'A Vision for Your Future', Ian Cameron, Cameron Optometry

Ian Cameron of Cameron Optometry (Contact Lenses Practitioner of the Year) gave us a very interesting and amusing talk about eye health and in particular the role of contract lenses in assisting with good vision.

He showed us a short film history of Contact Lenses going back as far as 1887 when first used on rodents. The two main areas of importance are comfort and vision.  Contact Lenses are made up of 60/70% water, 30% plastic and a small percentage of “magic beans” which are used to improve performance and comfort.

Of the population that use contact lenses 30% fail to carry on using them and this is due to lack of comfort. Modern lenses are far more comfortable and allow more oxygen to the eye. The advent of disposable lenses at a reasonable cost has become very popular.  You can also use a hard lens at night which alters the shape of the eye so correcting your vision by the morning.  As this overnight adjustment will last most of the next day this is very popular with people who have problems wearing lenses during the day such as swimmers etc.  Contact lenses can cost between £10-£40 per month.

We were informed that the world’s population is getting more Myopic, particularly in Asia but also in Britain. As we age we have more problems with our eyes.  Our eyelids become slack and we also suffer from dry eyes. As if that was not bad enough our up-close vision also starts to go after 50 but the good news is that a lot of the problems can be sorted with the new improved, comfortable contact lenses.

Vote of thanks was given by Ian Clarkson

Report by Pearl Clark