There’s nothing worse than a pair of glasses that don’t fit, maybe they're too tight or loose and keep sliding down your nose, but luckily, you can easily adjust glasses at home to suit your face shape.
Our guide below will take you through everything you need to know about how glasses should fit on your face, how to adjust them at home, and where to buy the best glasses for your face shape.
Get To Know Your Glasses - Understanding The Anatomy Of Glasses
First things first, let’s discuss the different parts of your glasses so you can understand which parts might not be fitting your face properly.
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Temples - These are called the ‘arms’ of your lenses, the long pieces of your glasses that sit behind your ears. They are attached to the lenses via end pieces.
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Nose pads - The two round pads against your nose keep your glasses secure and comfy.
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Lenses - Pieces of clear plastic or glass material, contain your prescription if needed so you can see properly.
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Rims - They are what give your glasses their shape, you can also get rimless glasses for a transparent look to your glasses.
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Bridge - Where the rims meet the center of your frame, they are held together by the bridge’ which sits on top of your nose.
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Pad arms - These are the small pieces of hardware that keep your nose pads in place, they can be adjusted to suit your face shape.
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End pieces - Attached to the top right and left corners of your glasses, they go past the rims and attach the temples to the glass lenses.
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Hinges - These are what allow you to open and close the arms of your lenses, some are screwed with rivets.
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Screws - Located next to the hinges to keep your glasses together by connecting the temples and end pieces. It can be adjusted for tightness.
How Should Glasses Fit On Your Face?
So, how should glasses fit on your face? Well, most importantly, your glasses should be comfortable no matter what, here’s some indicators your glasses fit your face shape well.
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The lenses are roughly centered on your pupils.
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The top of the frames are no higher than your browline.
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They sit comfortably on your nose.
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The arms should fit comfortably on your ears.
What Determines How Your Glasses Fit
Your glasses frame width and measurements determine how your glasses fit as well as your eyes and face shape.
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Frame width - Your frame width should align with your temples so your eyes are centered in the middle of the lenses.
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Frame measurements - The lens width, bridge width, and temple length combined.
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Pupillary distance - The distance between your pupils in mm, ensuring your glasses are centered to your eyes.
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Face shape - Every individual has different face shapes which can affect how their glasses fit. Some people might have higher cheekbones than others or bigger foreheads for example. Use our face shape detector to find out your face shape.
Signs Your Glasses Don’t Fit Properly
If you think you are too tight, or too loose and don’t fit properly, these are some signs you need to do eyeglass adjustment at home.
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They keep sliding down your face.
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They are digging into your temples.
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Leaving red marks on your skin.
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They are giving you headaches.
How To Adjust Glasses At Home?
Adjusting eyeglasses at home can be an easy way to make your glasses comfortable again without needing to buy a new pair. The most common eyeglass fitting problems are glasses that are too tight and too loose.
How To Tighten Glasses At Home With a Screwdriver
Tightening glasses can be done easily with a screwdriver. Sometimes loose screws can cause your glasses to become wobbly and uncomfortable.
For both metal and acetate or plastic glasses, you can tighten them with screws. The screws can be found in the corner of the temples and arms, tighten them with a small screwdriver until you feel resistance but not too far otherwise you could risk damaging them.
Glasses Too Tight On Temples (How To Loosen Tight Glasses)
For glasses too tight on the side of the head you can loosen them by simply untightening the screws with a screwdriver till they feel more comfortable. If they are metal frames, push the arms away from the lenses to make the area wider but be very careful not to damage them.
How To Adjust Glasses (Without a Screwdriver)
There are other ways you can adjust glasses at home without a screwdriver depending on the material of your glasses.
Acetate Or Plastic Glasses
For acetate and plastic glasses, thanks to the material they are bendable within reason. There are two ways you can adjust plastic glasses at home.
Glasses Arms
To adjust acetate glasses arms you can use hot water, this is a good tip if your glasses are often falling around due to being too loose or tight. Start by soaking each end of the temples in hot water for 30 seconds, taking care not to get the glasses in the water.
You can then carefully bend the temple end down while holding them. Make slight adjustments and avoid bending them too far.
How To Adjust Crooked Acetate Frames
For misaligned glasses that are crooked, you can also use hot water to solve the problem.
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Left side too high - Soak the uneven corner in hot water for 30 seconds then support your lenses with one hand and move the temple. Do this by pushing upward with your finger and anchoring with your thumb
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Right side too high - If the right side is too high repeat the above steps, wait for your glasses to cool then see if they are once again aligned.
Metal Glasses
Unlike acetate or plastic glasses, metal glasses need eyeglass adjustment in a slightly different way.
How To Adjust The Nose Pads
Metal glasses have nose pads (which we mentioned in our ‘anatomy of glasses’) that can be adjusted to change how your glasses fit.
For glasses that feel too loose or feel like they are sitting too low down on your face, you should bend the nose pads inwards towards your nose. On the other hand, if your glasses are too tight then bend the nose pads outwards away from your nose.
How To Adjust Metal Eyeglass Arms
For adjusting metal eyeglass arms you do not need hot water. Instead, you can hold the frames in front of you and gently bend the temple ends up or down. Bending the temple down will tighten the glasses while bending it up will loosen them. Stop if you feel resistance to avoid damaging the glasses.
Getting Glasses Adjusted By a Professional - GlassesShop
Adjusting glasses at home means there is always a risk of potentially breaking your specs if you're not careful by bending the arms too far. To avoid this risk, you can get a professional to adjust your glasses for you at the opticians, many will even do it for free.
If you still want to try frame adjustment at home, follow our concrete video guide which shows you how to adjust your glasses step by step. Find the video guide here.
Shop The Right Glasses With The Best Fit At GlassesShop
Want to find a better pair of glasses with the right fit? At GlassesShop we have a huge variety of prescription glasses and sunglasses at affordable prices, with over 1800 frame types on offer with customizable lenses and options to make your glasses more comfortable.
Some comfort options we have for our glasses so that they fit right are -
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Glasses with spring hinges - These provide a snug fit to keep glasses in place and are very durable. Thanks to the snug fit, they are excellent for active people who move around or play sports. Shop them here.
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Adjustable nose pad glasses - We have adjustable nose pads for our glasses too which stop glasses from slipping down, give a customized fit, and reduce red marks from pressure when wearing your glasses.
All our glasses have a 365-day guarantee and a 30-day exchange and return policy so you can make sure you're 100% happy with your specs. We also have a buy one get one free deal for a backup pair of glasses.
Shop our whole range of glasses here.