Eye Tests and Contact Lenses

[flower]

Hi all,

I am a contact lens wearer and am due to have my first eye test since living here in France. Can anyone tell me whether I can just go to a normal opticians or does it need to be an Ophtalomologist? (is there a difference?) Do you know what the approximate cost is for an eye test?

Also, is it okay to get a prescription but buy my contact lenses elsewhere, like you can with glasses? I found a very cheap supplier in the UK and unless the price can be bettered here would like to continue to order from the same place.

Thanks in advance for any advice

[Will]

Normal practice in France is that you go to an opthalmologue or optometrist for the eye test, who gives you a prescription that you take to an optician. There's normally a waiting time of one to six months for eye tests in France, one area where Britain seems to have a definite edge. If you are covered for health care in France the cost of the eye test is refunded. Some people here have said they can get the eye test at the optician - you'll have to ask what happens where you are. I'm sure somebody will tell you what the current fee is, about 40€ springs to mind (I could let you know in a couple of weeks when I've had my next test done).

French prescriptions can be used in Britain, and vice versa, but there's no hard and fast rule, it's up to the individual opticians. You might be pleasantly surprised by the deals you get on lenses in France. I get mine from a high street optician for almost the same price that I was paying a so-called discount internet supplier in Ireland/USA (in fact the French optician is a few cents less) without any of the associated delivery hassles and delays. To me a trouble-free, prompt, service is well worth a few euros extra anyway.

[Tourangelle]

The ophtalomologist is a fully qualified specialist doctor. An optician in France is not a doctor, and I don't think as highly qualified as opticians in the UK. An optician here will perhaps not have you pay for the test, but you would be expected to have your glasses from there. An ophtalomologist will give you a prescription and then you can chose freely where you go to buy your lenses. I can't see any reason not to go for the ophtalomologist, who is a specialist, unless you are in a hurry. 40 euros sounds about right.

[flower]

Thanks to both of you for the replies. All a bit clearer now (excuse the pun!!!)

[Andjackie]

Hello,just thought I would add a quick reply,I wear contact lenses and found the french prices are 50% cheaper than the price that I pay (I live in London)and I can buy them off the shelf in France where as in London i have to order them and they are the same make.

regards Andrew & Jackie

[flower]

Thanks for that, I think I'll book an eye test at an opticians and see what their prices are like - sounds like it might be just as competetive and a lot easier to just buy here.

Thanks again.

[Ron Avery]

"Normal practice in France is that you go to an opthalmologue or optometrist for the eye test, who gives you a prescription that you take to an optician"

Isn't seeing an ophtalmologiste for an eye test is like seeing an ENT specialist for ear wax 

The opticians chains are starting to grow in France and you can get an appointment for an eye test in most places well inside a week anywhere,  ( Where did 2 months come from??? perhaps that is the time to wait to see an ophtalmologiste as all the French are taking up their time having their eye tested )

Anyway After July all that will change as you cannot just pop off and see an ophtalmologiste.  The average two months waiting time for an ophtalmologiste's appointment is one of the reasons why you will have to be referrred afterr July or pay a large penalty fee if you do not.

[Tourangelle]

no it is not the same to see an optician, it would be wrong to think that they are as qualified here as in the UK, and especially if you have contact lenses it is definitely worth seeing a specialist, there are all sorts of potential complications. Also if you see an optician you cannot shop around in the same way to get the best deal. Opthamology along with gynecology and dentistry are excluded from the changes in July.

[Will]

What Tourangelle says is totally correct. I think it is important to be aware that in Britain, most opticians are ophthalmic opticians who also dispense prescriptions, whereas in France the high street opticians are roughly equivalent to a dispensing optician in Britain. I think I am right in saying, though not totally certain, that an optometriste in France is similar in qualifications and scope of practice to a British ophthalmic optician. I can well believe that there is a growing number of optometristes in France, the demand is certainly there, but the chains haven't reached rural NW France yet so we have to live with the specialists - I have no complaints about that.

As I said before, this is normal practice in France. 'Integration' is more than going for drinks with the neighbours, it's about accepting, and following, such practices rather than saying 'it's better at home'.

To sum up: You can certainly go to any optician in France and get straightforward reading glasses, but for contact lenses or more complicated spectacles, like varifocals, you need a prescription from an opthalmologue or optometriste.

[Clair]

'Integration' is more than going for drinks with the neighbours, it's about accepting, and following, such practices rather than saying 'it's better at home'.

Thanks for saying it... Now could you arrange for this motto to be added at start of each forum?

[flower]

Okay, I've booked the appointment with an ophtalmologiste (couldn't they have come up with an easier word??), though I've got to wait until the end of May for the appointment. I'll ask when I go what they think is necessary for future appointments and I'll keep you posted.

Thanks for all the replies and have a good week!