High prescription glasses wearers - is it impossible to find thin light lenses?

[spikemomma]

I'm so fed up. Finally got some new glasses and they are so thick and heavy on my nose. I'm short sighted with a prescription of -5.5 and -6.0.

I chose glass lenses to get them as thin as possible, but, they are too heavy and still thick. Sigh.

I have some old ones (a good 7/8 years old) which have the same prescription, but are much lighter thinner lenses, they are great, but the lense coating has gone on them. Apparently they don't make those lenses anymore, for whatever reason.

I'm just fed up, that I can't find really thin lenses, I don't understand why they used to do them but don't anymore. Ideally, I'd just get new lenses put in my old frames and be done. (even though that costs more!).

Do you have the same problem, or have you managed to find a solution? I wear contacts during the day but still need glasses for afternoon/evening.

I'm so fed up. :0(

My sister gets these - she would have beer bottles otherwise. Worse because she is almost blind in one eye and not too bad in the other, so she always had lopsided glasses before. Her last pair were about £500 but this was an emergency purchase and she didn't have time to shop around for deals.

I am -8 in one eye and -2 in the other, so very lopsided. In the good old 80's I had those huge glasses everyone wore then (why!!) and was always pushing them up my nose as they were permanently sliding off on the really short sighted side.

Now I have nikon high index lenses (1.7 I think) and much smaller frames, and they are lovely. In fact the only problem is that I got these ones about 8 years ago and they are very scratched, but just can't get on with the new frames I got a couple of years ago. If your optician prescribed you glasses that just don't work for you you should go back to them and see what they can do about it.

hi again

spikemomma - i would absolutely go back if youre not happy - without a shadow of a doubt,

i would ask to speak to a dispensing optician - not just a dispensing assistant.
i think D &A went down the swanny - and boots are and always were a franchise - so it could be hit and miss.

i worked in 3 opticians.

one was a brilliant independent - you get what you pay for - all the staff were trained to the highest standards and all new their stuff, i was trained by an excellent dispensing optician and i was there for 8 years.

one was a specsavers - now these are all franchised - some are not much good and others are fab, but the one i was at was awful - the staff were more like sales assistants - not well trained at all, i knew more than their dispensing optician.

the last i worked in was a small independent - again no dispensing optician. it was cheap and cheerful.

HI Specsavers offer a 12 month no quibble no fuss and would change them for free and refund any money if the new lenses are less expensive, maybe your optician has a similar policy.
I would go back and say you are unable to wear them and could someone help you maybe choose a smaller frame (if this is an issue) and plastic lenses, was it explained to you that glass would be heavier? (if not then use this to your advantage tell them that had you known this you would never have chosen glass :) )
Any good company would change them it's good customer service :)

High index glass for -9 here. Another vote for Asda, their range of frames are limited but you can buy your frames elsewhere and just order the blanks and get them fitted in your own frame. Very competitive pricing and I used to order mine off the internet from overseas. Obviously, you should pick John Lennon rather than Jackie O type specs with a higher than average prescription. I have astigmatism and together my prescription now qualifies me for free eyetests

Do you get the massive £13 complex lens voucher too iwantmyrrh that really is a special treat

Good thread and will bookmark it for next time I need glasses! I'm a -9/-10 as well so share everyone's pain. My latest glasses come from an independent optician and have been good but ££££ -- I've gone for the 2nd thinnest lens (1.7 I'm guessing from above?) as have purchased thinnest in the past and the difference frankly is not worth the extra £150 it costs. Not to mention fwiw one of the thin lenses broke and in all the years I've been wearing specs that had never happened before.

Asda specs around the £100 mark do sound good and yes I've heard overseas are lots cheaper but not really an option. But I do seem to pick the expensive designer frames each time - this is one area where I do spend the money (whereas I would hesitate on clothes) since I wear these every single day so need to love them and in the end the lenses cost more anyways... I really like the top-rimmed type glasses (you know, those really thin ones that only have a top frame and just the lens hanging underneath) but keep being told it's not an option with my prescription .

A couple tips
1- your optician can help straighten out twisted frames - this from DS who occasionally grabs for the glasses, my current pair has been adjusted at least three times now. Each time he'll make a big disclaimer this could all go wrong (i.e. snap and yes it can need to accept this) but he knows what he's doing, has a special frame-heating device, and readjusts the frame perfectly - and it's free (and so it should given how much I paid...)

2- I also have a pair of prescription sunglasses (soooo nice when driving) - for these I do prefer a wider frame to block out the sun. This of course means a thicker lens but I use a classic pair of Rayban Wayfarers (plastic lens I think? I believe there are some restrictions for tinted glass) and the frames have such thick edges already that the massive lenses behind really don't show .

Did you find Asda thinner than Specsavers?

I have ordered new glasses at Specsavers,tailor made lenses but my perscription is high.Thr frames are smaller that my last glasses,I hope I can see properly in them?

I changed my specs last summer. Haven't got my prescription to hand, but there's a -7.5 in there. I have varifocal, high index Zeiss lenses and Lindberg frames. Finished specs weigh 15 g. They were not cheap (lenses or frame) but worth every penny as far as I'm concerned.

I had a couple of less than stellar experiences with high street optical chains, and went back to using independent opticians. When we moved last year my two biggest worries were finding a new hairdresser and a new optician :)