Different lensometer readings from the optometrist every time. What's going!


Question: Different lensometer readings from the optometrist every time. What's going on here?
I've decided to have my new right lens match an old one, which has been sharper at medium-distance and resulted in better binocular comfort than anything new dialed in at the office.

Unfortunately, I no longer know what on earth the old prescription is, because every time my optometrist puts that lens in his manual lensometer he gets a different reading. (I'm pretty sure US doctors require you to be there in person to recover old prescriptions, and I'm two thousand miles away, so I haven't pursued getting the ACTUAL copy of the old prescription. Maybe somebody knows otherwise?)

So what on earth is going on here?

First time: -3.00 -1.50 x20
Second time: -3.50 -0.50 x25
Third time: -3.50 -0.75 x25.

Is there REALLY this much margin of error?

The problem is, he ordered a lens to "match" my old lens based on the second reading, and it's just no way near as clear at close/medium distance as the lens it's supposed to be based on.

So when I pick up my new lenses I ask him to measure the lens again to make sure his reading was right. "Yeah, the old lens is definitely -3.50 -0.75 x25." he says.
"But you said last time it was -3.50 -0.50 x25," I say.
"Hmm. Nope, according to the reading I just got it's definitely -3.50 -0.75 x25."
"Then why didn't you make the lens at that strength. Didn't I say I wanted to match that lens?"
"Because we tried both -0.50 and -0.75 and you seemed to like it more with -0.50"
"Well, I liked it more because it was supposed to be the most similar to my current. They looked about the same in the office, but I know my current to be the most comfortable and clear in the widest variety of circumstances, so I wanted what was closest."
"Well, it's only a quarter diopter of cylindrical in an eye with heavy myopia, so it shouldn't make any difference. It's just a matter of getting used to it."

Unfortunately when I took the lens home and started reading I could definitely tell the difference. it's the difference between seeing ghostly, pale, and strain-inducing type in that eye at 10 inches or seeing crisp, clear, easily focused type at 10 inches.Of course, I really have no idea if the difference is really from just a quarter diopter or a full one, because at this point I don't know which (if any) of the above lensometer readings is accurate.

I thought manual lensometers were supposed to be rather precise. What's going on? Should I ask for the quarter diopter be put in, run around getting other people to read the lens, fly over to my old doctor and get a copy of that old prescription from 2007, or what? I've already plunked down $300 US for these new glasses, so finding a new doc isn't really an option, since he's the only guy who'll keep remaking the lens for free until I get the right ones or he gets tired enough of it to confront me about it.

Oh brother. I'm honestly two steps away from getting somebody to grind down the old lens to fit in my new frames.

Answers:

You should be able to telephone the previous Dr. to fax a copy of the old Rx to the new Dr.s office.

It's very strange the new Dr's office isn't competent enough to read a lensometer correctly.

Optician



I think maybe the first doctor was still a student because prescription 2 and 3 are almost the same but 1 is off.


Good luck

Eye care specialist.



Prescriptions Do change over time, although I'm not sure you don't just have a crazy doctor.

If your Rx changes a lot over time, I'd suggest just getting new lenses every few years or so, and keep your old frames. If you want to save some money, you can go to www.replacementlensexpress.com and buy your lenses there; I got single vision lenses for just $25.

If you have lots of specific questions or special requests, their optician is great to talk to. You can shoot him an e-mail at info@replacementlensexpress.com and he can call you back to discuss.

www.replacementlensexpress.com




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