Key Takeaways
- Online glasses shift the fitting work onto you, including prescription entry and measurements.
- Poor fit can bring on eye strain, headaches, and dizziness, as well as pressure on your nose and temples.
- An eye exam and frame styling can happen in one visit.
- Progressive and stronger prescriptions rely on precise lens placement.
- Lens coatings and materials should match your workday, your commute, and your time outdoors.
- Adults typically need an eye exam every 2 years.
Why Where You Buy Glasses Matters
You order a pair of glasses online, wait 2 weeks, and slide them on. But something feels off. The frames pinch behind your ears. Text looks fine straight ahead but blurry when you glance down. You tell yourself you’ll get used to it—but you don’t.
Buying your glasses from an optometrist means that the prescription, the measurements, the fit, and the follow-up care all stay in one place, with people who can adjust them for you. That’s the difference between glasses you tolerate and glasses you actually reach for every morning.
Our team at View Pointe Vision + Style is here to make sure that your glasses work for you.
What Happens When You Buy Glasses Online
When you shop online, you take on the dispenser’s role. This means typing in your own prescription numbers, which leaves room for a digit to land in the wrong box. Measurements of your eyes and face often have to be guessed at by using a phone app pointed at your face.
These small gaps add up, and often result in lenses that don’t quite fit.
Signs Your Glasses Don’t Fit Right
Watch for these signs that your lenses aren’t right:
- Eye strain or headaches after an hour or two of wear
- Dizziness or a queasy feeling when you walk in them
- Pressure around your nose or temples by mid afternoon
6 Reasons to Buy Your Glasses from an Optometrist in Winnipeg
- You can get your eye exam and choose your glasses all in one visit.
- You get guidance from both your optometrist and an optician.
- Your fitting happens in person, with measurements taken professionally.
- Our team double-checks the numbers and makes sure that your prescription is right.
- Your optometrist stands behind their frames and lenses.
- Adjustments, repairs, and warranty support are a short trip away.
How the Right Fit Changes Your Day
Pupillary distance (the space between your pupils) determines where the centre of your lenses should sit. Get it right, and your glasses fit comfortably. Get it wrong, and your glasses might not provide the clarity you need.
Frame size, bridge width, and temple length matter too. The size of your frames and how they sit on your face determines how clearly you’ll be able to see. A wide enough bridge allows your glasses to sit comfortably and stably in place. The temples of your frames should be long enough and wide enough that they don’t press against the side of your head.
Why Progressive & Strong Prescriptions Need Extra Care
Multifocal lenses rely on precise measurements. The distance zone, the middle zone, and the reading zone all fit into a small space, so being even a few millimetres off can make your lenses difficult to use.
Lens material and thickness matter too, especially with stronger prescriptions, where a thinner material can keep the glasses lighter on your nose.
Lens Options Worth a Conversation
Anti-reflective coating cuts down on glare, so that headlights and overhead office lights are less distracting. Scratch-resistant surfaces hold up better when your glasses land face down on a desk—which they always eventually do. Polarized sunglasses reduce glare off snow, pavement, and water, while UV protection helps shield your eyes outdoors.
How Your Routine Shapes the Choice
Screen-heavy workdays make different demands on your lenses than a job that has you spend 8 hours outside. If you’re in front of a monitor from 9 to 5, our team can talk you through options built for that distance. If your job or hobbies keep you outside, you’ll need lenses that protect your eyes from the sun. And if you often drive home in the dark in the winter, visual comfort behind the wheel is worth it.
What to Know Before Your Next Glasses Purchase
Adults typically need an eye exam every 2 years. Your eyes change slowly as you age, and it’s important that your prescription keeps up. However, an eye exam does more than just determine your prescription. These appointments also assess the health of your eyes, and can even identify early signs of general health conditions like diabetes and high blood pressure.
Style Support at the Optical Boutique
Frames are personal. Our team can match a pair to your face, recommend stylish options that you wouldn’t have considered yourself, and give you honest feedback while you try them on. That’s hard to replicate by scrolling through thumbnails at midnight.
Book Your Next Eye Exam
Your glasses sit on your face for most of the time you’re awake, so they’re worth getting right. Our team at View Pointe Vision + Style can handle your eye exam, your measurements, your lens choices, and your styling in one visit, then keep your frames adjusted as long as you wear them.
Book an eye exam with our team in Winnipeg and spend some time in our optical boutique while you’re here.
