s because you can choose a UV blocking coating for your new lenses. The rate of protection differs by brand, but any one of them offers you significantly more protection than you would receive from traditional lenses.

These are a great choice if you have a job that often takes you outdoors.

Screen Safe

The blue light that is typically given off by phones and computer screens can exhaust your eyes and may be linked to mild health issues such as trouble sleeping. Blue-blocker lenses, as they are called, block the blue light that comes from screens. This may make it far more comfortable for you to use a computer for a much longer period.

Blue blocker lenses should be considered by those who work night shifts, or those who have positions that involve staring at a computer for more than four hours per day. The blocking of blue light can restore natural circadian rhythms to people who have sleeping problems because of screens.

Anti-Scratch

If you’ve worn glasses your entire life, you know how easily and casually they can be scratched. It’s rarely worth it to replace glasses over a single scratch, so most pairs build up a small collection of scratches as they age.

You can do better with modern lenses. Scratch resistant coatings are available that are not easily damaged. Your glasses will be looking completely pristine long into their life.

Check out some New Lenses Today

We would love to show you all the great features that are available with modern lenses. You can stop by our clinic to have a complete optometry appointment and to learn about our frames and other options.

If you’re chronically covered in specs, but have never experienced the joys of prescription sunglasses, you’re in for a real treat.

No one has to remind you of the little conveniences that you experience because you need glasses. You’ve probably done everything that all of us have—misplaced them, stepped on them, lost that one tiny little screw that holds the whole thing together…Let’s face it, glasses can be a pain.

Two pairs of glasses is just double the trouble. Carrying and switching between two sets all day long is an endless lesson in frustration, but it’s how most people who wear glasses live when they don’t have a set of prescription sunglasses.

Here are some of the things you’re missing, and how life will be different if you invest in a set of vision sunglasses today.

No More Switching—See All the Time

Ready for a long day at the beach? A walk to the Bistro? You can expect the sun to get in your eyes, but you’ll need to switch back to your normal glasses to check out signs and prices, or to hold a conversation with friends you meet on the street.

That isn’t the case when you’re rocking prescriptions sunglasses. You’ll enjoy a complete spectrum of protection in addition to being able to operate everything you need to, from bikes to checkout lanes without fumbling around to switch your glasses.

When you experience this freedom for the first time, you’ll wonder how you ever lived without it.

Lighten Your Load

Once you’ve gotten used to not bothering with switching out your specs, it’s time to head to the next level of convenience. Enjoy the freedom of bringing only one pair wherever you go! Plan ahead to lighten your load and bring only the pair you need. With proper planning, you’ll have the right pair for the job, and the pocket real estate too.

Leaving your main pair at home is also a precaution against losing both pairs if you want to take your prescription sunglasses somewhere adventurous, such as a whitewater rafting trip! You should invest in a back-up pair in the first place, so why not invest in one with a strong purpose?

Let Your Outfit Match Your Eyes

Now that you’ve got a solid set of prescription sunglasses, you get to start building your wardrobe around it. Remember, you no longer have to take off your sunglasses for most tasks, so you’ll enjoy the right to match the perfect outfit to your shades.

Even at our location, there are nearly hundreds of different kinds of sunglasses frames to choose from. You should be able to easily find a pair that matches your personal style, and the kind of look you want to show to the world.

If you frequently experience eye strain, you aren’t alone.

Many more jobs involve computers than in the past, and you may even be stuck in front of yours all day long. If you’re here, you’ve no doubt already experienced some troubling symptoms. Eye strain can express itself as migraine headaches, light sensitivity and in a myriad of other ways.

Restoring your comfort at the computer is fortunately, quite easy. Except for the first one on our list, all of these helpful changes can be practiced right at your desk.

Keep your prescription up-to-date

If you haven’t had an eye exam in a while, you can schedule one here at our Kelowna optometry clinic.

Your prescription is one of the biggest factors in computer eye strain, even though you might assume they were completely unrelated. It’s true that a bad prescription doesn’t change the strain that you feel when looking at a screen, but that’s not the whole story. A bad prescription causes significant amounts of eye strain on its own, even before you ever sit down at your computer.

When you stress your eyes even more by adding screen strain onto that, you’re probably going to find yourself among the people experiencing the most problems overall.

Adjust your monitor settings to reduce strain

Your monitor settings can be adjusted to significantly reduce your eyestrain. Every monitor will have different options, so you may want to check with your IT department to determine which ones would be the most helpful. You can almost be sure that department has some tips on reducing eye strain. They may recommend one of the many small apps available that are designed to adjust settings automatically.

If you don’t want to get too technical, you should focus simply on whatever adjustments make it easier for you to read. More or less brightness, increased text sizes and adjusted colors can all make a big difference depending on what’s bothering you.

Take frequent breaks

As much as you can do to make your screen easier on the eyes, nothing is going to be as effective as simply stepping away from the computer. It need not be a long time, either. As long as it takes you to stand up and get a cup of coffee can be enough time for your eyes to relax and readjust. Try to take a break from looking at the screen every hour or so.

When breaks are difficult to schedule, use exercises instead

Not all jobs are friendly to a need for frequent walking. Many people can expect to be stuck at their station for most of the day. If that’s your situation, there are some ways that you can improve the situation without moving. Try these exercises:

           Simply close your eyes: That’s all you need to do. Just 20 seconds to one minute of closing your eyes can reduce the symptoms of eye strain. Even if you don’t feel any eye strain, closing your eyes for

            Gentle massage: While your eyes are closed, slowly and gently rub the area around your eyes. You’ll know you’re doing it right if you feel a growing relief.

Glasses are a great option, and there are many people out there who have proudly stuck by their specs for their entire lives. Glasses have a lot of great features after all, from the functionality of shading to the style of the frames.

If you’ve never considered contacts, there might be some advantages that you haven’t yet considered. Switching to contacts can open up some little pleasures that can’t be experienced if you’ve lived your life on the side of spectacles. The next time you’re thinking about getting a new prescription, consider if these advantages would make a difference.

Wake up seeing!

This is one of the first things you’ll notice upon switching if you’re willing to try the leave-in contacts. All glasses-wearers know that the first ritual of the day is to grope around groggily for their frames so that they can begin to see the rest of their world. It can be a pleasing and relieving experience to simply wake up being able to see perfectly.

Simple Prescription Adjustments

When you want to upgrade your glasses to change a prescription, it usually means tossing out one expensive pair for another one designed to last you for the next few years or so. Contacts, by contrast, are very simple to adjust. Usually, you’ll be paying a small price to receive them monthly, and you can update your prescriptions without interrupting your service or even necessarily changing the price. You can switch as often as your eye doctor recommends without being out the cost of new frames.

Enjoy New Orders, Constantly

Like your glasses? You may not like them as much as you used to. Maybe it’s the change of the seasons or the fact that the styles have changed, but glasses can get old before you can justify picking up new ones. That includes picking up minor imperfections like scratches on the lenses or bent wires. When you use contacts, you get brand new replacements by subscription. You’re always wearing a fresh pair.

Leave Your Eyes Open for Accessorizing

Many people are proud of their glasses, but there are times when the space they take up can be a frustration. Clip-ons and transition lenses for example, have compensated for the difference between glasses and sunglasses, but many still prefer to simply wear sunglasses and give up being able to see as well for a few hours.

Additionally, the rise of 3D movies has proven frustrating for people who already have that area of their face occupied. Some of these 3D glasses can fit over glasses, but it’s rarely an ideal or comfortable fit. Limitations like these are not a problem with contacts.

You’ll also open yourself up to some other new cosmetic options. Colored contact lenses, which are available on prescription, are a great way for you to forge a new “you”, with a radical change to your look.