No matter your eyesight or your prescription, there will always be a certain period where you’ll need to keep adjusting to your glasses.
For most people, takes a few days to a week to adjust to new glasses. Usually, it takes about 2 weeks to get fully used to them, but the headaches and the depth perception problems should go away in under a week.
It’s not unheard of to have some disorientation that lasts up to two weeks. Usually, it depends on the difference in prescription, type of lenses, frames, and a few other factors mentioned below.
For multiple prescription glasses, such as bifocals, trifocals, and progressive lenses, it can take a little more time to adjust.
If you’re a first-time wearer, it might feel uncomfortable at first, or they bother you somehow. In this case, try getting the right frame shape for your facial structure. A good optician will steer you towards the right ones, and you’ll enjoy them more.
Here is what you can expect with your new glasses, the symptoms during the period, and how can you adjust to your glasses more quickly.
How Long Does It Take to Adjust to New Glasses?
The adjustment period for your new glasses lasts about a few days to a week. It will depend mostly on the prescription change and the change in the types of lenses.
Typically, your headaches should go away in a few days, with depth perception problems and dizziness in a week or so, and the same with eyestrain. The physical comfort of the glasses is a different thing, and it could take more than a month.
The higher the prescription change, the more difficult it will be to adjust.
Even without the prescription change, different types of lenses, frames, or coatings can alter your vision so that you’ll need time to adjust.
But the more you wear them, the faster you’ll adapt.
The symptoms of adjusting to new glasses usually go away after a few days. Some may remain even after a week, like getting used to distortion or a bit of an eye strain.
Your eyes simply need time to adjust.
It can be more difficult to adjust to the bifocals, trifocals, and progressives. These kinds of lenses have different correction areas, and you need to look, for example, up or down, to get the vision correction you need. It could take up to a month to adjust to these kinds of glasses.
All of this can be overwhelming during the first few days of adjusting to new glasses. Keep wearing them, and after three days of continuous wear, your transition will be easier.
Without glasses, you’re squinting a lot. You’re focusing more aggressively and working hard to see. When you get the new glasses your eye lens can relax a bit, and it takes a little time of getting used to.
The main reason for this period is that your brain needs to figure out how to work with the new corrective lenses.
Every time you change a prescription, the lens bent the light differently, so your eyes need time to adjust. Your eyes are an amazing thing, so is your brain, and that’s why you don’t need to do any work at all. You don’t need to do anything, just put them on and chill.
But, if it’s taking longer than a week, you should see your doctor just in case.
The prism glasses adjustment period is a bit shorter, just a few days. These glasses are just like any other in physical appearance. They get rid of pain, headaches, and dizziness caused by your eye misalignment. You may get a second set of prism lenses as your eyes adjust to the first ones, and it’s an expected part of the eye misalignment treatment. This could take up to 3 weeks.
Symptoms of Adjusting to New Glasses
There are all kinds of reasons why you might be feeling like something is weird or “off” with your new glasses. It’s completely normal to feel weird in the first few days.
Symptoms of adjusting to new glasses are:
- Eye strain
- Headaches
- Depth perception problems
- Dizziness
- Fishbowl effect
- Distortion
All of these are very common, and almost everyone has them.
Eyestrain and headaches are the most common ones. If you’re lucky the symptoms will be mild, so just give it a few days.
If you’re still having headaches after a week, your glasses might be fit too tightly across your nose or your ears, which might be hurting you. You may want to choose the right frame that fits properly to your specific facial structure.
Your eyes and your brain need to adjust, so just give it a few days.
The optician prescribed you a diopter that is right for you, and with a series of tests, which are rarely wrong. The prescription is probably correct, but it takes time to adapt.
Depth perception is another common symptom, which is the ability to determine the distance of an object. This problem becomes even more noticeable if you’re looking towards the edges of your glasses. And when you experience vertigo, the feeling can be worse than being drunk.
Together with distortion, these symptoms can cause dizziness and it can be quite unpleasant. Usually goes away in a week.
If you’re experiencing these symptoms heavily, try to avoid driving and any kind of intense activity for a few days. It will pass.
When your visual field has distortion around edges it’s usually referred to as a “fishbowl effect”, as if you’re looking through a fishbowl. The fishbowl effect is common in the minus prescriptions, and when changing to higher prescriptions or larger lenses.
Give yourself two weeks to adjust to a fishbowl effect.
Adjusting to the glasses with the same prescription but a new frame can make you feel weird. It’s because even a different frame change takes time to adjust. If after a few days they still feel as weird, then you can plan a visit to your optician to check them up.
Worst-case scenario, you got the wrong prescription. This is rare, but everyone makes mistakes, and wrong prescriptions do happen. So, if your symptoms aren’t subsiding after a week, it’s worth going for a checkup.
Prescription for your eyeglasses is typically valid for a minimum of one year or the minimum required by state law. Usually, it’s about two years or depending on your needs. But, if your eyesight is deteriorating or changing, then you might want to go sooner to check if you need new ones.
Sometimes, new glasses will make your eyes water, and this is caused by the eye strain when adjusting to new glasses. Give it a few days.
How to Quickly Adjust to New Glasses
The trick to quickly and easily get used to your glasses is to go one step at a time.
Here’s how: First, wear them while you’re sitting. Then, start wearing them while walking or going up the stairs, then sports and exercising and finally, when driving.
This kind of approach is the easiest and requires the least effort.
Another way to look at this is to wear them for a few hours and build the wearing time as you go. For example, start with 2 or 3 hours, and add 1 or 2 hours at a time until you’re comfortable wearing them. You can take 5-15 minute breaks.
This kind of approach works for every new habit that you want to start.
By far, the fastest way to adjust to new glasses is to minimize the time when you’re not wearing them or to maximize the time when you are. This approach requires more effort but it’s the fastest, and the more you wear them, the sooner you’ll adapt. The best trick to achieve this is to put them on as soon as you wake up during the adjustment period, and avoid switching to the old ones (if you have one).
Keep your lenses clean, and avoid putting your glasses off and out of the way.
For computer use, you’ll probably get anti-reflective lenses and other types of coatings. Your eyes will thank you for this trust me. I work at a computer every single day and by far the best thing about glasses is not the correction, but this kind of protection. I’m not squinting anymore, and my eyes are never tired.
If you still feel uncomfortable while wearing them even after a few months, you can try contact lenses, and get a comfy pair of glasses to wear at home.
Is It Normal For New Glasses to Blur?
The symptom of glasses being blurry does happen, but it should go away in a few days.
It depends on the prescription and types of lenses.
Blurry vision can seem like you got the wrong prescription, but it’s quite normal in some cases. Because of this, you might get headaches and eyestrain. However, the blurriness should subside in a day or two.
It might be blurry in one eye only, but wearing your new glasses as much as possible will help alleviate this symptom. If it bothers you a lot, you can take breaks every 5-15 minutes on the first few days.
If the blurriness doesn’t go away in a few days, consult your optician.
How Long to Adjust to New Glasses with Astigmatism?
It takes around 2 to 3 days up to a few weeks to adjust to your new glasses if you have astigmatism.
They will probably give you some headache and eyestrain as well. On top of that, anything that changes your astigmatism Rx will slightly skew your vision. It’s quite normal.
Astigmatism is the type of refractive error in which the eye doesn’t focus light evenly on the retina. This results in distorted or blurred vision. The glasses are the simplest solution, and they correct this refractive error. Contact lenses might help you achieve better visual acuity and a wider field of vision.
Some people may experience distortion with their new glasses for astigmatism correction. This can be a result of your eyes adjusting to the new prescription, or in some cases, the fit of your new glasses will need to be changed. It typically occurs if the new glasses are of a higher prescription than before, or if the frames are larger than what you’re used to.
If the distortion continues, it might be smart to contact your optician or doctor, just in case.
Can New Glasses Make You Dizzy?
It’s normal to feel dizzy with your new glasses.
Dizziness mostly comes from depth perception issues, that’s when you’re having trouble seeing how far things are.
This leads to nausea and it can be uncomfortable. Luckily, it goes away in a few days (a week at most). Nausea is usually accompanied by disorientation, so be very careful when going up or down the stairs.
The best way to deal with nausea and motion sickness when adjusting to new glasses is to simply take it slow and check the techniques I laid out above.
How Long Does it Take to Get Glasses?
It takes from 3 – 7 and up to 14 business days to get glasses from LensCrafters, depending on the prescription, special features, and enhancements. There’s also the option to craft your glasses in less time using the manufacturing techniques at the in-store lab from their associates.
America’s Best has this option as well, and in their case, it takes about 7-10 business days for their prescription glasses to be ready.
Costco has a similar timeframe and it’s about 7-10 days. But according to one of their employees, the glasses often come in sooner, sometimes even just a few days.
The amount of time it takes prescription glasses to be ready depends on several factors, such as your location, prescription, types of lenses, etc. If you’re unlucky, and your prescription glasses are of a certain type that’s difficult to find or craft, it can take up to two weeks.
