Your new spectacles should give you years of service. You could “make do” with a basic lens, which will do the job, or you could have the most comfortable frame and lens combination(s) possible!

At McLeish Optometrists the choice is yours, but before you decide we will give you all of the options available, the advantages of a particular choice (and yes, the disadvantages too). Most spectacles are a compromise- for the over 40s the best lenses for close vision, may blur far vision, and vice versa.

Varifocals, also called PALs – Progressive Addition Lenses, and Bifocals allow you to do more without changing them, but introduce compromises elsewhere. There is no such thing as a lens which will suit every person all of the time, and only time and discussion will allow you to make the best informed decision for your eyes. We will also discuss those times where your chosen lens might not perform at the best, and your options available for those circumstances- you wouldn’t expect the same pair of shoes to work in all situations- runners are good for running, but not suitable for the office! Likewise, suits are good at the office, but not so great when it comes to swimming, or rock climbing. It can be unrealistic to expect a single pair of spectacles to do everything perfectly for you.

Lifestyle lenses

VARILUX Computer™

We can supply varifocals which are specifically designed for use with computer screens- if you spend 7 hours a day in front of a screen, perhaps a pair of varifocals with an especially wide middle distance, optimised to work with the screen, and a wide reading area would be more useful than a general varifocal. Various manufacturers supply lenses such as these, Essilor for example supplies Varilux Computer 2v and 3v, also available are Interview lenses- these allow clear vision at near, but the reading help reduces towards the top, allowing a longer reading distance.

VARILUX Sport™

The only progressive lens specially made for outdoor sports.
VARILUX Sport lenses have been wearer-tested to ensure that they deliver the unrestricted distance and dynamic
vision that help you to see fast-moving objects better -low peripheral distortions enhance dynamic vision, making this lens great for seeing fast-moving objects, such as tennis balls, with virtually no swim effect—even when you’re moving.

To make this lens ideal for outdoor activities, the field of distance vision is larger than general purpose PALs, creating a much larger field of view. This distance vision is also crisper so that even far away targets appear perfectly clear.

Intermediate vision is completely natural to complement head and gaze inclination when looking down, the compromise is the near vision, which is easy to locate, and perfect for a quick look at a watch or a map, but wouldn’t be as wide or as useful as a standard varifocal.

Outdoor Protection

We can discuss options to protect your eyes in most circumstances, from general UV protection (essential for most “outdoor” people), to vision enhancing tints specifically designed for shooting, golf, archery and many other activities.

All of these and many other tint shades are available in Airwear Polycarbonate materials, imparting the lenses with excellent impact resistance.

General Protection

For many sports, eye protection is a definite recommendation- any racquet sports- Squash and Badminton, Handball also, but tennis, cricket, and even rounders players would all have increased eye protection with the correct devices. Strangely, it appears that it is mandatory to wear eye protection for the under 18s on a squash court, but not the over 18s! A squash ball can burst an eye causing irreparable damage, why do only the under 18s require to wear protection?

More information on spectacle lens types and materials can be found here.