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Many eye diseases develop without symptoms, they are often
first discovered during a comprehensive eye examination.

If detected early, and with appropriate treatment these and other conditions may be corrected or minimized, and the severity of potential vision loss can be reduced. This is the first in the series covering conditions that the Optomap Retinal Imaging device is able to detect, often years in advance of other methods.

What is Age Related Macular Degeneration?

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a disease that blurs the sharp, central vision you need for “straight-ahead” activities such as reading, sewing, and driving. AMD affects the macula, the part of the eye that allows you to see fine detail (see diagram below). The macula is located in the center of the retina (back of the eye) and is responsible for the sharp, central vision needed to see straight ahead

Treatment – different types of AMD

How is dry AMD treated?

Once dry AMD reaches the advanced stage, no form of treatment can prevent vision loss. However, treatment can delay and possibly prevent intermediate AMD from progressing to the advanced stage, in which vision loss occurs. The National Eye Institute’s (NEI) Age-Related Eye Disease Study (AREDS) found that taking a specific high-dose formulation of antioxidants and zinc significantly reduces the risk of advanced AMD and its associated vision loss. Slowing AMD’s progression from the intermediate stage to the advanced stage will save the vision of many people.

How is wet AMD treated?

There are two treatments for wet AMD: laser surgery and photodynamic therapy. Neither treatment is a cure for wet AMD. Each treatment may slow the rate of vision decline or stop further vision loss. The disease and loss of vision may progress despite treatment.

Our Opening Hours over the festive period are as follows:

Christmas Eve, Thursday 24th December: 9am – 12pm.

Christmas Day, Friday 25th December until New Years Day, Friday 1st January: Closed

Monday 4th January: Open

Thanks for all your support this year. We wish you a very heartfelt Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Remember!  – You can still order your contact lenses when we are closed. 

Go to http://www.eye-contact.co.uk/reorder/ to place your order.

Clip on sunglasses are very much in vogue and offer a much more cost effective way of gaining UV protection with a prescription than prescription sunglasses.

Now available at Eye Contact Opticians, our clip on sunglasses are designed and manufactured exclusively for your designer or non-designer frames, at a fraction of the cost of prescription sunglasses

This means you can make your existing stylish frame protect you from the harmful effects of UV radiation and save money at the same time.

You can find out more about our custom made clip on sunglasses here www.eye-contact.co.uk/clip-on-sunglasses/  or we would be more than happy for you to talk to you to give you a quote for clip on sunglasses made especially for your pair of designer glasses.

You can http://www.eye-contact.co.uk/contact-us/ by email or phone, or drop in on your lunch break.

Now available for patients at Eye Contact opticians, Mark’Ennovy make single vision and multifocal lenses for individual patients.

The ‘Gentle 80’ monthly contact lens won Contact Lens of the Year in 2015.

The Gentle 80  is individually manufactured with Ori:gen Technology, a next-generation hydrogel material designed to mimic the surface of the human cornea.

Its 80% water content is one of many outstanding characteristics that make Gentle 80 a new standard for all-day comfort, health, and handling in contact lenses.

For more information on how a contact lens made for you can benefit your eye care needs, please arrange an appointment with our senior Optometrist, Arif Karim.

STATE of the art equipment at H & H Eyecare in Altrincham is already proving to be invaluable for its patients.

The opticians, based next to Waitrose in Draybank Road are one of only three in Greater Manchester who offer a retinal Optomap.

When Jude Ledger of Broadheath attended for a routine examination with no symptoms, the Optomap revealed a tear in the retina which required same day, urgent referral to the eye hospital.

“Judith came at just the right time to see us and we are thrilled to have been able to provide her with the most advanced eyecare service,” said H & H Eyecare optometrist, Khal Bhorat.

“The retinal tear we discovered could have potentially resulted in a retinal detachment and permanent sight impairment.

“People perceive their eyes as healthy because they can see well, but as this case demonstrates, there can be underlying problems with potentially devastating consequences.”

The Optomap takes a panoramic photograph of the retina, capturing the widest field of view, covering 82 per cent of the retina compared to the typical 15 per cent coverage of optician retinal photography.

Jude said: “Within hours I had been referred to the Manchester Royal Eye Hospital and was being treated there.

“For the first time in years, I feel as though I can see properly.”

Optomap Retinal Imaging Technology is available at Eye Contact Opticians

Article taken from http://www.messengernewspapers.co.uk/NEWS/13582141.Optician_spots_dangerous_retinal_detachment_during_routine_examination/

Optomap Retinal Imaging is the latest technology available to view the retina. This short demonstration shows how the Optomap scanner views nearly all the retina and is able to detect lifestyle disease such as diabetes and eye diseases, such as Macular Degeneration, often years in advance of other methods.

Optomap Retinal Imaging is available at Eye Contact Opticians. To request an appointment, please go to http://www.eye-contact.co.uk/appointments/general-appointments/

Macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in the over 50s.

Macular degeneration is a group of chronic retinal eye diseases that cause progressive loss of central vision, leaving the peripheral or side vision intact. It is progressive and painless although it can lead to severe vision loss.

The prevalence of macular degeneration is also on the rise: In 2010, 500,000 in the UK were recorded as suffering macular degeneration, with numbers predicted to increase to 650,000 by 2020.

Underlying cause

During the normal course of vision, there is a transfer of nutrients to the retina and waste products from the retina. With ageing changes, there may be a build-up of these waste products (or ‘drusen’) and they may appear as yellowish deposits under the retina. While smaller drusen are likely to disperse, larger drusen may continue to build up under the retina and cause changes which may progress to the more severe forms which affect vision.

Symptoms

Symptoms of the most common form ‘dry’ AMD  may be a slight haze or colours appearing less bright but later there may be patchy loss of central vision, particularly when reading print.

Symptoms of the less common form ‘wet’ AMD may include straight lines – including doorways or window frames – appearing wavy, faces appearing blurred or distorted.

 If you are concerned about the symptoms of Age Related Macular Degeneration, please contact us. Alternatively, you can book your regular check up with us, which helps to detect symptoms. 

For more information on Macular conditions please go to http://www.macularsociety.org/about-macular-conditions

As World Glaucoma Week was celebrated earlier this month (March 8–14) it was announced that scientists may soon be able to repair nerve cells in the eye damaged by glaucoma, improving the vision of patients.

Speaking at the annual meeting of the American Glaucoma Society (AGS), in Colorado, earlier this month, Dr Jeffrey Goldberg, University of California, San Diego, revealed early results from breakthrough trials using proteins which promote the growth of nerve cells.

“There may be a window of opportunity to heal these cells before they die,” Dr Goldberg told delegates. The researcher explained how stem cells are being explored as a means of regenerating damaged retinal ganglion cells (RGCs) – either by transplanting them directly into the eye to generate new RGCs, or by using them to produce the proteins, called neurotrophic factors.

2 % of the UK population suffer from Glaucoma – symptoms are typically unnoticeable and sight loss is irreversible. Your regular eye check-up helps to detect symptoms. For information contact us.

• damages the optic nerve at the point where it leaves the eye

• caused by raised eye pressure or weakness in the optic nerve

• raised pressure is caused by the aqueous fluid behind the iris failing to drain properly

• symptoms are often unnoticeable & sight loss is irreversible

Your regular check-up helps detect symptoms Click here to book online

Risk factors for developing Primary Open Angle Glaucoma (the most common type)

• Your age: POAG becomes much more common as we get older. It is uncommon below the age of 40 but this type of glaucoma affects one per cent of people aged over 40. About five per cent of people over the age of 65 have primary open angle glaucoma.
• Your race: if you are of African origin you are more at risk of POAG. It is also more likely to develop at an earlier age and be more severe.
• Family: you are at a higher risk of developing glaucoma if you have a close blood relative who has chronic glaucoma.
• Short sight: if you are very shorted sighted you have a higher risk of developing chronic glaucoma.
• Diabetes: if you have diabetes you have an increased risk of developing POAG.

Because so many computer users wear contact lenses, researchers in Spain recently reviewed published studies to see if contact lens wear increases the risk of computer vision problems or causes a worsening of computer vision syndrome.

The investigators found 114 studies written in English or Spanish and published from 2003 to 2013 that referenced both contact lenses and computer use. They chose six studies for final analysis.

All six revealed that contact lens wearers were more likely to have computer vision syndrome symptoms than individuals who wore eyeglasses only or did not need corrective lenses. Prevalence of symptoms ranged from 17 to 95 percent among contact lens wearers and 10 to 58 percent among non-wearers. Also, contact lens wearers were four times more likely to have dry eyes during or after computer use, compared with non-wearers.

A report of the study was published in the March/April 2014 issue of the journal Revista Espanola de Salud Publica.