Contact lenses are surely gaining its popularity among Malaysian in recent years due to its convenience and superior aesthetic. It is no longer an uncommon situation to see people wearing contact lenses to avoid chunky glasses on important occasions and even on daily basis.

          As the modern lifestyle pushes youngster to rely heavily on contact lenses more than ever, it had led to a series of problems associated with contact lens wear such as corneal edema, neovascularization, infection, contact lenses related dry eye and so forth.

          All of these have led to the need for better contact lens materials, perhaps a more ‘breathable’ one!

          Subsequently, big players like Acuvue, Alcon and Bausch & Lomb had launched their premium silicone hydrogel (SiHy) contact lenses categories one after another ranging from monthly lenses (Air Optix & PureVision) to daily disposable lenses (1 Day Acuvue TruEye & Dailies Total 1).

          While premium SiHy lenses do offer superior wearing experience for the consumers, it also cost more in the long-term. Looking at this opportunity, Cooper vision had launched an affordable SiHy series to target those who are looking for ‘cheap-but-good’ contact lenses – the Clarity family.

The few members of the Clarity family include:

• Clarity elite (monthly)
• Clarity 1 day (daily)
• Clarity 1 day multifocal (daily) for presbyopia
• Clarity 1 day toric (daily) for combination of myopia and astigmatism.

          Clarity family is feature-packed SiHy lenses that not only offer excellent all-day comfort but also provide UVA and UVB protection. And the secret behind?  Is the WetLoc Technology!

          Basically, what the WetLoc Technology does is that it manipulates the structure of hydrophobic (water-hating) silicone molecules so they become hydrophilic (water-loving) and this creates a lens that naturally attracts and binds water molecules, enabling it to provide continuous wettability throughout the wearing time.

The result – is a lens with high water content that provides excellent all-day comfort for its wearers!

Following the emerge of Clarity family, consumers certainly have more choices when it comes to contact lenses selection. It is a good bargain for those who seek to save some bucks and at the same time do not want to put their eye health at stake.

Now you can even order it from Eyeplus Optometrist Store!

Dry Eye 

Dry eye syndrome is a multifactorial disease of the tears and ocular surface that results in symptoms of discomfort, visual disturbance, and tear film instability with potential damage to the ocular surface as defined by the International Dry Eye Work (DEWS) in 2007.

In short, it occurs when the eyes don’t make enough tears or the tears evaporate too quickly leading to the feeling of dryness, redness and irritation. It is usually accompanied by increased osmolarity of the tear film and inflammation of the ocular surface.

Symptoms of dry eyes may include:

• Stinging
• Burning
• Foreign body sensation
• Sensitivity to light
• Tearing
• Tired eyes
• Difficulty wearing contact lenses.

DRY EYE IS BECOMING MORE COMMON THESE DAYS

Dry eye has affected the broad mass and it’s no longer just a problem among elderly. Gradually, our lifestyle had changed as digital products started to dominate our daily life.

We can no longer work without our laptop and communicate without the smartphone!

Consequently, we’re not blinking as often as we constantly looking at the screens. This has led to a decrease in blinking rate and increase in tear film evaporation causing discomfort and likely progression of dry eye syndrome.

HOW TO TEST FOR DRY EYE?

In Eyeplus Optometrist, we use all of the available means of diagnosis.

• Case history and questionnaire:

A series of questions including symptoms, contact lens wear history and artificial tear use will be asked to better understand the problem faced, lifestyle changed and severity of the disease. In addition, the patient is required to complete a SPEED questionnaire, which typically takes less than a minute.

• Slit lamp examination:

We look for abnormal signs like frothing near the lower lid margin, capped meibomian glands and toothpaste-like secretion. Besides that, we will also check for tear break up time (TBUT) by using fluorescein dye to evaluate one’s tear film stability.

• Medmont E300 corneal topographer (*Available @ Eyeplus Optometrist Jelutong, Penang):

This instrument shows Automated Tear Film Surface Quality Breakup Time (TFSQ-BUT) which is an important clinical marker for dry eye disease. It had 82% sensitivity and 94% specificity for diagnosing dry eye.

At Eyeplus Optometrist, we pride ourselves in the fact that we possess a wide range of diagnostic machines to make sure that we deliver the highest standard of eye care services in this industry. For more information on eye health and eye conditions or to find your local Eyeplus optometrist, click here.

What is Amblyopia?

Amblyopia, or commonly known as lazy eye, is decreased vision in one or both eyes due to abnormal development of vision in infancy or childhood.

Such abnormal development of vision occurs because nerve pathways between the brain and the eye aren’t properly stimulated, resulting the brain favours the good eye over the other (the bad eye).

What causes amblyopia?

Amblyopia usually developed when one eye only sees blurry images. As children typically developing their vision centre in their brain as they grew, such blurry images obstruct the normal visual development causing vision to decrease despite the normal appearance of the structures of the eyes.

The common causes of amblyopia include:

• Uncorrected high hyperopia (long-sightedness) in either one or both eyes (refractive amblyopia)
• Uncorrected high myopia (short-sightedness) in either one or both eyes (refractive amblyopia)
• Uncorrected high astigmatism in either one or both eyes (meridional amblyopia)
• Constant strabismus or crossed eyes – the brain will take up the images seen in the fixated eye and suppress the misaligned eye, leading to amblyopia.
• Ocular structure anomaly in childhood – droopy eyelid, cataract or corneal scar (deprivation amblyopia)

How can I know whether my child has amblyopia?

The easiest way is to bring him or her to the optometrist to have a complete vision test before school age to screen for any significant refractive error and eye misalignment even there is no vision compliant because in most cases, a child may not experience blurry vision if only one eye is bad. Therefore, amblyopia may develop unnoticed.

It is worthwhile to take note of any strange behaviour of your child such as:

• Abnormal head posture while viewing television
• Frown their eyes
• Complaining of headache
• Making mistakes while copying notes from the blackboard.

These may indicate blurry distance vision that may need immediate attention.

At Eyeplus Optometrist, we pride ourselves in the fact that we possess a wide range of diagnostic machines to make sure that we deliver the highest standard of eye care services in this industry.

For more information on eye health and eye conditions or to find your local Eyeplus Optometrist, click HERE.

弱视（懒惰眼/懒惰的眼睛/Amblyopia）

          弱视是一种儿童中常见的视力问题，如不治疗将造成永久性的视力下降。弱视就是儿童在眼睛结构可以完全正常的情况下发生视力下降，模糊不清的症状。

          一般上如果单眼或双眼的视力无论如何都无法矫正至0.6或以上可称为“弱视”/“懒惰眼”。（当单眼或双眼向大脑送去的视像是模糊的，视力下降就会发生因大脑“学会”只看模糊视像。即使使用眼镜的情况下亦无法改变。如图1）

          弱视（Amblyopia/Lazy eye），亦称为“懒惰眼”，是指单眼或两眼经矫正仍达不到正常水平的视力(>0.8)。

          弱视是一种危害视功能的眼病，如不及时治疗会导致视力永久性低下，甚至失明，对日后的生活造成很大的影响。

1、给需要化妆的女生们，应在化妆前配戴隐形眼镜。而卸妆前取下隐形眼镜，不要使化妆品粘连到镜片。

2、比较不建议使用镊子和棍棒等辅助工具，因为镊子如果不包裹尖头，很容易损伤镜片，而镊子和棍棒头的包裹物很容易被细菌污染而成为细菌的良好培养基从而污染镜片，使眼睛发炎。

3、如感觉到眼睛内有分泌物、摩擦感或结膜充血，甚至角膜上长白点，绝不要勉强配戴镜片并应立即去医院就诊。

4、月抛镜片建议配戴时间不要超过一个月。

5、普通软性隐形眼镜可以矫正轻度散光，拥有较高散光者请选用散光隐形眼镜。

6、任何镜片在配戴前必须清洁与消毒。要记得洗干净双手。（定期修剪指甲，指甲不易留长）

1、每次取戴镜片之前确保指甲已剪短，把手清洗干净（建议使用洗手液）。

2、在干净、平整的桌面上取戴您的镜片，以免镜片不小心掉在地上。

3、每次配戴镜片之前，仔细检查镜片有无破损、污物及沉淀物。如有破损则不能再配戴。（建议配戴前再清洁冲洗后才戴，比较卫生）

4、配戴前分辨镜片的正反面，使正面向上配戴。

5、按规定的程序清洗、冲洗、消毒和储存镜片。（注意：清洁镜片时记得揉搓，冲洗要充分。）

6、护理液在开瓶使用后，每次用完及时将盖子盖紧，不要用手指触摸瓶口，护理液应该在规定的时间内用完，如果没用完也不该继续使用，应更换新的护理液。（建议开瓶后三个月内用完。）

危害一：患上干眼症

　　由于眼药水中大多含有防腐剂，会使眼睛中的结膜杯状细胞发生损伤。如结膜杯状细胞受损的话，人就会患上干眼症，眼睛发红、干涩或者疼痛，这样会导致越点眼药水，眼睛越干疼。

　　预防：使用不宜太过频繁。一般而言，对于经常使用电脑的人来说，每天点眼药水3至4次比较合适。但随着使用计算机的时间愈长，眼睛酸涩疲劳、视力模糊等不适现象也日益增加。

     第一：滴眼药水之前别忘了先洗手，以免经手接触引发感染。

     第二：滴眼药水时，头部要尽量向后仰，或平躺下来。用食指将下眼睑下拉与眼球分开。

     第三：将眼药水瓶嘴对准眼睛，点在结膜穹窿内。眼药水滴一至两滴即可，因为眼球表面的容积很有限。

     注意：眼药瓶嘴不可以接触到眼睛或睫毛，以防止药瓶受污染，并且点完眼药后立即盖上瓶盖。

      OK镜，全称：Orthokeratology（角膜塑形术），简称Ortho K 。    

      OK镜是一种硬性透气性隐形眼镜——RGP（Rigid Gas Permeable contact lens. RGP），这类隐形眼镜需要个性化定制，专业性及针对性较强，只能在专业机构验配，因此尚未为广大民众熟知。

      OK镜有两大好处，第一是白天可以不用戴眼镜，视力清晰、方便，第二是长期配戴后可以延缓近视加深速度，（注意：是“延缓近视加深”，不是完全阻止，更不是把原有的近视治好）。