There is a question that comes up surprisingly often, usually whispered by someone who feels a little awkward asking it: "I had my eye test at one place, but can I actually go somewhere else to buy my glasses?"
The answer is a clear and unambiguous yes.
Following an eye test, your optometrist is legally required to give you your prescription. You should never feel obliged to buy glasses or redeem an optical voucher from the place where you had your eye test. Your prescription belongs to you, and patients have a right to have their prescriptions dispensed wherever they choose.
That is not a loophole or a technicality. It is the law.
Once you have that piece of paper in your hand, you are completely free to take it wherever you like. You could hand it to a large chain, an online retailer, or a specialist independent showroom. The choice is entirely yours.
What Does Your Prescription Actually Tell You?
Your prescription contains the numbers your optometrist has measured: the sphere, cylinder, axis, and any additions needed for reading or varifocal lenses. What it does not include are the fitting measurements, such as your pupillary distance, which are taken by whoever dispenses your glasses. The responsibility for ensuring the lenses are properly centred in your frames lies with the person fitting your glasses, and a dispensing optician will take all the measurements required.
This is worth knowing because it means a good independent dispensing specialist is not just reading out numbers. They are taking time to understand your face shape, your lifestyle, how you use your eyes throughout the day, and which frame and lens combination will genuinely work for you.
At LG Optical in St Leonards-on-Sea, that process is something the team genuinely enjoy. There is a large showroom stocked with a wide range of branded frames at competitive prices, and the whole experience is built around giving you time to explore without pressure. If you want to try on thirty frames and take a break for a coffee before deciding, that is absolutely fine. Many customers have been coming back for years precisely because nobody rushes them.
Bringing Your Prescription to LG Optical
When you visit, simply bring your current in-date prescription with you. A prescription must be less than two years old, or one year if you are on a one-year recall, in which case it is worth returning to your optometrist for a fresh test before ordering new glasses.
From there, the team will help you work through everything else: choosing the right frame for your face and lifestyle, selecting lenses that suit your prescription and daily needs, whether that is single vision, varifocal, bifocal, transitions, or tinted lenses for sun. Once you are happy, they do the rest.
For customers over 40, the choice of lenses in particular can feel a little daunting. Reading glasses, varifocals, and the move away from a single vision prescription are all topics worth discussing properly, with someone who is not watching the clock. That is exactly the kind of unhurried conversation LG Optical is set up for.
An appointment is not always necessary, though it is worth calling ahead on 01424 851878 to check availability. The showroom is in St Leonards-on-Sea, Hastings, and is well worth the trip if you have been feeling uncertain about where to take your prescription next.
You had your eye test. The prescription is yours. Now take your time finding glasses you actually love.
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