Glasses sliding down your nose is a small thing until it happens all day. You push them up. They slide back down. By the afternoon there is a dull ache behind one ear, and in the mirror one lens sits a little higher than the other.
Most of the time nothing is wrong with the frame. It has simply moved. Glasses are bent to fit one face, and everyday life slowly bends them back. An adjustment puts them where they belong, and at City Optix on Chestnut Street it is free, with no appointment needed, even if you bought the glasses somewhere else.
Here is what each problem usually means, and what gets adjusted.
What you feel, and what gets adjusted
They slide down your nose. The usual cause is the bend at the end of each temple, the part that curves behind your ear. When that curve opens up, nothing holds the frame back, so it rides forward. On metal frames the nose pads can also spread apart and let the frame sit too low. Sometimes a hinge screw has worked loose and the whole frame feels soft on your face.
They pinch behind your ears. The opposite problem. The temple bend sits too tight or starts too far forward, so it presses where it should rest. Pressure behind the ears is one of the clearest signs a frame does not fit and needs adjusting.
They sit crooked, with one lens higher. One temple has been bent up or down, often from taking the glasses off with one hand or wearing them on top of your head. The front of the frame may also have twisted slightly. Evening out the temples usually levels the frame again.
They leave red marks on your nose. On frames with adjustable nose pads, the pads can tilt to the wrong angle or sit unevenly, so the weight lands on one small spot. Reangling them spreads it out.
They feel loose or wobbly. Check the hinges. A loose screw lets the temples swing and the frame shift as you move. It is a small fix that changes how the whole frame feels.
Why glasses drift out of adjustment
No one does anything wrong. Glasses get pushed up onto the head, taken off one-handed, dropped into a bag, slept in on the couch. Each of those moves the frame a little, and the changes add up slowly enough that you stop noticing them. You only notice that you keep pushing your glasses up.
Plastic frames are reshaped with gentle warmth and metal frames with the right tools, which is why this is a job for a careful hand rather than a kitchen-table fix.
What happens when you bring them in
Walk in. You do not need an appointment, and adjustments are free. We look at how the frame sits on your face, find which part has moved, and set the temples, nose pads and hinges back where they should be. If the glasses came from somewhere else, bring them anyway. We adjust frames bought elsewhere too.
With a lab on the premises, most repairs can also be done on-site, so if something has actually bent or broken, we can usually look after it here.
What an adjustment cannot fix
An adjustment can bring a frame back to where it should be. It cannot change the frame itself. If the frame is simply too wide for your face, or the bridge was never right for your nose, it will keep sliding however carefully it is set. In that case the honest answer is a different frame, and you can see the eyewear we carry and try on a few with someone who knows how a frame should fit.
And if the trouble is how you see rather than how your glasses sit, that is a question for an eye exam, not an adjustment.
If you want to know what a good fit looks like from the start, our complete guide to eyeglass fit and comfort walks through it.
Frequently Asked Questions
What fixes glasses sliding down your nose?
Usually, an adjustment. Most often the curve of the temple behind your ear has opened up, so nothing holds the frame back. On metal frames the nose pads may have spread apart, and a loose hinge screw can add to it. An adjustment resets all three. At City Optix it is free and needs no appointment.
Can one adjustment fix glasses that slide down and also hurt behind my ears?
Often, yes. Sliding and pressure behind the ears both come from how the temples are bent, so they are adjusted together. If the frame is too big for your face to begin with, an adjustment helps but cannot fully fix it, and a different frame may sit better.
How do I fix glasses that sit crooked?
A crooked frame usually means one temple has been bent up or down, or the front has twisted slightly. Setting the temples evenly levels the lenses again. Bending them at home risks making it worse, so bring them in and we will adjust them for free.
Will City Optix adjust glasses I bought somewhere else?
Yes. Adjustments at City Optix are free, no appointment is needed, and we adjust frames bought elsewhere too.
Come in to Chestnut Street
If you have glasses sliding down your nose, pinching or sitting crooked, bring them by City Optix at 2154 Chestnut Street in the Marina, Monday through Saturday, 10 to 6. No appointment needed. Questions first? Contact us or call (415) 921-1444.