I can’t see with my new glasses! Why does it take longer to adjust to my new glasses than some of my friends?

Your stylish Tom Ford glasses have finally arrived and to your surprise your expected perfect vision for distance seems blurry, why? Your optometrist encourages you to give them a couple days and sure enough your eyes eventually adjust. Why is it that hyperopes (problems with near and/or distance) sometimes take a while to adjust to glasses, while myopes (problems with distance only) seem to gain X-ray vision the instant a new Rx is given?

In the eye there is an optic lens within the eye about 5 millimeters behind the surface of the eye that helps to focus near and distant objects; doing so by flexing and relaxing.  In a patient with perfect vision, the lens is relaxed for distance and flexed for near (this ability reduces itself as we get older; hence the reason most people need glasses after a certain age).  In a myope the lens performs similarly, relaxed for distance and flexed for near. In a hyperopic patient the optic lens needs to be flexed for distance and even more for near; most of the day it's working. Therefore hyperopes in need of glasses are constantly straining their eyes and complain of red-ness, fatigue and occasional blur.  Glasses are prescribed in order to reduce all those physical symptoms along with making images more clear.

Just like athlete’s muscles can become tense after over use, a hyperopic eye will become difficult to relax after years of use.  The eye becomes accustomed to constantly flexing its optic lens and requires time to learn how to relax. This is why hyperopes vision may be distorted when trying on new glasses however as days pass it eventually gets clear.  Eyed LA always recommends 3-5 days of constant wear to allow your eyes to accommodate; however if headaches or blur continues return to your optometrist.  All we ask is for our patients to have patience with their own bodies; the results will surprise you.  So relax optic lens and take those gorgeous new Tom Ford frames out on the town.   

"See and Be Seen" @ Eyed LA Optometry in Brentwood, West Los Angeles

www.eyedla.com