Archive for December, 2010

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Taking Care

Friday, December 31st, 2010

With our ageing population, we’re all aware that we’re living longer and therefore having to take extra care of ourselves and those around us. You may find yourself in the position of escorting a relative, friend or neighbour to the optician for their eye exam. If the need arises, how do you look after them and make sure that they get everything out of the test that they possibly can?

The first hurdle is a physical one, as you need to make sure you can park easily near your chosen practice, that they have wheelchair access if necessary, or at least a downstairs consulting room or lift if the patient is mobile but not steady on stairs. You need to take with you any current glasses, and a note of medication that the patient takes.

You may be required to accompany the patient into the test, so don’t be afraid to insist that you go in. Every practice should have a chaperone policy which allows you to go with them. Let the patient speak for themselves until they ask for your help. The Optician needs to assess sight and eye health issues from the patient’s point of view, not yours!!

If there are eye health problems, the Optician may refer the patient to the Hospital eye service for treatment. At this stage you may have questions that the patient might not have though of. What possible treatment is being suggested? What outcome can be expected? Will an operation be necessary? If so, what time scale are we expecting – for the waiting list and any stay in hospital. Alternative therapies, such as vitamin supplements for macular degeneration may be suggested. Ask and ask again until you and the patient are happy with the possible outcome and exactly what needs to be done.

If new glasses would help, you might be able to assist in pointing out any day to day difficulties you are aware of, for example – if the patient has arthritis they may have a problem opening and closing their specs, so a spring joint would help. The dispensing staff will have plenty of suggestions to make suitable new glasses in terms of sight and practicality.

Your trip to the Optician might be a positively life changing experience for the patient, so enjoy your good deed for the day and help them to get as much out of it as possible. And remember – one day you’ll be wheeled in by a long suffering assistant, so be patient yourself!

Varifocal Glasses

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In Case Of Emergency

Thursday, December 30th, 2010

Over the festive season we Opticians like a good rest and plenty of indulgence just like everyone else, although our patients often seem to think we should be poised by the phone, ready to help out with any eye care emergencies you can challenge us with. Much as we love to please, we do deserve a little break, so amid the vast shopping list of Bailey’s, Mince pies, indigestion remedies and Red Bull, jot down a few eye wear essentials……

Check your glasses for loose screws and missing nose pads before we close down for the festivities. You don’t want to be plastered all over Facebook in sticky-taped specs! Most Opticians will be able to quickly and easily do minor maintenance and repairs while you wait. Make sure you know where your spare pair is, and if lots of relatives are piling through the door, make sure you know whose glasses belong to whom!

If you wear contact lenses, stock up on solution or extra disposable lenses. Storing lenses in a) water, b) eggnog, c) three year old vintage solution is not good for your eyes or the lenses themselves. Spending the day in A&E with an inflamed eye is not fun for anyone. If you have the slightest suggestion of an eye infection, take lenses out at once and find the nearest pharmacist for anti-biotic drops. Follow their advice and don’t wear lenses again until you’ve finished the course. You want red eyes over New Year’s Eve because you had a fantastic party time, not because your eyeballs are on fire!

If you use ready readers, invest in an extra pair and remember where you put them. Squinting at the instructions on an endless round of battery insertion isn’t fun and isn’t pretty. You’ll also need them to loan to hapless relatives who forgot theirs, because after reading the cracker contents of everyone around the table the joke wears a bit thin!

So a bit of forethought will have you seeing in the New Year after a very Happy Christmas, not peering helplessly at it!!

Varifocal Glasses

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Eye Wear Personalities!

Tuesday, December 28th, 2010

When the Christmas excesses have worn off and we start looking forward to a bright fresh New Year, we often diet, or promise to give up smoking, or cut down on drinking etc etc…… For a quicker, easier way to a new look, you might be thinking of investing in new specs. Get some inspiration from your personality, and you won’t go far wrong………

Funky & Edgy – If you’re a trend setter not a follower, who loves the latest looks, then whether you’re a boy or a girl, the choice is simple. Large, bold, deep plastic frames with minimal detail in a dark colour is the look for you. Add a subtle twist with layered colour or a slightly see-through mottle with a two tone effect.

Classic and Traditional – Spec fashion always caters for the investment dresser, and you’ll be in style with a simple metal in gunmetal, gold or black. Find a frame that’s the width of your temples, with a little extra depth this year. Women can add a discreet touch of filigree detail or a tiny dash of diamante, men a sleek enamel inlay or sharp, etched geometric pattern.

Arty & Eclectic – If you like your fashion earthy and artistic, then go wild with vibrant colour, big retro shapes, and chunky decoration. For chaps it’s all about coloured lining, Eric Morcombe shape and proportion (In the frame, not you!!) and visible pin detail. For women it’s wild retro cat’s eye shapes, inlaid stones and flower and butterfly motifs.

Chic and Cool – If you like a minimalist look but something with a sexy touch of subtle fashion, then follow the trend but in a quieter way. Big but not oversized, coloured but not too flashy, detailed but not wildly over-decorated. Men might like a metal with a chunky rim and wider sides rather than a plastic, women might be tempted by pared down plastics and calm, neutral colours, like mink or tortoiseshell.

Follow your own instincts rather than slavishly adhering to fashion and you’ll find a frame that fits with your wardrobe, your look and your lifestyle. A new you without counting a calorie or denying yourself any of your favourite guilty pleasures!

Varifocal Glasses

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Question Time Again!

Monday, December 27th, 2010

We’ve run a few blogs replying to some of the questions that come up after eye exams or as a mails we get with your queries. Obviously you all have your fave opticians that you go to visit, but the consulting room can be intimidating, or you simply don’t like to go back and ask having left the building. So in case you are all wondering about the same thing, here are our FAQ’s of 2010!

I don’t know if my new glasses will work because I’m not sure I answered the Optician properly. I wasn’t sure if one or two was better….

The optician checks and double checks your answers, repeating the test in tiny steps until your answer makes senses to them! They also use your previous prescription, and their Retinoscope to make sure everything is as it should be.

My Mum and Dad hated varifocals, why are you suggesting them to me?

Varifocals first appeared in the Sixties, and like all other technology they’re improved since then! The failure rate is minute now. If you are one of the tiny percentage of people who doesn’t get on with them, we’ll refund you anyway, so there’s no risk!

My new reading glasses are great for small print but now I can’t see the computer. What do I do?

Stronger reading lenses let you see tiny detail, but at a shorter focal distance than an older, weaker pair. Either wear your old readers for the computer, or order varifocals if you need to see small print and computer screen distance at the same time.

My Optician wouldn’t let me have the big frame I love, just because I’m a bit short sighted. Can you make them for me?

We don’t turn you down on your frame choice just to be mean! If you’re short sighted your lenses will be thick at the edges, with the thickness increasing as the frame gets bigger. Fall in love with a scaled down version, you’ll be much happier with the result!

We hope you all enjoy wearing the glasses we’ve supplied over 2010, we enjoy communicating with all of our customers and doing our best job for you. We love hearing from you, so feel free to add to our question list any time!

Varifocal Glasses

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How you see it….

Sunday, December 26th, 2010

For those blessed with perfect sight, whether thanks to specs or what nature gave them, it’s difficult to imagine what life must be like if you have a sight defect that can’t be corrected, or if you’re unable to communicate that your vision is poor. Let’s take a moment to consider those whose world is less than crystal clear.

Parents are often mortified to find out that their children have a sight defect, and that they didn’t realise. For the child however, how would they know that their soft and fuzzy world isn’t what we see? This is why it’s important to have your child’s sight tested as early as possible, and then carry on with regular check ups. If they sit close to the TV or screen, have poor concentration, or screw their eyes up, then a check up will give you peace of mind. They don’t know any different, and at a young age their eyes accommodate to help them to see, which in the long term may cause eye strain.

Adults can have sight problems creep up on them without them realising that their sight has deteriorated. Fitting someone who has slowly become short sighted can be a miracle cure – suddenly the world is 3D again, there are leaves on the trees, bricks in walls! If the eyes change slowly it’s easy for the patient not to notice the gradual change in their sight. Again, regular eye exams mean you’re always up to the driving standard and you’re making the most of your sight.

Presbyopia gradually occurs over the age of forty, with close work becoming increasingly difficult. You find yourself moving small print to arm’s length to see it, struggling to thread a needle, or swearing over the poor quality of newsprint nowadays! The problem gradually worsens until you can’t get things into focus however far away you put them! Simple reading specs will restore your sight, so don’t pull a muscle stretching your arms indefinitely!

Varifocal Glasses

Eye disease can also be an ongoing problem that the patient is unaware of. Glaucoma causes the visual field to diminish, Macular degeneration causes loss of central vision. For elderly patient who don’t go out very much, they may not notice the loss of their peripheral vision. Glaucoma is easily treated in the early stages, so missing an eye test can be disastrous if early signs are missed. There are therapies for macular degeneration too, so again, early detection is vital. With all the issues mentioned above, there’s an easy solution which will correct your sight in the short term, and protect it in the long term. Book an eye exam and make sure that how you see things is how the rest of us see them too!

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Back to Basics

Saturday, December 25th, 2010

As we live and breathe glasses, in all their exciting shapes and sizes, it’s easy for us to forget that for first time wearers, choosing a frame and the accompanying lenses can be a minefield of exhausting choice and confusing options. After a couple of enquiry e-mails this week, we came back to earth and realised that a little refresher course on making that first important step into clear sight might be useful, so here we go, back to the basics!

Selecting a frame entails you making a series of decisions based on looks alone. Unless you’ve been secretly short sighted for years, walking into oncoming buses and squinting for England every minute of the day, it’s unlikely that as a fist time wearer you’ll have a high prescription that will limit your frame choice. For low power, first prescriptions the choice is entirely down to personal taste.

On the whole, metal frames are less obtrusive than plastic, as they are thinner and less conspicuous. Plastic is bolder, brighter, and literally, more in your face! Metal frames have two nose pads which bear the weight of the frame across your nose, plastic have a moulded bridge which spread the weight across a greater area. Pad bridges on metals are good for uneven noses, slim bridges, or sinus sufferers who need the specs to sit in a specific place. Pads have the flexibility to help you get the frame where you want it. Plastic or metal should be equally durable for everyday wear.

The frame size should be the width of your face, wider and your eyes will look close together, narrower and you’ll be looking around the edges! Fashion at present is not a particular size, so there’s plenty of choice and different looks. Style depends on you – bold, funky and on trend, or classic and chic? Look through fashion magazines, see what your friends are wearing, browse online. Think of this as a fashion item you actually need to purchase, and enjoy the shopping opportunity!

Colour is down to personal choice, to fit in with your colouring or your favourite ‘uniform’ for work or leisure. As a general rule, blondes with fair skins suit delicate metals, dark hair and eyes suit sultry looks in dark colours, dark skins look amazing in bold brights. For the first pair, something that tones with you and your lifestyle will be easier for you and your loved ones to adjust too! Then as your confidence grows you can experiment with the bright and the beautiful. Enjoy your glasses – see them as an accessory to both your looks and your lifestyle.

Varifocal Glasses

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Here is the News…..

Friday, December 24th, 2010

Despite the pre-Christmas wind-down, there are plenty of exciting developments going on in the world of Optics. Plenty of clever boffin-types are beavering away on your behalf, making life easier and clearer for anyone with a sight defect, so what’s new, and what do we have to look forward to – and through!!

The first ever prescription visor for motorcycles has been launched, making driving safer for cyclists. The DVLA estimates that nearly 80% of the UK’s registered cycle drivers need corrective lenses, so this idea has huge potential. Fitting specs inside helmets is not the most comfortable solution, and peripheral vision is often compromised. A built in visor should improve both safety and comfort for drivers. Seiko have been involved in the development of the visor, due to their expertise in anti-mist and anti-fog technology.

Kerataconus is an eye disease that causes visual distortion for sufferers, and at present treatment with contact lenses or glasses can be time consuming and frustrating until the right combination of fit and prescription is achieved. British company UltraVision have just received FDA approval for their patented soft contact lens KeraSoft. This means they can market the lens in the USA, giving patients wider access to the lens. Described as life changing, this lens is a huge accomplishment for the UltraVision team.

A new online calculator has been set up to help practitioners predict a child’s probability of cataract development in later life. This simple tool will open the dialogue with parents about protecting their child’s eyes, and help to educate them in the importance of sun protection even in the earliest years of life. By considering lifestyle and hereditary factors it’s easy to then give suggestions to reduce the risk. A simple idea that could save an operation in later life.

New products, research ideas and technology are all happening all over the world to improve our sight and our lives – so let’s say thanks to those boffins hard at work on our behalf!

Varifocal Glasses

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2010 Trends

Thursday, December 23rd, 2010

Looking back over the year, we’ve seen quite a few style changes across Optics during 2010. The hints have been there over the past couple of years, but definite changes have occurred over a turbulent twelve months in our Economy, our Politics and our daily lives.

Expensive and delicate, high maintenance choices like rimless and semi-rimless frames have dramatically dropped in popularity. These specs were always a bit of an indulgence, costly to buy, with a high risk of breakage, and pricey to repair too. We’re seeing fewer and fewer orders for these, with fashion and cost dictating a more sensible choice.

Frames have got larger and more studious, with a more serious mood sweeping the country. The glamour of tiny jewellery like frames and delicate crystal encrusted plastics have given way to chunky, bold, unisex shapes with less decoration and a more utilitarian vibe. This gives rise to a sexy, young look which is edgy and cool for men and women. Even designers like Dior and Gucci, known for high fashion and decadence, have shifted their style to this Geek trend.

Sunglasses have always been a high fashion item which dictate the future look for ophthalmic frames. Shapes and sizes in sunnies predict our standard spec look for the coming months, but this year there has been more variety in styles. Where once the season firmly stated that this year’s sunnie was Aviator shaped, or a shield, or a Jackie O round, now each collection has a little of everything. This is excellent for consumer choice, and for each of us finding a shape that suits us, not the fashion!

Next year’s looks will evolve from this year’s as fashion seasons, as with clothes, straddle the calendar year. More large sizes, more simple square shapes, less rimless. If you’re thinking of a new look, then take inspiration from the last couple of months, to stay on trend over the next year.

Prescription Glasses

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In the Deep Mid Winter……..

Monday, December 20th, 2010

Dazzling headlights on dark roads are a problem for many drivers as we hit the party scene and find ourselves out and about late into the night. If you don’t wear glasses, you won’t appreciate the difficulty caused by light that’s refracted at every shiny surface around the driver. Light hits the front surface of the windscreen, is refracted through it, leaves the back surface of the windscreen, and this happens on each glass surface – your mirrors, your windows, your glasses. At each refraction, interference blocks your vision and can cause confusion and dazzle.

It’s not just spec wearers who suffer at night. Eye disease such as Glaucoma and cataract can cause odd optical effects. Contact lens patients, especially those with multifocal contacts can suffer with poor vision at night, having to drive more slowly, and finding difficulty in recognising road signs. This latter problem can mean slower reaction to oncoming hazards. Multifocal wearers may be more comfortable switching to specs for long journeys after dark.

Patients who have been through laser surgery sometimes find they see haloes around lights at night; this was a particular issue with older surgical techniques. This again can lead to slower reaction times. Sadly this cannot be reversed, so if you’re considering surgery, research your surgeon carefully, check how many operations they have performed, and choose a company who will give you realistic expectations of the outcome.

If you do have issues around night driving, then speak to your optician on your next visit. Even a tiny increase in prescription is worth changing your specs for, to give any improvement in visual acuity. Never wear tints, add an anti-reflection coating, and make sure your frame is large and the lenses are scrupulously clean. Scratches may refract light too, so you may need a replacement lens if there’s a scratch in your line of vision. It’s not worth the risk to drive at night if you’re not safe, so check if your sight is as good as it can be, and at least if you decide it’s not safe for you to drive you can have a drink to toast your designated driver!

Prescription Glasses

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The Gift of Sight

Sunday, December 19th, 2010

If you’re still searching for the elusive perfect present for a loved one, take heart if they are a spectacle wearer – the Internet Glasses Company can be your Father Christmas, so your Christmas prayers are answered!

Glasses as a gift may not sound that exciting, but by giving someone a specific prescription lens, or sunglasses that they always thought were an indulgence, or a bling alternative frame for evenings, you could be filling a niche in their eyewear wardrobe that they never even knew existed!

If your nearest and dearest loves embroidery, reading music, tying flies, hammering at their workbench, knitting…….the list goes on! Then their ordinary reading glasses may not be of the right focal length for these very specific tasks. Even varifocals, due to the angle they have to work at, might not be comfortable. A nice little luxury is the correct power for their favourite hobby. So how do you buy for them? Take a sneaky peek at their present specs and note the size on the side arm. Find an equivalent amongst our extensive range. Tell us their prescription, and the approximate distance they are working at. If you’re not sure, mail us, we can help you with suggested distances. We then calculate the strength they need, pop them in the post, and you get all the thanks! Plus, possibly, a yummy hand knitted sweater from a grateful Great Aunt into the bargain!

Prescription sunglasses are now often seen as a necessity, but for some, they might be a purchase they’ve never got around too. Equally easy- again, check their frame size, and choose any frame a size bigger in the eye size. This is the larger measurement that you read off their frame, usually between 48 and 56 mm. Sizing up means good sun protection. Then add a tint and UV layer to the order, mail us for advice if you’re unsure. You’ll be giving the gift of glamour, safe sight, and fewer wrinkles all in one – who could ask for more!!

For a bling fan who loves some dazzle in their eyewear, a funky frame will be the answer to their every Christmas wish. Pick something suitably snazzy, something a little daring that they won’t wear on a trip to Sainsbury’s, and you won’t go wrong!

So trust the Internet Glasses Company  to do the work of Santa’s little elves for you, and be a cracker this Christmas!

Prescription Glasses

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