Acetate

Acetate—or, more specifically, cellulose acetate—is the caviar of plastics. It’s durable, hypoallergenic, and capable of holding exceptionally rich colors, which makes it an ideal material for eyeglasses.

Anti-Reflective Coating

Anti-reflective coating (also called “AR coating” or “anti-glare coating“) eliminates reflections from the lens surface and improves vision, reduces eye strain and makes your eyeglasses look more attractive.

Age-Related Macular degeneration

Commonly known as AMD and is a leading cause of vision loss in the elderly population. It is characterized by the irreversible loss of central vision due to the degeneration of the macula, which provides the sharpest vision.

Add power

This is a piece of information that appears on your prescription. It refers to the added magnification power you need to see clearly close-up. Mainly seen in people who have presbyopia.

Amblyopia

Commonly known as “Lazy” eye. Amblyopia is an inability to see clearly through one eye. It arises during childhood, typically when the nerve pathway between the brain and eye doesn’t develop quite normally, and for this reason, the eye doesn’t “learn” to see correctly.

Arm

Also known as the temple, this is the part of your glasses that runs alongside your head and holds them in place.

Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a common optical condition which results in blurry vision (and, if uncorrected, sometimes a headache, eyestrain). It results when the curve of your cornea is slightly irregular in shape, which prevents light from focusing properly on the back of the eye (retina). This prevents you from seeing with perfect sharpness. The good news: A pair of eyeglasses and contact lenses can help compensate for astigmatism.

Autorefractor

This is a machine used to determine what level of vision correction is right for you. In simple terms, it shines a light into your eye and measures how the path of light changes. An autorefractor helps provide an accurate baseline for optometrists & ophthalmologists to work from.

Axis

“Axis” is the number on your prescription that determines the direction of your astigmatism correction. The cylinder and the axis always go together—you can’t have one without the other!

Base curve

The “base curve” is the amount of curvature on the front surface of a lens. It can also refer to a contact lens curvature.

Blink reflex

Your eyes are fragile little orbs. They must be protected! Thankfully, we have eyelids and a blink reflex which ensures that we close our eyes the instant a threat is perceived. Fun fact: Weblink an average of once every 3–4 seconds. Blinking helps distribute tears over your eyeball in order to keep it nice ‘n moist (and to wash away bacteria and other foreign particles).

Blue light

Blue light is a High Energy Visible (HEV) light which is part of the visible light. While the sun is the main source of Blue light but the light emitted from electronic gadgets can lead to eyestrain, headache, dryness, blurred vision on short terms basis, and cataract and Age-related macular degeneration on long term basis thereby causing loss of vision.

Balanced diet

It provides all the nutrients a person requires, without going over the recommended daily calorie intake. Good eye health starts with the food on your plate. Nutrients like omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc, and vitamins C and E might help ward off age-related vision problems like macular degeneration and cataracts.

Cellulose acetate

See acetate.

Color blindness

Individuals with color blindness perceive colors differently from the way most of us do. It’s very common, and the degree of color blindness can range from mild to severe. (Those with very mild color blindness might not even know that they have it.) It’s usually a genetic condition, meaning that you are born with it. Because inherited color blindness is carried on the X chromosome, it affects more men than women. It is estimated that about 8% of all men and 0.5% of all women have some form of colorblindness.

Cylinder

This piece of information appears on your prescription. It refers to the lens power needed to correct for astigmatism. The cylinder and axis always go together—you can’t have one without the other!

Cataract

A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens in the eye mainly due to aging which leads to a decrease in vision. Cataracts often develop slowly and can affect one or both eyes. Symptoms may include faded colors, blurry or double vision, halos around light, trouble with bright lights, and trouble seeing at night.

Central Vision

Central vision is the most important part of a person’s vision that helps one to read, drive, and see pictures or faces. Good central vision allows a person to see shapes, colors, and details clearly and sharply. An area of the retina (the lining of the back of the eye) called the macula provides central vision.

Contact Lenses

A contact lens, or simply contact, is a thin lens made up of a biocompatible plastic placed directly on the surface of the eye (cornea). Contact lenses are used by over 150 million people worldwide and they can be worn to correct vision, for cosmetic, or therapeutic reasons. Contact lenses compliment eyeglasses by providing an alternate form of vision correction. Based on the material, they are of two types-soft and rigid contact lenses. Soft contact lenses, due to their comfort are very popular. They range from monthly, fortnightly to daily disposable lenses. Our Optometrists at Gulf Optics can help you choose from a wide range of contact lenses.

Demo Lenses

These are the dummy lenses fitted in the frame when you choose a frame. These lenses have no prescription—they’re for “demo purposes” only! When you place an order, a fresh pair of glasses with your prescription is fitted later.

Dilation

Eye care professionals will sometimes dilate your pupils during an exam to get a better look at your retina. This simply means that your pupils will be widened (or dilated), usually using special dilating eyedrops.

The downside of getting your eyes dilated is that it makes your vision blurry and your eyes extra-sensitive to light for a few hours, or sometimes a bit longer. Sunglasses help a bit. (Safety tip: It’s not a good idea to drive for several hours after your dilation.)

Diopter

A diopter is a unit of measurement, like “gram” or “ounce.” It measures the refractive power of a lens—in other words, it measures optical power. The higher the diopter, the higher is the ability of the lens to change the path of light.

Dry Eyes

Dry eye is a common condition that occurs when your tears aren’t able to provide adequate lubrication for your eyes. Tears can be inadequate for many reasons. For example, dry eyes may occur if you don’t produce enough tears or if you produce poor-quality tears.

Dry eyes feel uncomfortable. If you have dry eyes, your eyes may sting or burn. You may experience dry eyes in certain situations, such as on an airplane, in an air-conditioned room, while riding a bike or after looking at a computer screen constantly without adequate breaks.

Treatments for dry eyes may make you more comfortable. These treatments can include lifestyle changes, eye drops, use of simple devices, or surgery in extreme cases.

Daily Disposable Lenses

These soft contact lenses are the best option for a combination of comfort, convenience, health, and hygiene. They are becoming popular as a modality. These are lenses of choice for people who want to wear lenses on an occasional basis.

Duochrome Test

Commonly known as the Red-green test. This a test performed by the Eye Care Practitioner which doing an eye exam to ascertain the final spherical prescription. It is one of the key steps during an eye exams.

Diabetes

Diabetes is a disease in which your blood glucose, or blood sugar, levels are too high. Glucose comes from the foods you eat. Insulin is a hormone that helps the glucose get into your cells to give them energy.

While diabetes impacts various parts of the body, it impacts the eye and is the main cause of diabetic retinopathy and can lead to blindness if not checked.

Eye drops

Eye drops = liquids that you apply to your eyeballs for various purposes. It takes some practice to apply eye drops because putting fluid directly onto your eyeballs does not exactly feel natural. You can get different kinds of drops for different purposes: itchy eyes, dry eyes, etc. Some drops are medicated to treat glaucoma, eye infections, and other conditions. It’s best to ask your friendly doctor what drops are right for you.

Eyes

The circular thingies on your face that give you an excuse to wear cool glasses. The eye is an insanely complex organ, but it helps to think of it as a camera: It has a lens, it collects incoming light, and it provides an image that your brain interprets.

Eyestrain

You know when it’s New Year’s Day and you’re excited about your resolution to “be more healthy” and you do 100 vigorous sit-ups and the next day your stomach hurts and you decide to stop doing sit-ups forever? Eyestrain is like that, but for eyes. If you use your eyes intensely or in certain circumstances—like staring at your computer for too long or reading a lot of small print—you may get eyestrain. If you have continual eyestrain, we recommend getting your vision checked (you might need glasses)!

Eye Exam

An Eye Examination involves a series of tests to evaluate your vision and check for eye disease. Each test during an eye exam evaluates a different aspect of your vision or eye health.

We follow a consistent 10 steps process to eye exam which starts with History taking, vision assessment, assessing the function of eye muscles, checking for any refractive errors (objectively and subjectively), and usage of various equipment to screen and assess the eye condition.

Our eye exams are aimed towards caring for your eyes.

Farsightedness

If you are farsighted, you have trouble seeing near objects, but you can see distant objects clearly. It is an error in vision caused when the rays of light focus behind the retina instead of focusing on it. The medical term for this is hyperopia or hypermetropia. It is corrected with the help of a plus lens.

Glasses

This… this is what we sell. Glasses. The most popular way to correct vision.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness for people worldwide. But blindness from glaucoma can often be prevented if detected early. Initially, Glaucoma has few or no symptoms. Usually, Glaucoma is related to high eye pressure also called Intra Ocular Pressure (IOP). This high eye pressure usually causes damage to your Optic Nerve which is a structure on the back of your eye and responsible for carrying millions of nerve fibers from the retina to the brain that helps you see.

High-index lenses

“High-index lens” is a type of thin plastic lens that comes in handy for some higher prescriptions. It is a lens with high density and comes with its own set of advantages. A high index lens comes with better optics for clearer vision. Due to its thinner, lighter design it ensures that they look very appealing & aesthetic even when the prescriptions are very high.

Hydrophobic

“Hydrophobic” describes something that does not like water. We at Gulf Optics dispense optical lenses with superhydrophobic coatings, which repel moisture to help prevent smudging. You always have a clean lens for better vision.

Hydrophilic

This means water-loving, our wide range of contact lenses are made of a material that is hydrophilic (loves water) to give the comfort of longer wearing time to you.

Hyperopia

See farsightedness.

Keyhole bridge

A keyhole bridge looks like a very simplified keyhole. It’s lightly curved; it has a vintage look; it’s versatile. Many iconic brands of frames has this bridge.

Mixed Material

These frames are a combination of acetate and metal mixed together to best in design and functionality.

Myopia

See nearsightedness.

Nearsightedness

If you are nearsighted, you have trouble seeing distant objects. Another word for it is “myopia.” If you’re sitting in the back row of a movie theater and the screen is blurry? Yes, that would be nearsightedness. It’s a pretty common condition and it is increasing rapidly among children.

It is estimated that by 2050, half of the world\s population will be myopic.

Nose bridge

“Nose bridge” refers to the slope of the nose in between your eyes. (Put your finger there. It’s a nice little area, isn’t it? Definitely an underrated body part.) A low nose bridge is where the bridge of your nose sits level with or below your pupils. People with low nose bridges often have wide faces and/or high cheekbones. (Tip: Low Bridge Fit frames minimize any pinching and prevent frames from sliding down your nose or resting on your cheeks. Which is fantastic, because no one on earth wants to be pinched by a pair of glasses.)

Nose pads

Twin pads that rest on the sides of your nose and ensure a snug fit.

OD

This abbreviation appears in some eyeglass prescriptions. It stands for “oculus dexter,” which means “right eye” in Latin. Everything sounds cooler in Latin.

Optician

An optician is an eye care professional who is trained to interpret, fit, and dispense prescription eyewear. They don’t provide you with the prescription itself, but they make sure everything is up and running perfectly after you’ve got a prescription from an eye doc.

Optometrist

An optometrist is the Eye Care Practitioner who provides primary eye care. Can prescribe eyeglasses and/or contacts. They can also diagnose eye diseases.

Ophthalmologist

An ophthalmologist is a medical doctor who specializes in the treatment and diagnosis of eye diseases, as well as in eye surgery. This person can also prescribe medications, glasses, and contacts.

OS

This abbreviation appears on your prescription. It stands for “oculus sinister,” which is “left eye” in Latin.

Phoropter

A phoropter is an instrument that your Optometrist will use for refraction during an eye examination. It is used to assess the correct prescription by making you read the vision chart. It looks like a science-fiction mask.

Plano

“Plano” refers to a lens without a prescription.

Polarized Lenses

Polarized lenses eliminate glare, making it easier for you to see without straining your eyes. How do they work? Light waves vibrate in different directions, and most of the light waves that cause “glare”—those shiny reflections off a pool or a highway—are horizontal. Polarized sunglasses have teensy vertical filters that prevent horizontal light waves from entering.

Polarized lenses, not just cut-off the glare but also enhance colors and contrast. In a short, crisp, clear vision during glare conditions.

Polycarbonate

Polycarbonate is an über tough transparent plastic with exceptional impact resistance. (It won’t break if you drop it, unlike eggs, crystal vases, fine china, water balloons, etc.). Polycarbonate is the lens of choice for children and for safety glasses.

Prescription

A prescription is a formula for making the best pair of eyeglasses for you. Think of it as a recipe with different ingredients: You’ve got your sphere (to indicate the strength of the lens you need), your cylinder (which indicates the lens power needed to correct astigmatism), and your axis (which indicates where to place the lens correction for astigmatism), among other pieces of information.

Presbyopia

Presbyopia is a condition that arises around forty years of age when most people face difficulty/trouble seeing near objects or do near tasks with difficulties like reading fine print or text messages on the phone.

Prism

This is a piece of information that may appear on your prescription. If your doctor includes a prism correction on your prescription, you’ll see a little triangle symbol next to it, like this: ∆

Progressives

Progressive lenses offer multiple focal corrections all in the same lens (distance correction on top, intermediate in the middle, and reading correction on bottom). This means you can see your whole field of vision without switching between multiple pairs of glasses. Today, Progressive optical and contact lenses are available to correct Presbyopia. Check with your optometrist for more details…

Progressive Lenses

See progressives.

Pupil

“Pupil” is the part of your eye that light passes through—the little hole/aperture right in the middle of the colored part of the eye. Humans have circular pupils, but a lot of animals have crazy-shaped pupils, like geckos.

Your pupils expand and contract depending on the light conditions surrounding you. When light is scarce, your pupil expands; when the sun is blazing, your pupil contracts to limit the amount of light that enters. Like a camera aperture.

Pupillary distance

Your pupillary distance is the distance between your pupils! This measurement is always taken when you are going for your eyeglasses. It’s a handy measurement that helps align your lenses to fit the frames you choose. Your pupillary distance can be measured in a number of ways—there’s even a device called a “pupillometer.”

Quinoa

Quinoa is delicious and healthy food. We didn’t have any eye-related words that start with the letter “Q” so we’re going with quinoa, because otherwise, the “Q” section will be lonely. Bon appétit.

Readers

Readers (or reading glasses) are glasses with prescription lenses that make it easier to read (or do anything that requires really good eyesight at close range). They’re available in various preset prescriptions, which users can choose from to match their needs.

Refraction

In science terms, refraction is the bending of any wave (but for our purposes, a light wave) as it passes from one medium into another. In eyewear terms, refraction refers to the process of determining your refractive error.

Retina

The retina is a light-sensitive layer of tissue lining the inside of your eye. Think of it this way: If the eye is a camera, the retina is your photographic film.

For clear vision, it is very important that the rays of light focus on the retina. From here the information is transmitted to the brain and we see.

Segment height

Segment height is one of the measurements used to create super-accurate progressive lenses. It’s a vertical measurement (in millimeters) that tells the lab where to start your progression. Sometimes we refer to it as “seg height,” just a cool term.

Single-Vision Lenses

Single vision lenses correct for one field of vision (usually for distance or reading).

Snellen chart

This is your classic eye chart. You know, the one with the letters that go from big on top to maddeningly tiny on the bottom. It was invented in 1862 by a professor of ophthalmology named Dr. Herman Snellen. To date, it is the most widely used eye chart for assessing vision.

Sphere

This is one piece of information that appears on your prescription. It indicates how strong your lens needs to be.

Sphygmomanometer

A sphygmomanometer is an instrument used to test your blood pressure. It’s that inflatable rubber cuff that squeezes your upper arm in a somewhat uncomfortable fashion. (You know what we’re talking about.) Because eye doctors can sometimes detect signs of high blood pressure in your eyes, they may use a sphygmomanometer to get your blood pressure during an eye exam.

“Standard fit”

“Standard fit” frames are our alternative to Low Bridge Fit frames. Low Bridge Fit frames are crafted for those with low nose bridges (if the bridge of your nose sits level with or below your pupils), wide faces, and/or high cheekbones. If you don’t have these features, you’ll want to stick with “standard fit.”

Temple

Also known as the arm, this is the part of your glasses that runs alongside your head and holds them in place.

Titanium

Titanium is a strong, durable substance that holds up well under force. We use it to make glasses because it has a high strength-to-weight ratio, which makes it ideal for an item that rests on your nose. Also: Titanium never rusts.

Titanium was discovered in 1791. Other fun things that occurred in 1791: Vermont became a state, the guy who invented Morse code was born, and the world’s first Sunday newspaper was published. Yeah, it was a good year.

Ultraviolet Light

Ultraviolet light is a form of electromagnetic radiation that surrounds us, but it’s not visible with the human eye. Our main source of UV light is the sun. (If you’re overexposed to UV light, you can get a sunburn). It is not difficult to find optical lenses and sunglasses that filter out 100% UV light.

Visual Acuity

Visual acuity is a measure of “how well you can see.”

You may have heard the terms “20/20 vision” or 6/6 vision. That term describes “normal” vision. If you have 20/20 vision, you can see at 20 feet what a person with normal vision would see at 20 feet. It’s possible to have better than average vision—some people, for example, have 20/15 vision, which means they can see at 20 feet what most people can only see at 15 feet!

Visual Field

Your visual field (or “field of vision”—same thing) is the area that you are able to see when your eyes are in one fixed position.

Visible Spectrum

The visible spectrum is the portion of the electromagnetic spectrum that is visible to the human eye. Electromagnetic radiation in this range of wavelengths is called visible light or simply light. A typical human eye will respond to wavelengths from about 380 to 740 nanometers. The seven colors of VIBGYOR from the visible spectrum.

Wavefront Aberrations

Wavefront aberrations are optical imperfections of the eye that prevent light from focusing perfectly on the retina, resulting in defects in the visual image.

X-Ray Glasses

These are not a thing.

Yes!

This is what you will shout—possibly accompanied by a fist pump—when you put on your first pair of glasses from Gulf Optics. Good times.

YAG Capsulotomy

YAG capsulotomy is a special laser treatment used to improve your vision after cataract surgery. It is a simple, commonly performed procedure that is very safe.

Zzzzz

This is what happens when you close your eyes in bed at night.

Zernike Polynomials

Named after optical physicist Frits Zernike, winner of the 1953 Nobel Prize in Physics and the inventor of phase-contrast microscopy, they play an important role in beam optics. In Optics, these help to denote any high-order aberrations, which can be corrected only by personalized optical lenses.