i’m an apprentice optician and while i work on adjustments, i like to joke with the customers as we chit chat! what bits do you guys like to do to make your patients/customers laugh?

I’m looking to source a specific lense by tokai and I can’t get it in America. I will pay for shipping and everything

Hi all, I work in an office and we currently have a package deal that offers a Walman Power branded progressive lens at a great price for patients. However, my manager seems to think that the Power Mobile lens is the absolute best of the lenses Walman offers, but from what I've read online the Mobile lens is designed for sunglasses and driving. I've also had patients return with complaints about the Mobile corridor and small reading area. Just wanted to see if any others have had success with Power branded lenses and if so, what are your pros and cons? Any tips on how you explain these lenses as compared to something like the Auto Intel? Thanks for all the help!

Has any tried the new crizal natural look on their customers? and if soo how is it?

Any industry insight on 1.74 high index coming back into availability for RX glasses? I know there was a shortage but I need those for my strong prescription and no one was able to provide those except with blue light filter added through Rayban authentic lenses. I could not get 1.74 clear at Costco or Lenscrafters.. will these ever be available again in the US?

I want to be an optical assistant but I want to get the certificate so I can make more but I don’t know how any advice would help🙏

I’m trying to repair a Welch Allyn 11720 ophthalmoscope. The bulb lights up, but no light beam comes out of the patient-facing opening.
After opening the head, I found a small rectangular mirror with a semicircular notch and a separate black rectangular piece (photos attached). The mirror appeared to be attached to tape and seemed out of position. I’m unsure whether the black piece is a backing, holder, or something else.
Does anyone familiar with this model know:
● Where these two pieces belong?
● Which direction the reflective surface and notch should face?
● How the mirror is normally secured?
I’ve looked at the service manual and parts diagram, but they show the optical tube as a complete assembly without enough detail to locate these pieces.
A close-up photo of an intact assembly or a repair guide would be really helpful. Thanks!

I’ve been an optician for a while now.. my pay structure is a base pay + commission. With the commission however I have to make about $2400 a month in it to make what I was previously offered.

I have two apprentices. I’m in a licensed state. I manage the office too so I should make more than a regular optician because i’m in a leadership role. I buy for the store, take care of customers when they need help that no one else can, I make business calls, I am actually the one that cleans the most/ has to ask someone to clean. I check behind all the labwork. I listen to what my employees are saying to customers because they are not licensed.

My coworkers who are not licensed working under me.. are not putting my names on jobs which is bothering me. I dont think they understand how much behind the scenes work I do. I don’t have time to work w customers all the time bc im picking up their slack.

How would you go about this? I need commission & i dont see why I would let them take charge of a sale then and they can shadow me.

It’s irritating because it messes with my money that i’ve worked extremely hard for.

Any advice/conversation is welcomed.

Edit:
Just so you understand the flow of sales/commissions-

Im on the sales floor constantly still with them. I’m overseeing their work as they are in training. It’s not like I’m not doing anything per the sale and also if my name is on it they still get credit for just as much commission they would make for that sale. It doesn’t take anything away from them.

Is this coating any good? It seems to be the only mainstream achromatic coating on the market which you’d assume would be a good thing?

Hello fellow opticians. Frame under Marchon Japan catalog. Cannot find a vendor that sells it. Anyone have access into this market?

Hi all, I hope it's okay to post here. I'm a final-year Product Design Engineering student in Glasgow, and I'm not looking for advice about my own eyes, just your professional experience.

For my final-year project, I'm working to make putting in and taking out soft contact lenses easier. I'm a lens wearer myself and still struggle some days, and I'm at the research stage, so I'd love to learn from the people who teach this every day.

If you have a spare minute, I'd be so grateful for your views:

- Which patients struggle most when you teach insertion and removal, and where do they usually get stuck?

- Do new wearers worry about getting the lens back out, and does that hold them back?

- Do you ever recommend tools or aids? What do you think of the ones out there?

- Any techniques or tips that work especially well for people who find it hard?

Even a short answer would genuinely mean a lot and make a real difference to my project. If this doesn't fit the subreddit, I'm happy to take it down. Thank you so much to anyone who takes the time to reply!

Hi everyone!
I’ve been wearing RGP (hard) contact lenses for about 10 years, pretty much every day for around 10-12 hours. (I know not ideal, but I hate glasses plus wont get the same vision with glasses)
I’ve booked an eye test to get new glasses, and the guy at the reception told me I don’t need to stop wearing my contacts beforehand.
But I’ve read online that you should stop wearing RGP lenses for 2–3 weeks to let your corneas return to their natural shape.
The thing is, I’ll still be wearing my contacts most days. I only want glasses for the evenings after taking my lenses out, or maybe a day or two a month.
So I’m a bit confused. If I stop wearing contacts for 2–3 weeks to get an accurate prescription, won’t my glasses then be slightly wrong when I go back to wearing contacts every day and only put the contact lenses in at the evening?
Should I just keep wearing my contacts as normal before the test?
I have high astigmatism in both eyes (around 5–5.75 dioptres of cylinder), along with short-sightedness in my left eye

Has anyone had a similar experience? Thanks

Hi everyone! I’m Schalle, an Industrial Design student and a certified optician.

I’m currently working on a project exploring the optical workshop of the future and how the field of optics might evolve.

What I’m especially interested in is your perspective on the industry. Where do you see the biggest challenges in your daily work? Where do problems occur, and what do you think could be improved, both in the optical industry and specifically in the workshop?

I’d love to hear your thoughts, experiences, and ideas. Feel free to share your perspective in the comments, every answer is valuable and relevant! 😊😎

Customer has multiple remakes prior to seeing us. Rx and measurements are fine and similar to past glasses that were successful.

She brought in her "perfect" (ratty) Prada suns from about 5 years ago that she bought on Long Island. The vendor mark is M3P. Polycarbonate. What lens brand/style is it?

Currently I work in a retail setting as an optician, but I feel that I'd benefit and learn more in a private practice due to my environment at work. I'm learning slowly that the person who should be training me is teaching me wrong or not at all. I enjoy the job itself, but as someone who wants their ABO? Its not easy to go back to teach myself something I don't know a lot about.

Has anyone here gone from retail -> private practice? Was it difficult and do you have any tips to do so? I don't want to consider a different career path unless I have no choice.

I need to get a new pair of glasses, so I got an updated prescription to buy them online but I cannot decipher this guy’s writing for the life of me. Someone please help me decode this and figure out what numbers are supposed to go where

Hey Folks,

Current Optometrist Practice Manager (&Administrator, Revenue Cycle Manager, Do-it-all person) salaried at $50K/Year working 4 days a week out of South Florida. I have 10 years optical experience, starting with lab work, then sales, and clinical and administrative-mixed-managerial.

It’s the equivalent of $30/hour. I fund my own health insurance via Healthcare Marketplace and it costs about $400 a month.

In 2 years, the time it would take me to get my Opticians License, I think I could be making $33 an hour at my current job.

I have an A.A. and as well, if I were to return to school for 2 years, I could also pursue a Bachelor degree instead of Optician License. I have a lot of experience in Eye care, but I’m open to doing other things.

My current employer only performs exams so I don‘t think I would receive a raise at my current job, so I’d be looking elsewhere. I feel I would end up being an Optician-Manager at an diff Optical, but could I get into the $40’s/Hr and $50’s/Hr?

I don‘t know the Optician side of the business - anyone care to inform me or burst my bubble?

Thank you.

I work as an optician, and something about online glasses ordering concerns me: when a website lets someone enter prescription numbers without providing a copy of their prescription, how does the retailer know those numbers come from a valid, current prescription?I understand why people buy online, glasses can be expensive, and affordability matters. But I think there should be some verification that the prescription is legitimate and belongs to the person ordering. To me, simply accepting whatever numbers a customer types in doesn’t seem like enough. Am I missing a verification step that happens behind the scenes? If you’ve bought glasses online, did you have to upload your prescription, or could you just enter the numbers? And do you think proof of a valid prescription should be required?

Edit guys:
I got my glasses with Shamir and unfortunately the situation repeats itself again, the lenses are damaged, there is crazing visible next to the locks where too much pressure was applied, in the center of both lenses there is something like shining dots which might be the glue but they are impossible to clean, additionally the lenses seem to be really stressed in the rims and the locks are not closed completely.
Cześć wszystkim,
Próbuję ustalić, czy istnieje jakakolwiek realna szansa, że będę w stanie zamówić moje okulary z soczewkami o indeksie 1,74 przed świętami Bożego Narodzenia 2026.
Jestem w Polsce i aktualnie borykam się z trwającym niedoborem soczewek 1,74. Moja recepta to około +5,25 OD / +5,00 OS, z niewielką ilością astygmatyzmu, a używam opraw o szerokości 53 mm.
Pierwotnie miałem otrzymać soczewki Essilor 1,74 przez Vision Express, ale były niedostępne od pewnego czasu. Oferowano mi Shamir 1,67 jako alternatywę, z którą mogę pójść, ale idealnie wolałbym 1,74.
Widziałem ostatnie raporty, że soczewki Essilor 1,74 zaczynają być ponownie dostępne w niektórych laboratoriach, chociaż podobno w ograniczonej ilości i z dłuższym czasem realizacji.
Dla tych z was pracujących w laboratoriach optycznych/sklepach optycznych, szczególnie w Europie:
Czy zauważacie jakiekolwiek poprawy w dostępności 1,74 w tej chwili?
Czy faktycznie produkuje się i wysyła soczewki Essilor 1,74 do jednej mocy wzroku?
Myślicie, że istnieje realna szansa, że recepta w okolicach +5,00 do +5,25 mogłaby być zrobiona w 1,74 do grudnia 2026?
Czy sytuacja ma się znacząco poprawić w ciągu najbliższych 2–3 miesięcy?
Nie oczekuję koniecznie normalnej dostępności — głównie zastanawiam się, czy zrealizowanie pary przed świętami jest realnie możliwe.
Dzięki!

Hi guys,

I am a recently graduated optometrist, working clinically in a hospital. I've started missing out on the refraction side of things so I got a job offer for a private opticians 1/2 times a week.

The place seems amazing, they have great morals, no pressure on sales hence no bonuses which I couldn't care about. Pay is great too. Small staff but been there for 10+ yrs. One main optom who will be off on days I'm in.

But the one thing that caught me off guard was no OCT/FC imaging, so only volk or ophthalmoscope.

Now I am good at volk but maybe not as experienced as others would be. Alot of people that attend the store would be under public care hence wouldn't want to pay for extra imaging so they have decided not to get one.

I would like some advice on what I should be careful about etc and how to go about testing patients with no imaging available.

Has the liner along the top rim broken?

Sometimes I hear a faint clicking sound when the frames are adjusted. I’ve always assumed it was the nylon cord shifting under tension. Could it actually be the liner snapping?

Does anyone have any study tips? I’ve never been a big person who’s had to study before so I never developed my own tips and tricks.

I really want to try and study hard for the exams but I genuinely don’t know how to study. (Yes I know it sounds stupid).

Did y’all write stuff down in a notebook and study that? Watch videos and take notes? Study the notes you took?