Partner went to pukka opticians who gave her a test and a prescription - but did NOT notice serious disease. Despite dramatic deterioration in sight over a relatively short period. (O - that's age.) And several signs/symptoms which are highly suggestive of the underlying organic disease.
We simply cannot expect them to notice signs of disease - because they don't. Maybe they don't have the experience/training? Maybe they don't have the time?
To be honest, I think I would rather make do with a cheapie pair of glasses and spend the difference on an appointment with a consultant if I think I need more.
Mine is trained and does notice. Maybe yours wasn't an optician? Who were they? Did you make a complaint?
If you live in the black country then Stokes Opticians on Carters Green is very good. You can even choose from catalogues if you don't like what they have and they will get the correct size in for you to try.
The memory metal type of glasses are a pain in the arse to fit (or repair if you do manage to bend them), because they're made of memory metal, which obviously has a very high elastic limit. IMO ordinary plastic or metal frames are your best bet - all will eventually fail, usually the hinge that holds the arms on will develop a lot of play, so you may as well buy them relatively cheaply. There are some very long lasting titantium frames around (Lindbergs) but reglazing these is almost as expensive as buying a set of new cheap frames every time.
Glasses should fit your nose (bridge width) and arm length should be bent so they hang onto your ears without pulling at them. Nose pads may also be adjusted.
As for coatings, quality definately varies. My girlfriend used to work in a national chain, and they had a lot of returns for failed coating. She now works in a posh opticians, and they very rarely have a coating fail.
I can't really give you hard and fast rules about what to look out for in a shop. Most of the variation in quality is in the actual prescription - some chains use a lot of locums and have more glasses come back with the wrong prescriptions. Otherwise, the construction of frames is much of a muchness until you get to the very high end, and there's no real chance of finding out the relative quality of the coatings applied to the lenses either.
I think he may mean test for retinopathy. The full tests for that are quite substantial, and I would want to check the qualifications, experience and equipment of somebody offering to perform it. In many areas, this work is being replaced by dilation followed by high resolution digital imaging and making annual comparative checks.
The person was working in a what has always been a respected opticians. I do not know their qualifications.
I don't want to get into mud slinging against a particular shop. I don't think that they were worse than others.
No. It wasn't until many months later that we found out what was really happening. Far too late to prove anything. Our realisation of what had happened came about as progress towards resolution of the underlying condition resulted in less and less need to use the prescribed glasses. Plus - much greater understanding of the disease processes involved.
Although this is not a scientific survey - merely hearsay level of evidence - I am now aware of more people who have been prodded to see a doctor by their hairdresser than by an optician!
Can be a mistake with that sort of thing. The opticians in the small town where my Dad lives seems specialise in very expensive glasses of ordinary quality for people who won't go and look at what things cost in the next town. A lack of competition may result in similar mediocrity where you live
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