Archive for March, 2011

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Feedback on Your Feedback!

Thursday, March 31st, 2011

We love a bit of interaction from our patients, usually it’s good but we even welcome the occasional complaints we get! All feedback, positive or negative helps us to improve our service and the product range we offer. We know that this genuine relationship that we build with our clients is one of the factors that makes you return to us as a customer. Here are a few examples of your suggestions and what we did in response…….

“I love my specs but the soft case is a bit flimsy…….other than that, great service igc!”

We originally used flat cases to make sure our parcels fitted through your letterbox. In response to this mail however we sourced more protective, rigid cases. This will extend the lifespan of your specs. And they still squeeze through the letterbox!

“I didn’t know what to expect with my new varifocals. I mailed you and the optician actually rang me! Thanks for your support, I love the specs now.”

After a few queries that basically said the same thing about getting used to varifocals, we devised a notes sheet to send to clients. It’s just a few simple hints and suggestions to help you adapt quickly to wearing them. Although we’re happy to answer your questions individually, many of you just needed a little reassurance for years of happy varifocal wear.

“I love designer eyewear but it’s still expensive for my budget. Is there anything quirky and individual at a slightly cheaper price?”

You pay for individuality and quality with designer frames, but we researched your suggestion and began to stock Oscar & Fitch, which fulfil the quirky and funky criteria at a lower price than the likes of Gucci and Dior. Explore their range if you like something different!

I’ve had designer frames from you and I was impressed with the service and the specs. Any chance you could supply sunglasses too?

We extended our product range again in response to this idea, starting our first range of non-prescription sunspecs with Polo Ralph Lauren. There are plenty of sunnie suppliers on the net, but we know you trust us and the fact that we’re selling the genuine article.

So please carry on mailing us with your thoughts, suggestions and ideas – we really do listen and try our best to supply what you need!

Varifocal Glasses

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Advice for Alzheimer’s Patients

Sunday, March 20th, 2011

With our ageing population and increased awareness of the problems this brings we all know how difficult and distressing Alzheimer’s disease can be. Normal life is disrupted in every aspect, with patients suffering memory loss, and problems with thought processes and normal behaviour. An important factor in achieving good quality of life for patients is knowledge of the associated problems and tackling individual issues as they become a difficulty for the sufferer.

Visual problems with these patients perhaps comes up less for discussion than the more commonly known symptoms such as memory loss and confusion. More than 60% of Alzheimer’s patients actually have deterioration in some aspect of their sight. The cause of the problem is not within the eye, but is due to the gradual decline of neurological function in the brain. Obviously, as with all patients, the severity of sight related problems will vary, although interestingly they can show up before other signs of the disease. During the routine eye examination the eye and surrounding tissue will look normal, and the spectacle prescription may not have changed. The symptoms reported by the patient are often vague enough to be dismissed as general lifestyle related problems, and in most cases that is what the cause will be – Alzheimer’s cannot be picked up with an eye examination at present – sufferers or their relatives will have noticed a marked change in other behaviours before a full diagnosis is made.

Related symptoms may include:

Eye strain caused by driving, or unexplained eye strain.

Needing to read more slowly than usual, or finding concentration while reading difficult.

Blurry sight at the computer or for close work, which specs can’t resolve.

Balance problems, general clumsiness and difficulty with depth perception.

During stressful situations sight seems worse.

Sensitivity to bright light.

All of these symptoms may have many different causes, including normal ageing, so it’s tricky to pinpoint the underlying problem. It is important for carers of Alzheimer’s patients to be aware that they exist and find ways to help the patient. Simple actions such as booking an eye exam, making sure glasses are up date, and helping the patient to identify specs and remember to wear them will all help day to day life as much as possible.

Varifocal Glasses

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Coming Around Again…

Saturday, March 19th, 2011

There’s nothing new under the sun apparently, especially in the world of fashion. Trends re-appear and re-invent themselves with unfailing regularity, even boot-cut jeans are on their second fashion moment in the last decade! So it’s no surprise that the star of Eighties eyewear, the preppie round frame is creeping back onto our fashion radar again……

Round eyes were a big feature of the Designer eyewear boom in the Eighties, starting out with the famous John Lennon tiny gold metal, and ending (thankfully!) with huge Timmy Mallet plastics in a wild array of colours. For the cool and chic amongst us there were neutral plastics in black or brown, with visible pin joints. These were not ridiculously tiny or enormous, just a neat size that flattered many face shapes. In the USA they never let this look go! Johnny Depp is often seen in this shape, as is Steven Spielberg.

Now we’re in 2011, and the eye wear fashion pages are once again featuring round plastics, everyone from Giorgio Armani to Paul Smith going with this trend. Gok Wan wore his new pair on his show this week. It’s a refreshing change from angular plastics and metals, which have dominated the rails for the past few years. They’re not too overpowering on small faces, can soften angular jaws, and are flattering if you have petite features or close set eyes. To look like a trend setter rather than Eighties throw back, upsize a little, and look for modern finishes like laminated layers of colour. These frames are nicely minimal and pared down in terms of decoration, which again is a change from the eye fashions of the past few years.

So if the androgynous charms of the chunky geek plastic are not for you, and you want to re-visit an old friend, it might be time to take fashion full circle and go for a round eye. Just don’t be tempted to re-glaze your Mum’s old pair – unless you really want to look like a Su Pollard tribute act!

Varifocal Glasses

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Red Nose Day Highlights Sight

Tuesday, March 15th, 2011

We’re all accustomed to the joys of Comic relief and Red Nose Day, and our office is already awash with squidgy pens and thoughts of fundraising this year. This amazing charity has already done sterling work in raising over £650 million pounds over the last 25 years. From Cliff Richard and the Young ones releasing Living Doll in 1986, to Eddie Izzard running his amazing marathons in 2010, Celebs and the public alike embrace this mammoth event.

This year we‘re really pleased to hear that Comic Relief will be raising awareness of eye disease during one of their epic journeys in Northern Kenya. The BT Red Nose Desert Trek will see five days of gruelling work by a Celeb team including Dermot O’Leary, Lorraine Kelly and Kara Tointon. They will have the chance to see the work of charity Sightsavers, who are dealing with many visual problems, including Cataract and Trachoma. Eye health issues are one of the most common problems amongst the poor in developing countries, and involvement with Comic Relief gives the Charity funds to help them continue to prevent blindness.

Cataract is a common eye condition, where the crystalline lens within the eye becomes cloudy due to age, trauma, smoking, UV exposure or congenital defect. A simple operation corrects this – extract the lens when the density of the opacity affects day to day life, and replace it with an implanted lens. This is a day case surgery with fast recovery and sight is dramatically better immediately. Problems in developing countries include raising awareness that Cataracts can be treated, providing screening and treatment, and even arranging transport so that patients can be seen. Sightsavers treated 273,000 patients with Cataract last year.

Trachoma is a disease of the eye lids which arises due to poor sanitation. Bacteria cause repeated bouts of conjunctivitis, with discharge and sore eyes. This is highly contagious, and although anti-biotic drops can treat the infection, the repeated problem stops the tears from functioning to sanitize and protect the eye. This can trigger trichiasis, where the eyelid and ultimately the lashes invert and damage the cornea. This causes scarring of the delicate window at the front of the eye and leads to permanent damage and loss of sight. It’s presently the worlds leading cause of preventable blindness. This disease is most prevalent with children, even though corneal scarring may not affect them until after their teens. The problem is tackled with information about reducing the risk of infection, treatment of infections that do occur with antibiotics, and surgery to remove areas of the lid that could damage the cornea.

This is all preventable blindness, so the work of Sightsavers is invaluable in helping sufferers. We’ll all be supporting Comic Relief this year, and glued to the screen on March 18th to see the sterling work of Sightsavers and other charities like them.

Varifocal Glasses

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Don’t Fake it!

Monday, March 14th, 2011

There have been worrying reports in the press recently of the poor quality of some specified ready readers, and further reports on counterfeit sunglasses and fashion frames. As qualified eye care professionals, we are constantly alert to the dangers of these goods. They may cause problems for consumers if worn, either with eye strain or potential long term damage to the eye. Many are shoddy goods that damage all our reputations within the eye care industry.

150,000 ready readers were recently seized in Italy, to be impounded as counterfeit goods. Ready readers are an ideal ‘extra’ pair of specs for people with simple prescriptions who need help for small print. If they are poorly made this can lead to headaches and eye strain for the wearer. If you use ready readers buy them from a reputable supplier, check the power you need from your optician, and stop wearing them if your vision is uncomfortable.

Counterfeit sunglasses are easily obtained, with unscrupulous dealers copying Designer brands in search of a quick buck. Everyone from Oakley to Chanel has suffered this. There is real danger in these products. The pupil of your eye constricts right down in bright light, preventing light from entering the eye. UV in sunlight has been implicated in formation of Cataracts and as a factor in Macular Degeneration. The former requires an operation, the latter causes loss of central vision, and is incurable at present. When you wear dark lens it makes your pupil dilate, widening it and allowing sunlight to flood into the eye. If the lens does not give 100% UV protection then your eyes are vulnerable to damage. It’s essential that sunglass lenses give 100% UV protection, and if your sunnies are fake, how can you know this?

Fake branded spectacle frames are thankfully rarer, but those that are around are a potential problem as they can cause skin reactions due to inferior materials. Poor quality frames can also lead to warping of the frame rims, so lenses are not held in the correct position. This can lead to eye strain and headaches.

Any Optician or lens lab that comes across a counterfeit frame will destroy it, as it will contravene their contracts with the suppliers of the real products. So don’t fake it – you have been warned!

Varifocal Glasses

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Contact Lens Choices

Sunday, March 13th, 2011

If you raise the subject of contact lenses with most people you’ll get some very similar responses.

1.“Ooooo – there’s no way I could stick my finger in my eye!”

2.“I’ve got astigmatism, I can’t wear them.”

3.“I tried them in 1972 and they were no good. I can’t have them”

4.“I need reading glasses, so they’re no good for me.”

All very interesting, and for the most part, completely untrue! Common misconceptions that are stopping millions of people from enjoying contact lens wear as a literally life changing experience. Do you want to play sport without becoming a target for the opposition? Stop steaming up when you go into a shop? Enjoy full peripheral vision without your frames getting in the way? Have a new look? Then read on, literally! Let’s take a close look at the options for objection 4 – I need reading glasses – or do you?

If you’re over forty and now wear specs for close work, there are several options that we can suggest that solve the problem with contact lens wear. This is a huge stumbling block for many patients, who assume that contacts aren’t for them. There are actually several options, which will suit different prescriptions, lifestyles, and budgets:

1.Multifocal contact lenses – depending on your prescription and wear regime, the whole far distance, middle distance and reading powers can be built into a teeny little contact lens. How clever is that?!

2.Monvision – this is a simple system where we fit a distance contact lens in one eye and a near vision in the other. This works brilliantly for suitable patients, and relies on the action of your dominant eye. Sounds weird but very successful for millions of wearers.

3.Varifocal specs – if you want contacts for sport or social occasions, you can have distance contacts, then specs that you pop on top for reading. You can use the glasses at work or for reading, then take them off when you don’t need them.

4.Reading Glasses – this is a low cost option, choose a half frame that you can look over the top of, and again, pop them on just when you need them.

Simple isn’t it? Plenty of choices, and one will suit you. It’s every rare nowadays to find someone for whom there is not a single contact lens option.

In case you’re wondering about the other questions:

In answer to 1 – Yes you can, plenty of other people have learned!

2 – Yes you can, there are plenty of contact lenses for astigmatic patients.

3 – We tried plenty of things in 1972 that didn’t work – flared jeans included – and as times change, they do work now. So if times have changed, so you can too!

Varifocal Glasses

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Casual Style

Saturday, March 12th, 2011

A more relaxed attitude to fashion seems to be on the way in for spring, with subtle nude make up, beach style wavy hair, and lots of denim and chambray filling the style pages. This is a chilled out look, demanding a laid back approach to accessories, so less bling, more beads looks like the mantra this year!

This is echoed in what we’re seeing in the new trend in eyewear – less ornate detail, a nice change if you want less sparkle and glitz for day wear. Those of us revelling in the Big-Fat-Gypsy-Wedding look will always want to indulge our girly side, but there are times when you want to calm things down a little! Diamante, lavish filigree and galaxies of crystals will always have a place in our hearts, but even we admit there are occasions when it may be a little OTT!

The trend for all shades of denim, even that Eighties throw back double denim – demands understated eyewear to match. Plastic frames in unisex shapes, layered in tortoiseshell and a dash of colour are useful – strict secretary chic for work, not too dressy for leisure time. Metals in soft colours with patterned wide sides are a perfect choice if you find plastics too heavy. The trend for patterns is very feminine; you’ll find everything from paisley swirls to garlands of roses inlaid in frame sides. Stripes are big fashion news, and subtle colour graduations and chunky contrasting stripes are two groovy looks to add a psychedelic dash to your denim!

Tortoiseshell is a nice change from black as we head for the (hopefully) sunnier months, and for blondes, lime and bright blue are a nice alternative. These are good as an accent lining or detail if you don’t want to go the whole hog with colour. Teal and brown is re-appearing as a popular colour combination this year. It really is time to embrace your stone washed fashion history and enjoy a laid back summer of love this year!

Varifocal Glasses

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Eyes in the News

Wednesday, March 9th, 2011

A huge pat on the back to BBC3 this month, who launched an investigation into the dangers of the alarming practice of ‘vodka eyeballing’. This was broadcast in the programme Ready Steady Drink, shown on January 17th. While we’ve all done crazy things in our youth, it’s difficult to imagine how any right-minded individual could think of doing something as sight-threatening as pouring vodka into their eyes.

There have been several reports of this practice during the past year, as teenagers seek more extreme ways to impress one another and get high. The BBC3 programme looked at binge drinking as an issue in itself, including a segment on the vodka eyeballing practice. Neat vodka is poured into the eye, where it enters the blood stream more quickly than by simply drinking it. This is a more immediate way of getting intoxicated, as well as an act of bravado during drinking games.

Kids may not however be aware of the long term dangers, so the College of Optometrists were on hand to explain the potential risks. Alcohol can seriously damage the cornea, the clear window at the front of the eye that covers the pupil and iris. This highly sensitive layer of tissue, plus the sclera, the white of the eye, can be irreversibly damaged as they are stripped down. Frequent exposure to alcohol in this way can lead to corneal scarring, which is painful and can lead to loss of vision.

Corneal damage can be corrected in some cases with transplant surgery, but this is not always successful and potential tissue for transplant is also a problem. While many patients suffer corneal damage due to injury or disease, it seems even more ridiculous to deliberately put yourself at risk from life-changing eye damage.

The dangers of binge drinking are well publicised in the media, with daily reports that long term health is at risk. Vodka eyeballing as a part of this should be brought to kids attention too, in the hope that they will realise the danger of what they see as a harmless bit of fun.

Varifocal Glases

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Top Five Glasses Care Tips

Tuesday, March 8th, 2011

Isn’t it exciting when you receive your shiny new specs, snugly wrapped in their cosy yellow lens cloth and secure in their new case! We’re sure you promise to love, honour and cherish them, and look after them every day with care and attention in that heady honeymoon period of sharp vision and firm joints. But like every honeymoon period, you can get into bad habits and get lazy with your attentions……..so let’s suggest some tips to keep your specs life as sparkly as the day you fell in love with them!

1.Keep them in the supplied case – it’s all very well to thank Great Aunt Ivy for knitting you a new glasses case, or even whip up your own out of old socks or hankies, but flat, soft fabric cases are bad news for frames. When you really look at your specs you’ll see there’s quite a space between the lenses and the folded sides, so you need a rigid case with plenty of room. A flat case will compress the specs and eventually they will snap across the bridge.

2.Check the screws regularly – the screws hold on sides, nose pads, trims and secure the lenses. It’s easier to get a screw tightened than spend the day searching for a lost lens or wearing a plaster on your nose if you lose a pad! Specs need maintenance like anything mechanical, so pop an old pair of specs on and periodically check you don’t have a screw loose!

3.Clean them properly – wash frames daily with warm soapy water, not too hot, and dry on a soft, lint free cloth. This stops pollutants from building up on the frames which will eventually eat into the frame material. If you have anti-reflection coated lenses, you can use a specialist spray to prevent smears, but wash the specs first to protect the frame too.

4.Avoid scratches – never lay them face down, keep your case clean and never store anything in it, wash specs before polishing lenses. Keep old specs for decorating or gardening – many a lens has been scarred by an errant twig!

5.Never use glue near your glasses – Super type glue has ruined more pairs of specs than anything else. At the first sign of a breakage it’s what many panicking wearers reach for, but please don’t do it! It fills up joints, frosts the lenses, and doesn’t actually stick them! When you do get to your optician the specs will be beyond help. Use a touch of sticky tape if you must, and then seek the help of an Optician.

A little TLC and your glasses will give you many years of fuss free, clear vision, and who could ask for more? So make that honey moon last for ever – or at least until you move onto the next pair!

Varifocal Glasses

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Varifocal Variety

Sunday, March 6th, 2011

Varifocals are a much maligned lens type, shunned by many patients because back in 1972 their Mum tried them and hated them………but thankfully, times have changed, and varifocals along with them. Now that everyone uses computers, and we’re all living and working longer, we’ll all need to embrace this lens at some point in our lives, so we can enjoy those extra years! So how have they changed, and can it help you?

The first varifocals appeared over fifty years ago, and as computers filled whole rooms then, you can imagine that technology has re-designed varifocals too. The first designs still gave you far distance, close work and middle distance within one lens, but the blending of these areas was crude by today’s standards, the clear areas were narrow, and the edge distortion made many wearers sea-sick! The design was also tricky to wear for driving, as the then ‘hard’ design had lots of distortion at the outside edges.

Varifocal Glasses

Today our varifocals come in a variety of designs, so there are more specialist lens for specific uses. For the majority of people however, the most popular lenses will be safe and comfortable for walking around and driving, practical for computer users, and convenient for every day activities like shopping, housework and reading. The blending of the visual areas is much smoother, with the lens power changing in tiny steps down the lens, so you hardly notice that you’re moving from one to another. If you do feel nauseous in them, it’s rare and only lasts a day or so!

They’re also guaranteed by the manufacturer, which enables us to offer them to you with a full money back option if they don’t suit you. Sometimes we can suggest an alternative to try, so if you do have problems we may still be able to offer you a solution. Today this is rare, and we have very few specs returned to us. Most patients happily enjoy clear, comfortable vision at every distance without having to think about it!

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