Driving Change in Optics

In my last article, I noted the importance of keeping up with the latest products – and your patients. A recent new purchase brought this home to me again.

Did you know the average length of time someone in the UK keeps a motor vehicle has dropped since 2016 – it is now just 20 months. If we relate this to our patients, most of them will be driving a different car each time we see them.

I kept my last car for four years and when I changed it recently, I found that the visual task analysis simply does not compare. I no longer have a dashboard, for example – I have two iPad-like screens in front of me. The seating position is higher and more upright, so my progressive lenses perform differently. The amount of visibility – my field of view – is far larger, so my distance peripheral field benefits from being wider.

So, while I can still drive in my previous glasses, I treated myself to a new generation of lenses. The distance field is optimized, as is the intermediate for the dash. The reading, while narrower than my previous pair, is adequate to the point that if I drive to work in them I am unlikely to change my specs when I get to work. The design compensates a little for night myopia by having an area at the top incorporating -0.25D extra. A special driving coating gives a slight yellow (blue-absorbing) tint which is beneficial; the coating also reflects slightly blue as it reflects yet more blue light away, again with some benefit.

Some of the people we see spend huge sums on vehicles and I believe these people would be very open to discussing special, driving-specific spectacles. When I worked in the hang gliding and paragliding industries, we referred to such people as “gear freaks” – they wanted the latest boots, the best flying suits, the most expensive reserve parachutes, and all before they had learned to fly!

We do our patients – and ourselves – a disservice if we don’t stay up to date on the latest lenses, the task-specific designs, the customizable progressive lenses. It’s easy to say, “Every day’s a school day,” but we should make this mantra part of our working life. There is much to be learned – and things are changing fast!