Ask an Optician

[Pirate Oriana]

Hey! It's your friendly neighborhood optician. Open for questions.

Feel free treat this as a general questions thread if you like. Or if you are a glasses/contact wearer and there's something you don't understand about how your eyeballs work (or don't work as the case may be) I'll answer those as best I can as well.

Keep in mind that I'm not a doctor so I can't diagnose you. I've just noticed that many of the people that I talk to have had glasses for years and never had a lot of things explained to them.
So I thought this could potentially be useful if that applied to any of you guys as well.

[Bob]

What would make contacts unsuitable for someone who wears glasses (just in terms of things that pertain to vision correction)?

Is there any correlation between good night vision and astigmatism?

[Pirate Oriana]

What would make contacts unsuitable for someone who wears glasses (just in terms of things that pertain to vision correction)?

Is there any correlation between good night vision and astigmatism?

One of the main issues that I know of that would make you unsuitable is dry eye. There are probably also some conditions which the cornea that would maybe make you not a good candidate. And high levels of astigmatism could make it harder (and more expensive) to find an option that works for you.

Astigmatism is essentially your cornea being slightly oblong rather than spherical. So as light passes through it it comes to more than one point of focus. Which tends to make things fuzzy, and can even induce a bit of double vision. A lot of people, myself included, tend to have more issues with this at night because of the higher contrast between light and dark—particularly when you're driving and looking at reflective road signs and such.

[Bob]

Have you ever had a favorite pair of glasses?

What motivated or caused you to become an optician?

Are you likely to get tired of questions related to your job?

What's your favorite month?

[KnittingFun14]

What if you forget to take your bi-weekly contacts out before bed one night, but everything seems fine? Is it possible for something to happen later that was caused by that incident?

Is it okay to wear contact lenses pretty much every single day if your eyes never feel irritated by it?

Can you ever lose a contact behind your eye?

If you had to pick between one of the two, would you choose going without glasses or contacts for a week or eating your least favorite food mixed with your favorite food and mayo on top?

[Pirate Oriana]

Have you ever had a favorite pair of glasses?

What motivated or caused you to become an optician?

Are you likely to get tired of questions related to your job?

What's your favorite month?

Yes! Usually they're ones that look good on a variety of people. They're really helpful if people are indecisive/having choice paralysis from so many options.

The job I had before involved lifting and carrying literal tons of product (I did the math) every day, and was wreaking havoc on my body. Also, the job was offered to me because someone recommended me to my current boss.

I mean probably eventually? But I think eyes are pretty cool, so I can talk about 'em for a while before I get sick of it. (Especially when I don't even have to use my actual vocal chords to do it.)

Mmm autumn is my favorite season (It's one of the most basic white girl things about me) buuuut I think I'll say May cause you've got more daylight hours, but it hasn't started to get super hot yet.

What if you forget to take your bi-weekly contacts out before bed one night, but everything seems fine? Is it possible for something to happen later that was caused by that incident?

Is it okay to wear contact lenses pretty much every single day if your eyes never feel irritated by it?

Can you ever lose a contact behind your eye?

If you had to pick between one of the two, would you choose going without glasses or contacts for a week or eating your least favorite food mixed with your favorite food and mayo on top?

I think you're probably fine. One of the reasons you need to take contacts out regularly is because they can restrict oxygen from reaching the eye. Over time this can definitely cause problems. But a one time oops isn't something I'd be too concerned about.

As long as you're wearing them as prescribed you should be fine. I've know several people who wore contacts exclusively with out having the contacts cause them issues (However I always encourage getting an inexpensive pair of glasses just in case. Even if the contacts don't CAUSE them some issues -like a fungal infection, for example- can prevent you from being able to wear them until they have been resolved.)

Weeellll it kind of depends on what you mean by "lose" and "behind."
The conjunctiva (the inside of your eyelid) connects to your cornea and creates a kind of pocket. So your contact lenses aren't gonna accidently mess with your optic nerve or anything like that.
It is possible that one might get folded over and wedged into that little eyelid pocket in a way that might make it hard for you to get it out. But I'm gonna be honest, contacts aren't really my forte. (Alot more things are handled directly by the doctor when it come to contacts as compared to glasses) If you think this may have happened to you, I would suggest giving you eye doctor a call so that they can suggest the safest method for removing it.

This is kind of cheating, but I would go definitely go without glasses. I have a pretty mild prescription and I already go without glasses a lot of the time because wearing a mask and glasses all day tends to give me a headache. (My poor wittle nose is too sensitive)

[Bob]

Are you the kind of person who picks out a different style of glasses every time, or do you try to get them to look as similar to the last pair as possible?

[Pirate Oriana]

Are you the kind of person who picks out a different style of glasses every time, or do you try to get them to look as similar to the last pair as possible?

I've actually only purchased glasses twice. In both instances my absolute priority was comfort. Some people have faces that look great in pretty much any style, and I have what I like to call: the exact opposite of that. So I just embrace that I won't love how they look and just pick the ones that feel the best on my face.

[Bob]

Eyeglass stores I've been to tend to offer a lot of fancy 'features' for glasses now, like anti-glare, anti-blue-light, etc., which have the side effect of increasing the price 5x. Are those things really all that good?

[Pirate Oriana]

Eyeglass stores I've been to tend to offer a lot of fancy 'features' for glasses now, like anti-glare, anti-blue-light, etc., which have the side effect of increasing the price 5x. Are those things really all that good?

My answer is a resounding MAYBE.

No glare can be SUPER helpful if you have issues with driving at night or if you experience eyestrain from florescent lights or computer screens. If you wear glasses much/all the time I would generally suggest getting it. However, if you only wear glasses after taking out your contacts at night, or you're a little old lady who never drives...meh. You can get it if you want, but you probably wouldn't miss it if you would rather save the money. (It's also a bit sensitive and not always great for people who work in rough/extreme environments)

The blue-block is more of a question mark for me personally. We only charge another 15 dollars or so to add it to the standard no glare, so it's not WAY more expensive. But based on what I have read about it, the benefits are not really conclusive. Overall, I feel a lot less bad about people leaving it off to save money than if they go without the basic no glare.

In the end, pretty much everything is on a case by case basis. Just because something is generally BETTER doesn't actually mean that its always WORTH IT in your specific situation.

[The Top Crusader]

What is the best type of eye to eat?

[Pirate Oriana]

What is the best type of eye to eat?

Popeyes.

I kid.

The most important thing to remember is: always choose options that are fresh and locally sourced.

And now you know why they call me Pirate Oriana

[KODY 105]

Do you feel that an optician manually measuring the eyes (I think primarily for distance between the patient's pupils) is better than a machine doing it? The last optician I spoke to in person said it's still better (more accurate?) to do it manually.

Why did you pick this field?

[Pirate Oriana]

Do you feel that an optician manually measuring the eyes (I think primarily for distance between the patient's pupils) is better than a machine doing it? The last optician I spoke to in person said it's still better (more accurate?) to do it manually.

Why did you pick this field?

If it's me vs any of the machines that I've used: YES.


I didn't pick the optician life...it picked me.

But seriously, my current boss was in desperate need of employees and sought me out for the job because a mutual acquaintance recommended me for it. I said yes largely because I was working a job which was absolutely wrecking my body and required almost no use of my brain.

[bookworm]

But seriously, my current boss was in desperate need of employees and sought me out for the job because a mutual acquaintance recommended me for it. I said yes largely because I was working a job which was absolutely wrecking my body and required almost no use of my brain.

It didn't require prior training? I've always assumed any job remotely medical had to be something you planned to do and prepared for ahead of time in at least some capacity. That could well be an incorrect assumption, it's just what I've always figured.

[Pirate Oriana]

It didn't require prior training? I've always assumed any job remotely medical had to be something you planned to do and prepared for ahead of time in at least some capacity. That could well be an incorrect assumption, it's just what I've always figured.

That depends partially on state law (I am of course speaking from experience living in the US. I have no idea about the specifics in other countries.) And what an employer requires. However, many states (mine included) don't actually require licensing in order to work as an optician.
I also work entirely on the post exam side of things. I sell glasses, I adjust and repair them, and (when I can) answer question that people have about their eyes. Most of that was learned through on the job training and supplemented by studying some ophthalmology text books on my own and annoying the optometrist next door with random questions.

[bookworm]

As an expert in glasses frames, do you think they are gender specific? (see this post)

[Pirate Oriana]

As an expert in glasses frames, do you think they are gender specific? (see this post)

Mmmm... sort of.

The shape of the glasses in the picture you posted ARE pretty gender neutral in my opinion.

With that being said, if you took all the basic black frames that we sell and piled them on my desk, and then asked me to sort out which had come from the women's section and which came from mens - just by looks- I would probably get 90% of them right.

As a general rule, men's glasses tend to have boxier shapes and sharper angles. Where as women's have more rounded corners and tend to flair out into at least a slight cat-eye shape.
Think of how artists with more simple styles draw eyes on male vs female characters. Glasses kind of mimic that a bit.

Also, men's generally run larger on average than women's . And (irritatingly enough to me) the guys tend to get more of the features that improve durability, while the ladies get a bit more variety of colors and shapes.

[Bob]

How old do you guess was the oldest pair of glasses that you've repaired?

Do you have a favorite colour?

What are your thoughts on personality tests?

[Pirate Oriana]

How old do you guess was the oldest pair of glasses that you've repaired?

Hmmm. I feel like most things that have actually BROKEN on really old glasses were probably irreparable...I know I've had one or two people who have brought glasses in that were 15-20 years old. Though I don't remember if it was for an actual repair or just an adjustment. And one senior citizen who told me he'd been using the same frame (and possibly lenses) since he first got glasses in middle school.

It is true what they say. They don't make em like they used to.

Do you have a favorite colour?

Yes!

What are your thoughts on personality tests?

Depends on what kind of test we're talking about.
If it's the "which super hero are you" "what's your spirit animal" kind of tests...they're pretty dumb, but I enjoy being mildly offended by them or in feeling like I've won when they're wildly inaccurate.

If we're talking about the actually verified kind of tests...I love putting people in boxes. Mostly because it shows how un-boxable people actually are. I am one of those people with a fondness for the enneagram, and I prefer it to the Myers-Briggs because it doesn't try to define as many specific aspects of personality.

A roommate and I did the Myers-Briggs for each other one time. Very interesting to see someone else's perception of you in that way.