Everything you wanted to know about contact lenses but were afraid to ask. Optician previews a forthcoming event from Replay Learning
September has traditionally been the start of the CET conference season and this year is no different. According to Vantage, 44 per cent of practitioners still need CET points to meet their requirement (some more than others). But even if you’ve got all your points already that should be no excuse for passing up the opportunity of good quality clinical education and the chance to meet and chat to colleagues old and new.
One such opportunity is this autumn’s Clinical Practice Conferences organised by Replay Learning. A particularly popular feature of these conferences is the wide range of lecture and workshop choices available, allowing you to choose a programme applicable to your needs whether you are an optometrist, a dispensing optician or a contact lens optician. This year there are even lectures for optical assistants. Over the next few weeks we’ll be previewing some of the lectures and workshops available; starting here with contact lens practice.
Presbyopia
There are a multitude of reasons why so few over-50s elect to wear contact lenses, but without doubt one of the main reasons is the reluctance of practitioners to fit multifocal lenses. Many practitioners still perceive these lenses as difficult to fit while patients complain of poor vision and the expense. The more modern presbyopic designs offer increased success rates at a cost equivalent to a pair of multifocal spectacles.
Judith Morris, Caroline Christie and Jonathan Walker will present an interactive seminar reviewing the often forgotten area of translating bifocal lenses. Translating lenses are available in both soft and RGP lens types. They move on the eye to reposition the reading segment relative to the pupil and work more like multifocal spectacles offering better quality vision than simultaneous designs. Delegates will see a live fitting demonstration and will be able to assess the fit of the lens via a video slit lamp.
Astigmatism
There is a plethora of different lenses available for astigmatic patients. David Ruston will cut through the jargon of terms and manufacturers’ claims to help establish which ones work and what to do when they don’t. During the seminar he will fit a variety of lenses and assess the results with the delegates using a video slit lamp. Delegates and presenter will work together through various evaluation techniques discussing problem solving strategies where lens performance is not ideal. As an outcome, participants should feel more confident about prescribing for and managing patients with astigmatism.
Complications
With a wide range of new lens materials, designs and wearing modalities being introduced, the way in which we manage complications is changing.
Silicone hydrogels brought significant improvements to oxygen performance and allowed the re-introduction of continuous wear. The new generation silicone hydrogels have improved durability, wetting and modulus and many are aimed at daily wear. With these new lenses, complications related to hypoxia are now less relevant, while other complications such as superior arcuate epithelial lesions (caused by high lens modulus) and peripheral corneal infiltrates (caused by bacterial build up under the lens) are becoming more significant.
BCLA past president Anna Sulley will describe the common complications seen in practice and suggest ways to recognise, manage and avoid them.
Experience
There really is no substitute when it comes to experience. Luckily experience can sometimes be passed on and this presentation will cover in detail three real-life patient case reports where our experienced presenters, Jonathan Walker, Caroline Christie and Judith Morris will guide the audience through an array of options, showing how they would tackle each individual case. Three possible solutions will be discussed for each case, helping members of the audience select the best plan of action for the optimal clinical result and the outcome that can best meet the patient’s needs.
Conferences
The Replay Learning Clinical Practice Conferences begin in Bradford on Sunday 24 September 2006. Further conferences take place on Sundays throughout October and November in Egham (Surrey), Birmingham and London (Charlton). Additional contact lens lectures on oxygen performance and modern lens designs will be given by Ian Cameron and Philip Morgan. The choice of lectures and seminars for clinical optometry and dispensing will be previewed in a future issue.
Further information about all the lectures is available at www.replaylearning.com or by calling 0870 881 0715.