NEWS
Children’s eyecare initiative
Polly Dulley is chair of this national group, run by the Optical Confederation. The aim of the group is to improve eyecare for ALL children. This means trying to get the message across to both parents and teachers that eyecare is vital for all children. In the UK, just 53% of children have ever had any kind of eye examination, and this means that one in five children have an undetected vision problem. Many parents assume that children’s eyes are still checked at school, but this is simply not the case, in many parts of the UK. They also think that a child will complain if they have a vision problem, but many children don’st realise they have a problem, because they have no idea of what is normal.
So far, Polly has written a letter to the head teachers of 23,000 schools in the UK, asking for help from teachers in encouraging parents to get their children’ss eyes checked, and offering help and resources to improve understanding and knowledge about eyes and eyecare.
Many children who come to Aves already have been used in filming and for interviews in both local and national newspapers, telling their own story of why regular eyecare is so important and how it has changed their lives.
If your children haven’st had an eye examination, book them in today. It’s free and it might make a huge difference to your child’ss development. Children who can’st see clearly find it more difficult to learn and play!
Prescription Sunglasses
Protecting our eyes from the sun’ss harmful rays is vital. Eye conditions such as cataract and macular degeneration are both more likely in people who don’st protect their eyes from the sun. Aves stock a wide range of both non-prescription and prescription sunglasses. A complete pair of prescription sunglasses costs as little as £99, so do pop in and have a look. Be ready for the sunshine!
Children’s eyecare initiative
Polly Dulley is chair of this national group, run by the Optical Confederation. The aim of the group is to improve eyecare for ALL children. This means trying to get the message across to both parents and teachers that eyecare is vital for all children. In the UK, just 53% of children have ever had any kind of eye examination, and this means that one in five children have an undetected vision problem. Many parents assume that children’s eyes are still checked at school, but this is simply not the case, in many parts of the UK. They also think that a child will complain if they have a vision problem, but many children don’st realise they have a problem, because they have no idea of what is normal.
So far, Polly has written a letter to the head teachers of 23,000 schools in the UK, asking for help from teachers in encouraging parents to get their children’ss eyes checked, and offering help and resources to improve understanding and knowledge about eyes and eyecare.
Many children who come to Aves already have been used in filming and for interviews in both local and national newspapers, telling their own story of why regular eyecare is so important and how it has changed their lives.
If your children haven’st had an eye examination, book them in today. It’s free and it might make a huge difference to your child’ss development. Children who can’st see clearly find it more difficult to learn and play!
Prescription Sunglasses
Protecting our eyes from the sun’ss harmful rays is vital. Eye conditions such as cataract and macular degeneration are both more likely in people who don’st protect their eyes from the sun. Aves stock a wide range of both non-prescription and prescription sunglasses. A complete pair of prescription sunglasses costs as little as £99, so do pop in and have a look. Be ready for the sunshine!
Services
Eye Examinations
What does an eye examination involve?
- History and symptoms: the optometrist will ask various questions about your eyes and your health to gather information specific to you. This allows the eye examination to be individual to your particular needs. You may also be asked for details of any medications that you are taking, as some drugs and medical conditions can affect your eyes. You may want to bring a list of your medications with you.
- Vision: it is important to check how well you currently see, either with existing spectacles or without any spectacles.
- Spectacle prescription: this will tell us whether or not you need spectacles to help you see comfortably.
- Muscle balance: this tells us how well your two eyes are working together. It may be possible to offer exercises to improve muscle balance, in some cases.
- Ophthalmoscopy: this torch-like instrument enables us to examine the eyes to ensure that they are healthy.
What else might be done?
- Tonometry: this measures the pressure within the eye. It is one of the tests for glaucoma and is typically carried out in patients over the age of 40.
- Visual fields: this measures peripheral vision and is also a useful screening test for glaucoma as well as many other eye related problems. At Aves in Epping we have invested in the very best visual fields instruments which allow us to carry out specialist examinations for drivers as specified by the DVLA.
- Colour vision: this detects colour vision defects and is typically done at a child’s first visit.
- Stereopsis: this measures binocular vision by means of 3D pictures and is often carried out as part of a child’s eye examination.
- Slit lamp biomicroscopy: this enables a magnified view of the anterior surface of the eye. It is particularly useful in contact lens work.
- Keratometry: this measures the shape of the front surface of the eye and is used extensively in contact lens fitting.
Retinal Photography
Aves Optometrists were the first opticians in Epping to offer digital retinal photography, enabling us to take detailed photographs of the back of the eye. We installed our camera back in 2004 and have been offering this additional service to our patients ever since.
Why do I need a retinal photograph?
A photograph is useful to monitor change in the eyes, and so is particularly useful in people at risk of certain eye conditions, such as glaucoma and diabetic retinopathy. It is also useful to have a retinal photograph as a baseline reference, so that any future changes can be picked up more easily. Your optometrist will always recommend a photograph, if he/she thinks it is advisable, but do feel free to request retinal photography when booking your eye examination.
Diabetic Eye Care
Many of you will know that the NHS arrangements for screening for diabetic eye disease (retinopathy) has changed.
For several years the optometrists at Aves in Epping worked alongside your general practitioner to provide a screening service for diabetic eye disease. This involved the use of dilating eyedrops and careful microscopic examination of the back of the eye. We have also made use of digital retinal photography to provide a permanent record and to enhance our ability to detect problems.
From the beginning of April 2007, the NHS in Epping Forest adopted a new scheme, based solely on digital retinal photography. You will be sent an appointment to have the back of your eyes photographed by a technician using a mobile camera. The photographs will then be examined by a trained observer who will look for any signs of diabetic retinopathy.
This will not provide a full assessment of your vision and eye health and it is therefore important that you continue to attend for regular eye examinations.
We are, of course, happy to continue to examine your eyes specifically for signs of diabetic retinopathy but, since our NHS funding for this has been withdrawn, there is now a fee charged to cover the additional time taken. At the end of this examination we will send a report to your own doctor.
This does not affect your entitlement to a normal NHS eye examination at no cost.
Low Visual Aids
We offer a wide range of magnifiers and visual aids designed to help those with any visual impairment. We are able to demonstrate many of these aids to patients, following a visual assessment, to find the most suitable device for each individual.
Dry Eye Assessment and Therapy
Many people are troubled by the effects of dry eyes, particularly as they get older. Symptoms can range from mild irritation in certain dry or air conditioned atmospheres to persistent and debilitating soreness and blurred vision. The causes of dry eye are various. Sometimes there can simply a lack of tears produced while in other cases it may be a problem of the quality of tears and possibly associated lid disease.
At Aves in Epping, we are able to carry out a full assessment of the tears and eyelids to determine the nature of any problem and so to advise on the most suitable treatment regimes.
In some cases where there is a tears deficiency, we can use punctum plugs to reduce the drainage of tears from the eye and thereby enhance the effectiveness of the patients’ natural tears. If our examination indicates that this may be an effective technique, collagen plugs are used in the first instance. These dissolve over the course of about two weeks. If they prove effective at reducing symptoms during this time, then permanent silicone plugs can subsequently be fitted.
YOU SAID IT
"you’ve transformed my mother’s life, how can I ever thank you enough?"
Mrs S.M.
