Contact lenses

Contact lenses have evolved out of all recognition since their early days in the 1960s and 70s. When I first qualified, opticians spent an enormous amount of time sorting out contact lens problems and resultant eye infections.

Around half the new fittings were either hard or gas permeable lenses which meant wearers weren’t happy until they’d spent around six months of adaptation. Early soft lens wearers had to have a whole chemistry-set of solutions to clean and sterilise their lenses every night as well as fortnightly super-cleaning using protein-removing tablets.

Contact lenses

EASE OF USE, FREEDOM FROM HASSLE

Nowadays, barely anyone wears gas permeable lenses and hard (PMMA) lenses are a distant (bad) memory. Soft lenses are the norm; with the advent of daily disposables, solutions and infections are largely consigned to history. Not everyone is suitable for daily disposables, but if you are, then I would urge you to wear them in preference to other frequent replacement lenses.

Contact lenses

Although the lenses are more expensive, there’s no cost for solutions and the ease of use and freedom from hassle and infections makes them worth every penny.

Those people that find that they can’t tolerate lenses more than a few hours are likely to suffer from Dry Eye Syndrome which we treat very successfully to extend comfortable wearing time.

New daily-use multifocal lenses are really worth investigating if, like me, you’re, ahem, over mid-forties.

Contact lenses

LASER SURGERY ADVICE

I’m very happy to discuss all options of eye care and present an unbiased opinion on the pros and cons of laser refractive surgery. I have a small network of trusted ophthalmologists who I work with and will refer you to them as required.

One thing I will not advocate is having your eyes lasered by a chainstore like Optical Express. The better surgeons have had years of experience and are up-to-date with the latest techniques and equipment.

Contact lenses

These businesses hire ophthalmologists who are paid a day-rate and limited to what equipment and techniques Optical Express consider most appropriate (profitable).

Techniques and instrumentation keep changing, so in a few years’ time there will always be something better and the procedure that you opt for now will be considered old hat.