Blog, News & Offers

Priority No1: What we are doing to keep you safe.

Posted on Wednesday, September 30, 2020

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The world is a very different place than it was this time last year, when none of us had even heard of Coronavirus (Ahh the good old days)

We were offering emergency eye care throughout the lockdown, repairing specs from our cars, delivering contact lenses to doors and doing video consultations as well as face to face appointments when necessary.
No one wants another lockdown and even during local lockdowns our measures are in place to keep you safe and us open.

So here's what measures we have in place to keep you safe:

1. PPE (lots of it)
All our staff are kitted out with full PPE to be worn when in contact with our patients, this includes, face shields, masks, gloves and aprons.

2. Hand washing
We have hand gel stations all over the practices and we are asking all patients to wash their hands upon entering, remember you may have washed your hands when leaving the last shop you were in but you have touched a handle to come in since.
If you are sensitive to hand gel you are more than welcome to use one of our sinks to use soap and water or we will provide you with a pair of latex free gloves whilst inside.

3. Protective screens
We have screens placed over all of our desks in practice so that we are keeping you as safe as possible. It also gives our staff an area to enjoy a break from wearing the face shields all day.

4. Social distancing
We are limiting the number of people who can come in to practice so that we can ensure social distancing is maintained. This means we are booking appointments for collections, adjustments, fittings etc wherever possible. Its not to say we cant see you without an appointment but we may have to ask you to wait outside if there are too many people inside at that time.

5. Clean, Clean and Clean some more
We are cleaning everything you may come in touch with continuously throughout the day; chairs, desks, pens you name it we are cleaning it after every contact.
Inside the testing room we have always followed strict cleaning routines on chin rests etc but we have stepped this up also to include all furnishings.
With frames we have stopped patients trying any on without supervision, this means that we can keep any worn to one side where we are cleaning them with an approved cleaning agent which doesn’t age or fade the frames unlike alcohol based cleaners.

Rest assured, no matter what happens in our local areas, its safe to visit us. After all our sight is precious, let us look after it.

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Fed up of fog? Anti fog solutions

Posted on Tuesday, September 29, 2020

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Face masks have become an essential part of daily life to help reduce the spread of coronavirus (COVID-19), but they affect our specs and therefore sight by steaming up the lenses and the warm air moves towards the eyes causing increased drying of the tears, so much so that researchers have given this the name (MADE) mask-associated dry eye.

As the weather changes, going from the cold to the warm of indoor heating will make these issues worse.

There are solutions to help these issues and we are at hand to go through them when you come in and visit. We champion ourselves on lifestyle dispensing, getting to know our patients and offer them the best options based on their lifestyle and daily activity needs.
In this new normal we need to think; How often do you need to wear a mask daily? For some we might just wear them when we pop to the shops but for others they could be wearing masks for hours every day while at work. Have you noticed your eyes have been more prone to feeling dry and gritty after or while wearing a mask? After all if our eyes are dry we are more likely to rub them which is an increase infection risk of Covid 19. By keeping the eyes comfortable it keeps hands away.

So what are the options?

1. Anti-fog lens treatments

An anti-fog coating can be applied to the lens itself. These coatings can have the same benefits of anti-glare and scratch resistance as well as improved resilience against fogging up. We have tested these products and there was a marked improvement compared to normal coated and uncoated lenses. We have made a video to demonstrate these lenses which can be found here https://youtu.be/wgGW9uUffXI

We are offering these coatings at the same cost as our premium anti-glare lenses, offering the same benefits of anti-glare and a scratch warranty but with the anti fog as a free upgrade.

2. Anti-fog cleaning products

If you already have specs and don’t wish to change the lenses then there are specialist cloths and wipes which apply an anti-fog treatment to the lenses which lasts up to a few days. They come in the form of cloths and pre-soaked individual wipes. Some work best with anti-glare lenses while others are best suited to uncoated lenses.

We have trialled over the past few months and have found which we feel work best.
These can be found in all our practices with options starting from 0.50p.

Here's a video we made trialling the options https://youtu.be/TmVMxozsINc

3. Contact lenses

Contact lenses are another great way of avoiding specs from steaming up because, well, you’re now wearing any.
Modern contact lenses such as Silicon Hydrogel are very efficient at keeping the eye moist while also allowing enough Oxygen to the eye so it stays healthy.

We offer a free contact lens trial service so you could see how you could benefit from wearing them whilst wearing masks as well as other PPE.

4. Dry eye services

If since wearing a mask for prolonged periods of time you have found that your eyes are prone to drying or are feeling uncomfortable we have the solutions for you.
Each practice has trained ocular hygienists who can discuss the wetting drop product ranges we sell and explain each ones differences and benefits.

Not all wetting drops are equal, cheap ones often dry out much quicker so need applying more often meaning you go through the bottle quicker and it actually ends up costing you more. Likewise some bottles you may find difficult to use so the drops rarely go into the eye meaning again you waste unnecessary money with the drops on your cheek instead of the eye (we call them expensive tears)

If you are one of those who is unfortunately effected by dry eye and masks are making the situation worse we offer a dry eye clinic where a trained optician can identify the exact cause of why the eyes are dry and create a bespoke treatment plan for you.
There are many causes for dry eye and what works well for one doesn’t often work for another so friends/family advice may be wrong for you.
The price includes 2 follow up appointments to see how the treatment is going as well as discount off any products such as drops or lid cleaning wipes.

This service costs £40 and is available at all of our practices.

Give us a call if you would like any further advice. During this period of time with social distancing measures we are only able to let a limited number of patients in at any one time so we are making booking consultations to avoid disappointment or having to wait in the cold.

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