Q: How Many Contacts Come in a Box?

A: Six*

This is one of the more common questions I hear when people are wondering how much their contacts are going to cost. The simple answer is six, but there is a better question to ask: “How much is a year supply of contacts?”

Some brands of contacts are meant to be replaced every two weeks and others are one month. So you have to buy twice as many boxes for a two week lens vs the one month kind. On average, the one month kind are almost twice as much as the two week lenses, but this varies from brand to brand.

In general, the cheaper contacts you see advertised to get you in the door are made from an older, plastic technology that in general is more dry and less breathable on your eyes. The newer contact lens materials cost a little more, but most people notice their eyes feel significantly less dry and red with the newer, breathable contacts.

If you want to find out how much contacts cost per box, check out 1800Contacts.com. If you buy a complete year supply, you can usually get a discount, and having a year supply tends to make it less likely that you will over-wear your contacts and get an eye infection.

*If you get the daily disposable contacts, they come in packs of 30 or 90.

Digital Patient Check-in

Also, effective immediately, you can schedule your eye exam on-line 24/7. Certain high traffic time slots will not be available to schedule on-line, so if you don’t see the time you need, then please call 435-753-3906 to see if it might still be available.

These new features are all thanks to Dr. Langford’s new practice management and electronic health records system: DrChrono.

Your eyecare records are secure, accessible, and legible with DrChrono.

Also, I am converting from paper charts to an electronic health record powered by Dr Chrono. This will allow new features for you like:

• online appointment scheduling.  Stay tuned to visionhealtheye.com for the functionality of scheduling your eye exam 24 hours a day.  Certain high traffic time slots will not be available to schedule online, so if you don’t see the time you need, then please call 435-753-3906 to see if it might still be available.
• self-serve data entry.  When you come in for an exam, you will input into the system your demographics and health history yourself, then it will always be there so you won’t have to re-write the same information for the next visit.
• easy, legible, portable records. Someday you might need your eye exams transferred to another doctor. They won’t be as helpful if the copies ( or handwriting ) aren’t clear and legible. Dr. Chrono makes it easy to fax your clear, legible records after you provide us with a HIPAA-compliant records release.

I appreciate you entrusting me with your eyecare. Feel free to tell your friends and family about us because my goal is to become the trusted eyecare provider of choice for those seeking the best value.
-David Langford, O.D.

Aqua Worx Health Fair Sponsors

Aqua Worx is sponsoring a health fair on Saturday July 9, 2011 from 10:00am to 3:00pm. I will be there to give simple screenings and answer general questions about eye health.

Planned events are:

• balance screening
• hearing screening
• blood pressure
• foot soaks
• massages
• skin cancer screening
• fitness, nutrition, and foot care education
• Door Prizes

So join me there at 209 W 300 N in Logan! Visit aquaworxhealthfair2011.blogspot.com for more information about the health fair.

Because the contact lens doesn’t completely cover your eyes, is it even important for your contacts to have UV blocking? This panel of expert eye doctors concludes that yes, it is. I think it’s especially true if your sunglasses do not have a wrap to stop UV coming in from the side. The UV light on a standard frame will sneak through the side and reflect off the back lens surface and onto/into your eyes. UV blocking contacts filter out these peripheral rays.

These graphs from Acuvue.com illustrate the difference in UV blocking ability between several popular brands of contacts:

UVA blocking ability of select soft contact lenses

UVB blocking ability of select soft contact lenses

Most contacts don’t block UV except Johnson & Johnson’s Acuvue brand of lenses. The reason is most soft contacts are created in a solid plastic and then hydrated at the end. Part of their process is to use UV light to cure the lens, so it would be impossible for these manufacturers to create a UV blocking lens. Acuvue, on the other hand, hydrates the lens from the onset, so they can build UV blocking into the material because they don’t need UV light curing for their polymer.

I know a guy who works for Acuvue who told me about a time his daughter went snow skiing and refused to put on sunglasses or goggles. At the end of the day, her eyes were completely red from UV light passing through the clouds, bouncing off the snow, and inflaming her eyes. When she took off the contacts that evening, she had a white ring where the contact lens overlaps from the cornea onto the conjunctiva. Her Acuvue lenses had spared her from getting a photokeratitis! (However, her photo-conjunctivitis was still pretty painful and required some eye drops to treat it.)

My message is, if all things are equal, contact lens wearers should consider getting contacts that block UV light. Also, everyone should wear sunglasses with a side wrap to decrease UV exposure to areas in and around your eyes. Your skin, conjunctiva, and lens will be healthier and look younger for longer. Start your kids out young with sunwear because this is the most important time to prevent UV exposure.

Sources for more information:

• Acuvue.com
• American Optometric Association
• Contact Lenses holding AOA Seal of Acceptance for UV blocking

(Note: not everyone can wear Acuvue lenses due to fit on their eye or prescription not available in their powers. Ask me during your eye exam if Acuvue lenses are a possibility for your eyes.)

AARP, AOA offers free Webinar on the effects of aging vision on driving

AARP’s free Webinar, “Keep Your Safety in Sight: Prepare for the Effects of Aging Vision on Driving,” will be offered Wednesday, May 11 from 3 p.m. to 4 p.m. EDT.

As you age, your vision undergoes certain changes that can affect your driving and may increase your risk of being in an accident. This session, hosted jointly by the AARP Driving Safety Program and the AOA, will explore these changes and provide valuable information to keep you safe on the road. You’ll learn:

• What changes in vision to expect with aging, including its effect on processing speed, blurred vision, problems seeing in low light or at night and reduced peripheral vision
• How these changes can affect your driving
• Practical tips and resources to help you prepare for and cope with vision and environmental driving changes

Presenter: Paul B. Freeman, O.D., AOA

To register go to: http://w.on24.com/r.htm?e=298210&s=1&k=31FAC0CBFB7D907649ECED0AD5548D86.

So for those of us in the Mountain Time zone that is 1:00 PM to 2:00 PM on Wednesday May 11, 2011. Please click on the link above to register your slot.

If you are concerned about you or someone you love and their ability to drive in old age, then please sign them up for the AOA and AARP’s webinar. Or sign yourself up and have them there to watch an interesting presentation with you.

• Replace your lenses on the approved schedule. (An old lens is a dry lens.)
• How many hours a day do you wear your lenses? Not all lenses are meant to be worn 14+ hours a day.
• Ask your eye doctor if he would recommend a certain kind of contact lens brand/material that could help decrease dryness and match your wear time lifestyle.
• What contact lens care system are you using? Ask your eye doctor for a recommendation considering your eye health and contact lens material.

The contact lens care system you buy is very important because not all contact lens materials are compatible with all contact lens solutions. This has been studied and the researchers publish a grid that helps us predict for most people what solutions they should use. Here is copy I grabbed from their website on January 26, 2011 (click to enlarge):

Match up your solution with your contacts. Is it usually compatible for most people?

My observations are that that Optifree and ClearCare are generally compatible with contact lens materials. (Please don’t just buy the Unisol Saline because it won’t disinfect your lenses.) In general, the Acuvue2, Acuvue Oasys, and Biofinity materials are compatible with most contact lens solutions.

So, in short, if you experience dryness, first start by replacing your contacts according to the recommended schedule which I mark on your prescription paper. If you already do this, then the next step I would take is try changing your contact lens care system.

In your contact lens exam I recommend and mark on your contact lens prescription paper specific contact lens care systems for your eyes based on the lens material, your previous experiences with solutions, and your eye health.

2011 Roadmap Planner with Daily Dats System™

More information is available at roadmapplanner.com, but in essence you can calendar, schedule, make goals, and track your goal progress/achievement all in one compact form factor that fits in your pocket. Just add a pen and get your life organized for just $10 (while supplies last).

The 2011 Roadmap Planner is available to buy from the website or pick one up at the office during doctor hours to avoid shipping fees.

New Hours for 2011 at VHEC!

Doctor hours are:
Sunday and Monday: Closed
Tuesday: 9:30 AM to 7 PM
Wednesday: 11 AM to 7 PM
Thursday: 9:30 AM to 5 PM
Friday: 9 AM to 5 PM
Saturday: 9 AM to 3 PM

(Note: Wal*Mart Vision Center hours are 9 AM to 8 PM Monday through Saturday and Noon to 5 PM on Sunday.)

The only difference from last year is that I switched the hours I keep on Wednesdays and Thursdays to accommodate my volunteer work in Cub Scouts.

Thanks!