Headaches and Eye Strain After Buying New Glasses (not a new Rx)

I am a 28 year old male, and I have worn glasses for about the last 16
years. My current glasses prescription (-2.50 left eye, -3.25 right
eye) has not changed since 2003. I wore the same pair of glasses,
which I had purchased at Pearle Vision in 2003, until very recently. I
have regularly seen the same ophthalmologist every year since I was a
child.

Late last year the frame on my old pair of glasses was damaged, and I
decided to pick up some new glasses. I had had my regular eye exam a
few months earlier and everything checked out, my vision was the same,
etc. So in January I went to a nearby Lenscrafters, bringing my old
glasses. Lenscrafters used their machine to take the prescription off
my old lenses and used it to make two new pairs of glasses for me (two
different style frames). Unfortunately, I did not anticipate any
problems after getting my two new pairs of glasses, and I threw out my
old pair with the damaged frame.

Within a week of wearing the two new pairs of glasses, I began
experiencing pretty severe headaches, and a general ache in my eyes.
It seemed to happen equally with either pair of the new glasses.
Mostly the headaches would occur when focusing on something stationary
for a while (computer screen, reading, etc.), although they did occur
in general to a lesser extent. I do work approximately 8 hours a day
on a computer, however I worked in this same manner for several years
prior to this without any issues. I spoke to my ophthalmologist and
she said that sometimes even though the prescription may not be
different, it may take my eyes a while to get used to the new glasses.
She suggested I wait a few weeks and see if there was an improvement.

After about 2 months the issues did not subside. I visited my
ophthalmologist and she did some tests. She found that in both pairs
of my new glasses, the prescription was slightly stronger by 1/4
diopter in each eye (-2.75 left eye, -3.50 right eye). She said that
it was a very slight difference and that most people would not be
affected by it, but then she did a test (I am unsure of what it is
called) where I looked at the eye chart with half the letters covered
by a red light and half covered with a green light. She asked if one
side was clearer than the other or if they were the same. In both eyes
with both glasses, the green side was more clear, and she said this
indicated that these glasses were "not right" for me.

With this information I took these two pairs of glasses back to
Lenscrafters and pointed out that they had given me a slightly
incorrect prescription. They refitted the glasses with the correct
prescription lenses (which I then took to my ophthalmologist to
confirm that they were the correct prescription, which they now are).
I had hoped this would alleviate the headaches and eye pain, but it
has still continued since then. It really feels like there is a
pulling sensation on my eyes when I focus on something, and it almost
feels like my eyes would be more relaxed if I were cross-eyed. I
called and followed up with my ophthalmologist again but she didn't
really offer any additional help. She seemed to think that if the
prescription was correct, then it could not be my glasses. I have a
hard time believing that, considering that I had never had these
issues before and they started almost overnight once I started wearing
these two new pairs of glasses.

I have noticed that if I wear one pair for a few days in a row, and
then switch to the other pair, it is worse on the day I switch (though
no matter how many days in a row I wear one pair, I still experience
pain). The lenses in the two pairs of glasses are slightly differently
shaped (one pair is more rectangular, one more oval). I'm not sure if
this could be part of the issue.

I'm really at the end of my rope here, and my ophthalmologist seemed
somewhat disinterested the last time I asked about it. I have been
living with this pain and discomfort every day for about 7 months now
and I could really use a second opinion. Do you have any idea what
could be causing these issues? Is there some possible issue with my
glasses that may not have to do with prescription strength that could
be causing eye strain and headaches? I have read a lot online
regarding incorrect base curves, PDs, etc. Do you think this is a
possibility, and if so is there a way to determine what the proper
numbers for me would be?

Again, I regrettably discarded my old good pair of glasses, as I did
not anticipate any issues like this, so now I am stuck unable to even
compare the new and old pairs. Additionally I have nothing else to
wear, so I am forced to use these new glasses that cause great pain
for me. This leaves me concerned as to the possible long term side
effects that this may be causing.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Thank you in advance!

 

Lenscrafters often uses polycarbonate lenses as their standard lens.
It has fairly high chromatic abberation compared to other lens
materials and may cause vague discomfort.

Return to Lenscrafters, ask if the lenses are polycarb and have them
remade in regular plastic. Or call the Pearle Vision where you got
your original glasses and ask what material and brand they were.
Duplicate that.

Judy

 

Hey Darren-

After reading your story I am really astounded as to how similar it is
to my own. I am 26 and have worn glasses since I was 9 years old. Over
the years I've had many different pairs of glasses. Until recently
getting new glasses had always been a pleasurable experience. Recently
this all changed. Late June I had my bi yearly examination and found
that my prescription had not changed since two years before. I was
somewhat relieved that my vision was stable and not worsening. After
the exam I spent some time picking out new frames. Two weeks later I
got my new glasses. In the store they seemed fine. Of course I had the
initial new lenses shock that most glasses wearers are familiar with.
I assumed my eyes would adjust in a matter of hours to days, as usual.
In a few days my eyes, (more so the right eye) hurt. I feel a
straining, pulling sensation in my eye. The vision is clear, I see
well, it just hurts. It's been two weeks and I have not adjusted. I
went back to the doctor and he recheck my scrip. He told me my scrip
had changed since two years before. I asked what else it could be. His
reply was less than helpful, insisting that it's not the prescription.
I asked him once again what else it could be and he spattered
something about axis, base curve. It almost seemed like he was
offended that these glasses are not working for me. Im at a loss
because after checking my prescription, rechecking my eyes and
examining the actual glasses, theyve come up with nothing. The doctor
and the opticians who were helping all dismissed this as being my
imagination. It was clear after visiting the office that they want me
to just get used to them. I know there is something wrong.

 

Not me. Whenever I get new glasses, my first thought is "Wow, that's much
better." The only time it's taken me any time at all to TRY to adjust to them
it turns out that they were made wrong and the (discount) shops remake them
with no argument at all, and generally much faster than the original pair.

The guy in Algodones argued with me similarly, and ultimately he made a new
left lens to my old prescription. In this case I KNOW what the screw-up was --
it takes me longer to distinguish between A and B in my left eye because
there's a foveomacular vitelliform dystrophy in that one and I have to scan in
order to read individual letters; it offended him that I wanted to flip the
thingy myself and he threw a tantrum and stopped the test.

When I went back last time I found out that the guy was transferred to a
different office, hopefully one with much less public contact. The new glasses
were really good. $20 and ready in 2 hours.

The few times mine were made wrong they were never willing to tell me HOW they
were wrong. My guess is that the inter-pupillary distance was wrong because
that seems like the easiest thing to screw up given that just about all lenses
are off the shelf and cut to fit the frame.