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Monthly Archive for: ‘September, 2012’
3 Things You Should Never Say To Your Optician | Eye World
McLeish Optometrists do not necessarily agree with all of the following text, but we did repost it, so we must agree with some of it!
3 Things You Should Never Say To Your Optician
by LOUISE on SEPTEMBER 3, 2012 · LEAVE A COMMENT
Opticians hear all sorts on a daily basis but here is the 3 most common phrases we hear and let’s just say they are not our favourite things to hear!
1. “It just happened”: things don’t just happen!! Glasses don’t just break on there own, someone or something has to happen to them in order for them to break!!!
2. “I don’t wear my glasses because I don’t want to get used to them and have to wear them all the time”: Your eyesight will NOT get any worse if you wear your glasses, you have been given glasses for a reason, hence you need to wear them.
3. ” I slept in my contact lenses and now I can’t get them out of my eyes”: So what did you think was going to happen? There is a reason you can’t sleep in certain contact lenses.
Rant over! In all seriousness if you do have a question no matter how silly you think it is do ask us, we are here to help!
Image: FreeDigitalPhotos.net
via 3 Things You Should Never Say To Your Optician | Eye World.
All I would disagree with is “Hence you need to wear them” – I would personally advise that you should wear the spectacles as much or as little as you feel you need, or want to. Your eyes won’t get worse if you do or you don’t- it might feel that they do, but that is because you are getting used to seeing better!! So the choice is up to you. (Except in children, who may be perfectly happily developing a lazy eye when not wearing their specs!!) It IS different for children under 7 to 10 years of age.
KAMRA Vision Implants
I have had a few people just this week enquiring about the new KAMRA Vision insert operation to restore near vision. This procedure is available now, exclusively at the Wellington Eye Clinic, and allows people to see far away and read without the need for reading spectacles!
The first part of the operation is to have LASIK eye surgery- even if your far vision is perfect, it will be necessary to induce a target prescription of -0.75D of Myopia (short sight). The KAMRA inlay is then placed and centred under the flap before it is put down. The inlay is essentially a pinhole, a very small diameter hole with a black surround, which makes it less visible against the black pupil. Pinholes work by narrowing the light entering the eye, which reduces the diameter of blur circles, and leads to clearer vision and an increased depth of focus, which should enable the treated eye to read without reading spectacles. The plan would be to leave the dominant eye good for distance and only treat the non dominant eye. The KAMRA inlay is readily removed by the surgeon, should the person have any issues.
Issues can arise because of the very small pupil in the reading eye- in dull conditions, when the pupil normally dilates, the treated eye will still have effectively a much smaller pupil, which means that more light will be getting into the untreated eye. This appears to induce a degree of the Pulfrich effect in most people.
The Pulfrich Effect causes a slight delay in transmission of the nerve impulses from the darker eye, this can cause objects moving in the Apparent Fronto Parallel Plane (AFPP)- an imaginary line on which side to side moving targets should always appear equally far away to appear to move closer and further.
This Pulfrich effect may be induced in patients who have a KAMRA inlay*, and although the insert is easily removed, you will also require further LASIK surgery, should you wish to have your distance restored to clear without correction.
A very effective demonstration of the Pulfrich effect can be seen on this video. What you need to do is place a dark (sunglass) lens in front of one eye, and a 2D video can instantly look like a 3D movie. All because of the delay in conducting the impulses from one eye.
It is not a definite fact that someone who has an induced Pulfrich Effect following KAMRA implant surgery would have a problem in day to day life- there may be people who have this phenomenon, but just manage to live with it- if they don’t complain, they will not be diagnosed (even if they do complain, with such strange symptoms, they still might not be diagnosed) but it is something to be aware of, before making your decision to have this surgery.
* Plainis S, et al. Reduced-aperture monovision for presbyopia and the Pulfrich effect. J Optom(2012)
AMD Awareness Week
This week (September 23rd to 30th) is AMD Awareness week.
AMD (Age Related Macular Degeneration) is a condition which may affect up to 1 in 10 of the over 50s in Ireland.
There are two types of AMD- dry and wet.
Dry AMD is a progressive atrophy (withering) of the macula, the part of the eye which you use for detailed vision, at the centre of the macula is the fovea, the part of the retina which gives us the most detailed sight- any time you with to study something in detail you rotate your eye so that it’s image is on the fovea. If this area begins to function less effectively, areas of text may appear to become blurred or bits might disappear.
Though there is no cure for Dry AMD, the most common type, lifestyle changes and Multivitamin and mineral supplements have been proven to slow down or even stop this deterioration.
Wet AMD is more serious because the vision can deteriorate quite suddenly. New blood vessels can begin to grow beneath the retina in the macular area. The new vessels are prone to leak, which can cause a symptom of distortion- straight lines appearing bent. The new blood vessels are much weaker than normal ones, and are therefore also prone to bleeding, which can cause scarring of the retina, and irrecoverable loss of vision. If the new blood vessels can be detected early, there are some very effective treatments available to cause them to regress and disappear, but early detection is essential.
Everyone should have their eyes tested every two years, but if there are any symptoms it is essential to be checked as soon as possible- weeks or even days can make a difference!
Hydrogen Peroxide Contact Lens Care
The Irish Medicines Board recently issued a safety notice aimed at Opticians, Pharmacies, General Practitioners and the General Public.
The notice reminds Opticians and Pharmacists to ensure that they highlight to users of Hydrogen Peroxide based contact lens solutions the importance of reading and following the manufacturer’s Instructions for Use (IFU).
Hydrogen Peroxide is a bleach, which is very effective at killing bacteria and other micro-organisms, but must be neutralised by the manufacturer’s neutraliser before the lenses are reinserted into the eyes. This would be obvious to anyone who is used to this type of care scheme (usually separate Cleaner, Disinfectant and Neutraliser tablet/solution), but there recently seemed to be a case* where someone used the incorrect solution and caused some damage to their eye.
*To be clear, this issue is in no way related to McLeish Optometrists, the supplier was a pharmacy.
It is important to read the instructions on any solutions you use, especially if they are new ones- perhaps you run out on holiday, or your supplier doesn’t have the normal one in stock. Ensure that if you use a multipurpose solution (which is suitable to clean, rinse and disinfect), you do not accidentally replace this with a peroxide based solution.
Best advice would be to use the solution recommended by your eye care practitioner, and do not change it without consulting them. It is also worth noting that solutions which are not suitable to go into the eye often (but not always) have a red tip, so if the squirty part of the bottle is red, or the contact lens is fizzing on your finger…..
