You can find them just about anywhere these days: cheap reading glasses, sometimes for as little as a dollar each. They may be a cheaper alternative, but are they really an adequate substitute for a proper eye exam and prescription lenses?

Not really.

While claims that these cheap glasses can permanently damage your eyesight are overblown, they’re still not a good solution. Their overall poor quality can cause headaches or more vision trouble while wearing them.

Problems With Cheap Reading Glasses

1 – They’re “One Size Fits All”

Is your head the exact same shape and size as everyone else? Of course not. Everyone is built differently, and even minor differences (such as the width of your eyes) can drastically affect how well the lenses work. You might get lucky and find a pair that just happen to fit your head well, but a real optometrist can guarantee a proper fit.

2 – They’re Rarely Well-Made

Dollar-store lenses have very poor quality control. In repeated surveys they’ve shown to have significant differences from well made prescriptions. The strengths may be different, or they have different focal points. These can cause blurry vision, double vision and eye strain headaches. Even worse, such subtle differences are almost impossible to detect while in the store.

A proper eye exam guarantees lenses that exactly match your vision needs.

3 – They Only Magnify

Cheap glasses cannot correct for any vision problems besides those that can be solved with magnification. They cannot fix astigmatism, myopia or other common problems which can be corrected with prescription lenses.

Dollar Store Glasses Are Rarely Worth It

Cheap reading glasses are only good as an alternative backup pair, which are only used for short periods of time. If you just need to throw on a pair to read a label,that’s fine, but they are very likely to cause problems with more extensive use.

If you need reading glasses, it’s much better to get a proper eye exam.  It ensures you get lenses that best fit your face, and provide the exact vision correction you need! Contact your eye doctor today.