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Eye & Contact Lens Factsheets


GRIEF CASES.


We refer to a patient as a Grief Case if they have tried Contact Lenses before without success - we've all heard of them! This fact sheet is intended to explain some of the reasons and reassure you why we can fit even the most complex patient.

WHAT CAUSES PEOPLE TO FAIL TO ADAPT?

There are 5 reasons.

1.
 In the past, the patient's eyes were too sensitive for the old and more uncomfortable types of lenses.
2.
 Lack of perseverance or insufficient motivation!
3.
 The material and design chosen was not harmonious with the patient's corneal chemistry.
4.
 The patient failed to return for adequate after care to allow their practitioner to either correct any initial fitting problems or to foresee anything that might cause problems in the future.
5.
 The shape, fit and size of the lens was not ideal or became inappropriate after a period of wear. (It has to be understood that there is a complex settling process of Contact Lenses on the eye requiring careful check-ups. The eye itself is also changing in shape all the time which is why new contact lenses and glasses are required at regular intervals.)

60% of our new patients come to us having once tried lenses and have either completely failed or never achieved the comfort or wearing times they expected. To understand the reasons you need to appreciate a little about the difference between our Specialist Practice and those opticians who primarily concentrate on glasses and offer Contact Lenses as a relative side line.

There are listed in the Manufacturers Year Book over 660 different standard "brands" of Contact Lenses, most of which come in several different fittings - one particularly complex lens for astigmatism comes in 6 million permutations and combinations.

For an optician who's business is mainly glasses there has to be rationalisation of how many different kinds they fit and the vast majority therefore only fit a very small handful. This often means they simply will not have one ideally suited for every patient.

In our unique Contact Lens Practice we fit any one of the 660 kinds that has any clinical merit. If there is not a lens form amongst these to suit then a skilled technician in a specialist Contact Lens Laboratory will make custom made lenses, in anyone of dozens of different materials - in other words our choice of lenses is in the millions!

This explains why, no matter what your requirements we have the choice of lenses to suit you- FROM DAILY DISPOSABLE LENSES, LENSES YOU CAN SLEEP IN FOR WEEKS AT A TIME. WHETHER THEY ARE BIFOCALS, VARIFOCALS OR SPECIALIST LENSES FOR ASTIGMATISM WE WILL LISTEN TO YOUR REQUIREMENTS AND ADVISE YOU ON WHAT WE THINK IS THE BEST CHOICE FOR YOU.

Despite our expertise which goes back to 1966 and with over £150,000 of specialist equipment, when a patient leaves with their first Contact Lenses we can offer no guarantee that our first choice is going to work. Ultimately the only way we can decide if the fit and material chosen is compatible with your cornea is for you to wear the lenses for a week or so. Frequently we have high hopes of our choice but at the first check the lenses are not performing adequately, in which case we either change the fitting or move to a different material with different properties. With the most difficult patients we keep doing this until we find the one that really works best.

AMONGEST THE MILLIONS OF LENSES AVAILABLE IN THE WORLD TODAY THERE IS PROBABLY NOT ONE SINGLE LENS THAT WE COULD GUARANTEE AS SUITABLE FOR EVERY PATIENT - OTHERWISE WE WOULD BE USING THAT AS FIRST CHOICE AND LIFE WOULD BE A LOT SIMPLER.

WE FEEL THE BEST ASSURANCE WE CAN GIVE OUR PATIENTS IS TO GIVE THEM A PROPER HOME TRIAL AND PROMISE A REFUND IF WE CAN'T, WITH ALL OUR SKILLS, GET IT RIGHT IN THE END!.