Online glasses sites for strong prescriptions (and Canada shipping)?
May 15, 2022 10:12 AM Subscribe
Hi all, my wife has a very strong prescription (around +10 SPH in both eyes) and it's been a struggle to find online sites that cater to that level of correction. The big vendors we've tried (Zenni, EyeBuyDirect) only have a couple of frames they say are suitable for lenses of that strength - and most of those are for kids - and many sites simply don't cater to her (Goggles4U, Clearly.ca).
Does the hivemind have suggestions on where we might find a reasonable selection of frames for grownups with strong prescription needs? As noted in the title, shipping to (or within) Canada is a must, and it'd be nice if the costs could be claimed on insurance too. Thanks!
Does the hivemind have suggestions on where we might find a reasonable selection of frames for grownups with strong prescription needs? As noted in the title, shipping to (or within) Canada is a must, and it'd be nice if the costs could be claimed on insurance too. Thanks!
Weirdly, I was going to suggest EyeBuyDirect! My eyesight is similarly bad and I've had good luck searching using their filters--it looks like there's about 900 women's glasses frames on there that they'll put +10 prescription lenses in. It's hard to find that filter option, though; you have to go to feature --> enter prescription and put it in there.
posted by mismatched at 10:31 AM on May 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
posted by mismatched at 10:31 AM on May 15, 2022 [2 favorites]
What they mean when they say it’s not suitable is “the lenses will be very apparent and also the optimal viewing area may be small if you don’t order large enough lenses.” I have ordered frames they said weren’t suitable and they were fine. If she is specifically looking for rimless or half rims they are the most likely to not actually be fine.
posted by Bottlecap at 1:58 PM on May 15, 2022
posted by Bottlecap at 1:58 PM on May 15, 2022
Have you checked the insurance to see WHICH online vendor they list? I've noticed VSP has its own online vendor nowdays (forgot exact name, Eyeconix?)
With that high strength, you may have to spring for the high refraction index material to keep the weight / thickness of the lenses down to maintain frame compatibility. May need to call the vendors directly rather than rely on order notes.
posted by kschang at 2:33 AM on May 16, 2022
With that high strength, you may have to spring for the high refraction index material to keep the weight / thickness of the lenses down to maintain frame compatibility. May need to call the vendors directly rather than rely on order notes.
posted by kschang at 2:33 AM on May 16, 2022
Response by poster: A very, very late update on this (maybe delayed due to my frustration)...
As mentioned by mismatched, you can filter by prescription setting on EyeBuyDirect, and indeed it suggested that several hundred options were available! This confused me greatly, and I was fully into the "well, you're an idiot" line of thinking when I saw this.
Then I tried to order two of those.
In the "order concern" email I received back from them, they provided a filter link to the glasses they believe they actually could make.
Yes, four frames.
Oh well! EBD adamantly refuses to make glasses that they have "concerns" about, so we cancelled the order.
posted by clicking the 'Post Comment' button at 5:37 AM on July 30, 2022
As mentioned by mismatched, you can filter by prescription setting on EyeBuyDirect, and indeed it suggested that several hundred options were available! This confused me greatly, and I was fully into the "well, you're an idiot" line of thinking when I saw this.
Then I tried to order two of those.
In the "order concern" email I received back from them, they provided a filter link to the glasses they believe they actually could make.
Yes, four frames.
Oh well! EBD adamantly refuses to make glasses that they have "concerns" about, so we cancelled the order.
posted by clicking the 'Post Comment' button at 5:37 AM on July 30, 2022
Well... progressives or bifocals have to be of a certain height to accommodate the different strengths and other similar concerns, and some of the limits may be too esoteric for someone who's not in the optical business.
IIRC, if it's really high prescription, you may have to upgrade to those high-refractive index glass so you have more choices in the frames as not to make the lenses too thick or noo weight-y and so on. But if they didn't explain it to you like that, maybe they aren't really making the effort to make a sale...
posted by kschang at 5:14 AM on August 1, 2022
IIRC, if it's really high prescription, you may have to upgrade to those high-refractive index glass so you have more choices in the frames as not to make the lenses too thick or noo weight-y and so on. But if they didn't explain it to you like that, maybe they aren't really making the effort to make a sale...
posted by kschang at 5:14 AM on August 1, 2022
This thread is closed to new comments.
Could you be a little more specific about this? As someone with vision almost exactly that bad in one eye, I've rarely had an optometrist tell me I couldn't use a specific frame. I'm sure there are some limitations, but I'm wondering if this is not a problem downstream of their not making particular lenses? (E.g., some frames might only be suited for high-index, but they don't make high-index in your wife's prescription?)
posted by praemunire at 10:24 AM on May 15, 2022