On Monday my new glasses arrived in the mail. I've been wearing glasses for myopia (short sightedness) since I was a child, so this normally wouldn't be anything exceptional, but this pair of glasses could mark a new chapter in my life.
Over the years that I've worn glasses my prescription has increased, rapidly at first, but slower as I've gotten older. Then a few years ago my optician told me that my prescription had actually gone back down a little, which meant that my eyesight had settled. This was great news. A couple of years later when my glasses were breaking, I went back to get new ones and it was pretty much a case of just getting replacements. Then at my last check up, two years ago, they increased my prescription again.
I questioned it and when I put my new glasses on I struggled to focus and the response was that I'd adjust. Opticians won't change your prescription without a fight and won't let you buy lenses you weren't prescribed, so I just accepted that I'd have to adjust. However, after the initial adjustment I've been having issues I never had before. I've had an increase in headaches and when I get tired my focus goes off. So when my daughter discovered you could by glasses online without a prescription and at a better price than the opticians, I started to think about ordering a new pair online and dialing back the prescription a step. I'd been reading bits now and again on improving vision via exercises and reducing your prescription and was wondering about slowly working my prescription back over time.
My current glasses were pretty scratched, so this seemed like the opportune time to try, then I found my second pair of glasses in the drawer from the two for one offer that Specsavers always do and couldn't justify paying out for another pair and wasting these.
Another year on and I was reading a post by 
I managed to obtain my last prescription and it was -4.50. I have astigmatism, so there are some other numbers there too, but it was only the -4.50 I needed to change. Prescriptions go in increments of .25, so I ordered -4.25 lenses. With a 30% off voucher, sourced online, it came to about 47 AUD. Not a bad price, considering what I normally pay.
There is a range of glasses, in prices and sizes to fit the face. You can take a photo and try them on to give an idea of which size fits and what they look like. I picked a pair which came in medium, but on arrival found them a little on the large side, but nothing which couldn't be fixed with some adjustment on the arm ends. I should probably go for a small or extra small next time.
There was a slight adjustment period wearing them for the first day and again on day three, when I struggled to focus on mid distance first thing in the morning. No problems at all since then.
I'm currently reading through on other things I need to be doing to assist my eyes in their improvement and I may need a second, much weaker pair of glasses for close up work. I'll keep you updated.