FRANKFURT (Reuters Health) - The growing popularity of ready-to-wear eyeglasses is risking the health of those who buy them and reducing sales of prescription spectacles, German opticians say.

The number of eyeglasses sold in German optical shops fell in 2001, at least partly because of the high number of ready-to-wear eyeglasses sold in supermarkets, pharmacies and even service stations, according to the Germany's ZVA optician association.

More than 3 million ready-to-wear glasses were bought last year, according to Joachim Goerdt, ZVA's managing director.

"And that despite regular warnings by opticians and ophthalmologists of the health risks and the not optimal vision corrections (of ready-to-wear glasses)," he said at a press conference in Dusseldorf last Thursday.

The ZVA has warned in the past that the only sure method of ensuring proper vision correction is to have eyes tested by professionals and to buy prescription glasses.

The ZVA says that each eye has about 720,000 possible corrections via a lens, making it almost impossible for customers to buy optimal ready-to-wear glasses. Those who buy them risk headaches, dizzy spells and eye pain.

Goerdt, speaking in Dusseldorf, said that opticians last year sold about 11.0 million complete eyeglasses (frame and lenses), down from 11.3 million in 2000. Opticians in 2001 fitted about 4.5 million frames already owned by customers with new lenses.

German optician sales in 2001 totaled 4.039 billion euros, up 0.6% from 4.014 billion in 2000. Despite the decrease in the number of eyeglasses sold, revenue was able to grow because of a shift toward "higher quality" frames and lenses, the ZVA said.

The ZVA called 2001 sales a "stagnation" but said it was satisfied considering that the general economy suffered in 2001.

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