Many thanks to a patient who brought Sight Village 2013 to my attention this week. Sight Village events run at venues around the UK. These are premier European events showcasing technology, support and services for people who are blind or visually impaired. Even better, admission is free. Unfortunately the date for the Edinburgh roadshow has now passed but you can still catch the main event in Birmingham on 16-17th July 2013. More info is on the QAC website.
After 8 months of lectures, workshops, course work and exams Ashley was presented with her level 7 Optical Assistant qualification this week. The graduation event at Surgeons hall celebrated the hard work of a small number of optical assistants who have now attained the highest level of qualification in their field. The Worshipful Company of Spectacle makers and NHS Education Scotland provided the course in Optical Care to develop the potential of optical assistants. Ashley feels it has been not only interesting but hugely useful in her day to day work. She now has a much better understanding of the eye conditions that we deal with in the practice, and of the nature and purpose of the highly technical cameras and scanners that are used. She has enjoyed developing her knowledge of spectacle and contact lenses and the multitude of options available in both these days. Her homework, and coursework put the optometrists through their paces at times! We are exceptionally proud of her hard work and achievement. Well done Ashley. Photo courtesy of www.mikeboydphotos.com
Spot the difference – one of these frames is from 1969 and the other 2013, can you tell which is which? OK, it's not that hard, the top one is a 1969 frame that we finally got to replacing for one of our loyal contact lens wearers. However, it goes to show that if you keep anything long enough, it comes back into style. Who would have though heavy plastic frames with upswept sides would be all the rage in 2013!? I could have taken any one of about 20 frames from our range that match this antique beauty except that is was 40 years ahead of its time in 1969. In fact it's still in quite good nick so I might pop the lenses out, stick it on display and see if anyone will buy it…
Both Ian and Gillian have been lecturing to other optometrists about eyelid disease. Our advanced qualifications in eye disease and its treatment (the ‘DipTP(IP)' after Ian and Gillian's name) means we see a lot and know a lot about all types of eye disease including eyelids. The eyelids form a key part of a healthy visual system and are because they are constantly on the move and exposed to the elements are prone to a whole host of conditions, some serious some benign. Gillian spoke at the York Local Optical Society and Ian at Optometry Tomorrow, the annual conference of the College of Optometrists. Feedback was positive and a number of the audience said they now properly understood eyelids and their management for the first time in their career. It's a complex business so if you've got problems with your eyes or eyelids, come and see and expert.
Both Ian & Gillian have been lecturing on Blepharitis and Eyelid Disease recently and some of the audience have been interested in our Lid Health Management Plan. You can download it below. Lid Health Management Plan
Last week was a busy one as the optometry team were guests at the Centre for Sight in East Grinstead, for their 2013 optometry education day. The private eye clinic is run by Mr Sheraz Daya. This pioneering eye surgeon performed the first laser vision correction procedure (LASIK) in the UK in 1995. He has since developed a number of surgical techniques and has been involved in the area of Stem Cell Transplantation and tissue engineering. He is the surgeon responsible for performing the stem cell graft that has started to improve the vision of Katie Piper, the model who was left blind in one eye after an acid attack. Mr. Daya has also invented a series of innovative ophthalmic instruments for use in Corneal Transplantation, Collagen Cross Linking (CXL), Laser refractive Surgery and more recently femtosecond laser cataract surgery. He has devised a new technique called “Trans-lens Hydrodissection” which enables easy removal of the lens during laser cataract and lens surgery We heard lectures from the resident surgeons at the clinic. Talking on the most recent developments in corneal, laser refractive, and cataract surgery. We also heard from a guest lecturer on treatments for retinal eye disease and keratoconus. A highlight of the day was watching Mr Daya perform live cataract surgery. The last time I scrubbed in to see cataract surgery was as a pre-registration optometrist at Ninewells hospital – how things have changed! The state of the art laser which Mr Daya also uses to perform “blade free” laser corrective surgery was used to do some of the most complex parts of the procedure. The highly accurate laser made precise incisions in the lens of the eye, while Mr Daya sat back and watched. This part of the surgery now being “hands free”. The introduction of this type of laser makes recovery times for the patients as little as just a couple of hours. Other surgical advances included implantable contact lenses in single vision, toric and multifocal forms for correction of long and short sight, astigmatism and presbyopia. Visiting the centre for ourselves and discussing the procedures with the people who perform and develop them really impressed on the us the improvements being made in the field of ocular surgery. It was a long day and a lot of travel but we believe it is vital for our optometrists to get the very latest information on surgery so that we can advise our patients better on treatment options.
Cameron Optometry is delighted to announce that this year, we were given Optometry Giving Sight's Silver Award for charitable fundraising. This was achieved by way of the kind donations of our patients. Optometry Giving Sight is a British charity that currently supports 42 sustainable eye care projects across the developing world. The purpose of their work is to improve the quality of life for people who are needlessly blind, or vision impaired simply because they do not have access to an eye exam or a pair of spectacles. This is estimated to be 670 million people worldwide. World Sight Day 2012 was the culmination of a massive fundraising effort by optometry practices across the UK. It was marked in Malawi by the official hand over of a new Optometry teaching centre to the Malawi school of Optometry. We would continue to encourage patients, particularly in lieu of payment for any minor spectacle repairs to pop a donation in the collection tin at the reception desk. A small way to continue to make a big difference to those less fortunate than ourselves. Thank you and well done!
The Keratoconus Group is resourcing and self help group for people with keratoconus. Cameron Optometry has long been a supporter and we have often travelled to Glasgow to attend and speak at meetings. With Ian's help an Edinburgh based group was set up and has just had it's second meeting here at the practice. Ian spoke about the latest advances in contact lenses and answered all sorts of questions about keratoconus. They hope to run another meeting on another topic in Spring and we'll keep you updated here. If you are interested in keratoconus or have the condition, you should join the group online at www.keratoconus-group.org.uk
Cameron Optometry is one of the leading contact lens practices in the UK and as a result, we're often among the first to get to try new lenses. Yesterday we became the first Private practice in the UK to be given access to the new ICD 16.5 lens. This lens is really designed for people with unusual eyes and it quite cleverly vaults right over the top of all the central irregularities that normally cause difficulty in contact lens fitting and comes to rest gently on the least sensitive and most regular portion of the eye – the sclera. I heard about these lenses at the recent AAO Meeting in Phoenix so it's really exciting to get hold of this lens. It is mainly for specialist purposes like keratoconus, but they are suitable for people with regular shaped eyes too. This promises to be a fantastic addition to the range of lenses we can offer people especially people who have never been able to get contacts to fit previously. Heather has already had a shot with one patient the day we got it, but Ian and Gillian are still waiting for a go!
I kid you not, this is the weather in Phoenix. It's hard to beleive it is almost November – I dread to think what it's like here in summer. In fact it's hard to believe it's on the same planet heated by the same sun. Fortunately for my patients (unfortunately for my tan), I've been inside all day in darkened rooms listening to eye lectures. More retinal stuff this morning, but at a much more civilised 10am (I managed to sleep until 7.30 today which means I'm finally getting into Phoenix time with only 2 days left). It was titled ‘Things you don't want to miss' and included some quite scary case histories – always good to stop you being complacent. That was 2 hours long so a break for lunch before more on optic nerves where the focus was on differentiating between glaucoma and other types of optic nerve disease. Interesting and useful but 2 hours felt like 4. To round out the day I spent some time looking at epiretinal membranes (ERM) which are areas of thickening on the retina that can impair vision (kind of like hard skin on the back of the eye). They are quite common and we use the OCT to find see them and monitor them. Many of you will have these in your eyes that we may have told you about. I'm not quite sure we got the whole story about them, the lecturer seemed to miss out some things that I think are quite important when talking about ERM and said some things that I'm not sure are quite 100% correct. Nonetheless, some useful points to bring back. I went to the supermarket for a few bits and bobs and ‘went native' by buying some Twinkies. If you don't know what they are, they are one of the least natural food products you can possibly imagine – however I quite like them and it made me feel very American to buy them. I blended right in with my pasty skin and funny accent… PS. My wife tells me it's snowing in parts of Edinburgh which is frankly impossible to comprehend in this heat.
If you love eyes, AAO is like Nirvana. Is your chance to be as nerdy as you like about eyes and no one thinks you're weird or boring! I only made it to 4am before I was wide awake but fortunately had a 7.15am start with a breakfast meeting about contact lenses and happy patients. It was OK but I wasn't inspired to be honest. Things improved as the day took a decidedly geek turn with a whole hour devoted to the the vitreous humour (of course the Yanks spell it incorrectly). For those of you casting your mind back to A-Level biology the vitreous is clear the jelly like substance that fills most of the eye ball and is 99% water. How can you talk for an hour about a transparent bag of gel that's 99% water I hear you ask? Well you can and it's fascinating. If any of you have experienced flashes and floaters then you may have had a PVD which we talked about in some detail. There is even hope for a new treatment for problems associated with PVD and a possible cure for floaters. This new wonder drug comes out in the US in 2013, so we'll have to see how long it takes to come to the UK. Then I had an excellent summary of the latest lenses for keratoconus. We're pretty much at the leading edge of keratoconus in the UK and so there wasn't too much new here but there are a couple of new designs coming out this year which sound quite exciting and now I know how to fit them, it should give us a running start when the arrive in the UK. The afternoon was a bit of binocular vision (how the eyes work together as a pair) and a very interesting discussion of the value of OCT in Glaucoma and other optic nerve analysis. The OCT is scanner that we will have used on you if you've come in for an eye exam in the last year or 2. I'm such a party animal I stayed up until 8pm before crashing out!
1 hour to London and then 10 hours to Phoenix. It's a long way to travel but if you are serious about getting access to the best optometry education in the world, it's got to be America and it's got to be the AAO, which this year comes to Phoenix. It's my first time in Phoenix and actually my first time at the AAO. I've been to other American optometry meetings which have been fantastic but already I think the AAO is the best one yet. There are about 5000 optometrists here from all over the world (there are only about 1000 optometrists in the whole of Scotland) and there are 10 streams of lectures every day given you a massive choice of things to listen to. The scale of place is big even by American standards and because of its size, it attracts some real experts in very detailed sub specialities we just don't have in the UK. As you can imagine it is a big investment for a small business when you include time away, travel and accommodation but at CamOpt we are dedicated to being the highest qualified and most experienced optometrists in the UK and that means this is the place we need to come to hear what's new. As always in America early starts are the order of the day so it's 7.15am for a breakfast meeting on contact lenses to get me up and away. No big deal as Phoenix is 8 hours ahead I expect I'll be up at 5am twiddling my thumbs anyway.
A couple of weeks ago Ian took part in a round table discussion with industry leaders regarding a new lens from Bausch + Lomb in Waterford, Ireland – BioTrue. Taking the same name as the popular solution, B+L have tried to a produce a lens that is built around the natural properties of the eye. For example the lens has the same amount of water in it as the cornea (the front of the eye, where the lens rests), 78%. The surface of the lens also mimics your eye's own healthy tears to retain moisture and shape giving great comfort and long wearing times. The lens proved quite popular with those who had tried it at the meeting and some of our patients have already moved on to it after liking the benefits. If you wear daily disposables and aren't get the comfort you need, we can send you a sample of this new lens to try. If you don't wear daily lenses but fancy the convenience, then give us a call. At the moment the lenses are only available in minus powers (up to -8.00) but more will be coming next year. Waterford was a interesting place to visit and we stayed in Waterford Castle situated on its own private island which is only accessible by ferry. Great fun but a bit of a hassle if this was your daily commute…
Well day 2 has been even better than day 1 although it was another 4am start. I'm like a kid in a sweet shop, there are so many interesting lectures I'm having a hard time choosing. I opted for “What's new in retina” which was a good choice. The chap (a retinal surgeon) was giving us a sneak peak at some brand new (not even released or published) information about some very exciting new drugs available to treat macular degeneration. You may have heard of Lucentis which is widely used but this next generation drug is used in combination and looks to have incredible results. This kind of research just isn't accessible in the UK which makes the effort of coming out here feel very worthwhile and exciting to see what's coming round the corner. A bit more stuff on injections for macular degeneration rounded out the morning and has given me some rather exciting ideas for where we could go in the future with optometry in Scotland. The afternoon was a workshop on “Advanced Retinal Examination – 3 mirror and scleral indentation” which is not as bad as it sounds. This was a great chance to practically brush up on some skills to examine the peripheral retina to check more thoroughly for problems like retinal detachment. It was so useful I went an bought a new lens to put my new skills into practice in Scotland and take advantage of the great exchange rate. Tonight I ‘partied' until 8pm again but stayed up catching up on emails until 9pm!
Many of you will already know but I am sad to annouce the death of Donald's wife (and my mum) Dorothy Cameron. Dorothy was a big part of the business for many years, developing and running in particular our Direct Debit system and supporting Donald as he ran the practice. She had breast cancer in 1993 and was all clear for 15 years before it sadly returned last year. She fought it for a year and in typical Dorothy style, never complained or let it stop her doing anything. Only a few weeks ago, she was doing a 2 hour walking tour of Cambridge on holiday and playing with the grandkids. The final chapter was mercifully very short and peaceful with all the family close by. We have been so touched by the kind calls and messages from our patients, many of whom had appointments cancelled at short notice. It's that kind of gracious response that has been so touching in these difficult times and why working at Cam Opt is such a joy – the patients are so lovely! Donald is doing well and looking forward to spending even more time doing his duties as a Grandfather and plans to do a bit of travel (with photography of course). Dorothy was amazing in a quiet way: totally selfless and focussed on others, devoted to precision and doing things correctly, patient and kind. At her funeral service on Saturday which was packed with people, Donald prepared a video tribute to her which gives some insight into what she was like and set some pictures of her to music. I think this sums up Dorothy better than anything I could write and so I am sharing it here. Everyone who knew her will miss her so much but it has been the privilege of Donald, Lorna and myself to have such a thoroughly lovely and wonderful person as a part of our family. Thank you again for your kindness and understanding to us all. I will be back in practice on Thursday 13th Sept.
The risks of swimming with contact lenses are causing a stir in the media following the case of Jennie Hurst. Jennie was featured in the Daily Mail talking about how she lost vision in her left eye after contracting Acanthamoeba keratitis (AK) as the result of swimming in her lenses. AK is a very serious but thankfully very rare infection often related to swimming in contact lenses. As a result, the British Contact Lens Association have updated their advice about swimming in contacts and it's pretty good so I've copied it here: “The BCLA’s advice for contact lens wearers is to not wear contact lenses for swimming – or in hot tubs or whilst showering or participating in water sports – unless wearing tight-fitting goggles over the top. After swimming – or if lenses are removed and stored whilst swimming – contact lenses should be cleaned and disinfected in fresh solution before putting them back on the eyes. The BCLA recommendation is that regular swimmers talk to their eyecare practitioner about being fitted with daily disposable lenses for use with goggles whilst swimming. Wearers of daily disposable contact lenses should always discard them immediately after swimming.” Daily disposables are a great idea for swimming and are available so prescriptions between about +8.00 to -12.00, toric versions for astigmatism and presbyopic versions for folks who need reading glasses. Almost all prescriptions can now be catered for in dailes and having a small supply for swimming/travel as an addition to your regular lenses is a great way of minisming the risks of problems. Call us and we can send you a trial in your prescription.
You may not know but I seriously entertained becoming an astronaut. In fact I actually applied to the European Space Agency while I was at university studying optometry. I really wanted to use my optometry skills rather than just be an astronaut so I had in mind to do some research while I was out there. Now that I think about it, I never heard back from them so they must have not recived my applicaiton. Yes, that's what will have happened… In any case it turns out I can combine eyes and space in the US by working for NASA in Houston investigating the effects of space on the eye and trying to eliminate the vision problems associated with space travel such as early onset cataract and UV/radiation related issues. You have to graduate from the Aeorspace Optometry programme in Florida and you don't actually get to go into space. It seems they don't have use for optometrists during space travel unless you have other skills such as Payload Specialist Lawrence J. DeLucas who graduated in Optometry before studying biochemistry. So even my great optometry skills won't get me a seat on the shuttle so I think I'm going to stick it out at CamOpt a while longer and save up for a shot in Richard Branson's commercial space venture.
There were 100,000 more eye exams carried out in Scotland in 2011-12 compared to the year before. The increase from 1.8million to 1.9million exams is positive for Scotland, where other regions are seeing static or declining numbers of patients attending for eye exams. This comes hot on the heels of a study demonstrating that many people think an eye exam is all about glasses. Debbie McGill, operations manager for Optometry Scotland commented “The recent figures demonstrate an increase in awareness of eye health care and the importance of regular checks. Optometry Scotland is working hard to link eye care and current public health initiatives to help increase awareness even more in the future.”
The highlights of yesterday could fill pages but being a few feet from the Queen and Prince Phillip at lunchtime was definitely one. I also had a once in a lifetime chance to sit and chat with a former gold medalist sprinter about her life and medal winning experiences. I did do some work too, removing a foreign body from a top track cyclists eye and replacing contact lenses for a polish volley ball hero. Not a bad day at the office!
Two days off but back with avengance tomorrow. 270 boxing medicals to be done by 9am!
What a great day. Perhaps it was a combination of it being a Sunday, and the sun shining but the clinic was a bit quiter for everyone. The stats thus far are that of 199 patients in the polyclinic 120 of them were seen in the eye clinic. The slight let up meant an great opportunity to chat to the athletes. Yesterday that included one of the team of only 6 from the Federated states of Micronesia. He explained that there aren't any concrete buildings on the islands let alone an eye care system, so he has a 4 yearly eye test on his visits to Olympic games. A lovely example of what the Olympic movement is all about. I'm all clued up on the details of trap shooting now too and was able to reassure a shooter that he had better than 6/6 vision, which he said gave him real confidence for his event. Also got to one of the ritual athletes welcome ceremonies that happen periodically through the day in this pre-games period. This time the teams in question were Fiji ( hawiian shirt glad) , palestine and St Kitts and Nevis. A mixture of music, dancing and theatre, with a welcome from Tessa Jowell and Johnathon Edwards. Really looking forward to a chance later this week to get up close to team GB at their welcome ceremony in the village. A well timed tea break will be required! Team GB was the answer to your trivia question. 542 athletes over 26 sports, the biggest delegation in over a century. No pressure on the medal tally then!
Well if this is the Olympic eye clinic at 40% capacity then I'm very afraid! Word has obviously spread around the early arrivers and the reception that the optometrists are sharing with the dentists is permanently packed. Few people with real problems at the moment as athletes and coaches taking advantage of having the health of their eyes checked. Although many of the south Americans we saw yesterday had glasses, few had ever had the health if their eyes assessed. I did feel like I had undone some really good work when I refitted some contact lenses for a weightlifter to be told that she wouldn't dream if wearing them to compete. She couldn't focus on her event unless everything was blurred! Hoping to find some time today to sneak into the sunshine and see one of the teams welcoming ceremonies. The New Zealand teams haka yesterday was meant to be fantastic. Photos to follow soon! Question of the day: Which country has most competitors at London 2012. How many competitors for bonus points!
The College of Optometrists has announced some more details about where Gillian will be working during London 2012 games. The details of who is working there are also included – adding to Gillian's 15 minutes of fame. They say the clinic will showcase the best in UK eyecare but regulars at CamOpt will know that we've been showcasing that for years so it's all in a day's work for Gillian. If you're interested, you can follow this link
The first of Gillian's blog posts from the Olympic front-line as she volunteers in the health clinic as an optometrist during the 2012 Games. Would love to post some pictures of my weekend in London but Olympic security is on lock down! Uniform collected. Trainers great, baseball cap not quite so much. Although I’d quite happily wear a bin bag if you put the 2012 logo on it! My base in the health clinic is in the heart of the athlete’s village. State of the art, 5,000 sq metres armed by experts in every medical field the athletes could need. It will be converted to GP surgeries for local residents after the Games. The terrace outside the optometry department looks towards the main stadium, and I think with the wind in the right direction, I might just be able to hear the roar as another Brit wins gold. My work starts 5 days before the games begin which will probably be some of the busiest days as 8000 athletes, and their teams are milling round the village. The dental and optical departments were the two busiest at the Beijing Games in 2008 after the physiotherapy centre. I should see some emergency work although the bulk of it is likely to be more routine eye tests as teams from developing nations accessing care they can’t get at home. Looking forward to getting there now, and keeping you all posted.