Archive for January, 2011

« Older Entries

Beating the January Blues!

Tuesday, January 25th, 2011

During the dark days after Christmas the weather and the light conditions can play havoc with eye health and our sight. You might be embracing New Year new regimes or hibernating by the fire, but whatever your state of mind in 2011 having trouble free eyes will definitely help you!

With flu and the winter vomiting bug laying many of us low over Christmas, Conjunctivitis got a grip of quite a few patients as immune systems were hit by the dreaded lurgy. This is an irritating nuisance to any sufferer, and a nightmare if you wear contact lenses. Take lenses out at the first sign of irritation, and visit your Pharmacist or GP for drops. You’ll need antibiotics if you have an infection, so keep the course going as advised and don’t attempt to wear your lenses again until you are sure your eyes are clear.

Dry eyes are very uncomfortable, and can flare up due to cold winds and central heating affecting your tear layer. In the healthy eye tears sterilise and lubricate the eye, and give a smooth surface to help you see. If the tears do not function properly then the sensation of uncomfortable, gritty, sore dry eyes can make life a misery. Visit your GP or Optician for a check up, and they can prescribe lid massage or artificial tears to help restore the tear system.

Low light can make close work a real struggle if you’re on the verge of needing reading glasses. If you’ve been prescribed glasses, then make sure you wear them! If you were borderline last time or due for a check up then visit your Optician and get used to having reading specs to hand for small print and detailed work such as threading a needle. Ignoring the problem will lead to headaches and eye strain. A good quality reading lamp will make all the difference too, and is particularly important for elderly patients.

The other bothersome light problem is low sun, which can wreak havoc on the roads for drivers. Remember that sunglasses are not just for summer! Have them to hand for those rare bright days, but take clear specs too for driving home at night. Photochromic lenses love the cold, so will go super dark if it’s chilly and sunny.

With a bit of thought you’ll skip happily through winter and happily leap into spring and before you know it you’ll have summer problems to contend with!!

Varifocal Glasses

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Eye Health, Helpfull Info | No Comments »

Vive La Difference!

Monday, January 24th, 2011

It’s refreshing to peruse the collections for New Year and actually see a huge range of shapes, sizes and colours for New Year. It’s frustrating with clothes when your favorite skirt shape isn’t ‘in’ this year and then can’t be found on the High Street, and it’s very annoying with specs if the size or shape you need isn’t available. With spec lenses, there are limits for some prescriptions with regard to the frame you can have. In the Seventies, varifocals needed huge deep lenses, and thankfully the fashion then was the massive Timmy Mallet look. But then in the Eighties the trend went all tiny and minimal, and varifocals wearers were left out on the cold – not only were they unfashionable, they often couldn’t even find suitable frames!

Thankfully, times have changed. Varifocals can now go into almost any size frame, and the trends have evolved again, but happily we now have much more variation and choice. Where once all frames were big, or small, or square, or round, we now have more options, and a far less homogenous look. Often patients would look at the frame display and say ‘They all look the same!” and they were right – they did! But the truth with glasses is that you do need a size that fits your face and will suit your lenses, and this may not necessarily be the fashion at the time. Obviously, we all like to be up to date, but you have to be able to wear the glasses comfortably and see as well!

A good frame range will offer petite and large frames, as well as the middle sizes that will suit most average face shapes. Some need to be shallow shapes, so they don’t rest on cheeks, some need to be deeper for specialist vocational lenses. Whether plastic frames or metal are trendy, you need both, as for some patients the specific fit of each material is crucial to their comfort. It’s great that the manufacturers have taken note of this and now produce collections which offer variety. If you’ve got to wear glasses, they must feel comfortable, look good, and work with your lenses to correct your sight. Better choice gives you the chance to find the perfect specs to achieve all of this.

varifocal Glasses

Tags: ,
Posted in Helpfull Info | No Comments »

Examining the Experts

Sunday, January 23rd, 2011

At the Internet Glasses Company we’re proud of the work we do and our profession. We believe that there’s room within our industry for High Street Opticians and those of us here in Cyberspace. We use our years of experience and expertise dealing with patients face to face to supply you with perfect specs even though you buy them online. So who’s here looking after you behind the scenes, and what do we do with your order?

The First Port of Call – The Dispensing Optician:

“My job is to look at your order and envisage your finished specs. I check your prescription, and the measurements provided to make sure it all looks ok and that it makes sense! I’ll contact clients by phone or e-mail if I need to query anything. I also need to make sure that the frame is suitable for the lenses, and the size looks logical compared to patient measurements. The Ophthalmic Optician and I check the orders before processing……

The Second Check – The Ophthalmic Optician:

“I oversee your orders and double check the work my Dispenser does. They deal with the technical issues of specs married to lenses; I back up their assessment of the prescription and make sure it looks correct. We look for potential problems together, and I also deal with your mail or phone enquiries relating to queries on eye health issues or lens power.

Work begins – The Workshop Technician:

“I select the correct lenses, order frames if necessary, and finally cut your lenses and put the glasses together. At each step of the way my assistants and the Dispensing Optician are watching the progress of jobs and checking the work. We have to adhere strictly to British Standards and make sure our measurements and lens powers are spot on.”

Ready for Dispatch – The Dispensing Optician:

Before your glasses leave our Lab, they go through the final quality control checks to make sure we haven’t missed anything! We also set the frames straight, making sure they are shaped to fit your head, and give the lenses a final polish. When we’re happy we hand them onto dispatch for packing.”

At Home – Your New Glasses:

“I got my new specs last week, popped through the letterbox and waiting when I got home from work. Finally I can read at night again, and in a rather snazzy Oscar & Fitch funky frame too. They’re light and comfy and I’m really please with the service, which was speedy and very easy.”

Varifocal Glasses

Tags: , ,
Posted in Helpfull Info | No Comments »

Back to Basics

Saturday, January 22nd, 2011

Like all experts within an industry we go about our daily work and use jargon because we know what we’re muttering about. We do try very hard to banish technical terms from our website and in our e-mails, but even with all this effort we still presume that you know some very basic truths about spec wear and our products. A question came up last week – aren’t glasses still made of glass then? Which totally stopped us in our tracks! So we thought we’d better go back to basics and answer that question and a few others…..

So are glasses made of glass?!

While glass was the original material used for corrective spectacle lenses, nowadays it’s all about plastic, and we use this for 99.9% of our specs. Plastic is lighter weight, and safer in that it’s shatterproof. It does scratch more easily than glass, but we hard coat it to make it more scratch resistant.

Why are some lenses really thick?

The end result of the thickness of a lens depends on several factors. Your lens strength, your frame size, and the distance between your eyes all have an effect. If your prescription if strong, if you are petite and your eyes are close together, if your frame is big, your lenses will be thicker. Choose as small as frame as possible and order thinned lenses if you want to improve the appearance of your specs.

If you wear contact lenses do you need glasses too?

Now that specs and lenses are so cheap, it’s not such a big deal to make sure you always have up to date glasses too. You’ll need a spare in case you loose a contact lens or get an eye infection. Could you drive or work if you couldn’t see? Specs might be crucial for everyday life if you have a contact lens problem. And it’s nice to have a change and wear your glasses now and again!

How can you get my specs right when you haven’t even seen me?!

For some prescriptions and sight defects we cannot deal with the order online. We also don’t provide glasses for children and NHS-defined-complex lens wearers. For the vast majority of the population however, we can easily supply glasses. If there is a potential problem we won’t accept your order! Happily this is rare, and we make thousands of new glasses for our clients. And if they don’t work we’ll refund you, so there’s no risk to you anyway.

Varifocal Glasses

Tags: ,
Posted in Helpfull Info | No Comments »

To Wear or not to Wear?

Thursday, January 20th, 2011

People often worry that they can permanently damage their sight by not wearing their specs, or even by wearing their specs too much. Mums nag their children about remembering to wear their glasses in school; adults tell themselves off for forgetting to take their glasses out on shopping trips. The truth is that in the short term you may give yourself a headache by going spec-less, or suffer a little temporary eye strain, but in the long term you can’t alter your sight one way or the other!

Generally the eye is long or short sighted because the eyeball is the wrong length, so light doesn’t focus correctly on the retina, and your sight is blurred. Astigmatism arises because the curve of the eye is not even. You need help for reading because of unavoidable ageing changes within the eye. So don’t worry that you can accelerate your sight defect or indeed make your eyes better if you don’t wear your glasses.  Computers are also blamed for causing eye strain and making the eyes worse. In reality, you just notice a sight defect more if your eyes are tired, and constantly staring at the screen means your eyes feel slightly blurry when you look away. So is there any way that you can improve your own eye health?

Having an eye test every two years, or more often if your optician recommends it, will ensure that your eyes stay as healthy as possible and that any eye health problems are picked up from the earliest signs. Keeping your specs prescription up to date and wearing glasses as prescribed will save eye strain and keep the dreaded headaches at bay. Make an effort to blink regularly if you’re in front of a screen all day and glance across the room whenever you think about it to allow the eye to change focus. Gentle daily exercise increases oxygen levels in the eye, essential for healthy tissues.

If you wear contact lenses be strict with sticking to check ups and using the solutions your Optician suggests. Don’t exceed wearing time and if you buy them from the internet take care to buy exactly what your Optician recommends and make sure you order from an up to date prescription.

Varifocal Glasses

Tags: , ,
Posted in Helpfull Info, Science | No Comments »

Celeb Watch – New Looks for New Year

Tuesday, January 18th, 2011

Wasn’t the festive season simply exhausting Celeb Watchers? All those hectic days planning our New Looks for New Year, endless partying, speculating on VB’s new maternity range……so much fashion forecasting, so little time…..and then there’s the impending nuptials and our homage to Kate hen night to plan – it’s all happening here at Celeb towers! Meanwhile, we haven’t taken our eye off the ball or the hot looks of our fave Celebs, and we definitely need some new sunnies to disguise the after effects of all those canapés and Krug……

Chloe Sevigny – Looking a bit of a curvy beach babe in Miami in equally curvy sunnies, a bold choice of bikini and deep round frames that accentuate her feminine jawline.

David Tennant – Still our fave Doctor, and time traveling hottie, seen around town with his fiancée (lucky lucky girl!) and sticking with the geek look we know and love.

Victoria Beckham – Everyone’s fave blooming Mummy-to-be (Sorry Amanda Holden!) dressing down and looking cool in LA in a smoky lens Aviator. We cannot wait to see what she comes up with in her next fashion collection now super sized will be the new skinny….

Beyonce – Another bootylcious babe accentuating her curves with a rounded sunnie – must be the must have look for the season. Or maybe she knows nobody is actually looking at the glasses…..

Obviously time to give up the gym and get stuck into the chocs ladies, as we’ll all be needing to pile on the pounds to get the shape of the season. Two weeks into New year and we actually get a resolution we can stick too……

Varifocal Glasses

Tags: , , ,
Posted in Glasses Fashion, Helpfull Info | No Comments »

A Spring in Your Step…….

Monday, January 17th, 2011

Or rather your side! Are you driven mad by having a screw loose on a regular basis? Are you constantly taking your glasses off and squinting at the joints and wondering where those pesky little screws have disappeared too? Then you may need the help of a wonderful little invention called the spring joint…..

A spring joint is usually easy to spot, as it has a thicker metal block on the frame side, where the side meets the frame front. This houses a little spring that will take some of the strain out of life for you! Serial specs abusers, those who wear their glasses as a head band or use them as an executive toy to swing around, will find their glasses last much longer with this little addition. They help the frame to keep it’s shape, save the strain if you take them off with one hand, and the screws stay in better. What more could you want?

These joints have been around for ever, but they have improved over the few years. Many are pretty invisible nowadays, making them suitable for the thinnest and lightest frames. Some have a chunky visible spring, part of the frame decoration, some have neat little concealed springs hidden in a tiny joint. Just look out for it as an additional feature when buying a new frame. In an ideal world, every frame would have this type of joint, but don’t take it for granted, as on some flexible Titanium frames or stainless steel they are deemed unnecessary – but if you’re very heavy handed you may prefer the security of a normal metal material and a spring.

If you have spec wearing children, then the spring is a must, to save daily trips to the Optician’s workshop! They stand up to the endless wear and tear of the playground and the other kids. If you choose a more vulnerable lens mount like a rimless or semi-rimless then a spring will help to prolong the life of your frame and save your sanity!

Varifocal Glasses

Tags:
Posted in Helpfull Info | No Comments »

Twice as Nice!

Sunday, January 16th, 2011

If we ever get the time we’ve often thought about creating a museum of amusing glasses artefacts, displaying for the viewing public some of the weird and wacky specs we’ve seen over the years. You may see specs as a boring combination of frame and lenses that allow you toe read the paper or drive the car, but have you ever seen dual purpose specs, or those extra special specs that set the wearer apart from the crowd?

The most common double duty frame we see is the infamous hearing aid spec, a subtle blend of sight and hearing enhancement. For certain types of hearing loss these are just the ticket, if you don’t mind wearing frames with enormous heavy sides that whistle every now and again…..

For some, glasses are a medical necessity in terms other than correcting their sight. Specs can be used with frosted or tinted lenses to disguise an eye defect, or to hold a built in prosthesis that corrects a facial deformity. They can also hold a Ptosis prop, a metal bar that lifts a drooping eyelid. Glasses can be a vital tool in aiding facial reconstruction for patients who’ve suffered traumatic injury.

In more frivolous terms, we’ve seen glasses with earrings attached, with hidden elastic to hold them on for sports, and nifty joints to allow them to swivel for looking down the pool table! They can protect your eyes for sport, give coverage on the ski slopes, or have prescription built in – diving masks with lens inserts give perfect sight underwater.

In recent years we’ve even had Oakley building MP3 players and blue tooth attachments into frames, for sight and sound on the move! Very James Bond, who must have had surface to air missiles at the very least built into his glasses over the years!

Lenses themselves can also do more than correct short or long sightedness. There are tints to aid Dyslexia, enhance sporting performance, and maximise light for drivers. Whatever will they think of next? You’ll have to wait for a visit to our museum to find out!!

Posted in Helpfull Info, Humourous | No Comments »

Healthy Benefits

Saturday, January 15th, 2011

If you’re busily planning a diet, exercise routine and general health kick for New Year, you may get an extra boost from knowing that good general health practices benefit the eyes too. That’s two resolutions fulfilled for the price of one, without you even knowing it! So while you’re sweating in the sauna or even wielding the Wii fit, take heart and know that your eyes are benefiting too!

1. If you’re stopped smoking – be smug in the knowledge that giving up the evil weed is excellent news for your eyes. Smoking is related to several serous eye conditions, including Cataracts and Macular Degeneration. Stopping smoking is an excellent step forward in saving your sight in later life.

2. If you’re taking more exercise – it’s not just your plump pecs and tubby tummy that will improve! Moderate exercise raises oxygen levels in the blood, healthy for eyes as well as the rest of your body.

3. If you’re keeping up to date with health checks – prevention is better than cure, so consulting the experts and nipping problems in the bud is vital. An eye test will make sure you’re safe to drive, that your eyes and surrounding tissue are healthy and that your potential for perfect sight is maximised. General health problems might be spotted too, including high blood pressure, Diabetes and circulatory problems.

4.If you’re planning a healthier diet – Everything we know we should eat for a healthy body benefits the eyes too. Fresh vegetables, in a broad spectrum of colours, provide all the anti-oxidants and vitamins you need to keep the eyes working well into old age. Leafy green veg (spinach and kale particularly) are especially important, along with tomatoes and carrots.

5. If you’re planning to take supplements – Again, what’s good for the body also benefits the eyes. Omega 3 fish oils are excellent for eye health. If you have a family history of Macular Degeneration, then you could add a supplement to your regime – those containing Lutein and Xeathanthin are reputed to give protection to halt the onset of ARMD. Look for Macushield or I-Caps.

Varifocal Glasses

Posted in Helpfull Info | No Comments »

New for New Year

Friday, January 14th, 2011

If you’re restless with anticipation of what the New Year will bring, waiting for the diet and detox to kick in, why not think about an easy and quick way to achieve that exciting new look – re-think your eye wear!

Dyed-in-the-wool contact lens patients might want to take the plunge and try going back to glasses for change. Frames are funky and more affordable then ever, and even non-prescription wearers are using specs just as an accessory. You can be studious, flirty, sparkly or serious with the right frame, and it will give your eyes a rest after the excesses of the party season. Thin material lenses make specs look good and feel more comfortable, so don’t be put off by heavy or unsightly specs you’re had in the past.

For spec wearers who want an update, up size to be on trend this new season. Go squarer, bolder, and bigger for a trendy look, with a unisex look for maximum style. Gone are weedy skinny metals, thankfully this is a fashion that’s practical! Bigger shapes are more comfortable for driving as you’re less aware of the edges, and will cover a multitude of sins as they draw attention away from crow’s feet and eye bags!

If you wear glasses but would like to try contact lenses, speak to your optician about the options available to you. Nowadays 99.9% of the population can wear lenses, so don’t think that your astigmatism or need for reading glasses will prevent you from wearing lenses. There are masses of lens materials, wear regimes and choices, and one will suit you, for part time or full time wear. Keep specs as a back up, or for work wear, and enjoy lenses for socialising or sport.

You may not have considered it but new eye wear can be life changing – from allowing you to make the most of your sight for a job or hobby, to simply boosting your confidence. Make a change and you’ll soon see the difference!!

Varifocal Glasses

Tags: , ,
Posted in Glasses Fashion, Helpfull Info | No Comments »

« Older Entries