Cheap reading glasses bad for eyesight.

Many people have bought reading glasses
from market stalls and street opticians.
However, experts declared that much as this
action could save money in the short term,
it could be putting their eyesights and
health at risk.
To avoid paying a large sum of money for a pair of reading glasses from an optician that might easily be lost or broken, many peopleresort to buying cheap glasses by the roadside and market stalls to help them see better.
Certainly, regardless of fashion trends,
wearing spectacles or reading glasses is
about seeing clearly and comfortably - not
just appearance. But new research suggests
that just buying any reading glasses
without an eye examination to rule out
diseases such as cataract and brain cancer,
which impede good sight, may do more
harm than good.
Although walking into any market stall or
visiting a roadside optician to buy just any
cheap reading glasses that are readily
available is so easy and more pocket-
friendly, eye doctors warn that in the long
term, they can cost you your eyesight.
In fact, they declared that such off-the-peg
glasses could cause eye strain, blurred
vision, headaches or double vision.
Interestingly, buying even such a glasses
from a big store while on a vacation abroad
does not make it different from that bought
from a roadside optician, say in Abuja,
Lagos or other big cities in the country.
A survey by Consumer Champion, an
international body, which checked 14 pairs
from seven high street chains, found that
many were not too suitable for use. Those
carrying a higher prescription – plus 3.5 to
plus 4 were particularly of most concern
because they were not suitable for walking
or other mobile activities. Their biggest
problem is non-alignment, which means
that the sight in one eye might be clear
while the other is blurred. This could cause
eye problems or a head tilt.
Eyeglasses are generally used for correcting
the vision of persons with bad eyesight.
The lenses are usually the most expensive
part of the glasses, depending on the type
of materials they are made from.
Nonetheless, Dr John Dongo, Chief
Optometrist, University College Hospital,
(UCH), Ibadan, Oyo State, declared that cost
of reading glasses should not push people
to buying reading glasses from a roadside
optician or a stall.
According to him, “the association of
opticians knows that there is quackery
within the eye care industry and we are
doing everything within our power to
curtail it.”
However, Dr Dongo, the Chairman, Nigerian
Optometrist Association, Oyo State branch,
remarked that it was not difficult for people
to know which optician to visit if a person
wants to have good eye care.
According to him, “one will be able to
recognise the right optician to consult by
putting into consideration, where that
optician’s office is situated, the basic
equipments that are available as well as
whether routine eye checks were provided
rather than just refraction to determine the
power of the lens to prescribe.”
“When a person comes in to have an eye
test, the optician is expected to provide a
comprehensive eye checkup. This should
include checking the visual acuity, field of
vision and the pressure inside the eye,” he
said.
It is however slightly difficult for a person
to know when a wrong reading glasses
prescription was either bought or issued by
a road side optician or a stall. According to
Dr Dongo, “even if reading glasses are
prescribed in an optical setting, the person
is supposed to go back to the doctor after
he had picked his reading glasses to have
them checked to be correctly done.”
“A new reading glasses could have changed
in terms of its axis and power. It takes only
an expert to be able to tell if there is a
problem and the effect such a reading
glasses would have on the eye such as
blurred images, headaches and tearing. Of
course, wrong prescription would also
contribute to poor productivity at work.
“From my experience, more than 50 per
cent of people that wear glasses have on
them wrong prescription, but only about 10
per cent will have symptoms that will
require their going back to complain about
their prescribed reading glasses. The
remaining 40 per cent will wear their
glasses for the next two years, until they
come in for a change of their reading
glasses.
Nonetheless, some persons might notice
that they need to change their reading
glasses more frequently than once in two
years. According to Dr Dongo, “we expect
that recognisable changes that might
necessitate that one’s reading glasses be
changed would take two years. But where
the person requires changing his reading
glasses very frequently, it might be due to
diseases such as uncontrolled diabetes.
Dr Gboyega Ajayi, a consultant
ophthalmologist, Ojulowo Eye Clinic, Mokola,
Ibadan, Oyo State, explained that with
roadside purchase of reading glasses, when
a wrong prescription is given, such could
have untoward effects.
According to him,” if the prescription is
below what you need, you do not suffer
any physical or functional damage to your
eyes. However, if the person is longsighted,
such may need to strain to see and if the
person is shortsighted, such a person would
find it difficult to see some things. ”
“ However, in a case where a child is
longsighted and such is given a low
refraction or prescription, it may induce
accommodative stress, which may lead to
squinting of the eyes. Where there is an
existing squint, it may worsen it, “ he
stated.
But the situation is different when a higher
prescription is given to a person with poor
sight. ”The likelihood is that the person will
reject it within one or two days of starting
to use the glasses. Be it a person that is
longsighted or shortsighted, because the
person will not see clearly, such is likely to
strain and end up developing headache,” he
explained.
Sometimes due to disparity in the two eye’s
ability to see, different prescription is made
for the two eyes. However, with a reading
glass picked from the stall, Dr Ajayi declared
that this might not be possible.