Oh Say Can You See?

[rabler]

I wonder if At some point the eye lens replacement surgery will be cost competitive with premium prescription glasses.

 

[7milesup]

f you think glasses are expensive just go shopping for hearing aids....

WHAT?!

 

[Provincial]

I was first diagnosed with deafness (mild at the time) in grade school. It progressed to the point that when I took an FAA First Class Medical exam in my mid-30's, they found that I was more deaf than acceptable, but I had so much flying time as a Commercial Pilot, they gave me a waiver based on past performance. I left aviation as a career a few years later, and started running heavy equipment.

In a "boil the frog" situation, I didn't realize how deaf I was getting. The person I was in business with probably benefitted from my deafness, since it made me look stupid by not responding properly when people were talking to me, and avoiding social contact because I couldn't follow conversations.

All that changed when I met the woman who became my wife. She figured it out and encouraged (insistently) that I get hearing aids. What a difference! It turned my life around.

My father was deaf as a post, probably from his WWII job as a flight instructor at a civilian contract school in Ryan PT-22's. His hearing aids squealed with feedback constantly, and he probably couldn't hear them, because he rarely took action to stop the feedback. My first set of hearing aids in 1998 were top-of-the-line and worked very well. They could be programmed for frequency ranges, and I could increase the volume if necessary.

Since then, I have had several sets, each improved over the last. My current set has programs for frequency, sensitivity, noise reduction, telephone use, and many more. These adjustments are made wirelessly by a computer, and only take a few minutes. This set has an optional Bluetooth connection for my cell phone and TV. I Haven't yet tried the TV link, but it should be a godsend for my family, who have become used to the TV blasting at high volume. (Off-Topic rant: Why does Hollywood set the volume for dialogue much lower than the mood music and especially the background noise - like gunfire and car crashes, so you can't hear what the actors are saying?)

 

[Deleted member 69715]

I wonder if At some point the eye lens replacement surgery will be cost competitive with premium prescription glasses.

That would be great for those with less than perfect vision, but doctors and insurance companies will get their fingers in it; who knows where that will go?
I had cataracts and got both eyes done; went from coke bottles for lenses to occasional need for reading glasses. At last I could wear good, protective cool looking sunglasses for riding. But the real difference I loved was taking my M1 out to where I could shoot out to 300-400 yards. Had to fidget with the sights, but my aim was vastly improved. Also, I could scan the roadside farther ahead for deer, idiots that might pull out in front of me and stuff on the roadways.
Now that I know the benefits I would have paid for it out of my own pockets. Vision is so very precious.

 

[projectnut]

My wife was an optician for most of her working years. She started in the lab of one of the super optical companies and went on to earn her ABO License. I've listened to enough of her talking about it over the years I swear I could grind a set of lenses, but that's far from true. She would have a field day with you.

Optical coatings on eyeglasses found their way from photographic lenses. They work and the do make a difference in how the light hits your eyes. Anti reflective and scratch resistant coatings are worth every penny if you do close up work. I tried to save on my last pair of close up lenses by leaving those off and wasted the money that was spent on the glasses.

Polycarbonate lens work is a hazardous process by the way. Most optical labs send the work out to a specialized lab. That costs extra. Poly lenses are also optically superior to anything else on the market. The processes used to create them are guarded trade secrets.

Yes, the markups are huge, but you only have one set of eyes. She would say a dentist can make you teeth you can eat with but no one can make eyes you can see with.

Eric

A friend of ours had a company that made software for grinding lenses for eyeglasses and cameras. Often times it would take more than a year to perfect a program, and several more months to test it before it went to market. Those programs were not cheap, often times they were in the 6-figure range. Add to that the cost of the machinery to grind and polish the lenses, the training and labor to operate the machines, and the overhead like a climate-controlled building, utilities, etc., etc. and the investment is into the 7-figure range. You're not going to pay for that and make enough to live on charging $100.00 for a pair for glasses. In our area the discount vision centers seem to come and go on a regular basis. Every couple years or so there's a new name on the same buildings because the previous owners couldn't make ends meet.

I've been wearing glasses since I was 7 years old. At first, they were glass lenses. They worked ok, but were thick, and heavy, and glare was a constant nuisance compared to today's polycarbonate offerings. Even the first poly carbonates were crude compared to what's available today. With the added coatings glare, scratches, and distorted vision are no longer problems. About the only downside to any glasses today is that you need additional protection when grinding, welding, or doing anything that creates hot sparks or swarf. I've gotten divots on both glass and poly lenses over the years wearing them where I shouldn't have.

As I was growing older my prescription would change every couple years or so. Like others I tried less expensive options, but quickly found out you get what you pay for. The $100.00 or $150.00 glasses gave far poorer vision quality, scratched easily and had inferior quality frames. The better-quality offerings were far more comfortable to wear and had far better vision quality. Even at $500.00 or more a pair they were worth the investment. In my older years my vision seems to be stabilizing. A quality pair of glasses will last 4 years or more. While the price has gone up even a $600.00 pair of glasses are a bargain to me. Without them I couldn't drive, watch a ball game, play any sports at all, or even go for a walk in the woods without getting lost.

Prices today are a bit painful, but keep in mind the cost of business is up. No skilled laborer is willing to work for $20.00 an hour. At the time I retired a skilled craftsman was making in the $40.00 t0 $50.00 an hour range. Ten years later that figure almost doubled. Now that the push for minimum wage is $15.00 an hour or more. Skilled trades people are asking even more. No one is going to stay in business very long if they sell at a loss and try to make it up in volume. They just go out of business quicker.

 

[tmenyc]

Ah yes, glasses and hearing aids... know them both well. I've had Zeiss progressive lenses for thirty years, and can't imagine life without them. Yes, I have only two pairs because of the cost, but each pair lasts me a good five years. They are around $1k per pair, have been for years. So I figure $200 per pair per year isn't a bad deal since I need my glasses to find my glasses and do a great deal of fine work and reading.

My hearing aids are Phonak, fully bluetooth and usb charged. They're like Derek Flint's cigarette lighter, do 72 things and let me hear: I am completely wired into my android phone, for telephone, audiobooks, television, computer. The Phonaks were $6600 for a complete warranty, all regular service included at my ENT office, for three years. Paying $2200 per year to hear and be fully engaged in my world has seemed well worth it to me. And yes, as Provincial said, it has Bose audio sensitivity and noise supression all built in. I find the android app to be useless and the suppression of crowd noise to not work at all, but I'm not complaining.

Provincial -- the tv link is phenonemal. In fact, to watch tv with my wife I have to remove my left hearing aid to be able to hear her and the tv, because nothing pisses her off more than my not hearing her talk. It's a little (2"square) that sits in front of my screen, direct bluetooth via miniUSB.

On both hearing and eyeglasses, I could have done both with major price savings, accompanied by equally major functionality compromises, decided I needed both to maintain the quality and speed of my functionality at 70, since both are compromised daily by what seems to be rapidly eroding but probably normal strength, flexibiity and mobility.

Tim

 

[rabler]

Now that I know the benefits I would have paid for it out of my own pockets. Vision is so very precious.

My feeling too. My vision still works with reading glasses. My shop safety glasses are all 2x readers. My wife hates anything medical, but I convinced her to get lens replacement surgery, she was roughly 11 and 12 diopters on prescription glass, and getting cataracts. She stumbled on the back 3 steps into the house and broke 3 ribs, that was enough to convince her. Medicare covered it but I would have insisted on paying out of pocket otherwise.

I'm sure glasses will always be cheaper, if for no other reason than significantly less liability. But I think the surgery options places an upper bound on glasses, even if that means glasses trend toward more commodity than the current customized frames/lenses. Clothes have done from tailor made to mass market items. Eye glasses have not.

 

[mattthemuppet2]

I buy mine from Zenni. Frames are good enough, lenses are good and the coatings with well. My last pair was $50

 

[682bear]

I buy mine from Zenni. Frames are good enough, lenses are good and the coatings with well. My last pair was $50

I do too... I usually order 4 pair at a time. I'm fairly rough on them. I haven't had any problems with mine.

-Bear

 

[DavidR8]

If I recall correctly there was an optician in Eastern Canada who started selling frames at cost and was shot down by EssilorLuxottica.
The markup on frames is insane and there is basically one company so essentially has a lock on the frame market in the EU and North America.

Glasses can have a markup of 1,000%. Two former LensCrafters executives revealed why.

Glasses are often a rip-off.

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