Saturday, November 17, 2007

Fix your broken eyeglasses, Do-It-Yourself style

If you accidentally broke your eyeglasses or it slips through your hand when you're cleaning it and they become broken, there are do-it-yourself method to fix the problem.

  1. Examine the cause of the problem with a magnifying glass. Is the hinge stretched out? Is the screw loose or missing? Did the hinge break off?
  2. If the hinge is stretched out, cover the tips of a pair of pliers with masking or duct tape to avoid scratching the frames and then use the pliers to bend the hinge gently back into place. Or slide an orthodontic rubber band (available from dentists) or a small rubber ring (an eyeglass repair kit may include this) over the loose hinge to hold it in place.
  3. If the screw is loose, tighten it with a tiny screwdriver from the eyeglass repair kit. The tip of a paring knife will serve as a screwdriver in a pinch.
  4. If the screw is lost, replace it with one of the screws from the kit, or slip a miniature safety pin into the screw hole and close it. If the repair kit's screw does not fit into the hole, do not force it, as that might strip the threads inside the frame.
  5. Dab a tiny bit of clear nail polish on the hinge screw once you've tightened it to hold the screw in place. Let dry.
  6. If the metal hinge has broken off the frame, wash both surfaces and scrape away any paint or old glue. Then use a toothpick to dab fast-bonding glue to the break. Hold the pieces in place for 60 seconds to allow the glue to dry.
  7. If the earpiece keeps slipping off the frame or has broken off, re-adhere it with fast-bonding glue. If you get the glue on your skin, wipe it off with acetone-based nail-polish remover.

Wednesday, November 14, 2007

Sunglasses Tips

  • Check labels to make sure the sunglasses provide 100 percent UVA and UVB protection.
  • Look for sunglasses that filter out at least some blue light, which can damage the retina and lead to macular degeneration (vision loss from degeneration in parts of the eye). To make sure, try wearing them outside; a blue sky should appear gray with these on. Also ask about polarization, a type of filtering that helps reduce glare.
  • Choose a lens color based on your preferences and comfort level. Gray doesn't affect color perception; orange-brown lenses are a good choice for those with macular degeneration, since they filter out UV and blue light rays for maximum retinal protection; green lenses distort color less than other shades, such as red or yellow.
  • Opt for lightweight, plastic, shatterproof sunglasses if you're going to be wearing them when playing sports.
  • Purchase sun goggles for total protection of your eyes. These cover a large area and include side shields. As an added bonus, they also fit over prescription glasses.

Tips & Warnings

  • A darker lens does not necessarily indicate better protection, and lighter-tinted lenses offer better visibility. Check labels to find sunglasses that provide the best protection possible.
  • To ensure against mislabeling, you may want to purchase a UV card, a credit card'size device for testing sunglasses. Contact an optometrist, or look for the product online.
  • For added eye protection, wear a hat with at least a 3-inch brim.

Knowing LensesTypes

Reducing Eye Distortions
The aspheric eyeglasses lens has flatter curves than a conventional eyeglass lens and is positioned closer to the face. If you are wearing a strong correction lens, this will make your eyes look normal size, flattering their shape.

Conventional farsighted eyeglass lenses enlarge the eyes, making them look overly large, while a nearsighted eyeglasses lens gives your eye a piggy or beady look. The thinnest eyeglass lenses usually have thin edges for strong minus or nearsighted prescriptions. The thinner edges also flatter your eyes and face.

For people with multiple vision problems, an aspheric multifocal or progressive eyeglass lens shows off those beautiful green eyes while improving eyesight.

Sports Lenses
The polycarbonate eyeglasses lens keeps parents from breaking their budget replacing eyeglasses. If the scratch-proof UV-protected polycarbonate eyeglass lens can withstand a rough-and-tumble day at school, your polycarbonate eyeglass lenses can hold up under the pressure of a squash game. They are the thinnest eyeglass lenses designed for athletics.

A caveat: Only use polycarbonate eyeglass lenses in an approved sports glasses frame. A regular designer eyeglass frame may be fine for a progressive eyeglass lens, but won't weather the impact of a football tackle.


Golf Lenses
Bifocal golf eyeglass lenses trump the progressive eyeglass lens on the course. Flat-top bifocals in the low inside corner of the eyeglass lenses of golf glasses allow you to read and write on the scorecard up close, but still hit the ball into the cup. While golf eyeglass lenses aren't the thinnest eyeglass lens on the market, the extra bifocal eyeglasses lens will help you keep your eye on your score and the ball! You may not become Greg Norman or Arnold Palmer overnight, but your game can improve with a bifocal eyeglasses lens.

Concave or Convex, Go High-Index
Whether your eyeglasses lens is concave to correct nearsightedness or convex to prevent farsightedness, traditional corrective eyeglass lenses have thicker edges. In fashionable eyeglasses such as ICU Eyewear and in Calvin Klein eyeglass frames, the rims are thinner than the eyeglass lens. Rimless eyeglasses leave the thick eyeglasses lens completely exposed, giving your specs a bizarre appearance.

The progressive eyeglass lens, the aspheric thinnest eyeglass lenses, and especially high-index eyeglass lenses can bend light more, so are thinner and lighter since they require less surface material.

Advanced Myopia Prescription Lenses
If you have a -6.00 prescription, you have extreme myopia! But your minus prescription number shouldn't mean you have to subtract a lot of cash from your bank account, or suffer with a heavy concave eyeglass lens. An aspheric high-index thin eyeglasses lens or an aspheric progressive eyeglass lens can stand up to your advanced myopia and have you singing, “I can see clearly now...I can see all obstacles in my way...”

Another choice for thinnest eyeglass lenses are polycarbonate, also known as featherweight, eyeglass lenses, which you can wear in regular eyeglass frames if you're not doing sports.

Aspheric Lenses
Aspheric eyeglass lenses are designed to rest lightly on the face and provide superior optical function. However, even though aspheric eyeglass lenses are among the thinnest eyeglass lenses, they can't counterbalance heavy frames. Wearing coke-bottle frames with aspheric eyeglasse lenses is like wearing your baggy clothes after you've lost a lot of weight. In general, the aspheric eyeglasses lens should be in a smaller eyeglass frame such as ICU Eyewear's matte two-tone thin lozenge-shaped frame. Your aspheric progressive eyeglass lens works well in a larger rounded frame.