If you typically wear glasses rather than contact lenses or vice versa, you may assume that getting a pair of the other would be as easy as calling your eye doctor and ordering them. This isn’t so, though. Unless you’ve tried to do this or you use both glasses and contact lenses, you may not know that glasses and contact lens prescriptions are not the same. 

You need a separate prescription for glasses and for contact lenses due to some seemingly minute but significant differences between the two. If you wear contact lenses, your eye doctor may already provide you with a glasses prescription. However, this is not always the case.

Here is what you need to know about the differences between glasses and contact lens prescriptions, and what to do if you want to try the other type of lenses out.

Why Are Glasses And Contact Lens Prescriptions Different?

If you’re surprised to learn that glasses and contact lens prescriptions are different, you’re not alone. Many people assume that a prescription is a prescription, and that if you already have glasses, you should be able to get contacts with ease.

Glasses and contact lens prescriptions are different due to how you wear them. Glasses sit on the bridge of your nose, about 12 millimeters away from your eyes. Contact lenses are worn directly on your cornea. Because of the difference in how far away they are from your eyes and how you wear them, they require separate prescriptions.   

How Are Glasses And Contact Lens Prescriptions Different?

Glasses and contact lens prescriptions are different in more ways than you may expect! Here are some of the chief ways in which they differ. 

For Contacts

Because you wear contact lenses on your eyes, a contact lens prescription needs to be fitted to the size and shape of your eye. They don’t just need to have the lens strength, they also need to be fitted to your individual eyes so that they are comfortable. Different people have differently shaped and sized eyes, which impacts the contacts they wear. 

Different people also have different demands of their contacts: for instance, one person might need more breathability in their lenses because they wear them for long periods of time or accidentally fall asleep in them from time to time. This is why when you get contact lenses, your eye doctor may have you try out different brands and then include the brand that works best for you on your prescription. 

For Glasses

Since you wear glasses at a slight distance from your eyes, glasses prescriptions need your pupillary distance (the distance between your pupils), so you don’t have to worry about crossing your eyes or anything like that. Glasses prescriptions are often weaker than contact lens prescriptions due to the fact that the space between their lenses and your eyes leads to a change in prescription strength. 

While your contact lens prescription includes how they should fit, when you purchase glasses, the people you purchase them from will have you try different frames on and ask how they feel. They may make adjustments to the frames in order to help them fit you better. You may opt for one pair of frames over another, due to style, fit, and price.

What Do You Do If You Want To Get Another Prescription?

If you’re an avid glasses or contacts wearer and you want to give the other type of lens a go, you’ll likely need to make an appointment with your eye doctor. Sometimes, when you have your yearly eye exam, your eye doctor will fit you for both contacts and glasses and provide you with both prescriptions. However, state laws vary, and you may need to have different appointments to be fitted. 

If you want to try out contacts, you will need a contact lens fitting. This is so that the eye doctor can ensure they are fitted to your eyes and will be comfortable for you. 

• About colored contacts. It’s important to note that even if you do not need corrective lenses, if you want to try out colored contacts, you will still need a contact lens prescription. A prescription without lens strength like this is a plano prescription. If you buy colored contacts from a store that does not require a prescription, you could suffer many adverse effects. Learn more about this in our previous blog: Colored Contacts And Your Eyes: Keep Your Eyes Safe This Halloween. 

If you want to try out glasses, you will need to be fitted for these too, with your pupillary difference. The parameters on glasses prescriptions can differ from contact prescriptions. If you want to try plano glasses, or glasses without corrective lenses, you can just pick these up in a store, as they do not carry the risks that non-prescription colored contacts do.

Wolcott Optical is here to help you with your glasses and contact lens needs. Contact us today to learn more about the services we can provide you with. 

If you’ve been trying to learn how to safely use eye makeup, you’ve likely run into countless articles telling you that the best way to keep your eyes healthy is to avoid eye makeup entirely. While it’s true that you won’t run into the problems associated with eye makeup if you simply don’t use it, such “advice” can be very frustrating and irritating, especially if you enjoy makeup and it is important to you. You’re not just going to stop wearing eye makeup because it can cause issues – you’re trying to learn how to safely use eye makeup to avoid said issues while still being able to enjoy your creativity. 

Here at Wolcott Optical, we understand that. That’s why we’ve compiled this list of tips that you can follow in order to safely use eye makeup. You don’t have to sacrifice health for beauty, nor vice versa. Here’s what you need to know about how to safely use eye makeup.

Be Mindful Of Infection

Eye makeup can cause infection in multiple different ways. Those tester counters at the makeup stores may be fun, but they’re also full of bacteria that can infect your eyes. We know that selfishness is usually seen as a bad trait, but when it comes to your eye makeup, you want to be selfish with it. Sharing makeup, even with friends and family, can lead to infection. One of the best ways to safely use eye makeup is to only use your own and not to share it with anyone. 

Store samples are there so you can test out eyeshadows and other eye makeup, but you want to avoid putting these on your eyes. Many people have gotten pink eye, styes, and other eye infections and problems from sharing their eye makeup and using store samples. It’s fine to want to test out that pretty new shade of eyeshadow, but test it against the back of your hand rather than putting it on your eye. That way, you can see the pigmentation and texture without putting your eyes at risk. 

Keep It Clean!

One of the best ways to safely use eye makeup is to ensure that the process is as clean as can be. We know that makeup tends to explode everywhere when you’re applying it. By this, we mean, ensure that your brushes are clean and that your face and eyelids are clean prior to makeup application. Even if your makeup brushes look clean, they can still have bacteria on them. In order to safely use eye makeup, you’ll want to ensure that you clean your makeup brushes at least once a week with water and baby soap. 

Don’t Use Expired Makeup

Did you know that makeup can expire? Many people don’t! However, it does, and if you want to safely use eye makeup, you’ll need to ensure that the products you use are still good. Otherwise, you guessed it, you run the risk of infection, as well as allergic reactions, scratches to your eyes, and other eye problems, such as conjunctivitis. 

To safely use eye makeup, you’ll want to be mindful of expiration dates. In general, you can expect makeup to last a certain amount of time before it expires. We understand wanting to get the most out of your investment, but using expired makeup can seriously hurt your eyes. It’s not worth it! You never want to use expired makeup. To safely use eye makeup, ensure that it’s still good.

Here’s what you need to know about how long eye makeup lasts.

• Mascara: This generally lasts around 3-6 months. 
• Eyeliner: Liquid eyeliner should be replaced every 3-6 months. Eyeliner pencils can last up to 2 years.
• Eyeshadow: Cream and liquid eyeshadows generally last 6-12 months. Powder eyeshadow can last 2-3 years.
• Eyeshadow primer: This can last 6-12 months.

Apply It Safely

In order to avoid injury and infection and other eye issues from eye makeup, you need to ensure that you’re applying it safely. 

This means not applying eye makeup in moving vehicles or if you have shaky hands, are overly tired, or are under the influence. You want to avoid applying eyeshadow or eyeliner to your inner eyelid, as this can clog them and irritate your eyes. You also want to avoid using anything sharp to separate your lashes, as you can easily stab or poke yourself this way. You also want to exercise care when using sparkly, glittery, or metallic eyeshadows, so that the particles don’t get into your eyes, especially if you wear contact lenses.

Additionally, if you’ve recently had eye surgery, you should avoid eye makeup until your eye doctor tells you it is safe to wear it again. 

As you see, there are many different things you can do to safely use eye makeup. These are but a few of the steps you can take to protect your eyes. 

Wolcott Optical is passionate about protecting eye health. If you have any questions, don’t hesitate to contact us to schedule an eye exam today.