Water, water, everywhere….

In one of my English classes in 9th grade, Mrs Mowery had us read the poem, The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, by Samuel Taylor Coleridge.  The famous quote I always remember is “Water, water, everywhere….but not a drop to drink.”   As you could imagine, it would be quite tormenting to be surrounded by seawater and having no drinking water.

For us “blind” people that depend on our contacts, it can almost be torture when our contacts get dry, blur our vision and burn.  Drops help but often for not long enough.  Very often there is eyelid disease and poor tear quality as the underlying cause.  In those cases, we try to address the underlying cause of dry eye.  However, that is not always easy and sometimes the eye just doesn’t produce the volume of fluid it used to.  Sometimes it’s just our environment with high evaporation rate due to low humidity, air movement and not blinking enough staring at computers.

There is now a revolutionary new material in contacts just now available in a daily, disposable lens called Dailies Total 1, made by Cibavision/Alcon.

The material is a totally new category of contact lens called “Water Gradient” technology.  Basically the outside surfaces are almost completely water with an inner core of plastic.  This gives the patient the benefit of extreme comfort with high oxygen delivery to the cornea to keep it healthy.   With the outer surface almost entirely water, the “lubricity” or coefficient of friction is almost zero.  This means almost there is almost no interaction of the eyelid with the contact lens.  I like to say it’s “slickery.”   Studies have shown 9 out of 10 can’t even feel it on the eye.*

Daily lenses give the patient the ultimate convenience since there is no cleaning or disinfecting the lenses with contact solutions, which often irritate and dry the eyes further.   Since they are always clean, they often offer the clearest vision as well.   Clean lenses also help keep the eyes healthy. Currently, Dailies Total 1 lenses are only available for nearsighted individuals.   Soon there will powers for farsighted patients, those with astigmatism and needing bifocals for reading. We would love for you to try some free trial lenses if you are a candidate when you come in for your next exam and get your feedback on this promising new technology.

Courtesy of Dumas Vision Source, PLLC and Dr Tory W. Moore, Optometric Glaucoma Specialist.    Serving the Dumas, Texas,  Moore County and upper Texas Panhandle area for 23 years.   Call (806) 935-2020 for appointment or visit our optical gallery without an appointment.  Connect on Twitter @eyedocdumas  and like our Facebook business page:  Dumas Vision Source You also can visit our website www.visionsource-dumas.com for more information.   Tory Moore, OD  – “A Hometown Eye Doctor You Know and Can Trust!”