Dicky >  No MD no OD.  Had good General Science course in 8th grade.
Once stayed at a Holiday Inn Express

Otis> Cute!  I like that by-line and you Zenni recommendation.

Otis> And the NEXT THING you will recommend is that the person obtain
the basic OD tools, Snellen and Trial-lens kit, and make her OWN
MEASUREMENTS
just to triple-check all the others.

Otis> In fact in one "measurement" she is almost "plano" -- and if
she checked her Snellen, she might be passing the DMV level test.

Best,

Otis

Possibly those kind of frames hold the lenses further from your eyes than
you eventual personal frames will.  Your personal frames may not hold the
lenses as flat to your face as the mock-up ones.

This reflects my experience.  Starting a refraction with no historical
information (present eyeglasses or prescription) is blind flying for
some, if not most, phoroptrists.  I wanted Mike Wallace to do an
investigative piece with that ruse ("I've lost my glasses, doctor") but
unfortunately he retired before I could get to him.

My advice -- takes Leuko's advice and get a trial pair of $19 Zenni's.
Check and refine with successive pairs as I outlined in
http://groups.google.com/groups?selm=k9Tlg.4024$V55.3037@trndny01

--
Dicky
No MD no OD.  Had good General Science course in 8th grade.
Once stayed at a Holiday Inn Express.

To all people who know more about Optometry than 1:

Hi,

Short version:
I'm trying to find the best prescription for my eyes, but my initial
attempt to get a second opinion has resulted in me going to 3
Optometrists, and 1 eye specialist, and now I have 4 different
prescriptions! They are pretty close, and of course no Optometrist is
going to say that the *other* optometrists prescription is the one to
go for, so im stuck! Which one should I choose?

Long version:
I'm 41,  musician / IT person, and last time I got an eye test (late
90's) was prescribed -1.75. I lost my glasses years ago, and have been
simply getting around without them. Main problem is driving, especially
at night, and I occasionally use disposable contacts (My old contect
lens box says -1.75, BC9.0, dia 14.2, if that helps) and marvel at how
sharper everything is. However I needed new glasses, and hence a new
prescription

The first Optometrist (A) prescribed this:

Prescription A:

-0.75    -1.0    x110
-0.75    -1.0     x60

When I put the mock-up frames on they seemed too strong (as he said
they would). He said it would take a couple of weeks to adjust! I've
been getting around for ages without glasses, and this seemed just
counter-intuitive. I said no offense but Id like a second opinion, he
said no problem.

So I rang my eye specialist/doctor, but he was away. His secretary
recommened Optometrist B. I made sure I got enough sleep, and spent
less time in front of the computer (in case these factors had affected
Prescription A)

Optometrist B gave me

Prescription B:

-0.25    -1.0     x95
-0.25    -0.75    x55

Ok, so its different, weaker power, and from what I understand
'significantly' different axis's (?) for the astigmatism. This
Optometrist B said I needed to see an Eye Specialist, so I thought,
cool, whilst I'm there I can get a third definitive opinion.

A few months go by, but the Eye Specialist was very fast and very
dismissive. I explained my dilemna, and showed him the two
prescriptions. He smiled, and said my eyes are fine, and that I didnt
need glasses. I said "well, when im driving at night things can look
pretty blurry", in the end he rushed through a few really quick tests
(took him less than 5 minutes). I did show him the two previous
prescriptions so his contribution IS biased, but anyway here's what
the Eye Specialist recommended:

Prescription C:

-0.50    +0.5    x15
-0.50    +0.5    x165

I realised this was a different code to the other two, and he admitted
that he did this on purpose so I wouldnt worry about it anymore. I
didnt really appreciate this condescending attitude. When I asked him
whether this result was close to presciption A or B, (or in between),
he refused to answer the question, and flippantly kept saying 'This
is the right  prescription for your eyes'. I was not impressed.

I walked into another optometrists shop, and got the guy there to
translate Prescription C to match the notation (?) of the other two,
and got

Prescription C:

0.00    -0.50    x105
0.00    -0.50    x75

So, he didnt think I needed *any* power correction (VERY different to
Prescription A), and the astigmatism seemed different yet again!

I thought to myself , 'well, I'll just go with Prescription B, it seems
the middle of the road between the two'.

But I couldnt help thinking about how flippant the Eye Doctor was, and
since his 1st response was that I didnt need glasses, mabye I sould
discard his prescription from consideration. I knew there had to be a
4th Prescription. And so it came pass, that I walked into another
optometrists, and explained the situation, and without showing them my
previous results, obtained:

Prescription D:

-0.50    -1.00    x90
-0.50    -0.75    x55

Ok, this was very close to Prescription B, and seems to be in between A
which was stronger, and C which had 0.0 power..

I realise these are very similar, and I'm currently trying to decide
between B and D, with the main issue being whether to go for 0.50, or
0.25. On one hand I'm told to get the one which made me read more
letters ( 0.50 rather than 0.25), but otoh, will 0.25 encourage my eyes
to work more, and be 'better for me'? I'll be wearing them mostly
for driving, movies, and other outdoor situations (looking at views
trees, clouds )

Do these results reflect the competency of the optometrists, or my
subjective performance during the test? Factors such as:
1.    How much sleep I'd had
2.    Whether I was regularly blinking during the examination or staring,
which was drying up my eyes
3.    How stressed I felt (in general) on the day.
4.    How much time Id spent in front of the computer that week.

If Optometrist B thought I needed 0.25 power, doesn't that mean that
that's how well my eyes can perform? Ie therefore I wasn't at my
'peak' when I needed 0.50?

your comments welcome,

Andy