When selecting eyeglass lenses, it is helpful to understand the many choices available to you. Options fall into three categories:
- Lens materials (what the lenses are made from)
- Lens designs (how the vision correction is “designed” into the lens)
- Lens Options and Treatments
Lens Materials
- Plastic Lenses
- Easy to Tint
- Polycarbonate Lenses
- Lightweight and Thin
- Impact Resistant
- Recommended for Children’s Eyewear
- High-Index Lenses
- Lightest and Thinnest Lenses Available
- Recommended for Stronger Prescriptions
Lens Designs
- Single-Vision Lenses
- If you are only farsighted or nearsighted, “single vision” lenses will be prescribed to you.
- Bifocal Lenses
- Bifocal lenses offer 2 lens prescriptions in one pair of glasses, typically distance and reading. The line between the prescriptions are visible.
- Trifocal Lenses
- Trifocal lenses offer 3 lens prescriptions in one pair of glasses: distance, intermediate, and reading. The lines between the prescriptions are visible.
- Progressive Lenses
- Progressive “no-line bifocal” lenses are lenses which provide a gradual, seamless change from distance to reading in one pair of glasses without a line.
- Computer Progressives
- Recommended for presbyopic patients behind a computer screen all day.
Lens Options and treatments
- Scratch Resistance
- Scratch resistance is a coating applied to the lens that provides additional protection against damage.
- Anti-Reflective Coatings
- An anti-reflective coating is a multi-layered coating applied to lenses to eliminate distracting reflections from eyeglasses. It is very beneficial for dusk and night time driving as it decreases glare from headlights and streetlights.
- Blue Light Protection
- An anti-reflective coating that protects the eyes from harmful blue light. Blue light comes from both the sun and artificial light sources like digital screens that can get absorbed deep in the eye, making it potentially impactful to long-term vision.
- Ultra-Violet(UV) Protection
- UV Protection is a coating applied to the lens that blocks hazardous UV lights from penetrating the eye.
- Polarization
- Polarized lenses eliminate horizontal glare, which allows the eyes to relax more while wearing sunglasses.
- Photochromic Lenses
- Photochromic lenses change from clear to dark when activated by UV light.
- These lenses do not activate behind a car windshield.