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Thread: Replacement option for Sola Grad

  1. #1
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    Replacement option for Sola Grad

    I have a few patients (usually older ones) who have been wearing Sola Grads successfully for many years,
    and on occasions in the past we have put them into other lens designs without success.

    Now that the Sola Grad has been discontinued, what might the best option/s be for those patients who are well adapted to the hard design of the Sola Grad?

  2. #2
    Master OptiBoarder
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    iiiisoptom, I would like to comment on your post, but please understand I am not being critical of you per se, there are dispensers all over the world who dispense with the same philosophy as you do, I would like to point out this type of thinking that is common, but leaves our patients with potentially a less than ideal experience.

    When we only match a patients previous lenses, we are making some dangerous assumptions. The first assumption is that this patient was fit correctly when when they first received this lens brand. Was it really the best lens for their liftestyle or RX 15 years ago? The second assumption, even if it was the best lens, is their lifestyle has never changed. I use my cel phone more than I ever have, I also read more. Many people pick up crafts, retirerees probabably drive less than they did, and may use the computer less than they did. Hobbies change, among people and lifestyles and eras. Jobs change, and optical requirements along with it. So even if it was the best lens 15 years ago for them, its probably not now.

    Look at your contact lens dispensing for a moment. 20 years ago you may have been dispensing Acuvue 1's, or B&L 38's to every patient. I am guessing you moved those patients to better silocone hydrogels, and some to mulitfocals contacts as their needs, rx and technology changes. Eventually you threw away the fitting kits of even once great contact lenses.

    I advocate lifestyle dispensing, which means knowing the lifestyle of your patient and the qualities of your progressives, and matching the two. We do this with contacts all the time without thinking about it. That way at every dispense your patient gets the best lens for their lifestyle.

    So the real question to me, is not what to replace Lens A with (in your case the Sola Grad) but what lens is best for patient A given their lifestyle today?

    Lets look at it this way too. Assume for a moment your Mother needs a new car, but he has loved her Ford Taurus for the last 25 years and has never driven anything else. She goes the car dealer, they ask her the simple question: "do you like your Ford Taurus?" "Yes, I love my car!". "Well, we fortunately still have a brand new Ford Taurus on the lot, its only $28,000! Never been driven. Would like that car?" "yes!". You would be angry because you consider your mother to have gotten ripped off. You would storm in, demand to see the manager and proclaim "You sold my mom an old car for the price of a new one! Thieves!". Ironically, we do that in optical every day.

    Then we ask the patient, do you like your old lenses? They reply "Yes" because its the only lens they have ever worn. In essense we have made our patients the lens experts. We have forsaken our expertise.

    The key to moving patients (and I moved a lot of patients) to a new and better lens is to tell them at dispense, "this is a newer and much better design, for your lifestyle. In a couple of weeks you should have wider fields of view, more confidience driving at night, and less eye fatigue. Between now and then you will have to adapt because we are sending new math to your brain. Things will move differently when you walk and turn your head, your coffee cup will seem like its in a different posisition. You may have trouble focusing for a couple of days on objects your used to seeing clearly. But in as little as 3 days you will begin to adapt, and in 2 weeks you could experience the best vision you have hand in many years. "
    Last edited by sharpstick777; 11-23-2012 at 07:09 PM.

  3. #3
    Master OptiBoarder OptiBoard Silver Supporter rdcoach5's Avatar
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    Had a couple come in who had purchased GT2 lenses about 3 years ago .The last pair the husband had purchased elsewhere and they fit the progressive lower for golf.The wife ordered first and I fit her with Toledo Optical's proprietary Visionary Max ,a free-form design from IOT. When she put them on, a huge smile instantly emerged and she said " everything is so clear !" The husband ordered a few weeks later and had the same response. He told me the wife absolutely loved her glasses and that's why they they always have relied on me to give them the best lens for the money even though they live miles away. I could have just matched their old progressive design forever but I don't believe that would have provided any more expertise than they could have gotten from Walmart or anywhere. Also , the Varilux Comfort was discontinued for a reason.
    I just had another first time progressive wearer pick up her Visionary Max lenses and as she was getting up to leave , I told her she might experience some off balance feeling while walking. She replied , as have so many others with this lens, that not only did she not have any off balance feeling but that every distance was so clear and instant adaptation. With the cost of this lens not much more than older designs, why would you stick with inferior lenses?

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