Neurolens contoured prisms vs ordinary prisms in glasses
February 2, 2022 4:42 AM Subscribe
I have had horizontal, inward prisms in my glasses in the past few years and the prisms have helped with reading. Recently have had some eyestrain but that might be because pandemic-purchased Zenni glasses (after old ones broke) apparently had a prism that was made pretty incorrectly. My new optometrist is pushing Neurolens, an expensive new kind of lens that has contoured prisms. If you've moved from regular prisms to Neurolens, was Neurolens substantially better for reading than the regular prisms were?
I can imagine Neurolens being helpful, and if it's really a huge improvement, I would spend money on it. But it's 3x the price. I understand that people seem to like it but I'm not clear on whether that's people who've never had regular prisms in their glasses or people who have had and benefited from regular prisms before. New optometrist mentioned Neurolens before discussing prisms in general - I brought up prisms afterwards to ask about the distinction between the two. I was definitely helped by a past optometrist (sadly now across the country) introducing prisms a few years ago when I talked to her about some issues with reading--maybe people getting sold on Neurolens would have also been excited by the change in vision from mild regular prisms for reading? I know that a concern about regular prisms is sometimes that they aren't good for distance vision--the optometrist that first prescribed them for me explained that I might want to use the pair with prisms only for reading and get a second pair or use an old pair without prisms for driving/etc. (I'm nearsighted enough that I need my "distance" glasses for anything more than about four inches from my face.) So I imagine regular prisms aren't commonly offered to people who can function without them because most people wouldn't want to manage that. (I am fine managing that if it means better reading experiences.)
I can imagine Neurolens being helpful, and if it's really a huge improvement, I would spend money on it. But it's 3x the price. I understand that people seem to like it but I'm not clear on whether that's people who've never had regular prisms in their glasses or people who have had and benefited from regular prisms before. New optometrist mentioned Neurolens before discussing prisms in general - I brought up prisms afterwards to ask about the distinction between the two. I was definitely helped by a past optometrist (sadly now across the country) introducing prisms a few years ago when I talked to her about some issues with reading--maybe people getting sold on Neurolens would have also been excited by the change in vision from mild regular prisms for reading? I know that a concern about regular prisms is sometimes that they aren't good for distance vision--the optometrist that first prescribed them for me explained that I might want to use the pair with prisms only for reading and get a second pair or use an old pair without prisms for driving/etc. (I'm nearsighted enough that I need my "distance" glasses for anything more than about four inches from my face.) So I imagine regular prisms aren't commonly offered to people who can function without them because most people wouldn't want to manage that. (I am fine managing that if it means better reading experiences.)
I tried a prism (and may need to again but the one I tried didn’t work for me.) But while I didn’t try neurolens, it was also recommended to me. Prisms are a much less common thing in glasses - so I hope someone has more specific experience with them. But regardless everyone is in individual.
I popped in to say: they were strongly recommended to me, seemed intriguing, AND I would ask about the return policy. Many places have some sort of trial period or a time that allows a 100% refund. I was able to fully return my sclera hard lenses for example when they didn’t work for me. If they don’t have a return/refund option, then I would look for more data, more medical consult, or a provider that offers refunds.
posted by Crystalinne at 11:31 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
I popped in to say: they were strongly recommended to me, seemed intriguing, AND I would ask about the return policy. Many places have some sort of trial period or a time that allows a 100% refund. I was able to fully return my sclera hard lenses for example when they didn’t work for me. If they don’t have a return/refund option, then I would look for more data, more medical consult, or a provider that offers refunds.
posted by Crystalinne at 11:31 AM on February 2, 2022 [1 favorite]
Response by poster: There is supposedly a full refund for Neurolens. I think if I hadn't tried and liked a regular prism before I'd be more up for trying it. Because I know regular prisms seemed to help, I do suspect I might be someone who would like Neurolens, but I'm uncomfortable that the optometrist tried to sell me on it before talking to me about my experience with prisms, or talking much about the specifics of my vision issues at all. He also mentioned CareCredit when I said that I'm currently unemployed, which is upsetting to me--while I personally have savings, pushing someone to spend $700 on glasses when they have no cash flow is...eh. It all feels like a very mixed bag.
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:21 AM on February 3, 2022
posted by needs more cowbell at 7:21 AM on February 3, 2022
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posted by needs more cowbell at 4:44 AM on February 2, 2022