When Your New Glasses Prescription Brings a Sudden Vision Change
When you leave your optometrist's appointment with a new prescription, the world can look a little off. Adjusting to a new prescription can take time.
You could feel a slight headache, a disoriented wobble, and a shockingly new zing sensation while reading. Getting new glasses can really snap yourself into perspective.
Fortunately, most of what you're feeling is completely normal. There are a few things worth knowing, both about why it happens and when it might be worth a second call to your eye doctor.
1. Why does a stronger prescription feel so strange at first?
Your brain and your eyes likely spent a long time compensating. You’ve essentially learned to work around blurry vision. When you get a new, corrected prescription, the behind-the-scenes functions of your eyes need to unlearn the ways you were compensating.
That feeling you have is partly from your eye muscles still engaging too much when they don’t need to, and it takes time.
The bigger the jump in your prescription, the more disoriented you might feel. A small change can sometimes feel great, like you no longer feel the need to squint, but a significant one (particularly with progressives or a big shift in cylinder correction to help astigmatism) can temporarily affect your depth perception and can have a direct affect on how comfortable you feel on your feet.
2. What's normal during the first few days of new glasses?
In the first 24 to 72 hours with a new prescription, a normal experience can feel like an annoyance or a new burden. It shouldn’t keep you from enjoying your normal routine. This might feel like:
- Mild headaches or eye fatigue, especially toward the end of the day.
- A slight distortion or curvature at the edges of your vision.
- Feeling like the ground is closer or farther than usual when you walk.
- Sensitivity to bright light.
- A new difficulty with looking at screens.
These symptoms tend to ease up on their own as your brain and eyes work together to adapt. Most people feel settled into a new prescription within one to two weeks.
3. How can I adjust faster?
The most important thing you can do is wear your new glasses consistently.
This is especially tough for young children who might be wearing glasses for the first time.
It's tempting to switch back to your old pair when things feel uncomfortable, but switching back only slows the adjustment process. You need steady, repeated exposure to the new correction in order to see to the best of your ability.
A few other things that help:
- Give yourself a day or two before driving long distances, especially at night.
- Practice eye exercises when working long hours with a computer screen.
- Keep lighting comfortable and consistent.
- Avoid situations that require sharp depth perception, like hiking, until you feel confident.
If your child is the one having trouble adjusting, this could also be a fitting issue and they are having trouble communicating why they won’t wear their glasses. Take the time to understand what doesn’t feel right for them and your child might prefer the feeling of wearing a different style of kids’ eyeglasses.
When to call your eye doctor
The adjustment window is real, but it has limits. If your symptoms feel like more than an annoyance, and you find yourself avoiding daily activities because your eyes don’t feel right, it’s time to reach out to your optometrist.
Prescription Glasses by Yeslgasses
If you're ordering glasses to match your new prescription, accuracy matters more than ever when your Rx has changed significantly.
Here at Yesglasses, you can upload your prescription directly. We’re always here to help you interpret your prescription, too. We’ve processed thousands of prescriptions for men, women and children.
Browse our Most Popular Eyeglasses
