Ready-made or prescription: what's the difference?
A ready-made FL-41 spectacle has the filter in a non-corrective lens. At the optician, you can have the same filter put into lenses with your prescription. The filter is the same in both cases, but everything else differs in almost every aspect.
The choice therefore doesn't depend on which filter works better, but on whether you need a prescription and how much time and money you want to invest.
When is ready-made sufficient?
If you don't need glasses to see clearly, or if you can wear them over your contact lenses. Then you only pay for the filter and not for the grinding work around it.
It's also the only way to find out if a filter works for you without first spending hundreds of euros. If you want to test first, start here. What the filter does exactly is explained in what is an FL-41 spectacle.
When do you go to the optician?
If you have a prescription and wear glasses all day. Switching between two pairs of glasses rarely works in practice, so you'll want the filter in your own lenses.
Also, with an ophthalmological diagnosis, the optician route is more logical, as there may be a reimbursement. How that route works is explained in is a migraine spectacle reimbursed.
What are the differences at a glance?
Four points on which the choices differ: price, delivery time, prescription, and the possibility of reimbursement.
| Ready-made | Prescription via optician | |
|---|---|---|
| Filter | FL-41 | FL-41, same tint |
| Prescription | No | Yes, your correction |
| Price | Low | Considerably higher |
| Delivery time | Days | Weeks, plus appointments |
| Reimbursement possible | No | Only with medical indication |
| Trying out | Yes, low risk | Hardly, you pay in advance |
What is the sensible order?
First, test ready-made, then go to the optician. If the filter doesn't work for you, you've discovered that for a fraction of the cost.
That's also why we offer a thirty-day trial period on our RELIEF instead of a performance guarantee. If you notice a difference, you know that the investment at the optician is worthwhile. If you don't notice anything, you've saved yourself an expensive process.
Anyone who has a prescription and wants to test first can temporarily wear the ready-made glasses over contact lenses. Not ideal for the long term, but enough to evaluate it.
This article is intended as an explanation, not as medical advice. For persistent complaints, a general practitioner, neurologist, or optician is the appropriate contact.
