Is polycarbonate flexible?

Polycarbonate or High Index lenses?

• I'm just calling a few places up to find out their prices for lenses. My prescription is -5.00 in each eye. Should I go with high index lenses (as one optician recommended over the phone) or would poly carbonate be ok? What are some pros/cons? And when I get whichever lenses what coatings (if any) should I opt for? I've only ever had polycarbonate lenses. My old prescription was -4.75 in each eye so if I did get polycarbonate again it wouldn't be much thicker, right? Would there even be a noticeable difference?

• Answer:

  In our industry (optical) we opticians call polycarbonate lenses "polycrap" lenses. They provide the worst visual acuity through the lens of any lens material. The only time I use polycarb lenses is with children under 18 because of the safety factor, everyone else gets either Trivex lenses (which I wouldn't recommend because of your Rx) or hi index lenses. 1.60 high index lenses are very good optically and are about the same "thinness" as the polycrap lenses. 1.67 hi index lenses will provide the thinnest lens but that may be "overkill" for your Rx. I would recommend a PREMIUM Anti Reflective coating like Crizal Avance' on the lenses and I would also recommend a LITE Roll and Polish. These two things are going to give you the best cosmetics for your lens and the best sight through your lens. Now, as far as thickness, if you got a frame that was exactly the same eye size as yours right now, you wouldn't even know the difference. However, thickness of lenses has much to do with the size of the glasses, the bigger the glasses the thicker the lens. The smaller, the thinner. A good QUALIFIED optician will give you the best choices. Try to go to a private practice where there is a Board Certified Optician or Licensed Optician. They can give you the most choices and custom fit you to the best frames and lenses. You'll be very happy you did. ON EDIT: If you go with a plastic (zyl) frame then that will tend to hide the thickness of the lens. Make sure when you try on the frame, that it "fits' your bridge (nose). If it is too wide, it will leave a mark on the top of your nose where all the weight is being borne and that will get sore. Cannot fix that. If it is too small, then the top of the bridge of the frame is going to set up off your nose and you'll look like a dork. The frame should fit comfortably around the top of your nose and when you push it from side to side, it shouldn't move. That way you'll have a good fit. ON EDIT: Let's just put it this way. The optical industry is completely unregulated except for the safety of the lens. There is no controlling legal authority that says that a prescription written by an optometrist has to be filled correctly or measurements have to be taken correctly and nothing that says that glasses that are dispensed have to be correct. Nothing! There are places in the city where I work that say (if the glasses aren't correct) "Go ahead and dispense them, if they don't like them, they'll bring them back". It's the industry's "dirty little secret". Some highly commercialized optical retail stores may even put "salesmanship" above "professional expertise". This is just my opinion but who would you rather go to, a chain that has only a manager who is mostly concerned with profit so he or she can keep their jobs or would you rather go to a private optometrists office where the OWNER (the doctor) is there and who count on return business from their patients to stay in business? In private practice, we are not limited to what corporate headquarters says we can sell, we use independent labs with a huge selection of lenses so we can customize each lens to your exact prescription and your exact needs. However, private practice is more expensive (usually). We understand that people have budgets and that people need to go where they can keep within their budget. However, if you choose to go to a chain retail store that is ok, but tell them that you want an optician that is Board Certified. If they don't have one, go someplace else. If you think they're trying to sell you something just to get the commission, then, excuse yourself and go somewhere else. But, I'll tell you, even though I am in private practice, our products are many times less expensive than the chain stores and private practices are usually more concerned about You. You'll find that private practices refer to you as a patient and some big retail chains refer to you as a "customer". Think about it.