CLE Contact Lenses

We heard it about five months ago. The recession is over. They said it on the cover of national magazines. The worst is behind us.

The last eighteen months have been quite extraordinary. There is no doubt that 2008 & 2009 were two of the most tumultuous years the global economy has ever seen. In the last quarter of 2008 and through the first few quarters of 2009, in the United States alone – we saw Bear Stearns close up shop and get “tucked” into J.P. Morgan over a weekend. We saw one of Wall Street’s most “conservative” and long standing institutions - Lehman Brothers go bankrupt. We saw more than 100 (with a “B”) billion dollars in taxpayers money get slugged into AIG, the world’s largest insurance company in order to keep it liquid and afloat. We saw the once mighty General Motors get pushed into and out of bankruptcy by the federal government and the hits seemed to keep on coming - daily.

When all hope appeared to have been lost. When Bank of America was trading at $5 per share, Citibank for under $1, General Electric - $6 – something strange happened. The clouds began to break. The rain stopped for a moment and a ray of hope shined through. The market seemed to sense that the end of the financial world as we knew it, was not upon us and something strange happened… the markets, which flirted with collapse – rallied. They ran and ran and a mere nine months later, landed over 10,000.

Wow!

Now, we find ourselves just finishing up the first quarter of 2010 and it’s been about five months since the “experts” came out to say that the recession was over.

We want to know what you think. Is the recession over? Is the worst behind us? Will our markets continue to surge? Will unemployment bottom once and for all? Will jobs begin to be created?

We want to know what you think. We’ve talked and will talk again – about contact lenses and lens solutions and the effects of UV light on eyesight and sunglasses and more but for today, we want to hear what you have to say.

Let us know your thoughts. Hit us with a comment or two, vote on our poll and let us know what you really think.

Comments(7)

Dry eyes affect an estimated 20 million people in the United States alone. Symptoms range from a mild foreign body sensation in the eyes, to severe, debilitating pain. In most cases, liberal use of artificial tears manages the symptoms, and stabilizes the condition. Severe cases require a more aggressive approach with prescription medications, and surgical intervention.

Dry eye can be an obstacle to successful contact lens wear. Most contact lens failures are due to dry eye problems. However, people with mild dry eye issues can still wear contact lenses. Johnson and Johnson, the maker of the Acuvue brand disposable contacts, have developed a lens, the Acuvue Oasys, which addresses these dry eye problems.

The Acuvue Oasys contact lens is made from Senofilcon A, a new material that is 50 percent smoother than currently available lens materials. In addition to its smooth feel, the new lens also features an improved formulation of the unique HYDRACLEAR technology that combines high performance base materials with a moisture-rich wetting agent. In a clinical study with more than 190 contact lens wearers, patients wearing Acuvue Oasys reported consistently clear, crisp vision and noted that their eyes remained fresh and moist, even in challenging environments.

While this technology is not a cure all, it does reduce the failure rate of lens wearers. A thorough eye exam, as well as a comprehensive medical history will dictate the ultimate success of wearing contact lenses. The Acuvue Oasys is just another tool available to patients who are super motivated to wear contacts, but are limited by certain medical conditions.

Comments(9)

In a recent Pew Hawkins Survey taken on college campuses a variety of trends emerged.

Our obvious interest was in, just how popular (or not) contact lenses are – on college campuses nationwide. In the survey, which polled more than 4,400 college freshmen and seniors more than 54% of those surveyed would prefer wearing contact lenses over traditional frames or glasses. Of those polled, no particular brand was identified as the “go to” brand. However, the Acuvue brand was universally voted as the most “familiar” brand.

There was no clear second most “familiar” brand.
An interesting data point was that 31% of the men polled said they’d be willing to try or use colored contact lenses while more than 58% of the females polled said they either did or would be willing to try and use colored contact lenses.

Are you a college aged wearer of contact lenses or glasses? If so, we’d love to hear what you have to say about the following:

1) If given the choice between contact lenses and glasses, which would you prefer?
2) Is there a particular brand of contact lenses you would pick over another?
3) If you answered yes to question #2 above, which brand would it be?
4) If you were given the opportunity to try colored contact lenses, would you try them?
5) How many people can you think of, off the top of your head that wear contact lenses?

Hit our blog comments with answers to any or all of the above.

Comments(13)

Unless you live under a rock you’ve surely heard the phrase “Obama Care,” which has also been referred to as “health care reform” and “national health care.” Regardless of your political affiliation, proposed legislation as far reaching as the health care reform act would undoubtedly effect every person & every aspect of health care. So how would the proposed health care reform affect your vision care?

One of the most commonly asked questions in our practice and for the thousands of folks we correspond with each month has been “precisely how will the proposed health care reform affect my vision care, my flexible spending account and my annual visit to the eye doctor?”

While, unfortunately we’re not privy to what the actual proposed bill(s) will and will not cover – we have read a summary of both the latest proposed House & Senate bills. Each bill has its nuances and neither clearly or directly outlines how vision care will be impacted.

Both the House & Senate bills will theoretically bring tens of millions of new insured folks into the health care system. Initially, what sounds like a boon for health care providers like eye doctor’s may end up costing them hundreds of millions or even billions of dollars because of the new proposed caps on reimbursements to the medical professionals. Capping reimbursements even further will undoubtedly drive the profession to find new ways to “expedite” and “streamline” procedures – which is not always in the patients long term best interest.

Unfortunately, while we would like to have given a more “informed” answer to the pointed question of how proposed health care reform will impact your vision care, visits to your eye doctor, contact lenses, prescription glasses, medical procedures like Lasik and corrective eye surgeries – we will need to see more in the way of detail in the proposed plans. And, until our elected officials decide it is in our best interest to see and participate in these discussions – we remain skeptical.

Comments(14)

We again find ourselves in a wonderful yet “scary” place, the New Year ! It’s so cliché to say, “time flies by…” but it really does. With all of the New Year resolutions that you may or may not have made, I’d propose a simple but very important one.

Take Better Care of Your Eyes in 2010.

In a recent poll taken of college age men and women, only 13% of the students polled could spell the name of their eye doctor. An even more disturbing statistic was that more than 67% of the men polled didn’t know what their vision was. The number was slightly better for the female students but still more than 54% didn’t know what their vision was.

Your eyes are not just the portals to your soul but also an incredibly important sensory organ, that all too often is completely taken for granted. Degenerative eye diseases can permenantly harm and even take away your vision if not diagnosed and treated in a proactive manner.

Let this serve as a simple and hopefully pointed reminder that taking your vision for granted is a mistake. An annual eye exam with your eye doctor is not mandatory but highly advisable. The ocular nerve is one of the most complex aspects of the human anatomy and thankfully there are some fantastic diagnostic tools which can serve to work as an early warning indicator of potential problems.

So in 2010, take a minute to look at yourself in the mirror and when you do, tell those eyes looking back at you that you’ll be taking better care of them in 2010 – because you really appreciate all that they do for you.

Comments(9)