Visiting an Optician: What to Expect During Your First Visit?

Good eye care and routine exams are excellent ways to care for your eye health and vision. As far as eye exams are concerned, there are three primary specialists that you can see: ophthalmologist, optometrist, or optician. Unlike optometrists and ophthalmologists, opticians do not diagnose or treat eye problems.

They use prescriptions from an optometrist or ophthalmologist to help patients choose and fit eye lenses like eyeglasses and contact lenses. They also help in purchasing related accessories like frames and updating your prescription.

Visiting an optician. What to expect

When you visit our optician in Vaughan, Ontario, you’ll be examined by an ophthalmic optometrist or practitioner. They’ll test you for glaucoma and prescribe eyeglasses or contact lenses. The optician near you will help with the following:

• Design and fit the eyewear. The optician will interpret the prescription from the eye doctor to determine and design the most suitable eyewear, like spectacles, low-vision aids, contact lenses, and other specialized devices. These devices are custom-made based on your specific needs. They can consider other variables like occupation, age, hobbies, fashion preferences, and facial and ocular measurements.
• Select the frames. After choosing the lenses, the optician will help you pick a frame to hold them. It’s essential that the frame fits and blends well with your facial size, physical characteristics, and prescription. For instance, it must have the correct eye size, bridge size, and temple length. Frames contain different materials, like various plastics and metals.  They should also have an excellent aesthetic appeal – you should see better and still look better. Fortunately, there are numerous options, so you’re unlikely to miss one that fits you perfectly.
• Take measurements. After selecting the lenses and frames, the optician will make several measurements and calculations to ensure that the lenses are correctly oriented within the frame and your eyes. An accurate monocular interpupillary distance measurement is one of the key measurements you can expect. It locates your two visual axes to allow the optician to place the optical lenses center right on these axes. If you don’t see through the centers of the lenses, you could experience blurry vision, fatigue, nausea, double vision, or headaches. Other measurements and calculations you can expect include compensating for vertical prism imbalance at a reading level and the change in vertex distance.
• Make the glasses. After designing the eyewear, the optician will send your details and specifications to the lab to make the glasses. Some opticians have a lab.
• Verify the eyewear. Once the glasses are ready, the optician will verify their fit to ensure the lenses are the right shape and size and fit perfectly into the frame. They can check the sphere power, the orientation of the axis, cylinder power, the location of the datum line and optical center, the decentration and inset, the base curves, lens thickness, and bench alignments. They also make sure the glasses aren’t chipped or scratched. The glasses will be returned to the lab for correction if anything is wrong. You’ll be invited once the glasses are ready.
• Wear and care instructions. If all is as expected, the optician will give you a few aftercare instructions, including how to wear, clean, and store the glasses in the case.
• Follow-ups. The optician can suggest returning for periodic tune-ups.
• You can go home and look beautiful with your new eyewear

Conclusion

Designing and fitting eyewear is a complex procedure since it considers each patient’s specific needs. Therefore, working with a qualified and highly skilled optician is crucial to ensure the best results. For more information about eye care and prescriptions, visit our eye clinic in Vaughan to speak to Dr. Allyson Tang, Optometrist – Vaughan.