Childrens Glasses - Thinned lenses

[sbutton]

Hi, I just wonder if anyone can answer my question.

My niece has been to the hospital again and her eyes have got a lot worse, they are now 7.25 in left eye and 8.25 in the right.

My sister has been to Vision Express and they've told her to get the lenses thinned it will cost her £230 for 2 pairs.

My daughter is 6.5 and her glasses only cost £30 per set to be thinned.

Has Vision Express got this wrong? She is going to specsavers tomorrow to get a 2nd opinion but just wondered if anyone could answer this.

thanks

Ouch! I am over 10 in each eye and it costs me a similar amount. You can get different grades of thinned lenses and the worse your eyes are the thinner and more expensive lenses are used. Also go for small specs and a frame to hide as much thickness as poss. Other opticians should give a free quotation.

Actually misread that. Costs me over £200 for one pair!

I paid £270 last time to have ultra high index lenses, so it seems right to me

I would be reluctant to pay that much for a child, as head size is still increasing (hopefully) and eye prescription should still be changing - so glasses won't last that long.

Both DS1 and DS2 wear glasses, DS1 from age 3 and DS2 from 5. Although DS1 used to have 2 pairs made to current prescription when he was v young, now we have just one pair. So if something goes wrong with current glasses (eg broken frame or scratched lens) he has to wear "old" pair ie with previous prescription, until current ones sorted. This is ok I think when prescription not changing too rapidly (every 6 months or so at moment). Same for DS2. So in your niece's it may be that it is not necessary to buy 2 pairs.

The latest prescription that I can find for DS1 is from June last year. Then he was 8.5 in one eye and 7.75 (I think) in the other - so just a little more than your niece. He went this year (though I can't find prescription) and eyesight was a little worse so slightly higher scores. The possibility of thickened lenses was discussed, but they decided that for now he can get away without them. I think it's partly down to choice of frames, if these are faily chunky and narrow (as are currently fashionable) the thickness is disguised. I would recommend that your sister tries an independenet optician, rather than a chain, if possible. I'm not saying that Vision Express & SpecSavers are to be doubted, but I think in an independent you may get someone who has been advising on frame styles for a long while and therefore know how to disguise thick lenses.

Incidentally we always used to pay for DS1 to have unbreakable frames, but no longer need to do so, as he has not broken any for ages (touch wood). It is ages since we paid anything for their glasses - and they are now 15 and 11.

Sorry this has turned into an essay and good luck to your sister.

The optician we use for dd doesnt charge for thinning lenses and the one we used before charged about £20. I'd shop around and see if you can find a cheaper optician

p.s. we only have one pair on the go at a time and if her current glasses need a repair then she uses an old pair

I have just got some glasses for my DS from specsavers, they charge £10 to be thinned or you can have them ultra thinned for £60. Sounds like to much to me he has fairly high prescription too.

Hope thats helps

£30 per thinning treatment, which we have done twice, so we normally pay £60 per glasses. However, this time we've bought transition lenses which with the thinning cost £150. I think that was mates rates though, so probably should have been more.
Why is your sister buying 2 pairs? Only one pair will be free surely??

thanks all :-)

She's since been to specsavers and they are doing it for a lot cheaper than Vision Express!

2 pairs, one to wear and one spare incase something happens?

I always hand in previous glasses to school for emergencies and find that repairs are done instantly without an appointment. Ds 10 now, so have a collection of similar prescription glasses at home for when accidents happen. Saves having to buy an extra pair.

we've never bought a spare pair either. We keep an old pair for emergencies and have handed in several pairs into the opticians for recycling.

Good point Seona - should recycle some older ones.

Vision express are thieves. I ve paid £245 to have mine thinned there , plus the frames. Specsavers £60 inc frames. It is unbelievable.

I would get a spare...the new pair from specsavers i recently sat on. Whoops. They were really good through and let me just order new frames for £25.

Have you got a buy specs direct any where near you.

I use them for my very poor eyes and they are great.

www.buyspecsdirect.co.uk/

My eyes were in the 7.5 area and specsavers were reasonable, but still expensive.

I had lens implants ( not suitable for laser) a year ago and now only need £1 pound glasses for reading. I don't need anything for long sight and can read OK but the glasses make it more comfortable, so there is hope for the future!