Any opticians on here? New glasses ‘problem’

[NewUsername]

Hi, are there any opticians around the forum I’d like a second opinion on something as I feel my optician isn’t taking me seriously

Cheers

[DKL]

go on then, what's wrong?

[NewUsername]

I chose some new frames after an eye test at a well know optician the other day and was advised that a particular frame suited me and was nice, I quote, “ they’ll look nice with the thin polycarbonate lenses”

I ordered them and collected last Saturday, I wore them straight away and after a short time noted an issue.

As I move my eye across the lenses towards the edges both left and right they go out of focus then back in again, not a problem if I turn my head but an issue if I glance to the side....when driving for example.

I went back into the shop and queried this, and they said it was odd and they’d never heard of this before, would I keep them for the weekend and report back early this week.

I wore them over the weekend and still find them annoying and not quite right.

I googled it and apparently it’s a well known feature of polycarbonate lenses that there is a distortion close to the edge of a lense.

I feel a bit annoyed that I wasn’t warned of this as I feel sure this major brand optician would know this, and even more annoyed they don’t acknowledge the phenomenon exists.

I am going go to reject the glasses as I can’t live with them but I feel that I really should have been made aware

[DKL]

We stopped using pc lenses ages ago. They are the worst quality optical material out there that actually gets used in specs.
They have their uses in sports stuff and safety glasses- oakley and bolle for instance only use PC or a thing called trivex as they are both very impact resistant, hence their use for safety roles. PC is a 1.59 index material which is therefore slightly thinner than standard plastic.

It is quite possible that you don't get on with pc, some people just don't like it. Just ask them to be swopped for a standard 1.6 plastic material and I imagine they will be fine.

[NewUsername]

So it’s well known then?

Thanks for your reply

[markcoznottz]

They saw you coming.

[thebraketester]

Are contact lenses an option? Peripheral vision is obviously way better and you avoid the nasty optical shifts that glasses create.

[Spoonz_]

markcoznottz said:

They saw you coming.

Boom Boom

[DKL]

NewUsername said:

So it’s well known then?

Thanks for your reply

Polycarbonate has the worst aberrations of an optical material so it shouldn't come as a surprise to a practice if a patient struggles. It's not common but far from unknown. I've had pc lenses and had no issues but I can recall some who didn't like them.
This assumes they have been set up properly in the first place.
Your prescription will also determine the magnitude of the aberations you will experience but of course they should have a similar effect on any material including the one you are wearing now.