Stop Seeing Double: How Prism Glasses Can Help You

Prism glasses are specialized prescription eyewear with unique lenses that are designed for people with diplopia or double vision. By bending light rays before they reach your eyes, the lenses in the glasses can help you see one clear image instead of seeing two, making them a life-changing option.

If you’re interested in learning more about prism glasses, you’ve come to the right place. Here’s everything you need to know about how they work, who might need them, and how to find a pair that looks and feels perfect for you.

What Causes Double Vision?

If your eyes are perfectly healthy, they work together to help you see clearly. The light enters through your cornea and lens and falls in the correct place on both retinas. Your brain then combines the two pictures from the retinas to create a sharp image. This is called binocular vision.

However, if your eye alignment is slightly off, the light may fall on different parts of the retina in each eye. This eye misalignment sends two separate images to the brain, which struggles to overlay them correctly, so you end up with a blurry image — or double vision.

Double vision can be caused by many different factors, including:

• Eye conditions like dry eyes, severe astigmatism, or cataracts
• Physical asymmetry, where one eye is higher than the other
• Problems with eye muscles, which can cause conditions like crossed eyes (strabismus)
• Nerve disorders like diabetes mellitus or multiple sclerosis
• Autoimmune disorders like Graves’ disease or myasthenia gravis
• Neurological damage caused by a head injury, concussion, tumor, stroke, or even a migraine

If you have diplopia, you may experience difficulty with reading, depth perception, or concentration, or symptoms like headaches, dizziness, fatigue, and anxiety.

What Is Prism Correction?

A prism lens has a unique triangular shape built into it that bends light rays before the enter the eye. With help from the prism, the light lands on both retinas evenly, getting rid of the visual distortion that causes double vision.

It’s worth noting that prism lenses are specifically designed for double vision. They don’t have any focusing power so won’t work as reading glasses or help to correct for other refractive errors like farsightedness or nearsightedness.

Prism eyeglasses work well for many different causes of double vision — but not all. If you have double vision or suddenly develop it, it’s important to visit your optometrist for an eye exam as soon as possible.

Your eye doctor will give you a prism prescription to correct your double vision. You’ll see some numbers in diopters (much like for an astigmatism prescription) that indicate the level of prism correction you need.

There’ll also be some letters that indicate where the base of the prism shape should be in the lenses, either horizontally or vertically, for example:

• On the outer edge: Base out (BO)
• On the inner edge: Base in (BI)
• At the top edge: Base up (BU)
• At the bottom edge: Base down (BD)
  
  

Note: Prism glasses don’t fix your double vision — they just help to correct it while you’re wearing your glasses. To address your vision issues more permanently, it’s worth exploring vision therapy. This helps strengthen your visual skills, training your eyes and brain to work better together.

What Do Prism Glasses Look Like?

Ideally, a pair of prism glasses shouldn’t look different from other eyewear. The main distinction is in the thickness of the lenses; one side is sometimes slightly thicker than the other, which compensates for the shape of the prism.

However, you don’t have to worry about this change in thickness being visible when you wear prism glasses, especially if you choose a frame that’s a bit thicker. Acetate frames — glasses made of durable plastic —are ideal for this.

You might also be wondering what prism glasses feel like to wear. The best way to find out is by visiting an optometry specialist and getting Fresnel prisms on your current glasses.

These temporary vinyl stickers emulate the effects of prism lenses, giving you a sense of how much the prism may help your diplopia. However, if you go this route, keep in mind that you may not be able to see as clearly as you would with actual prism lenses.

Getting Used to Your New Prism Glasses

As with any new pair of eyeglasses, your eyes and brain will need a few days to adjust to the new prescription. Help them by wearing your new prism glasses as much as possible. However, as your depth perception will have changed with the new prescription, be careful when you’re first moving around.

To get the clearest vision, point your nose in the direction of the object you’re trying to see — don’t try to look out the sides of the lenses. The prism also needs to sit in a specific place in relation to your eyes, so the alignment of your glasses on your face is very important. If they keep tilting or slipping, ask your optician to adjust them or try other ways to keep your glasses from slipping.

In addition, it’s worth practicing other forms of everyday eye care, including taking breaks from digital devices, staying hydrated, and getting plenty of sleep, all of which can make a major difference in how your eyes feel while you get used to your new glasses.

During the adjustment period, you might experience some eye strain. Very occasionally, people also experience other side effects, like eye pain, headaches, or nausea. If these symptoms continue beyond about 10 days — or if you’re still seeing double despite your new glasses — contact your eye doctor again. Your new prism prescription may simply need some adjustment.

Where To Get Prism Glasses

Once you have your prism prescription, you’re ready to order your new pair of prism glasses. A great place to start is with Pair Eyewear’s huge selection of stylish and versatile frames.

Begin by choosing the Base Frame that best suits your face shape. Our Virtual Try-On feature allows you to take a photo of your face and then check how the different frames work for you. Our size guide may also help you make up your mind.

Once you’ve found your perfect Base Frame, you get to choose one or more Top Frames to suit your personality and interests. These are very lightweight and attach magnetically to the Base Frames, allowing you to switch them out at a moment’s notice.

From our Classic Designs to our Sparkle range, you’re bound to find something that makes your eyes shine. Or you might choose to shade your eyes with Sun Tops or Sunglasses. No matter what Pair you go for, you’re guaranteed to look good.

Once you’ve picked out your look, you can get down to other important details, like choosing your lens type — whether that’s non-prescription, readers, single vision, or progressives — adding your prescription, and selecting any optional extras like blue light filters or light responsive lenses.

For your prism prescription, we recommend choosing Premium Plus lenses, which are ultra-thin yet still give you all the lens power you need. Finally, keep your Top Frames safe with a portable Top Frame case for your purse and a Wall Hanger to display them at home so you can quickly choose your Pair (or Pairs!) for the day.

Prism Lenses Help You See the World Clearly

Now you know how double vision works; it’s a misalignment between your left and right eye that causes light rays to land on your retinas in different ways, distorting images and doubling them in your visual field. Prism glasses can help with this issue by bending the light rays to compensate for the problems with your vision.

If you are dealing with double vision, get in touch with an eye care professional for an eye exam right away. After your exam, you can import your prescription into the Pair Eyewear shop and get a new set of frames with lenses made specifically for you.

These lenses will perfectly match your prescription, but the frames will also perfectly match your style — especially with added Top Frames that add a pop of color or a vibrant new pattern.