Need an optician? A trip to the opticians need not be overly painful in the pocket.

The potential cost of avoiding the opticians

Driving with uncorrected defective eyesight and/or refusing to submit to an eye test can be three penalty points and a potential £1,000 fine.

Pulling out of your drive and misjudging the distance between your vehicle and the car parked on the road outside because your vision is below par, can cost you your no claims discount.

Suddenly a visit to a good optician seems incredibly good value!

The spectacles prescription

The first step is to secure an eyesight test. The resulting spectacles prescription can taken to any opticians to supply glasses. However, an optician may conduct an eye test in conjunction with an eyesight test, thereby being able to determine the health of the eye and your general health.

When undergoing an eyesight test the temptation to ‘cheat’ by squinting at the chart is great. While it might mislead the optician, more seriously it misleads you and effectively makes any spectacles prescription you do end up with, worthless.

Beat the system, no glasses required?

Maybe, having squinted and beaten the eyesight test, you will walk out of an opticians without a spectacles prescription warranting glasses. However, the fact remains that you are merely fooling yourself and glasses will be needed. The chances are that you won’t be wearing glasses when you really need to judge something visually - such as when attempting to park your car.

It can be vanity. Some people see themselves wearing glasses as a weakness. Contact lenses exist as a solution to the perceived problem of wearing glasses. Contact lenses can also allow a specs wearer to become an ex-specs wearer! However, a contact lens wearer will tell you that they always keep glasses spare - usually in case of infection, irritation or slight injury to an eye or eyes making it impossible to wear a contact lens.

Ask anyone who has been on their hands and knees looking for a contact lens if a pair of glasses kept for backup is wise. Spare specs make sense - even for the non contact lens wearer. At the very least, keeping your copy of the spectacles prescription safe is a good idea in case of emergencies.

The stylish specs wearer

Spectacles can be stylish. There is no need for anyone to feel unfashionable through wearing spectacles. Sport and suchlike may make wearing spectacles difficult. Although the contact lens can be a solution to what some view as a problem - that of wearing spectacles - contact lenses bring with them other liabilities. Contact lenses may be a solution, however you can’t forget to use a decent contact lens solution to keep them clean! Contact lenses may not be merely about vanity, but they may bring with them as many issues as they solve.

Who should see an optician? Anyone, is the answer. Whether you know you need an eye test, or your eyesight is perfect, seeing an optician is a good thing as you might not be aware of any changes.

A good optician isn’t just about seeing things

Looking for an opticians for an eye test can be an opportunity for ensuring the continuing health of your eyes and it can be the start of a series of jokes. After all, how can you see an optician if your eyesight is bad and you can’t see your optician?

Corrected eyesight can help in other ways. Think of the savings on not having to buy a 42” plasma screen TV in order to see what is going on during the news programmes, or eye test advertisements...