Have you noticed that your new glasses are blurry or make it more difficult to see? It can be incredibly frustrating to go through the process of purchasing new glasses and still not be able to see clearly. If you have tried on your new lenses and you still have blurry vision, you’re probably asking yourself, “Why is my vision worse after wearing glasses? Didn’t I get glasses to solve this problem?” If your brand new eyeglasses aren’t doing their job, it is important that you do not let your worries get the better of you just yet. Your glasses are probably just fine! We have a few steps you can take to troubleshoot the issue.
Step 1: Clean Your Glasses and Check for Scratches
This is step one in the same way that tech support will ask you if you’ve tried restarting your computer to resolve an issue. Even new glasses can get fingerprints from handling, not to mention their tendency to get smudged or streaked while cleaning. Is there anything more annoying than cleaning your eyeglasses and discovering streaks when you put them back on? Some patients have even accidentally rubbed scratches into the lenses while cleaning them because their cloth was dirty or contained abrasive particles. That’s why some patients report blurry vision with glasses but not contacts, despite both tools having the same prescription. Give your glasses a thorough cleaning using a clean, non-abrasive cloth designed specifically for the cleaning of corrective lenses. Use a cleaner formulated to clean eyeglasses without damaging the lenses, too.
If you’ve tried a thorough cleaning and you’re still struggling with blurry glasses, it’s time for step two — waiting.
Step 2: Take Time to Adjust to Your New Glasses
If there is one thing our bodies are really good at, it’s adaptation. When our vision is poor, our brains work overtime to “fill in the blanks” and adapt to a life of less than excellent sight. You get used to seeing the world out of focus because that’s all your eyes can report to your brain. In fact, you may not even notice there’s a problem because you’ve never known anything different.
Once you add corrective lenses to the situation, both your brain and eyes can become confused. Your eyes are processing visual content that has been out of focus for quite some time and your brain is trying to translate those visuals against an interpretation program set to “blur.” You end up with out-of-focus vision despite wearing glasses and that can feel quite chaotic and distressing.
However, it is worth noting that this is the easiest of problems to fix with new eyeglasses and blurred vision. All it will take is time. An adjustment period is quite common, especially for patients who meet some or all of the following criteria:
- Never worn prescription lenses before: If it’s your first time wearing glasses, blurry vision is common.
- Recently upgraded to a stronger prescription: With new prescription glasses, blurry vision may occur as your eyes adapt to the new corrective lenses.
- Only had the prescription changed in one eye.
- Do not wear their glasses for daily use (but should).
- Have worn the wrong prescription for years.
- Struggle with other vision issues.
If you have cleaned your glasses and waited it out for a bit and you still have blurred vision with new glasses, it’s time to enlist the help of your eye care team. They can help you through the next two steps.
Step 3: Check the Fit of Your New Glasses
Eyeglass frames are all manufactured to be the same shape in each given size and style. That is why you go through the process of trying out frames to select a pair that fits your face and your comfort. However, people do not generally have the same face shape. The shape of your nose, the fullness of your cheeks, the position of your brow and other features will all impact how the glasses rest on your face. That also impacts how the lenses sit in front of the eyes when the glasses are seated. Since all frames are the same (unless customs are ordered), that means that it is the lenses that must be sized to fit the position of your eyes within your face.
When you select eyeglass frames at the eye doctor, your technician will take measurements to help the lab know how to shape and position the lenses so they support your vision. Sometimes, those measurements can be slightly off. Maybe the technician transposed two numbers, perhaps the lab made an error or maybe their hand just shook ever so slightly slightly while administering the mark to locate your pupils. However the discrepancy occurred, it can cause blurred vision — and it can be corrected by the lab or your eye doctor.
Step 4: Check Your Prescription
We saved this step for last because it is the rarest reason for glasses to cause blurred vision. Every once in a great while, a human error (or computer error) results in a patient getting lenses with the wrong prescription. There have even been cases (also rare) where identical frames with differing prescriptions were mixed up in the lab. We have several protocols in place at our vision care office to prevent this, like checking and rechecking numbers before and after input and carefully labeling each patient’s frames to ensure there are no mix-ups. If by some chance a prescription slips through the process and has an error, it is usually easy to find where the error occurred and make corrections without a new exam.
If you need more help solving the mystery of blurry vision even with glasses, we can help! Schedule an appointment with our office today and our experienced eyecare team will work hard to help you see clearly once more.