How often should you replace your glasses? 7 signs it is time

There is no fixed expiry date on a pair of glasses. The common guidance is every one to two years, but that number is really a proxy for something else: how often your prescription changes and how hard your lenses have been living.

Here are seven signs that matter more than the calendar.

1. Your prescription has changed

The most obvious reason, and the one people ignore longest. If you are squinting at road signs, holding your phone further away, or your eyes ache by the afternoon, get tested. A prescription that is half a step out still works — it just makes your eyes do the correcting, which is where the fatigue comes from.

2. The lenses are scratched

Scratches scatter light. A scratched lens in bright sun or under oncoming headlights produces haze and starbursts that no amount of cleaning removes. Scratches cannot be polished out; the anti-reflective layer is only microns thick and any polishing destroys it. Once the scratches sit in your line of sight, the lens is done.

3. The coating is breaking down

If you see a crazed, web-like pattern across the lens surface, or patches where the anti-reflective layer looks cloudy or peeled, the coating has failed. This is usually caused by heat — leaving glasses on a car dashboard in Manila sun is the classic culprit — or by cleaning with alcohol, tissue or a shirt hem.

4. The frame has lost its shape

Metal frames fatigue. Acetate warps with heat and sweat. If the store has adjusted the same pair repeatedly and it will not hold, the metal has been bent past its limit. A frame that cannot hold an adjustment moves the lens out of position, and on a progressive lens that matters a lot.

5. You have stopped wearing them

Unworn glasses are a fit or style failure, not a fashion crime. Usually it is the bridge — a frame that slides all day becomes a frame in a drawer. Before you replace anything, bring them in for a fitting. Sometimes the fix is free.

6. Your life changed

A new job with two monitors. A shift to night driving. A move to a role that keeps you outdoors. The lens that suited the old routine may not suit the new one. This is the most under-recognised reason to get a second pair rather than replace the first.

7. Your child outgrew them

Children's faces change fast. A frame that was correctly sized a year ago can now sit too high, putting the optical centre above the pupil. For a growing child, an annual check is the baseline, and more often if the grade is climbing.

How to make a pair last longer

• Rinse under running water before wiping. Most scratches come from grinding dust across a dry lens.
• Use a microfibre cloth, never tissue, tissue paper or clothing.
• Two hands to remove them. One-handed removal is what bends frames out of alignment.
• Never leave them in a parked car. Heat kills coatings and warps acetate.
• Bring them in for ultrasonic cleaning — free for life at any Vision Express store, and far more effective on humid-climate grime than anything you can do at home.

Get the grade checked first

Book a Vision7 eye test at your nearest Vision Express store before you decide whether to replace. The seven-step comprehensive exam confirms whether the problem is your prescription or your lenses — two very different fixes, and worth knowing before you spend.

If the answer is a new everyday pair, ask for Opulens Ultra 1.60 at the counter. It resists smudging and holds up better against sweat and humidity, which is the main thing that ages a lens here. For a screen-heavy day, ask for Essilor Blue Light Single Vision instead.

If you have passed 40 and reading is the part that changed, step up and ask for Essilor Varilux Physio Extensee, which handles distance, screen and reading in one lens.

New glasses can be ready in 30 minutes on selected lenses, and every pair comes with free lifetime ultrasonic cleaning, free lifetime custom fitting and adjustment, and a 1-year warranty.