What you need to know about lens types, materials, and finding the right lenses for you.
7
min read
Reviewed on
July 18, 2024
Written by
Katherine Solem
Expert review by
Jonathan Gula
Written by
Katherine Solem
Expert review by
Jonathan Gula
Eyeglasses are the perfect combination of fashion meets function. The fashion lies in the frame style, shape, and color. Their function, of course, is to help you see better. And lenses are what make that possible.
Different types of lenses — and even different lens materials — serve different vision needs. Our lenses also come standard with features like UV and anti-glare protection, offering added benefits.
Here’s what you need to know about lens types, materials, and finding the right lenses for you.
How Do Lenses Work?
Prescription lenses bend light to focus it on the back of the retina so objects look clear and sharp.
All corrective lenses bend light to help you see better. Bending light focuses it on your retina (the group of nerves at the back of your eye). This allows you to see an image clearly. How much the lens bends light depends on two things.
Whether you have trouble seeing things up close, far away, or both
Your prescription strength
What Type of Lens Is Right For You?
The best way to determine what kind of glasses you need is to have a comprehensive eye exam. Your eye doctor will determine your vision needs and prescription strength.
Also, talk to your eye doctor about how and where you’ll use your glasses. Do you work in front of a computer all day, or do you drive a lot? Do you want one pair for everything or separate glasses for reading and distance?
Here’s a quick guide for different vision needs and lenses.
If you have trouble seeing:
Your phone or a book, but objects far away, like street signs, are clear
You might need: Single-vision up-close lenses or reading glasses
Things far away, like street signs, but you can read a book or your phone
You might need:Single-vision distance lenses
Things up close and far away, but objects around your house, like your TV, are clear
You might need: Bifocal lenses
Things up close, far away, and in the middle, like the TV or objects around your house
You might need: Trifocal or progressive lenses
Your computer and your phone or a book, but your distance vision is fine
You might need: Workspace progressive lenses
Your computer, your phone or a book, and things far away
You might need: Workspace progressive lenses for computer work and regular progressive lenses for non-computer work or workspace progressive lenses for computer work and single-vision distance glasses for driving
Our lenses are crafted from high-quality materials. They also come with a variety of features, most at no additional cost. We do this to protect your vision, make your glasses more comfortable, and help them better withstand the rigors of daily wear. Here’s what you can expect from every pair of XP Health lenses:
Thinner, lighter lenses: All of our lenses come standard in polycarbonate material. Polycarbonate is a type of plant-based plastic that allows lenses to be much thinner and lighter than traditional glass or plastic lenses.
Impact and scratch resistance: Polycarbonate is also very durable. This means that when you drop your glasses, your lenses shouldn’t break. All lenses, even ultrathin lenses, include extra protection from scratches.
Protection from UV and blue light: Our lenses include built-in protection that absorbs, blocks, and reflects sunlight away from your eyes. This keeps your eyes safe from harmful UVA and UVB rays. They also filter the blue light from computer, phone, and tablet screens. This may help prevent eye strain and improve sleep. And because UV and blue light filtering are built into our lens, it won’t wear off. This is unlike many other eyewear vendors that put a coating on top of the lens.
Protection from glare: Our lenses reduce reflections and glare and decrease eye strain from computer and device use. We even include anti-glare protection on the backside of the lens to help reduce reflections bouncing off the lens. This also helps you see more clearly.
Dust, smudge, and water resistance: Glasses are meant to be lived in. That’s why we provide built-in protection to keep your glasses free from fingerprints and dust. Also, water rolls off our lenses instead of beading, so you can see better on those rainy days.
Ultrathin lenses (optional, add-on feature): If you have a strong prescription, we offer a different type of plastic to make ultrathin lenses that are also lightweight. Ultrathin lenses are available for prescriptions with sphere power plus or minus 6.0 and higher. While our ultrathin lenses are durable, they are more subject to chips or cracks than polycarbonate lenses. That’s why we don’t recommend ultrathin lenses for kids’ glasses or workplace glasses where eye protection is important.
Light-responsiveness (optional, add-on feature): You can choose to make your lenses darken when they come into contact with UV (sun) light.
Custom color(optional, add-on feature): If you prefer colored lenses, you can also choose to add custom colors in gray, brown, or green.
Polarization (optional, add-on feature): You can also make your sunglasses or colored lenses polarized. This provides even more protection from glare and reflection off surfaces like water and snow.
It may take a few days or weeks of wear to adjust to new glasses. This is especially true if your prescription changes or you switch to a new lens type, like moving from single-vision lenses to bifocals or progressives.
This content is intended for educational purposes only. It is not a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding health concerns.
