The Sewing Mom

I went to the optometrist the end of June, had my eye exam and ordered a pair of prescription eyeglasses. The new eyeglasses arrived two weeks later, but were incorrectly tinted. I had to send them back to have the tinting corrected. Finally, this past Monday, I received the correctly tinted prescription sunglasses. It’s been a frustrating and expensive process. My insurance paid a large portion of the cost, but I still had to pay over $150 out of pocket. While my frames were expensive, they were far from being the most expensive. I actually tried on a frame that was priced at $660! I put those back in a hurry!

I wish I had known about ZenniOptical.com when I was shopping for my eyeglasses a month ago. I could have saved a lot of money. They sell prescription glasses online for as little as $8. They can sell their eyewear so inexpensively because they only sell frames that they manufacture themselves and they sell directly to the consumer, no middleman. Staff members of the The Clark Howard Show, a radio talk show, have tried the service and are recommending ZenniOptical.com.

I checked Zenni Optical and found a pair of glasses very similar to what I bought. These however, were significantly cheaper, only $29.95.

I need to update my regular, everyday prescription lenses, so I will be shopping at ZenniOptical.com for those. I can’t afford another pair from the optometrist.

I originally wrote this review on my other site, Itsmyimagination.com, but I am so intrigued by this product and what it does, I’ve decided to reprint the review here. I am going in on Monday for my eye exam and I keep thinking about these pinhole glasses. Let me know what you think of this product, leave me a comment.

I began wearing prescription lenses for my vision when I was 25 years old. When I was 30 I began wearing contact lenses. Over the years, my vision didn’t change too much, until I was around 40 and I had to get bifocal lenses. I don’t mind that much that I don’t have perfect, but it can certainly be expensive to make a visit to the eye doctor, which I attempt to do on an annual basis.When I go to the optometrist, my insurance usually covers the cost of the eye exam. The insurance will also cover a portion of new frames and lenses. But, like buying a car, by the time I’ve added on all the extras such as scratch resistant lenses, bifocal lenses, lightweight frames, etc., I can spend a small fortune.Prescription eyewear is also called “corrective”. It makes it sound as if wearing glasses is going to “correct” your vision. I guess it does, but only while you’re wearing them. Once the lenses are removed, your vision is blurred. Basically, once you’ve been diagnosed with a vision problem you can pretty much count on wearing corrective lenses for the rest of your life. Unless you have surgery done, your vision is not corrected.

I have discovered a unique product, pinhole glasses, that are designed to restore perfect vision, not just correct your vision while you’re wearing them. These eye glasses are unique because they “use the principle of sight to let in only those rays which are capable of forming a clear image on the retina”. According to their website, www.pinhole-glasses-direct.com, wearing pinhole eyeglasses is scientifically proven to improve vision in cases of Myopia, Presbyopia, Hyperopia, Cataracts and Astigmatism.

Pinhole glasses are lightweight, durable and inexpensive. They do not have glass lenses and could last a lifetime. These special glasses have regularly spaced holes of 1-1.5 mm that direct light rays to your pupil, preventing rays from entering the pupil from extreme angles. Angled light rays can result in a distorted image to be formed by the retina resulting in blurred vision.

While pinhole glasses should not be used when driving or moving around (such as when playing a sport), they do work with all distances and so work for reading, watching television or working on the computer. At $14.95 a pair, I think these are a fabulous deal.