Of all the recent advances and breakthroughs in vision correction, the evolution of spectacle lenses has been especially impressive.
Chunky NHS glasses familiar in archive newsreel footage have been replaced by sophisticated and slim lenses, capable of delivering pin-sharp vision across different distances, whilst also lasting for years.
Lens manufacturers have invested heavily in developing slimmed-down products. Today’s lightweight polycarbonate and high-index plastic lenses deliver impressive vision correction with minimal use of materials, allowing them to slot neatly into slender frames or even semi-frameless spectacles. This also reduces the overall weight of the glasses, making them more comfortable to wear for long periods.
Lens coatings come in a variety of forms, all designed to improve everyday vision. Scratch resistant coatings maximise the lens’ lifespan, and water-repellent finishes reduce fogging and repel raindrops
Advances in lens technology have enabled varifocal lenses to dispense with the distinctive horizontal lines found in the bifocals familiar to our grandparents’ generation. Nowadays, it’s hard to tell whether a person’s glasses contain multiple prescriptions or not. Because they deliver clear vision at any distance, varifocal lenses are ideal for people who might otherwise need different prescription strengths for activities like driving and reading.
Anti-glare coatings help to eliminate reflections that might obscure the wearer’s eyes, such as reducing dazzle from bright lights. We look at this in more detail in our Driving in the dark article below.
Of course, choosing the right lenses for your next pair of spectacles or sunglasses depends on your unique circumstances. If you regularly attend sporting events, our ‘aspheri’ lenses are flatter and thinner giving a better field of view. Many of our thinner lenses also give full protection against UV even without any tint. If you’re an active sportsperson, tougher lens materials help to shrug off impacts in tandem with robust frames.
To find out which lens options would work best for your prescription and lifestyle, ask our team for advice. We’ll help you to see how your new glasses could deliver the best possible vision, at an affordable price.
Our ancestors used a variety of vision correction techniques. Spectacles were first developed in the late 1200s, while 19th century monocles only covered one eye. Fashionable Victorians wore pince-nez – armless spectacles clamped onto the bridge of their nose!
Because our eyes are less effective in low light, driving at night is uniquely challenging. We outline some of the ways to stay safe and optimise your vision while you’re sat behind the wheel...
Firstly, ensure every glass surface is clean, from the windows and mirrors to your spectacle lenses. Peering through layers of dust and dirt makes it harder to focus, especially in low light when our eyes are already struggling to judge depth perception and colour recognition.
Anti-reflection lens coatings are highly recommended, especially if you drive at night. They lessen reflections in the lenses from bright dials and instruments as well as from oncoming vehicle headlights
Peripheral vision also diminishes at night, so be extra vigilant at T-junctions and roundabouts. Choosing glasses with thin arms optimises your peripheral vision, call in and see our selection of stylish slimline frames.
Always ensure your headlights are on before a night journey, and don’t drive off until condensation has fully cleared. If demisters or air conditioning cause eye related discomfort, keep a bottle of soothing eye drops in your glovebox.
Fatigue is more common while driving at night, so take regular breaks so your eyes have a chance to relax. And finally, remember to turn on any traffic sign recognition technology in your vehicle – it’s so much harder to read road signs in the dark...
In our last newsletter, we looked at eye development in babies. Here, we consider the crucial stages of vision development throughout childhood...
By their first birthday, a young child is developing a series of interconnected sight based skills, from colour recognition to object tracking. As toddlers, this evolves into hand-eye coordination and depth perception, both of which play crucial roles in everything from learning to walk through to sporting activities. These skills will continue to improve throughout our early years.
Our eyes are instrumental in learning to read and write, as our focus switches from close objects to more distant ones and back. And while eye tests are important at any age, young children should be regularly tested to ensure they aren’t short-sighted (a degree of long-sightedness is normal). A child won’t realise that other people might be able to see things more clearly than they do, but our optometrists will be able to identify any issues and recommend appropriate courses of action.
Parents also have an important role to play, such as ensuring kids wear UV-protective sunglasses in bright outdoor conditions – for example too much ultraviolet light could cause long-term damage. If a child sits too close to a computer screen or complains about having headaches, this might also signal an issue. Knowledge of family medical histories is also important, since almost a third of genetic conditions affect our eyes.
Optical Coherence Tomography isn’t a term you hear in day-to-day conversation, and it’s not immediately obvious what an OCT eye scanner is used for. Yet OCT machines represent a huge leap forward in eye care, using cutting-edge technology to quickly and painlessly examine a patient’s eyes. As such, OCT scans could identify developing health issues long before they might otherwise become apparent...
Using similar principles to an ultrasound scan, an OCT machine is effectively a high-tech imaging camera. It produces incredibly detailed 3D scans, using light waves to painlessly examine the retina at the back of our eyes.
Unlike traditional eye equipment, OCT machines allow trained optometrists to see beyond the retina’s surface, into the tissue below. This lets us precisely measure the thickness of the inner lining which translates light into sight, as well as identifying any abnormalities within these microscopic layers of tissue.
Using an OCT machine helps our trained optometrists identify changes in your eyes over time, since each scan is saved for comparison against future ones. Even tiny changes in eye health may be obvious when compared to historic records. OCT machines have been instrumental in spotting the early signs of conditions like glaucoma and age-related macular degeneration. As such, regular OCT scans can underpin a long-term plan for vision treatment, long before there’s any notable deterioration in the patient’s eyesight.
With many medical issues, early detection supports a higher success rate for treatment. It also helps to ensure patients enjoy clearer vision for a longer period of time. OCT machines come in a variety of guises, and they were initially so advanced that only a few hospital eye departments tended to be equipped with them. As an independent optician, we’ve made the decision to invest in our own OCT hardware.
Our chosen machine performs eye scans quickly and painlessly, making this non-invasive procedure suitable for patients of all ages. Indeed, OCT scans are strongly recommended for people with any concerns about their eye health, from current medication to family histories of sight-related issues.
Our OCT machine reflects our commitment to providing the best possible quality of eyecare to all our patients, by investing in state-of-the-art screening equipment. Speak to our team today about booking a scan, so your eyes receive the most detailed check-up possible.