CLToday Fitting Tip of the Month

September 2006

Contact Lenses Today® is edited by Dr. Joseph T. Barr and the staff of Contact Lens Spectrum. This week, CLToday® reaches more than 10,000 readers in 74 countries.


Finding the Balance Between Patient Needs and Lens Type
Many patients present for their annual exam without any specific complaints except some lens awareness at the end of the day. Their contact lens fit, ocular health and vision seem fine. Overcoming the tendency to simply renew their old prescription, I inform them of the new materials that are available, especially the silicone hydrogel lenses, and offer them a trial fitting.
    I am amazed at the number of patients who report the newer materials are much better than their previous lenses and are willing to invest in them even though they are a little more expensive. Even when things look good, you do not know if the newer lenses will be better until you try them.
James A. Boucher, O.D., M.S., F.A.A.O.,
Laramie, Wyo.

Dryness = Dropouts
What effect does contact lens dryness have in your contact lens practice? Of the 31 million soft contact lens wearers, 21 million, or 67%, self-report that eyes feel dry during contact lens wear. There are nearly 2.7 million contact lens dropouts annually. Many of these dropouts say dryness was a major reason for discontinuing lens wear. Offering patients ACUVUE® OASYS™ Brand Contact Lenses with HYDRACLEAR™ Plus, a lens designed to meet the demands of contact lens wearers in environments that can make eyes feel tired and dry, can keep patients wearing their contact lenses longer and boost your contact lens practice.
--ADVERTISING

Report adverse contact lens reactions here: http://www.accessdata.fda.gov/scripts/medwatch/ or call (800) FDA-1088.
Access a reporting form for complications you've seen that were a result of contact lenses dispensed without a valid prescription at the Association of Regulatory Boards of Optometry's (ARBO's) Web site: http://www.arbo.org/arbo.asp?dt=R&doc=Complications. Complete and send the form online or print it out and fax it to (866) 886-6164.
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