Optical

How To Prevent Your Lenses From Scratching

If you wear glasses, then you know what a nuisance a scratched lens can be. Scratched or chipped lenses can interfere with your vision, making glasses uncomfortable to wear. Here’s what we recommend to keep your lenses scratch-free.

How to Avoid Scratching Your Lenses

Use a Protective Case

Using a sturdy eyeglass case will prolong the life of your lenses. No matter what kind of glasses you wear — standard, sunglasses, bifocal — you’ll want to protect them.

Be sure to choose a hard case with a soft inner lining and always have one on hand, either in your purse, backpack, or car.

When placing the glasses in their case, make sure the lenses are facing downwards, as this can reduce the risk of them being scratched. Additionally, avoid putting anything else in the case along with the glasses, especially sharp or metal objects.

Choose Anti-Scratch Lenses

Although no lenses are completely scratch-proof, there are certain coatings that can be added to the front and back of your lenses to make them more scratch resistant. Many lenses already come with this option, but sometimes it’s an optional addition. Anti-scratch coatings are particularly helpful for children’s glasses.

Remove Your Glasses Carefully

Handle your glasses by the temples (arms) and not the rims. This way, your fingers avoid the frame and lens area altogether, reducing the chance of inadvertently scratching them. Additionally, holding them by the temples with both hands ensures a better grip, so you’ll be less likely to drop them.

Set Them Down Properly

Never put glasses down with the lenses facing downward, unless it’s into a lens case. If you need to put them down and don’t have a case, rest them with the temples open and upside down — glasses tend to be more stable in this position.

Avoid placing them in a place where they’ll be easily knocked over or splashed on, like near a sink. Setting them down in the same place consistently will also reduce your risk of losing them.

Use the Right Lens Cleaner

It’s all too common for people to wipe their glasses with their clothing or other abrasive material. Doing so can scratch the lenses, especially if they’re dry.

Always clean your lenses with a soft microfiber cloth and specialized lens cleaning solution, items your optometrist’s office can provide.

When to Visit Your Optometrist

Unfortunately, it’s impossible to completely prevent your lenses from ever becoming scratched over their lifetime. Once they are scratched, there is little that can be done to repair the lenses. Most of the time the lenses need to be replaced.

At Overland Optical Family Eye Care, we offer a wide array of frames and lenses, so you’re sure to find a pair to suit your eyes and needs.

Call Overland Optical Family Eye Care in to schedule your eye exam or with any further questions.

At Overland Optical Family Eye Care, we put your family’s needs first. Talk to us about how we can help you maintain healthy vision. Call us today: 314-423-3874 or book an appointment online to see one of our Overland eye doctors.

Frequently Asked Questions with Dr. Sara Schmitz, O.D.

Q: Can you request lenses made from glass? Is glass still used for lenses?

A: Yes. Opticians still sometimes use glass for lenses. However, glass is not used very often because they aren’t as safe. If these glass lenses breaks, they can shatters into many pieces and can injure the eye. Glass lenses are much heavier than plastic lenses, so they can make your eyeglasses less comfortable to wear.

Q: Can a coating be added to eyeglasses to protect them from further scratches?

A: A protective coating can’t be added to a lens after it’s scratched. The coating is applied when the lens is manufactured and can’t be put on later.

Quality Frames For Prescription Eyeglasses & Computer Glasses In St. Louis, Missouri. Visit Overland Optical Family Eye Care for an eye exam and eyeglasses that match your style.

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REFERENCES

https://www.southparkoptical.com/how-to-avoid-scratches-on-your-glasses

https://www.allaboutvision.com/eyeglasses/how-to-clean-glasses.htm#:~:text=To%20avoid%20scratches%2C%20blow%20any,you%20clean%20the%20cloths%20frequently

https://www.healthline.com/health/how-to-remove-scratches-from-glasses

5 Winning Tips for Athletes On Eye Protection

Sports Vision is More than Keeping Your Eye on the Ball

Sports are an exceptional way to enhance your physical and mental performance. But sadly, they can also put your eyes at risk. In America alone, approximately 30,000 sports-related injuries occur each year! Fortunately, there are steps you can take to help keep your eyes out of that statistic.

As you get your body in shape, our eye doctor in Overland and St. Charles recommends the following ways to enjoy safe, top-ranking sports vision too.

The Riskiest Sports for Eyes

Airsoft and paintball are considered to be the most dangerous sports for your vision, followed closely by soccer and racket sports. If any of these are your game, be sure to book an eye exam and consultation for the most protective frames and lenses for sports vision.

In case you were wondering, the next most hazardous set of sports for eye injuries includes swimming, lacrosse, archery, football, hockey, skiing and snowboarding. Visit our Overland and St. Charles eye care center for advice on the best eye gear for whatever physical activity you favor.

Protect Your Vision & Eye Health

1. Protective eyewear: Frames and lenses made from impact-resistant polycarbonate are ideal.

2. Check the fit: Properly fitting frames for sports vision are critical. Consult with our eye care team to ensure your eyewear is a good fit.

3. Sunglasses: Overexposure to sunlight raises your risks for developing eye disease, such as cataracts or age-related macular degeneration. Choose sunglasses with 100% protection against UV rays.

4. Live healthy: Eat nutritious foods, maintain a healthy weight, manage any chronic conditions and don’t smoke!

5. Eye exams: A comprehensive eye exam is the only way to check if your eyes and vision are healthy. For the best eye care, share your family eye history with our eye doctor in Overland and St. Charles.

The above tips will go far towards keeping your eyes safe and in top shape for sports vision!

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Over 40? Time for a Close Look at Reading Glasses

No matter what age group you look at, eyeglasses are the most common type of vision correction. While there are different types of lenses that can be fit into eyeglasses frames, lenses for distance and lenses for reading are the two most common kinds. Who wears them? People with nearsightedness wear glasses for distance, and people with farsightedness or presbyopia wear reading glasses.

Presbyopia is an age-related vision condition that occurs when the eye’s lens loses flexibility. As a result, presbyopes trouble focusing on objects up close, such as reading the text on a smartphone, book or computer screen.

If you’re inching past 40 and find it increasingly harder to make out the fine print or see images that are near your face, book an eye exam in Overland or St. Charles. Our eye doctor will evaluate your visual acuity and prescribe the right lenses to sharpen your eyesight.

Which reading glasses should you buy?

You’ll know when you need reading glasses because you’ll find that moving small font further from your face helps to bring it into focus. But it can be tricky to know exactly which lenses and frames are best to buy.

All reading glasses are made from convex lenses, and you can buy non-prescription frames at the drugstore with generic strengths. Then, it’s down to trial and error to find your optional lenses. However, the healthier, efficient and more precise way to select frames and lenses is by getting your vision checked with an eye exam.

Can you buy reading glasses that won’t make you look like grandma did?

No worries! At our optical shops in Overland and St. Charles, we feature a trending range of frames, and each pair can be fit with the lenses that our eye doctor prescribes for you personally, including no-line progressives so nobody will know you’re wearing bifocals. We’re proud to offer an amazing array of up-to-date styles, and our staff can help you choose the most flattering pair for you.

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What’s the Best Way to Clean Your Eyeglasses?

Did you know that about 50% of all Americans wear corrective glasses? With eyeglasses being so popular, you might assume people would know how to take care of their optical lenses properly, right? Wrong! When surveyed, most eyeglasses wearers respond that they clean their lenses by exhaling onto them and wiping the fog off with their shirt.

Unfortunately, this all-too-common practice can actually damage your eyeglasses. Our experts at Overland Optical Family Eye Care, with optical stores in , St. Charles, Maryland Heights, and the entire city of St. Louis, , Missouri, share the following tips on the best way to clean your glasses.

Eyesight is precious. So are your eyeglasses.

Everyone appreciates the value of clear vision and the importance of doing everything possible to keep your vision safe and healthy. If you think of your eyeglasses as an investment towards your sharp vision, you’ll treat them with the care they deserve.

In addition to purchasing frames for your prescription eyeglasses, you may have chosen to coat the lenses with anti-glare, UV protection, and anti-scratch features. While these coatings are generally durable, they aren’t 100% damage-proof. Cleaning your lenses improperly can cause minor scratches.

What’s the worst way to clean eyeglasses?

The following cleaning solutions or methods rank as the absolute worst ways to treat your eyeglasses, because they can strip the lenses of their coatings and leave fine marks that can create a visual haze.

Window/glass cleaner
Ammonia
Bleach
Vinegar or lemon juice
Toothpaste
Tissues or napkins
Paper towels
Exhaling onto the lenses
Your shirt

What are the best ways to clean eyeglasses?

Keeping your lenses clean and clear is an essential part of optimizing your vision! The best cleansers to use include water, rubbing alcohol, dishwashing liquid, microfiber cloth, and special optical wipes.

Once you’re armed with the right substances, follow these guidelines:

Run your glasses under lukewarm water (NOT hot water).
Using a small drop of dish soap on your fingertips, rub both sides of the lenses and nose pads gently.
Rinse the eyeglasses with warm water and dry gently with a clean microfiber cloth. Because microfiber doesn’t leave lint behind, your lenses should be sparkling clean.
Keep individually-wrapped optical wipes handy so you can clean your eyeglasses throughout the day, as needed. Alternatively, spritz glasses cleaner or even rubbing alcohol from a spray bottle onto the lenses and wipe with a microfiber cloth.

We offer a full line of optical products

Need to stock up on wipes or a spray bottle of solution made especially for cleaning your glasses? Stop by our vision care centers in Overland, St. Charles, Maryland Heights, and the entire city of St. Louis, , Missouri, to make sure you have all the quality eyewear products and accessories you need!

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Do Your Glasses Always Fog Up in Winter?

9 Tips for Preventing Fog On Your Eyeglasses

Foggy eyeglasses are a part of life for many people. Sports sunglasses and snowboard goggles often fill with condensation in response to frigid air, and even regular prescription lenses can fog up just because you’re sipping a hot drink in the cold outdoors. Why does this happen? Our opticians in Overland and St. Charles, Missouri, explain what’s going on – and provide helpful tips and tricks on how to prevent humidity white out in optics or laymen’s terms: keep your eyeglasses from fogging up.

Condensation is the cause

When moist heat, such as your breath or humidity in the atmosphere lands on a cold surface, such as your chilled eyeglasses lenses, it cools and transforms into tiny drops of liquid. These droplets, called condensation, create the film that you see as fog.

9 tips for stopping your eyeglasses from fogging up

Anti-fog wipes: this is the easiest fix. The disadvantage of this simple hack is that you have to bring your wipes with you everywhere you go. Stock up on anti-fog wipes at our optical stores in Overland and St. Charles, Missouri.
Anti-fog spray or cream: just like the wipes, anti-fog spray or cream also works well; it’s just a bit less convenient than the wipes.
Clean eyeglasses with shaving cream: apply a small amount of shaving cream on both sides of your lenses, and wipe it off gently with a soft cloth and cold water.
Spread white soap on your lenses: if you don’t have a can of shaving cream handy, white bar soap works as a good alternative. But don’t rinse the soap off with water. Instead, brush it off gently with a dry cloth until your lenses sparkle.
Wipe lenses with saliva: this may be the fastest, cheapest way to prevent fog on your lenses. However, it can also lead to visual distortions, so don’t apply this fix right during sports.
Eyeglasses that fit further from your face: some designs of frames sit further away from your face, providing better ventilation that can prevent condensation because the airborne water evaporates more quickly.
Water-repellent lens coating: purchase eyeglasses with lenses coated with a water-repellent lens coating. The drawback of this solution is that it may prevent you from adding other types of lens coatings.
Anti-fog sports eyeglasses: if you’re an avid outdoors person in the winter, you’ll benefit from buying a specialized pair of sports eyewear; check out our optical collection in Overland and St. Charles, Missouri.
Take off your scarf: depending on the material of your winter scarf, it may be deflecting your breath upwards, where the warm air gets trapped behind your eyeglasses and leads to fog.

Note: these tips are for eyeglasses only; never use wipes, saliva, shaving cream or anything other than contact solution on contact lenses.

De-fog your vision

Whether you live in a very cold climate or you spend a lot of time engaged in winter sports, we can help clear the fogginess from your view. We offer a variety of vision solutions at Overland Optical Family Eye Care, so stop by anytime to discuss the best anti-fog tips for your lifestyle.

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Old Frames with New Lenses, or New Designer Frames? What to Buy?

See the pros and cons of both optical options

When your vision prescription changes, you’ll need new eyeglasses lenses. Most patients are excited to choose a new pair of designer frames from our trending optical collections in Overland and St. Charles, Missouri. However, some customers question whether they can just fit new lenses into their old frames. What’s the bottom line?

In general, it’s best to buy new frames, because using old frames can lead to a range of problems. Here’s a rundown of the reasons we don’t usually recommend fitting new lenses into old frames:

Pros of buying new designer frames

Old frames must be heated to take out the old lenses, and then they are reheated to insert the new lenses. This process ages the frames and increases their risk of cracking, splitting, or breaking.
You won’t ever be without a pair of glasses while you send your old frames for refitting
Most optical stores offer a deal when you buy a new frame at the same time as your new lenses
You can leave your old frames as a spare pair
Buying new designer frames reduces the chances of frame breakage after a few months
It’s much easier to adjust new frames when they bend out of shape or feel uncomfortable on your face
If any eyeglass parts break, it’s much easier to find replacement parts for new designer frames
You get to update your style

Cons of buying new frames

It can be more costly
If you’re attached to the look of your old frames, you’ll need to adjust to your new appearance

Still not sure what to do? Let us look at your old frames!

If you feel very strongly about using your old frames and reglazing them with a new pair of lenses, please let us look at them to help you make the final decision. Our optical staff will assess the old frames for any corrosion, dry or brittle parts, or loose hinges or screws. We’ll also check to see if your old frames are still in production, so we can order replacement parts if something breaks while putting in the new lenses. Bring your old frames to our optical stores in Overland and St. Charles, Missouri, and we’ll be happy to take a look, as well as show you new options from our high quality selection of designer frames!

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Help! My Child Doesn’t Want to Wear Glasses!

Do your kids need glasses in order to see clearly? Maybe they have a strong case of nearsightedness, perhaps they have astigmatism, or another type of refractive error. Whatever the cause, getting your kids to wear eyeglasses can be a parenting challenge.

Dr. Sara Schmitz, O.D. treats patients from all over Overland, Missouri with their vision correction needs. The knowledgeable, caring staff at Overland Optical Family Eye Care can help you and your kids if they’re struggling with their glasses or don’t want to wear them.

Why Won’t My Child Wear His or Her Glasses?

To help your children get the best vision possible, you first need to understand why they’re fighting with you over their glasses. It usually stems from something physical, emotional, or social, such as:

Wrong fit
Wrong prescription
Personal style
Reactions from friends

How do you know which it is? Pay close attention to the signs, from what your kids say, to how they behave, to how they interact with others.

Physical

Improper fit is a big reason why glasses could feel uncomfortable. If they slip down, itch behind the ears, or put pressure on the bridge of the nose, it can explain why a child wouldn’t like to wear them.

If there’s been a big change to their prescription, they may need time to get used to it. If they were given the wrong prescription, they may be straining their eyes, getting headaches, or having eye fatigue. An incorrect prescription can make wearing glasses painful or awkward. It doesn’t correct their vision, either, so they’ll still see blurry images. When this happens, your eye doctor can check the prescription and make an adjustment.

Emotional

Your kids at home aren’t the same as your kids in school, on the sports field, or with their friends. They may be afraid of being made fun of in school, or they may not want the sudden attention on their appearance. These feelings can be even stronger among the tween and teen set.

Social

Even young kids can feel different when they put on a pair of glasses, especially if it’s for the first time. Feeling different or weird, in their eyes, translates to a negative experience. When wearing glasses makes them feel like the odd man out, they may not want to wear them. The last thing your child wants is to feel like a social outcast. After all, everyone wants to belong.

How We Can Help

First, bring your child in to the eye doctor for an eye exam. Our optometrist, Dr. Sara Schmitz, O.D., will check to make sure that your child has the right prescription and that any vision problems are being corrected. Next, we’ll take a look at the glasses and place them on your child’s face to determine if they’ve got the proper fit. Our optician will take care of any adjustments that need to be made.

The Vision They Need, The Style They Want

Fashion isn’t only for adults. Your budding fashionista or trendy young stud wants to look awesome, so don’t forget about style. When your kids look great, they’ll feel great! Give them the top-quality eyewear they need without compromising on style. Your kids are a lot more likely to wear glasses when they like the way they look.

What You Can Do to Help

Encourage, stay positive, and don’t give up. Avoid telling them what you want them to wear. Let them choose for themselves. In the end, they’re the ones wearing the glasses. Making decisions is an important life skill, something they’ll need as they grow up and become more independent.

For younger children, use positive words to encourage them. Talk about how glasses are like magic, letting them see beautiful things around them. Show them how a pretty flower or a bright red truck looks with the glasses on, and how different it looks with the glasses off. For older kids, throw in a little pop culture. Tell them how trendy they’ll look by showing them pictures of celebrities who also wear glasses. You’ll also rack up some cool parent points.

At Overland Optical Family Eye Care, we have the experience and unique approach to children’s eyewear that will make your kids want to wear their glasses. Schedule an eye exam today – you can book an appointment online right here. If you have any questions or concerns, give us a call and we’ll be glad to help.