What the arms do
A temple has four parts: the hinge that joins it to the front, the shaft along the side of your head, the bend where the shaft turns down above the ear, and the tip that follows the back of the ear. A frame fits when the shafts touch the head lightly, the bends sit just past the top of the ears, and the tips curve down without pressing on the bone. The how glasses should fit guide has the full set of checks; the arm checks are below.
Diagnose the problem first
Stand in front of a mirror with the glasses on and run these in order.
- Look at the floor. If the frame drops forward, the tips are not hooking behind your ears. The arms are too loose.
- Take the glasses off after an hour. Red marks behind the ears or on the sides of the head mean the arms are too tight.
- Look at the frame from above, then from the front. One lens closer to your face or higher than the other means one arm is bent differently. The frame is uneven, not loose.
- Look at the frame from above with the arms open. Arms angled wider than your head are splayed; the frame creeps forward even when the tips are right.
Each has its own fix, and the fix depends on the material, so identify the material before you touch anything.
Know the material before you bend
Acetate. The classic plastic frame, usually glossy, often layered or tortoise. Acetate holds a bend only when warm and cracks when bent cold. Warm it under warm tap water for thirty seconds or with a hair dryer on low held a hand's width away, bend a little, hold for ten seconds while it cools, test, repeat. Never boil it, never use a flame. The acetate frames collection is where these live.
Nylon, Ultem and AQUA. The lightweight injected materials in sport frames and many everyday ones: matte, very light, a little flex in the hand. They bend cold and gently and spring part of the way back, so bend slightly past the shape you want. Do not heat them. The Ultem glasses guide explains the material.
Metal. Steel and alloy temples bend cold and hold the bend. Go in two or three small moves, holding the temple close to the bend point so the force goes where you want it and not into the hinge. The metal frame glasses collection lists the frames this applies to.
Titanium and beta titanium. Light, strong and springy, which is the whole point of the material and the reason home bending fails: the temple returns to its shape and the hinge takes the strain instead. Shops have a tool for it. Leave the titanium frames to them.
Loose arms: the frame slides when you look down
The fix is at the tips and the bend, never at the hinge.
- Find the point where the arm starts to curve down behind your ear. Hold the shaft just in front of that point with one hand.
- With the other hand, bend the tip downward a few degrees. Acetate warm, nylon and metal cold.
- Try the frame on and look at the floor. If it still drops, repeat once. Two small bends beat one big one.
- If the bend sits too far back, so the arm runs straight past your ear before curving, the arm is too long for your head. A shop can move the bend forward on acetate and metal; on nylon the arm is usually a fixed shape.
If the arms are also splayed wider than your head, fix that first: close each arm inward just behind the hinge, acetate warm and metal cold, until the shafts touch the sides of your head lightly. A splayed frame creeps forward and slides no matter how good the tips are.
Tight arms: marks behind the ears or on the sides of the head
Tight arms are the mirror image. If the marks are behind the ears, the tips curve too sharply: bend them a few degrees outward, away from the head, in the same small steps. If the pressure is on the sides of the head, the shafts are too narrow for your head: bend each arm outward just behind the hinge, warming acetate first and going slowly on metal. Open each side the same amount or the frame will sit crooked.
A frame that pinches everywhere at once, temples and bridge and the width of the front, is too small rather than too tight, and bending will not fix it. The glasses measurements guide shows where the width number is on your current frame so you can compare it with the next one.
Uneven arms: one lens higher or closer than the other
Do not bend the front. Lay the frame upside down on a flat table with both arms open. A level frame rests on both arm tips and the top of the front at the same time. The arm that lifts off the table is the one that has been bent up; the arm that pushes the frame off the table has been bent down. Bend that one arm at the hinge end, in the direction of the table, a little at a time, and test on the table between moves. When both tips touch, the frame is level again.
Two hinge types that change the method
Spring hinges. Many lightweight frames have a spring in the hinge that lets the arm open past ninety degrees and snap back. The hinge end of these arms is not a place to bend: the spring takes the force and loses its tension. Make the adjustments at the bend and the tip, and treat splay as a shop job.
Mortise and tenon hinges. The traditional interlocking hinge, usually on acetate and some Ultem frames, with no spring and a fixed stop. A loose feeling at the hinge is nearly always the screw, a quarter turn with an eyeglass screwdriver.
When to stop and take it to a shop
Titanium and beta titanium temples, any crack at the hinge or along the arm, rimless frames where the lens takes the strain, a slack spring hinge, and any correction of more than a few degrees. A big correction means something else is wrong: the width, the arm length or the bridge. Most opticians adjust arms in minutes, often free, and MUJOSH's services page explains what fit help we offer on our own frames.
When the arms are not the problem
An arm adjustment fixes a frame that fitted once and has drifted. It does not fix a frame whose bridge never sat on the nose. If the frame slides with the tips hooked firmly behind your ears, and the lenses rest on your cheeks, the problem is the bridge: a lower nose bridge wearing a frame cut for a higher one. The fix is a frame with a bridge cut lower from the start. The low bridge fit eyeglasses collection is where to look; many of our frames are cut that way.
MUJOSH frames, arm by arm
The eyeglasses collection covers all four materials, so the rule depends on the frame. The Halo, $119, is a lightweight acetate oval with adjustable nose pads: warm the arms to bend them. The Alio XZ, $99, is a crown panto frame in ultra light AQUA material with spring hinges and a low bridge fit: bend the tips cold and gently, leave the hinge alone. The Ultem, $99, has a mortise and tenon hinge: cold bends at the tips, a screwdriver for the hinge. The Beta Pitot, $135, has beta titanium temples and a low bridge fit: the arms go to a shop, and the low bridge means they rarely need to.
Before adjusting, check the frame was ever the right size: the glasses for wide faces guide covers the frame front that no adjustment can widen, and the sunglasses for big heads guide covers the temple length that no bend can lengthen.
How to fix bent glasses
Bent glasses are almost always bent at one of three places, and each has its own fix. A bent temple, the arm that goes over the ear, is the most common: on a metal frame, hold the hinge end firmly in one hand and ease the arm back towards straight with the other in small movements, checking against the other arm as you go; on an acetate frame, warm the arm in your hands or under warm water for a minute until it gives a little, then straighten it the same way, and never force cold acetate. A twisted bridge, where one lens sits higher than the other on the face, is fixed on a metal frame by holding each lens rim and turning gently in opposite directions until the two lenses lie flat on a table together; on acetate it is a job for the shop, because the bridge is thick and the frame can crack. Bent nose pad arms are bent back with fingertips, one at a time, towards the position of the other pad. The rule across all three: small moves, check often, stop when it is close rather than perfect, and take a frame that has been bent twice in the same place to an optician before it snaps. The how to tighten glasses guide covers the loose hinge that often comes with a bend.
The bottom line
Diagnose first: loose, tight, uneven or splayed. Then the material: warm acetate, bend nylon and Ultem cold and gently, metal cold in small moves, titanium to a shop. Bend at the tips for the ears, behind the hinge for width, at the hinge end of one arm for a crooked frame, never at a spring hinge or the front. If the frame needs more than a few degrees, or slides with the arms set right, the arms were never the problem.
On a spring hinge the grip at the hinge end is set by the spring and is not bent; the spring hinge glasses guide explains which adjustments still apply.
If the complaint is pain behind the ears, the glasses hurt behind ears guide works through the six causes before you bend anything.
If the frame sits crooked, the crooked glasses guide has the table test that tells you whether the frame or the face is uneven.
Frequently asked questions
How do I adjust glasses arms that are too loose?
Bend the tips of the arms downward a few degrees where they curve behind your ears, warming acetate under warm tap water first and bending nylon or metal cold. If the arms are also splayed wider than your head, close them inward just behind the hinge first.
Can I bend my glasses arms without breaking them?
Yes, if you match the method to the material. Acetate bends only when warm; nylon, Ultem and similar lightweight frames bend cold and gently and spring part of the way back; metal bends cold in small moves; titanium should go to a shop. Never bend the front, a cracked arm or a spring hinge.
How do I fix glasses that sit crooked?
Lay the frame upside down on a flat table with the arms open. The arm that lifts off the table is the bent one. Bend that arm at the hinge end toward the table a little at a time until both tips touch the table together.
My glasses still slide after adjusting the arms. Why?
The bridge, not the arms. If the frame slides with the tips hooked firmly behind your ears, the bridge is sitting above your nose rather than on it. That is a frame cut for a higher nose bridge; a low bridge fit frame, with the bridge cut lower, is the fix.
