RX Sunglasses: polarized or not?

[noodleoo]

I need to order some new RX sunglasses. The last pair I had gave me headaches (which is the first pair I’ve ever had). I think it’s because the RX wasn’t quite right, but my eye doctor said it might be because they are polarized. He said he doesn’t recommend polarized lenses for RX sunglasses unless you are on a boat a lot (which I am not). My regular sunglasses that I wear with contacts are polarized and I always thought that was better.

So what do you get/recommend? Polarized or not?

[BicycleBride]

POLARIZED. For sure. I’m incredibly light sensitive and wear prescription sunglasses every single time I step outside. Polarization cuts down the brightness significantly for me over non polarized prescription lenses.

The headache you get is likely due to the way the lens curves. This was explained to me a few years ago but I don’t remember more about it. If you wear regular glasses then you want to buy frames and have them make lenses with as close to the same curvature as possible to your regular glasses. I may not be explaining this right but if you go somewhere that makes the lenses in house they should know what you are talking about. You want to start wearing the new glasses first thing in the morning when your eyes are fresh and work on getting progressively longer times each day until your brain adjusts.

[audry80]

Mine are not polarized and I love them.

[isabel]

Isn't the polarization what provides sun protection?

[VillainV]

It depends. If you have polarized glass in your car (usually the side windows)and you wear polarized sunglasses, it’ll look funky. But they definitely cut down on glare (which is why they’re good for the beach or sailing).

Glare tends to give me pretty bad headaches, so I prefer polarized sunglasses.

[VillainV]

Feb 3, 2023 19:45:46 GMT -5 isabel said:

Isn't the polarization what provides sun protection?

Sort of but not really. Polarized glasses have vertical filters…..imagine it like sun coming through vertical blinds. So it filters out some light that way. Glare is usually horizontal, so it can’t get through the vertical filter, which is why it blocks glare so well.

It’s possible to filter out light using tint instead of polarization. Or you can combine the two.

[stemmie]

Mine are. I have a dark tint and a Polarized lens. I am fairly light sensitive and glare is a huge issue for me driving.

That said, I find there are certain brands of lens that just don't feel right for me. I usually see an eye doctor and fill my prescription at an independent optician who has better frames. The optician uses a Verilux high index bifocal for my regular glasses. One time I bought a pair at Costco with their well regarded HD lens bifocals and was very unhappy with them. I even took them back to my eye doctor who confirmed that the prescription was right but I never got used to them.

[expectantsteelerfan]

I just wanted to pass on a recommendation. My bff recently tried Pair Eyewear, where you can basically add sunglass toppers to prescription glasses, and she really loves them (and they were cheap in her opinion, much cheaper than the rx sunglasses she had been ordering, to the point where when she wanted a new style, it was cheaper to buy a 2nd pair of glasses with a topper than to buy a new pair of rx sunglasses). I haven't actually looked at them, but maybe you could try a polarized topper and a non-polarized topper and see which you liked better? Maybe they would even let you return which one you didn't like?

[mofongo]

I 100% prefer polarized!

[ProfessorArtNerd]

Feb 4, 2023 9:00:09 GMT -5 expectantsteelerfan said:

I just wanted to pass on a recommendation. My bff recently tried Pair Eyewear, where you can basically add sunglass toppers to prescription glasses, and she really loves them (and they were cheap in her opinion, much cheaper than the rx sunglasses she had been ordering, to the point where when she wanted a new style, it was cheaper to buy a 2nd pair of glasses with a topper than to buy a new pair of rx sunglasses). I haven't actually looked at them, but maybe you could try a polarized topper and a non-polarized topper and see which you liked better? Maybe they would even let you return which one you didn't like?

I actually got an entire pair of sunnies that fit over my regular glasses.  I like them a lot, especially when I'm driving and get to a tunnel.  I got them on amazon, they're called fit-over sunglasses (v creative I know).  They're pretty inexpensive so OP you could try both.

[icedcoffee]

I prefer polarized because they’re not as dark. Non polarized are hard to wear during dusk and near sundown because it gets so dark even though it’s still sunny. Hopefully this doesn’t make me sound crazy. Lol