There are many options available to make thick eyeglass lenses appear thinner. The typical "coke-bottle" appearance is not only cosmetically undesirable, but thick lenses make eyeglasses heavier on the nose. Here we discuss the ways to make eyeglass lenses appear less bulky and feel lighter.

Frame Size -

Eyeglass frames come in all shapes and sizes. There are two important measurements to consider when selecting eyeglass frames to reduce lens thickness: the "A" measurement and the "B" measurement. The "A" measurement is a measurement of the horizontal distance of each lens from temple to bridge. The "B" measurement is of the vertical distance of each lens from top to bottom:

By selecting a frame with reduced "A", "B" or both measurements, lens edge thickness is reduced. Why is that? Lenses that are extremely thick have a high concavity on the back surface of the lens.
The side view of a concave lens in a large frame looks like this:

The view from the side of the frame looks like:

You can look at the view from the side and see the edges of the lens hanging out of the frame.

If the frame diameter measurements were smaller, the lens edges would hang over the edge of the frame less:


The resulting appearance is less edge apparent from the side view of the frame. It is also a good idea to get a frame made of thicker metal or plastic. The frame thickness can hide some of the lens edge. If the lens was thick and the patient was in a thin metal frame or a frame without rims (plastic wire holding the lenses in place), the whole thick edge would be observable.