Reflective Prescription Glasses - Worth it ?

SummerHeat

My current glasses are over six years old and cost me around £250 for an -8 prescription and react to the light going darker on summer days.

I have bad hayfever in summer though it has seemed to be better in recent years.

Looking to budget for a replacement pair, do I need the reflective lenses ? It costs additional both online and at Tesco/Asda. I wasn't looking to buy any seperate sunglasses (too expensive)

Will I regret just having one pair of clear basic glasses ? I can not remember having non-reflective glasses.

sock-knitter

i regreted buying non reactive ones once, i was trying to save money
i would say eyes are worth the expense of having decent glasses and that includes reactive ones

SummerHeat

I know but they will be pretty much doubling the cost of my glasses

I am leaning to having the reactive lenses....

Indie_Kid

As someone with severe photophobia who has spent the last 20 years wearing normal glasses and then changed to reactons, I really do think they're worth the money.

Your other option is to buy an eye shield.

Torry_Quine

Reactive lenses are definitely worth it. I certainly wouldn't want to go back to having seperate sunglasses. At the moment you get them free at Specsavers if that helps.

SummerHeat

I am looking at £50 glasses from Asda (1.7 thin lenses included in the £50 price for an -8 prescription, thanks MSE for the suggestion on another thread !) and the reflective coating would add another £30 to the price.

Still very reasonable price at £80 but not as budget friendly as £50, that said I could afford it this month I have an £80 rebate from BT and I do need to wear glasses every day and am often walking in the sun with the children.

What is an eye shield ?

Indie_Kid

http://onlineshop.rnib.org.uk/display_item.asp?n=11&c=84&sc=328&id=2214&it=1&l=3&d=0

They fit over glasses.

SummerHeat

Thanks for the last link. Rather pay £30 for reflective lenses than £20 for eye shields.

SummerHeat

Decided to go for the reflective lenses in the end.

Well impressed with Asda. They only charge £30 for lenses and as mine are quite high (-8) that was 1.7 plastic lenses which Tesco would of charged me an additional £90 for and the internet site I looked at would also charged more for the thinner lenses.

Plus they were to be having a 'frame change' sale at the moment, when they had a few last seasons designers frames on the wall reduced to £10 making them actually cheaper than Asda's basic George range (normally £20). So they found me a pair of designer glasses which fitted my lenses and would of normally cost me £60 but were reduced to £10 !

So in theory I could of bought designer glasses with 1.7 lenses for just £40 but it was another £30 for a reactive coating. Still £70 is a very good price for my glasses. Thanks to the MSE poster who mentioned Asda did cheap thinner lenses

I will definitely be watching out for the 'frame changes' sales in future. Apparently the stores learn about them in April and October and frames go on sale a few weeks later. Hope that helps someone reading this.