Awhile back, I had a patient come in to pick up her glasses. We did the dispense (I adjusted them, etc). All was fine. Patient takes the frames off and tries to flex the temples. They aren't flex/spring loaded temples. She immediately gets angry. She takes them but storms off muttering that she'll probably break them. I guess I never showed her during the original fitting that these were normal temple hinges. :unsure: My bad. I think my focus was on selecting a good size lens and explaining to her how the progressive would work (first time PAL wearer). She never came back with any issues, yet, but...
My thinking is, most of the broken frames that come into my shop are because of the spring loaded temple breaking. It's usually the spring or rubber band coming off of the hinge piece that screws into the frame front. I see far less non-spring loaded frames with broken temple hinges. I guess it makes them a little more forgiving if you get smacked in the head or fall asleep with them on. It reminds me of back when Flexons were big. They advertised that you could twist them up in knots. Supposed to be so durable. Yet, they ALWAYS broke at the bridge after a year or two. I sometimes wonder if people would use them as a fidget toy and just twist them up to pass time until the memory metal or solder point gave out. I don't really make spring loaded temples a big selling point. I am trying to find a frame that fits the patient well, accommodates their RX well, and looks nice on them. I guess I should show them what kind of hinges they are getting.
So, my questions... Do you think spring loaded temples are actually more durable? And, do you demonstrate to the patient whether a frame they are interested in has spring loaded temples or not?
My thinking is, most of the broken frames that come into my shop are because of the spring loaded temple breaking. It's usually the spring or rubber band coming off of the hinge piece that screws into the frame front. I see far less non-spring loaded frames with broken temple hinges. I guess it makes them a little more forgiving if you get smacked in the head or fall asleep with them on. It reminds me of back when Flexons were big. They advertised that you could twist them up in knots. Supposed to be so durable. Yet, they ALWAYS broke at the bridge after a year or two. I sometimes wonder if people would use them as a fidget toy and just twist them up to pass time until the memory metal or solder point gave out. I don't really make spring loaded temples a big selling point. I am trying to find a frame that fits the patient well, accommodates their RX well, and looks nice on them. I guess I should show them what kind of hinges they are getting.
So, my questions... Do you think spring loaded temples are actually more durable? And, do you demonstrate to the patient whether a frame they are interested in has spring loaded temples or not?
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