“Has anyone seen my glasses … I just had them … Maybe they’re in the kitchen … No… Oh, here’s another pair.”
If you’re anything like me, there isn’t a day in the week when I don’t lose my glasses. Often, several times a day. Last count, I had five pairs of readers and then, searching for my car key lodged in between the car seat and the console, I located another pair I’d totally forgotten about. They were my favorite before I picked up a second pair of 2 C Concepts at BHV Marais last summer in Paris.
Turns out, 2016 research found that American consumers purchased 52 million pairs of OTC readers.
Reading glasses range in strength from +1.00 to +6.00, measured in ‘diopters’ in 0.25 increases. Along with numerous sites to purchase reading glasses, there are also several places which offer an online Reading Glass Strength Test to help you determine which strength is best for you.
Full-rim glasses give off less attractive, yet more intelligent, vibes when compared to rimless glasses or non-spectacled faces. In light of the latter impression, job interviewees have been shown to perform better when wearing glasses. And in the realm of amateur, non-peer-reviewed studies, one 17-year-old ended his suffering at the hand of bullies by taking cues from Corey Hart and donning his sunglasses at night.
“People think if the lenses magnify more, they are getting a better-quality set of spectacles, but that is not true. Not everybody requires the same amount of magnification. Off-the-shelf spectacles may allow you to read certain text size, but that does not mean they are the correct strength for you,” says Irish optician Aine Higgins.
“It is important that the reading correction be balanced for both eyes, and that the magnification is exact. The wrong lenses can cause eyestrain and accelerated deterioration. There are also many problems, such as astigmatism, that ready-readers cannot treat.”
Some Truths about OTC Readers
- The strength in OTC readers is the same in both lenses, which does not necessarily mirror potentially different strengths needed in each of your eyes
- OTC glasses cannot address astigmatism and, therefore, can lead you to develop headaches, tired eyes or just a sense that your overall vision is slightly off kilter
- OTCs are one size fits all
- Because OTC readers only come in positive strengths, they may not work for nearsighted people who need a "minus or negative" lens.