Contact Lenses

There are many more people wearing contact lenses than ever before. In part, this is due to the huge range of products available. As independent optometrists, Burnside McPhee can advise freely on the best contact lenses for any individual, with no hidden deals to use a particular product or brand, allowing us to offer the likes of Johnston & Johnston and their full range of Acuvue lenses, Cooprvision, Ciba, Bausch& Lomb, Scotlens and Cantor & Nissel. We can advise on all types of contact lens, from gas permeable to dailies.

The initial charge/registration fee for first time contact lens wearers is £25.00 if they proceed with lenses, however we do not charge for an initial contact lens trial. There is no additional charge thereafter for any aftercare appointments required as long as lenses are purchased from ourselves. The consultation fee for patients buying lenses elsewhere is £45.00.

The three optometrists at Burnside McPhee can be trusted to give you the correct advice on your lenses because we have a combined total of almost seventy years experience in contact lens practice – so call us now!

Remember, there is no charge for a contact lens trial at Burnside McPhee.

NEW! Nocturnal/Ortho-K Contact lenses….The contact lenses that correct your vision as you sleep!

At Burnside McPhee we are now fitting the Ortho-K contact lens. For most people the idea of a contact lens that is worn when you sleep and remove during the day is a bit odd, but it’s not. As you sleep, the contact lens gently reshapes the front of your eye to change your prescription to zero. This is optically the same aim as laser eye surgery (without the surgery, risk or expense!) which effectively flattens the cornea to neutralise your short-sightedness.

What are the pro’s and con’s?

Cons first:

  1. This technique is only suitable for people with moderate myopia and little or no astigmatism (up to about -4.00 myopia and -1.25 astigmatism), but when you consider that about 80% of myopes fall within this range, it’s not such a serious issue.
  2. It’s not permanent. But neither is your sight defect. As any spectacle wearer will tell you, your prescription will change over time. With this system, we simply alter the lens fitting to accommodate the change (again not so easy with laser surgery).
  3. The expense. After the one off initial fitting/registration fee (£200.00), these lenses actually cost less than daily contact lenses (£30.00 per month). This includes all fitting appointments and any required aftercare appointments.

Now the pros:

  1. There are no issues about contact lens wear with sports or swimming, especially serious swimmers and those involved in contact sports; rugby and martial arts for example.
  2. Patients with tolerance, dry eye or surface allergy problems are good candidates for this approach.
  3. As the lenses are only worn during sleep, there are no comfort issues during the day and the common problem of all day tolerance is removed, so you have 24 hour comfortable vision.
  4. There is powerful anecdotal evidence to suggest that this technique inhibits the progression of myopia in children. However, whilst present there is little academic research to support this, it most certainly will not do any harm. The handful of optometrists fitting these lenses have all tried them with youngsters with great success. Our youngest patient is only nine years old!
More about the lenses

The lenses we use are manufactured in Scotland individually and uniquely for every patient. After an initial consultation, an extremely accurate 3-D map of the cornea is sent to the lab, where the appropriate contact lens is custom made within a few days. They are then supplied with full instructions and there are then an initial few follow-up appointments. After that, normal aftercare appointments are all that is required.

Most are of the opinion that this is a very new concept, but the principle has been around for at least a century, where sleeping flat on your back with lead weights on your eyelids was advocated! However only recently have 3-D corneal mapping and manufacturing techniques been able to deliver consistently excellent results.

We would be pleased to discuss this individually at a routine eye test or even on the phone. There are some very interesting websites on this subject, so google away.

Here are a few to start:

We are well established fitters of most, if not all contact lenses currently available in the UK, so even if Ortho-K is not for you, we should be able to come up with something suitable.

Further information

The perfect lens

There is no such thing as the perfect contact lens. If that were the case, there would only be one contact lens! As everyone is different and has unique requirements, having access to a huge range of contact lenses gives us a great advantage. This allows us to fit the most appropriate and comfortable lens to every patient.

Can’t wear lenses?

Astigmatism, eyes too big/small/dry/complicated/need bifocals or varifocals; are these reasons you’ve been told you can’t wear lenses? If that is the case, please allow us the chance to assess you.

Daily lenses

We are very keen on daily lenses. They have the benefit of requiring no maintainace, making them totally hassle free. Optically, there are now very few prescriptions that are out of range, so at least 95% of people can wear them if they wish.

They are particularly suited to part time wearers, typically for sports use. Used in this way, they are extremely cost effective.

Another group that benefits from these lenses are those that have sensitive eyes or react to contact lens solutions.

Bi/vari-focal lenses

If you need bi- or varifocal lenses, you can still wear contact lenses. We can keep it simple and correct your distance vision and supply basic reading specs, consider multifocal contact lenses or monovision lenses (we correct one eye for distance vision and the other for reading. Yes, it sounds complicated, but it does work for many people). If necessary, we can use any combination of the above.

Soft or rigid lenses?

Although the great majority of patients wear soft contact lenses, there are still those that wear rigid gas permeable lenses.

The optometrists at Burnside McPhee have had many years of success both fitting and providing aftercare for patients with such lenses, and would be very pleased to offer advice.

Finally

We supply and fit virtually any modality of contact lens wear. Monthly, fortnightly, weekend,coloured/tinted, extended wear or daily wear- there is a lens for you!