I have -16 power and I want advise about what index glasses to wear

[Friendly_boy]

Dear experts please help and guide me. I have-16 Power I recently purchased a pair of glasses of 1.8 index which are not clear from the sides I.e I am getting distortion while looking from sides. I want to know is this because I have choosen high index of 1.8 or generally it happens with all hiindex glasees. As the normal glasses that I am wearing are very much clear from sides. Please advise.

[Doreen Fazio, M.D.]

This is common with hi-index materials.  If it is bothersome, and interferes with functioning, you could stay in your current lens material.  Have you considered contact lenses?  -16 glasses will greatly minify objects; some of that minification will be less apparent with contact lenses.

[flossy93]

High index materials used to make strong eyeglass lenses often cause color distortion at the periphery of the vision, if that's what you mean by 'not clear.'

If you are talking about the edge of the lens material itself appearing 'cloudy' where it sticks out beyond the eyeglass frame, the edges of the lenses can be polished at the optometrist's office.

Back to the color distortion at the perimeter of a high-index lens - this is called 'chromatic aberration' and is caused by the physical properties of how light passes through a high-index lens material.  It's a trade-off to give you thinner, lighter lenses.

I also wear high index glasses and know about the color distortion.  I also see distorted (squished) images near the perimeter of the lens which is just due to the nature of the material.  It's worth it, to me, to have a thinner and lighter lens which does give me good vision near the center.  

If you can describe your issue in more detail it might help the doctors further answer your question.  Good luck.