BS: Does anyone know about opticians?

Subject: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 03 May 08 - 02:35 PM

About six months ago. My wife suddenly developed binocular double vision with quite frightening intensity and suddeness. Sudddenly one day when she was driving along, the traffic travelling in the opposite direction appared to piling into each other and driving through her car - weird stuff!

Her condition has never got any better and has been diagnosed as sixth nerve palsy.

The help that is available seems very disjointed. Joined up medicine - it ain't. The opthalmic team at the hospital say they have no knowledge of the business of the manufacture of lenses.

She needs a pair of glasses with a large number of prisms (10 diopters in each lens - twenty in all). Specsavers had a go at making a varifocal, but it didn't work. Now she just has a distance pair of glasses. She could have a pair of reading glasses made.

What I want to know is - does anyone know, is there another more specialised optician - who might be able to make a varifocal that works? Has anybody any idea of where to start looking?

best wishes, and thanking you in advance for your thoughts on the matter

al

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: folk1e
Date: 03 May 08 - 02:54 PM

Sorry to hear your wifes problems. Having suffered from Astygmatism for 40+ years I have no binocular vision at all. Immages in one eye look at a slightly different angle to the other.

A Diopter is a measurement of light displacement through a lens.
1 Diopter means that the lens will focus light at a distance of 1 meter (if I remember correctly) so 10 Diopters means that it will focus light at 0.1mtr or 10cm.
To have a varifocal lens would mean that the lens was not symetrical and focused light at different distances dependant on what part of the lens it passed through!

Best wishes to you and yours....

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: MaineDog
Date: 03 May 08 - 02:57 PM

You will have to sort this out very carefully.
Opthamologists are MD's who specialize in eye pathology or surgery. but don't always know what lenses are available.
Optometrists are often really good at measuring people for prescriptions and getting all the parameters just right for you.
Opticians are sometimes really clever at finding manufacturers of specialty lenses, and some of them are really good at fitting and adjusting lenses and frames. None of them seems to have it all together. As usual in the medical field you need to study up on your own problems, ask good questions, and make sure all of you professionals talk to each other.

For example, when I had cataract surgery, the Surgeon was excellent, the
refractionist was good, but the optician in the same office did not get the lenses properly centered for me, so they were useless, and had to be remade by another shop.

Good luck
MD

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Rasener
Date: 03 May 08 - 03:16 PM

So sorry to hear that about Denise, Al. Please send her my best wishes.

Maybe you should get in touch with this department
http://www.nuh.nhs.uk/qmc/optometry/dispensing.htm

Thats if you haven't already done that.

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Becca72
Date: 03 May 08 - 03:25 PM

A friend of mine has a daughter with multiple sclerosis and she had some pretty severe vision changes that required her to get basically prism glasses...she was referred through her Neurologist, I believe. Not sure if that's helpful

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 May 08 - 05:49 AM

refresh

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: John on the Sunset Coast
Date: 04 May 08 - 10:27 AM

weelittledrummer - variable lenses appear not to be uncommon, but her prescription may be somewhat more complicated than others. My wife wears contact lenses, and sometimes needs multiple tries to get it right. Hang in there, and send the lenses back until they get it right.

Good luck.

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 May 08 - 03:34 PM

Many thanks Les fro that number - we will certainly try it!

Thankyou all of you, for contributing to this thread.

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: GUEST,JohnB
Date: 04 May 08 - 04:00 PM

My wife has double vision related to rheumatoid arthritis. We had this one optician for something like twenty five years.
As her condition worsened the prism prescription became stronger and harder to make. After three failed attempts with this guy to make the precription the receptionist got really snotty with my wife, as though it was her fault that they could not make the correct glasses.
So we changed opticians, the new guy, (who we picked as he had reattached a detached retina on a friend of ours) spent over an hour with the first examination, explained everything in great detail and made the glasses right the first time.
Good Luck finding someone, shop arround by word of mouth.
Sorry but this guy is in Canada so no good to you.
JohnB

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 May 08 - 05:17 PM

My wife also has rheumatoid arthritis.

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Rasener
Date: 04 May 08 - 05:24 PM

Hope that works Al. At least its close to you.

Why don't you get the plane to Canada Al, with your missus and visit that person that JohnB mentions.

Subject: RE: BS: Does anyone know about opticians?
From: Big Al Whittle
Date: 04 May 08 - 05:45 PM

well I've got a booking in Faldingworth in 2009, I've got to be back for that......