High prescription glasses help!

Competsoph

Hi all,

I have a super high prescription, -12 for glasses. This results in stupidly thick lenses regardless of the furthest thinning possible. I usually get my glasses from spec savers but over the past year or two, the plastic frames bow outwards by the lenses resulting in poorly fitting glasses and me having to have them tightened regularly (que regular trips, parking, time etc).
The advice I’ve had it choose another frame (though I already have the smallest feasible as the smaller frames mean I have only a small slither of visibility and I still need to consider what suits me as I’m only young). 

I am considering going elsewhere but wondered if anyone had any advice or recommendations as to where else may be able to help! 

TIA 👌🏽🙂

Undervalued

I assume you are having high refractive index lenses to minimise the thickness?

It is amazing how little of the lens you actually use in real life. It is a bit like the way people stand and which buttons they do up when trying on a suit! 

Competsoph

Undervalued said:

I assume you are having high refractive index lenses to minimise the thickness?

It is amazing how little of the lens you actually use in real life. It is a bit like the way people stand and which buttons they do up when trying on a suit! 

I have the thinnest lens that Specsavers provide, I’m unsure if that is the exact design. And I appreciate your comment but unless you have experienced what it’s like to only have a slither of visibility due to rubbish vision above or below the glasses it’s difficult to appreciate. It gives me headaches having to continuously move my head to line up the item I want to see with the area of visibility. Hence why I like a slightly bigger lens style.

theoretica

It's not experience, but what jumps out at me from your first post is have you tried metal frames? 

Competsoph

@theoretica I’ve had them in the past but haven’t found any that aren’t small meaning my visibility is reduced due to the height of the frame. Specsavers choice in metal is limited and I can’t say metal frame are my favourite either.i appreciate it may be something I have to consider but not sure of places which do ranges of these well?

sheramber

Why not go round local opticians and ask them what  they could supply?

Spoonie_Turtle

There are far more large metal frame styles available now than there were a few years ago, to the point that I now find it hard to find frames in my personal 'sweet spot' for size (they need to be big enough to see and to suit my not-so-slim face, but I really don't like the oversized styles). A starting point would be having a look at online opticians - they generally only service up to ±6D but just for an idea of what sorts of styles are available, to see if metal frames might be worth pursuing.

What do you mean by bowing outwards, by the way?

snuff2pay

With a similar prescription I feel your frustration. I go to Asda opticians. They have a policy of not charging extra for high refractive index lenses; if I remember correctly my last two pairs cost £90 for both. I have always gone for plastic frames in an attempt to disguise the thickness of the lens, but the arms do splay out over time. Last time, for the first time in years I chose metal frames and they have been great.

BrassicWoman

Contact lenses now go to a 12. Even if you then sometimes need reading glasses, totally worth it.

QuackQuackOops

Competsoph said:

Undervalued said:

I assume you are having high refractive index lenses to minimise the thickness?

It is amazing how little of the lens you actually use in real life. It is a bit like the way people stand and which buttons they do up when trying on a suit! 

I have the thinnest lens that Specsavers provide, I’m unsure if that is the exact design. And I appreciate your comment but unless you have experienced what it’s like to only have a slither of visibility due to rubbish vision above or below the glasses it’s difficult to appreciate. It gives me headaches having to continuously move my head to line up the item I want to see with the area of visibility. Hence why I like a slightly bigger lens style.

You shouldnt have to do that, no matter how thick the lens is.......It sounds to me more like your lens are not positioned correctly.
Buy some more expensive frames and maybe go to another optician. A local independent optician may be best rather than a High Street brand.
Spec Savers are ok......and they do cheap glasses....but not always the best quality.

Silvertabby

My right eye is much worse than my left, so I have no option but to have the thinnest lenses possible in order to minimise the difference (and weight) between each lens.

I have worn rimless glasses for some years now, as I find that even the thinnest metal frames draw attention to the difference.  As they seem to be less popular, choices are becoming limited - but I got my last pair from Specsavers less than a year ago and they had a reasonable selection to choose from.

Downside is that vari-focal, ultra thin lenses in rimless frames aren't cheap - but they are something you  wear for most of your waking hours, so need to be comfortable.