Eyeglasses and contact lenses

I'm desperately in need of new glasses and have been procrastinating since I got here (for the last three+ years). My glasses are scratched (but not broken) and I need new contact lenses as well. 

How do others in the UK get glasses and contacts?

How do you get your eyes checked and is it the same exam for contacts and glasses?

Any ways to get deals on lenses?

My prescription is pretty strong so I don't want to spend a fortune but I also don't want to cut any corners!

I just got a scratch on my glasses and went for an eye test and got new lenses a couple of weeks ago (at the time I got referred due to dry eyes, so attended that appointment this morning).

I go to Specsavers for my eye tests - usually they are £20, but you can often get vouchers or offers for a free eye test. Eye tests are done every 2 years, unless you have concerns about your eye health or prescription, in which case you can have tests done more often.

I find Specsavers have good offers on frames and lenses too, like a free second pair, or free coatings/reactions lenses/money off thinned lenses: http://www.specsavers.co.uk/offers

I didn't change my frames this time because I like the frames I have, and I didn't need a new prescription, so I just paid for new lenses (due to the scratch) in my current frames... the lenses, plus all the coatings and the 'extra thinning' came to about £130 (£39 for the lenses, £90 for the thinning). If I had got new frames, it would have been £125 for the frames + lenses, plus £50 for the thinning (£40 off if you got complete frames).

However, you can get frames with lenses and coatings included for pretty good prices - generic frames + lenses start at £25, or you can go up to £125 for designer frames + lenses... then you just pay a bit more if you want any extras that aren't included (i.e. super thinned lenses etc.).

I don't wear contacts myself (due to my dry eyes), but they sometimes have offers on for contacts too, like free glasses when you sign up for contacts.

My husband does a monthly plan with Specsavers which includes contact lenses and unlimited eye exams.  It's about £30 a month.

He got new glasses when we were in China last year as they were so cheap.  I know his previous pair in the UK cost £400.  But the man has crazy bad vision, so probably isn't the best example.  And he likely chose the most expensive frames too.   

My dad manufactures contact lenses for a living...  he will gladly make my husbands.  I have no idea why we are paying £360 a year for his contacts...  <sigh>   

I'm a bit of a connoisseur when it comes to eye care because my eyes are horrible and I work at a computer all day.

I use Vision Express for exams and glasses because they have super good service and all the latest exam equipment.  However, they are shockingly expensive.   I just paid £130 for a pair of reading glasses and they are worth every penny. 

For contacts,  I get a contact lens exam anywhere and then buy the lenses on line. 
I just received my 6 months supply of contact lenses from Vision Direct.   I've used them for years and they are fine. 

I guess buying lenses online is only okay if you are experienced and don't have problems between exams.

You can buy glasses online and they are cheaper but I've never done it.


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Tesco offers free eye tests, I don't know if it includes anything other than the glasses prescription.

I have been very happy with Specsavers, and got a free contact lens exam with  my purchase of contact lenses. As I only bought one month of disposables that was a great deal. Now I use a local optician as they stock the frames I wanted and, as I get my eye test reimbursed through our US insurance, there is no cost to me.

ETA: to correct spellcheck

I got my last pair of glasses online. I went shopping for frames first in town and made note of the model numbers of the ones I liked then just googled and got them for waaaaay cheaper (ray ban frames). I had my eye doctor from the states send over my glasses prescription and everything turned out great.

I haven't had to get new contacts since I moved as I use daily disposables and due to my terrible eye allergies i was barely able to wear contacts back in the states. So I ended up with an enormous supply of extra contacts that I'm still working off of now that my environmental allergies have calmed down over here.

I have free eye exams due to having a visual impairment so I can't speak to the exam costs. My husband pays something like £8 monthly for his contacts from boots and has his eyes checked there as part of his monthly plan. He has terrible vision (contacts are somewhere in the -9 range) and Boots suits him fine.


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It costs money for eye exams in England, yes? But I think you can often find places that will do it for free, they sometimes have offers on.
Although I don't use it because I get a mega discount on lenses through a work scheme , I know Boots Opticians have a contact lens scheme which will make lenses cheaper/pay monthly and it will usually waive the contact lens fitting exam fees as well. 
Tesco do free exams. Check other places regularly as well.  And apparently because of health and safety regulations,  any employee who works regularly with a computer can ask their employer to pay for an eye test.Wherever you go, they will give you your Rx,so you can then order online or through somewhere cheaper for lenses and glasses, or buy in bulk, etc.

My dad manufactures contact lenses for a living...  he will gladly make my husbands.  I have no idea why we are paying £360 a year for his contacts...  <sigh>   

Very awesome job your Dad has.  Having been involved in these processes before,they're amazing. I totally geek out at the injection moulding processes (I'm a plastics engineer by training and play with plastics everyday, wheee) and the amount of different moulds a place can have to make the various sizes and types of lenses is mind blowing. Plus, how they add all the solutions and how they pick up the lenses and not tear them and the QC checks and the materials involved and how they make ones that are so breathable and extended wear and comfortable and everything else now with them.   So. Freaking. Cool.    Hijack over.

I'm a plastics engineer by training

Are you the one to blame for this new indestructible plastic packaging? I had to get a hacksaw out the other day to get into a package of dental floss...

Are you the one to blame for this new indestructible plastic packaging? I had to get a hacksaw out the other day to get into a package of dental floss...

This comes to mind.




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This comes to mind.

My god, temporal paradox.....

This comes to mind.




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Classic! 

Thanks everyone!

DH and I had a look at Specsavers and scheduled a sight and contact lens exam for me. The lady was very nice and told us there was a voucher online for the eye exam for £5 (not £5 off like I thought she said... just £5. Woohoo!).

The only thing left to decide (besides the actual frames) is how thin I want them. I know my optometrist in the US told me if I didn't get the 'thin' treatment for my lenses, I'd be looking through Coke bottles. But I don't know if they were just upselling me (a young girl with bad eyes who didn't know how much glasses should really cost) or if it was really necessary.

Sooo... who gets the thinning (and what level) and how bad are your eyes? My contact lenses are -5.5 (I've yet to find my old glasses prescription and I'll get a new one on Wednesday - I'm guessing it'll be similar to what I have now) but I've got no idea if that's bad, bad or bad.

My prescription is -5.5 in the right eye and -6.25 in the left. The actual short-sightedness is only -3.0 to -3.5 but I have astigmatism as well which increases the prescription.

I get super-thinned lenses... the thinnest I can get, and the lenses are still about half a centimetre thick at the edges , so I think mine would be the same as you were told if I didn't get them thinned.


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I'm inclined to agree with Ksand on the thinning. I went for the middle range of thinning but my prescription is slightly weaker than yours and my frames are pretty thick anyway.


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Go for the thinning, it's TOTALLY worth it. My prescription is under -5, I think, in both eyes and without using thinning my lenses would have been nearly a cm thick on the edges! Even now, with the mid-grade thinning, the lens on my left eye is thicker than my plastic frames on the far edge.

I have low grade astigmatism as well, I wore contacts for years though. Only one brand would stay in my eye without being blinked out!