damage from glasses

[walterSCAN]

So, I've been trying to figure this out on my own but I'm not coming up with much. I was thinking maybe one of you might have a good suggestion...

First, my vision is bad, like, 20/200 bad. So, I have to always wear either contacts or glasses. I usually wear my contacts because I like having peripheral vision, but my eyes get tired and I need to give them a break with glasses.

Enter the problem: I love my glasses. Unfortunately, they go from plastic near the lenses to metal for the ear pieces, and there is a tiny gap where the metal and plastic join. So, of course my fine and ridiculously troublesome hair gets caught in there, especially when I wear my hair up, and it either breaks or pulls.

Can you guys think of anything I can do to fix this? :confused::confused::confused:

I can't get new frames (no insurance and definitely no funds for it), and I like them anyway so I don't want to either. I'm trying to think of some way to seal up the gap and keep from having lots of broken hairs right at glasses-length.



(If it helps/ seems needed, I can post pictures of my glasses. I won't be able to do it for a couple days though.)

[Syaoransbear]

I also have this problem. My boyfriend and I both have thick rimmed black glasses, and the part where the arms bend is where my hair gets caught, in his glasses and my own. It always rips out my bangs. I haven't found a way to solve it :(.

[Heavenly Locks]

is there any way to coat that join with some glue or something that might make the transition between the materials smoother?

[LadyVictoria]

Maybe you could paint some clear nail polish or other type of sealant on the metal hinges on the inside the temple arms where it would not be visible to others. Of course you would have to plan on never closing your glasses. And of course don't use anything that will damage your frames.

I have been wearing glasses since I was in the 3rd grade so I am familiar with this issue. I used to wear my glasses on my head a lot when I would read or use the computer but they would snag my hair so badly I had to give up that bad habit. My current frames are plastic so I do not have any trouble with my hair getting snagged.

FYI: there is a fantastic website that I buy all my frames from. They are extremely high quality and super cheap. www.zennioptical.com definitely check them out. I bought 2 pairs of frames (with lenses) and 2 extra pairs of clip on sunglasses from them over the summer for less than $50 with shipping & handling.

[Tornerose]

I have this issue too... It's even worse with sunglasses actuallyI find it to be even worse with sunglasses than my regular ones. I don't really know how to solve it either, but the glue-comment above, sent my thought to the kind of wax kids with braces use to stop the braces causing sores in theyre mouths....

Maybe we should all go out and get some brace-wax?

[reishka]

I'll second both www.zennioptical.com (http://www.zennioptical.com/) and the nailpolish suggestion. If/when you want to remove the nailpolish, it's easier to remove with nailpolish remover than any type of glue will be. Don't put it in between the sections of your glasses - extend the arms, and then sort of 'seal' over it with the polish. It *should* be strong enough to not break (depends on how rough you are with your glasses).

As long as you have a current perscription (they're good for 3 - 4 years, depending on your location), then getting another pair from zenni might not be a bad idea. That way, you can have a 'good pair' and a 'trashy pair' - right now, I'm using my 'trashy pair' for around the house, running errands, the gym etc. I use my good pair when I want to go out, work, that kind of thing. Zenni is pretty cheap - you can get a regular pair (standard lenses) at $10 + shipping. Maybe if you can find a pair you like, you can save the glasses you have for special occasions and get a pair for everyday wear.

I know about the whole being less on finances - I had to go out and get a new pair in an emergency in November -- 300$ because I didn't have time to wait (and no insurance). Ugh!

[Nae]

Okay, speaking as an optician here, don't put glue on your glasses. It can really mess up your hinges and if a temple piece needs replaced it will make it very hard to do so. Also super glue is really corrosive to the materials they use for glasses so please stay away from that. Nail polish isn't so bad, I have gotten nail polish off of glasses before with very little ill effect.

I don't have an easy answer here but there are "sleeves" that can be put onto hinges that would cover that up. It wouldn't look cute, and you wouldn't be able to close your glasses but I don't think hairs could be caught in them. They are little plastic tubes that are shrunk onto the frames with heat.

There are plenty of places you can purchase glasses for less than $300, especially around here. I think my average glasses sale for last week was about $129. I sell some for as little as $38 bucks, they are bare bones, and plastic lenses but it is possible, especialy in emergencies.

[restourceful]

If I'm reading you right, your problem area is closer to your ears than the hinges, where the ear/metal part joins with the plastic side arm/hinged part, correct? Mine are opposite in that the metal part is the arm part that joins with a plastic part that fits over my ear. The plastic part catches my hair when I take them off. I'm also curious about fixes for this problem.

When I take mine off, I actually slide my thumbs and forefingers around the problem area to try to move my hair away from it before I start pulling them forward. This helps, but it's still a pain in the *glasses.*:justy:

[JenniferNoel]

I have the same issue, I can't go a minute without my glasses, and I have shorter strands in front that absolutely love to hang around in the gap between the arms and the front rims, but the strands are becoming suicidal with them. :mad:
I've taken to pinning the front part up and back all the time, it's a great help, just a couple hair-friendly clips and it's out of the way.

[reishka]

I don't have an easy answer here but there are "sleeves" that can be put onto hinges that would cover that up. It wouldn't look cute, and you wouldn't be able to close your glasses but I don't think hairs could be caught in them. They are little plastic tubes that are shrunk onto the frames with heat.

There are plenty of places you can purchase glasses for less than $300, especially around here. I think my average glasses sale for last week was about $129. I sell some for as little as $38 bucks, they are bare bones, and plastic lenses but it is possible, especialy in emergencies.

Those sleeves sound like they would really work well!

I agree that you can purchase glasses for a lot less than 300 - but it really depends on your lens type. I absolutely cannot have the polycarb lenses due to my prescription and the weird distortion issues. If I get the polycarbs I lose almost 2/3rds of my usable lens width. I have to have plastics - which end up being more expensive. My frames were a little less than 120 - my lenses were what made the difference. So YMMV.

[enfys]

Since you have dark hair I'd probably try the heat shrink tubing. You can buy it in places that sell parts to make computers. If I'm reading it right the problem is on the part right wear your hair starts infront of your ears?

[2peasinapod]

I have the same problem :( The only thing I've been able to do is bobby pin the front sections of my hair back so they don't fall into the hinges.

[Gypsy]

Maybe you should go ahead and post the pics, lol!
There seems to be some confusion as to WHERE you are having the problem as some are thinking it is the hinges and other are thinking it is in the aesthetic design, not in the hinge.

[Islandgrrl]

I used to fill that joint on my glasses with superglue and use superfine sandpaper to smooth rough edges. Works like a charm.

[nicolezoie]

My old frames I just pulled the plastic ear pieces off, and dealt with the wires going directly on my ears. Not the most comfortable thing, but it did reduce the ripping above my ears from my glasses.

[ButterCup02]

I get my hair caught in mine too, at the hinges though so I can't really do much about it! I just am very care when I go to take them off to make sure no hair is stuck in there.

[walterSCAN]

Maybe you should go ahead and post the pics, lol!
There seems to be some confusion as to WHERE you are having the problem as some are thinking it is the hinges and other are thinking it is in the aesthetic design, not in the hinge.

Oops! Yeah, I realized yesterday when I couldn't get on my computer that my description probably wasn't going to be good enough...

Ok, so, the problem isn't the hinge, thankfully. It's here:

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/shecriesatnight/hairbreaker3.jpg

I tried to get close-ups of the part that always grabs my hair...

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/shecriesatnight/hairbreaker2.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/shecriesatnight/hairbreaker.jpg

Thanks for all of the suggestions so far! ...I was thinking about wrapping it in electrical tape or something, but that would look funny, and I'm thinking it might grab my hair too. :hmm:

Nae, do you think the superglue idea wouldn't work for these? Even though it's nowhere near the lenses? I actually have superglue already, which would be convenient.

I really can't replace them any time in the near future-- I have about $10 of wiggle-room atm for buying things as my fiance's lost his job and I'm a student who gets 20 hours a week. :( Rather large unexpected expenses lately haven't helped either.

It's not really the frames I worry about the price on, it's the lenses. Because of my prescription, they are always pretty expensive. Also because of my prescription distorting the way my eyes look, I'm nervous of buying glasses offline. Most glasses look pretty bad on me because the lenses make my eyes look 1/2 to 1/3 their normal size...

[Nae]

I have seen superglue literally eat through the metal of glasses, it really weakens them alot. But yeah I see your problem here. *brainstorming*

Does the plastic and metal pieces fit together tightly or do they wiggle? Are your hairs getting caught in the little plastic groove that I can see it the picture where it says dignity? If you need to fill a gap to keep it from catching I would say use clear nail polish and just coat it over and over until it fills in like you want. I don't think that would damage anything and it also wouldn't be noticeable.

Boy, I wish I could just get ahold of them and take a good look at how they fit together. The shrink sleeves might work if we could find black ones just to cover over that joint area, and maybe like 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch onto the metal temple so the hairs would have more trouble getting down in there, but the nail polish may be easier to do......

I am going to keep thinking about it and if something brilliant hits me I will get back with you asap.

[Beesweet]

I get really mad when I snap a hair on my glasses hinge. My favorite pair broke- they were super bendable metal silver frames with no hinge at all. Very 2004 but I don't care. Never broke a hair on them. Need to get new ones.

Like these (http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://americanreadingglasses.com/images/products/125_full.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.americanreadingglasses.com/product/127&usg=__vYzNNS2ZiG0GO0OUPV3RcOJDbYc=&h=210&w=500&sz=38&hl=en&start=18&um=1&tbnid=uSoOVX8rm01SGM:&tbnh=55&tbnw=130&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dframeless%2Bglasses%2Bno%2Bhinge%26hl %3Den%26rlz%3D1C1GGLS_enUS353US353%26sa%3DN%26um%3 D1):

They broke and my spare pair has hinge. Broke ten hairs the last two weeks.

[walterSCAN]

I have seen superglue literally eat through the metal of glasses, it really weakens them alot. But yeah I see your problem here. *brainstorming*

Does the plastic and metal pieces fit together tightly or do they wiggle? Are your hairs getting caught in the little plastic groove that I can see it the picture where it says dignity? If you need to fill a gap to keep it from catching I would say use clear nail polish and just coat it over and over until it fills in like you want. I don't think that would damage anything and it also wouldn't be noticeable.

Boy, I wish I could just get ahold of them and take a good look at how they fit together. The shrink sleeves might work if we could find black ones just to cover over that joint area, and maybe like 1/8 or 1/4 of an inch onto the metal temple so the hairs would have more trouble getting down in there, but the nail polish may be easier to do......

I am going to keep thinking about it and if something brilliant hits me I will get back with you asap.

Oh wow, no superglue then...

It fits pretty tight together... there's just a little gap-- yup, that's it. :/ The shrink sleeves sound ideal, if I knew where to get them/ they did come in black.

Thanks so much for your help! I hope you can come up with something!! ::hug::

[Nae]

I am going to check the order book at work to see if they have an online site or something, and to see if there is anything else that might work. I am sure they come in black and maybe clear, but I think black would definately be better for you.

We ran out of "normal" colors at work like last year. We don't use them a whole lot. I think the only colors I have left are red or blue. (Which isn't cute on anybody.) I will get ya fixed up somehow, no worries!

[walterSCAN]

Yay! :bounce: You are amazing! :bounce: Thank you!!

[Nae]

Okay so I talked to the girls at work and they said that we usually just go to Radio Shack to buy our heat shrink tubes. I looked online to find a picture so you know what you are looking for, here is the link.

http://www.radioshack.com/search/index.jsp?kw=heat%20shrink%20tubes&origkw=heat%20shrink%20tubes

I am in northern Indiana and apparently they have them in-stock in stores there so hopefully wherever you are in Indiana the Radio Shacks will be similar. You may be able to cut the tube to the size you want and then shrink it with a blowfryer (if you have one) if not or if it doesn't get quite hot enough, if you go to an optical place they should be able to do it for you. We wouldn't charge for something like that where I work, it would only take like 30 seconds, we have a little machine with a really hot stream of air to heat up and bend the plastic frames. You might check with your eye doctor. They may even have the shrink wrap things on hand.

I hope this helps, best of luck! ;)

[walterSCAN]

Awesome! There's a radioshack on my way to work (North-ish East-Central Indiana here)...

I may have to try and pick some up tomorrow and try it when I get home! I think I can handle a $4 fix... Thanks so much for your help!!

Oh-- how much do they shrink up in your experience? And how much would they stretch to go on? They're sold in multi-size packs, so I'm not worried about buying the wrong size, but I'm wondering which size to try when I get them home... I'm thinking I'll have to go with the 1/4" to get it over the ear piece, but it'll need to shrink a lot once I get it in place.

[restourceful]

Yay for Nae! :cheer:I've been watching for your solution since I'm having the same problem as WalterSCAN.

And WalterSCAN, thanks so much for asking this question.:flower:

[Nae]

:flower:If you can get them hot enough they shrink up to about half, maybe not quite so much, but with your glasses I think you are gonna need a pretty big looking on to go over your plastic part. The multi-pack should be fine. Best of luck with your fix.

[walterSCAN]

Yay for Nae! :cheer:I've been watching for your solution since I'm having the same problem as WalterSCAN.

And WalterSCAN, thanks so much for asking this question.:flower:


I'm glad my confusion can help other people too! :wink:

I'll post pictures of the fix when I get it done/have the chance-- maybe even late tonight!

[walterSCAN]

Ok, so it's taken me forever to get these pictures up, but here's the heat-shrink tubes in action!

The blacks match up a little better in normal light-- much less distinction-- but I had to use flash to be able to see them in the picture. So far the people I've showed my handiwork to have said that they didn't notice at all until I pointed it out!
http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/shecriesatnight/glassesfix3.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/shecriesatnight/glassesfix2.jpg

http://i118.photobucket.com/albums/o87/shecriesatnight/glassesfix.jpg

It works wonderfully!! Thanks again, Nae! I feel like I have a new pair of glasses! :cheese:

My hair hasn't got caught once since I put the tubes on them! I ended up using the 1/4" tubes to get it over the wide part of the earpiece, and they shrank up perfectly. Hehe, it was so fun watching them shrink under the hairdryer...

[Nae]

:cheer:Oh fantastic! That is just how I envisioned it would work out. I am so happy for you! I was worried the hairdryer wouldn't be hot enough but it looks like it worked like a dream. YAY!

[jasper]

I had to fix my eyeglasses ear piece with plastic heat shrinkable tubing. You could slide a small piece over the space between plastic and metal and shrink it into place. This stuff: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Heat-shrink_tubing

I'm repeating advice already listed, I see.

[spidermom]

I tried all kinds of things to fill in that gap between arms and ear-rests (not the sleeve, though). Nothing worked. Now I have glasses that don't have an ear-rest, the arms go over the ears in one smooth piece. I do have to be careful to smooth the sides of my hair back before I take the glasses off, however, because hair can catch in the hinge between arms and front. It's pretty easy to avoid that hazard, especially since I usually have my hair put up anyway.

[feralnature]

I'm glad the OP had a happy ending :)

I had the same problem with my glasses and snapped about 100 hairs off short before resolving the issue. So now I have one small area in the front where the little cluster of hairs is growing back.

[Beets]

Bumping this, because I needed EXACTLY this info!

Incidentally, eyeglass wearers, how do you widen the ear pieces so they don't give you headaches by pressing behind your temples? Do you have to avoid certain styles? Do they widen them for you if you go in to a fancy-schmancy place?

[Nae]

Bumping this, because I needed EXACTLY this info!

Incidentally, eyeglass wearers, how do you widen the ear pieces so they don't give you headaches by pressing behind your temples? Do you have to avoid certain styles? Do they widen them for you if you go in to a fancy-schmancy place?

Okay, they should be able to do this for you if you go into an optical place. As an optician I generally just do it by feel, I can tell by the feel of the metal when it is getting ready to break. Also it sometimes it requires heat to adjust temples properly.

I would recommend having a professional do it for you, if you decide to try it on your own and break your glasses you are pretty much out of luck. Let someone who has done it hundreds or thousands of times, it will be faster and should be safer for your glasses! ;)

[HereIGrowAgain]

Beets, just a thought, but the arms might be too short for your face. I had to shop for men's or gender-neutral frames because the arms on those came in a longer length. I needed at least a 145. Once I got that figured out, I never had a problem with the arms pressing into my head, because that little curve actually fit where it was supposed to.

[shawty]

I have regular plastic glasses and the same problem with my hair catching. I don't think new frames would solve it. Perhaps wear some sort of headband with your updos?