I genuinely don’t know.
I’ve asked a number of professionals in the field, and gotten a number of answers, none of which satisfied me.
The B.C. government had to regulate optometrists with a change to the Health Professional’s Act to make it happen there.
Here’s a few “answers”
It’s not part of an eye exam / not our job
While a PD measurement can be performed during your visit to the optometrist’s office, it is not part of the prescription as it has no clinical relevance. A PD should be performed during the fitting of the eyeglasses by an optical dispenser.
Alberta Association of Optometrists
PD measurement is not a part of your routine eye examination. It is conducted by the place where you get your glasses. It is not something that is routinely measured and is also something that you are not entitled to. It is not something essential to your eye examination.
An optometrists “AMA”
Well the refractive properties of your eyeball aren’t “clinically relevant” either, but the optometrist is responsible for those. Why go 90% of the way to having information for glasses and leave it out?
This is like your podiatrist saying that they care about your hammer-toe and bunions, but your shoe-size is something that must be measured in a FootLocker store. (And then the store not telling you your shoe size unless you buy some Nikes from them).
There’s more to it, and only an optician can handle it
Electronic measurements of PD, vertex distance (distance between the glasses and the eye ball), frame curvature, face curvature and where a patient wears their glassss [sic] vary from person to person. This can only be done in an office setting.
An optometrists “AMA”
I’ve never once had my “face curvature” measured at an optician’s. When the customer alternative is to wing it in the bathroom mirror as they squint at a paper ruler they printed out online, it’s clear how much opticians value customer eye health in the situation.
You shouldn’t be buying online anyway
When ordering online, the consumer is, in essence, taking on the role of a trained optical dispenser. This includes taking critical measurements and making critical decisions with respect to frame, lens and material selection. There is an inherent risk associated with making these determinations without the proper skills and education.
Canadian Association of Optometrists
At about -6, my prescription is pretty heavy but not absurdly so. My last optician-obtained glasses cost about 300$, with a previous pair racking up at almost 800$. The most Zenni Optical ever charged me (for a specially-coated and tinted pair of sunglasses) was 50$. For 250$ I was willing to do a lot of research, and the online stores (Zenni, Clearly.ca, EyeBuyDirect, etc.) are incentivized to make the process easy.
With a doctor-provided prescription, you can order potentially dangerous medical drugs online
With a doctor-provided prescription, you should be able to order glasses online
We don’t have the equipment
We don’t have the equipment
My optometrist, to me
Your PD is best measured using a pupilometer, or a centrometer. They can be found on places like Amazon.com for between 150$ and 300$.
Prior to your meeting with the actual optometrist, the clinic technician measured your eye pressure using a tonometer (2,000$ – 8,000$), and photographed the back of your eye using a retinal imager / Fundus camera (3,000$ – 25,000$).
They have the staff – they have the time – they can afford the equipment.
Ask an optician
You can get it at the optician’s next door
My optometrist, to me
No you can’t. Opticians do not want to give you your PD
While some might be willing to provide PD measurement services, the store my optometrist’s office was directly connected to was not. I’m sure my optometrist meant well, but I’m surprised they didn’t understand that wasn’t how things worked.
Most optician’s will not provide you your PD, as they know you’ll be buying online and aren’t willing to lose business.
It’s illegal
It’s illegal to give you your PD
Clerk at a Superstore Optical department, to me
It is obviously not illegal to provide a biological metric to the person that metric applies to, especially when they ask, especially when it’s the distance between their eyes. 🙄