Glasses FAQs
Your eyes are a complex and sensitive part of your body so it’s no wonder you might have lots of questions related to your prescription glasses. In this frequently asked questions (FAQ’s) we answer your queries about how your glasses and sunglasses work, how to interpret your prescription yourself, and how to recycle your eyewear. Remember that you shouldn’t hesitate to contact us if you have any questions that you don’t see answered on our website.
Advice
Most people cannot leave their contact lenses in all day, every day, and expect their eyes to remain healthy. It is best to let your eyes breathe normally at least every evening and preferably one whole day a week, by not wearing your contact lenses. Therefore, you need up to date glasses to use. Also, your eyes may feel irritated by the contact lenses or you may get an eye infection, in which case you would need glasses to wear instead. If you do not have up to date glasses, you become tempted to keep your contact lenses in for too long.
This is not the case and regularly leads to confusion, although really it is straightforward. If you regularly use a VDU as part of your work your employer must provide a regular full eye test free of charge. They are only obliged to pay for a pair of basic glasses if it is shown that they are specifically for VDU use. That is, if you use them at any other time, your employer does not have to pay for them, in the same way as they do not pay for the shoes you wear at work!
Our face shape finder page can help suggest styles which would suit your face shape. Find our help page here.
Prescription
If you look at your glasses prescriptions, you may see a section for OS and one for OD and some numbers under the two. These are Latin abbreviations. OS (oculus sinister) is for the left eye, and OD (oculus dextrus) is for the right eye. Sometimes you might even see a section for OU. This would be information relating to both eyes collectively.
The further away from zero your number is, the greater the need for your vision to be corrected. The larger the number the stronger your prescription needs to be to in order to correct this.
• A “plus” (+) sign indicates you are long sighted. (Reading)
• A “minus” ( - ) means you are near or short-sighted. (Distance)
The unit to measure the corrective power of your glasses (dioptres) is represented by the letter ‘D’.
Does wearing the wrong prescription or strength damage your eyes? You’d be surprised to know this is a myth. Yes, it feels strange and may even give you a headache but wearing the wrong prescription number does not usually permanently damage your eyes.
Having said that, you should definitely get your vision checked if you are getting regular headaches or if the image is blurry when you wear your glasses. On some occasions your eyes will need to adjust after you get a new pair of glasses. You may find that your vision is slightly distorted when you put them on initially. However, if this lasts for 2 weeks or you experience any severe distortion or symptoms you should book an appointment and visit your optician. If blurred vision is accompanied by dizziness and headaches then contact your optician before the 2 weeks are up.
The eyes work by capturing an image and sending the image to the brain where it can be interpreted. So, if there’s a flower in front you, your eyes need to see a clear image that they can send to the brain, otherwise the brain has trouble figuring out what it is.
Your eyes need to bend light, in other words, to refract light, so that the image can be focussed and seen as clearly as possible. If a person can’t see clearly, it’s usually because their eyes aren’t refracting light properly. If your eyes are unable to refract light to the correct part of the retina you may be prescribed glasses that will help to do this for you. This will enable your brain to receive the information required and help you to process what you are looking at.
Buying
If you have broken or damaged your current frame, your local store will be able to help with trying to find a replacement frame to fit your existing prescription lenses.
The eye size of your current frame can usually be found on the inside of the left side of your glasses, or at the nose bridge. This is two numbers which are separated by a small square.
The model number of the frame is usually found on the inside of the left side of your glasses.
We do our best to restock popular items however, in the case of online exclusive items this is not always possible. We currently don't have a 'notify me'-service available to let you know when an item is back in stock, however contact our customer care team will be happy to help with any queries.
Your local store will be happy to advise if a particular product you have seen online is currently available in store.
If you are experiencing any issues with promo/discount codes, please call our Customer Care team on 0800 038 2177.
Our Grand Advance insurance scheme can be purchased in store at the time of ordering your glasses. Unfortunately this cannot be added once your glasses have been collected, or for online orders.
Unfortunaetly we do not currently offer a try on at home service. We do offer a virtual try on service on the Vision Exprress website.
All glasses which have virtual try on available can be viewed here.