The Optometrists at Doig Optometry’s Calgary Clinic can help you know whether there is any benefit to purchasing prescription sunglasses depending on your specific vision care needs. One deciding factor is the legal requirement to wear glasses for driving.
If you are required by law to wear corrective lenses for driving, then prescription sunglasses are highly recommended. But what if you are not required to wear your small prescription for driving? Should you get prescription sunglasses, then? Here are a few thoughts from Doctor Doig:
“Nobody wants to wear prescription sunglasses unless they have to, but if you are hanging a pair of lenses in front of your eyes, and if those lenses could make your vision sharper at the same time, why not choose to optimize your visual experience in your sunglasses?
Sometimes patients don’t want to get prescription sunglasses (or clear glasses for a low prescription, for that matter) because that would be an admission that their eyes aren’t perfect anymore. I get it. But there are other ways to think about it.
No athlete is a perfect package of every physical attribute. Even if they are, they still use the very best athletic equipment to optimize their performance. Take a golf enthusiast, for example. The golf enthusiast might purchase quality footwear to improve their stance, gloves to perfect their grip, and a premium driver or putter to optimize their long or their short game. Perhaps that same golf enthusiast could wear prescription sunglasses to optimize their ability to follow the ball all the way to the green. The same pair of performance-enhancing prescription sunglasses will also enhance their driving experience, even if the sunglasses are not needed all the time.
And don’t worry about the myth that wearing prescription sunglasses will make your eyes worse. Your prescription sunglasses won’t change your eyes or make you depend on your prescription any more than you depend on your golfing gloves or any more than your performance-enhancing footwear will make your feet grow. That myth is just not true. If your eyes are going to change in the future, that will happen whether or not you optimize your visual performance today.”
Protecting & Preserving Your Vision
Remember, when the eye doctors at Doig Optometry’s Calgary Clinic demonstrate your low or small eyeglass prescription, they are not trying to “push you into buying sunglasses”. Our doctors' role is to help you know the best options to address your visual demands and meet your needs. When we see other professionals for advice (our dermatologist or our tax accountant, for instance), we don’t go to them for “good enough” advice; we go to them for their best advice.
“That’s one of the reasons why Doctor Chorel and I love the big windows at Doig Optometry, overlooking downtown Calgary. We can walk up to those windows with our patients, and using a trial frame, we can demonstrate their optimized distance prescription so they can decide for themselves. If it optimizes their vision over the 8.0 km between Doig Optometry and the Calgary Tower, then they can choose to purchase prescription sunglasses. If it has no impact on a patient's vision over that distance, then we all know together that non-prescription sunglasses are all that’s necessary.”
If you do not have a need for distance prescription lenses, we have a selection of non-prescription sunglasses to choose from for fashion and for sports. All of the product choices and considerations we’ve discussed in this article can be put in non-prescription sunglasses as well.
Experience the Difference of Prescription Sunglasses from Doig Optometry in Calgary
Don’t let the sun compromise your vision or style! Visit Doig Optometry to browse our extensive collection of prescription sunglasses and find your perfect pair. Our knowledgeable and friendly staff will guide you through the entire process, from selecting the frames to fitting your lenses, ensuring you leave with the ideal pair of sunglasses for your needs.