Why is it

[Geirskogul]

...that the one (besides our two, of course )really-quite-accurate-and-helpful OD in my town that doesn't charge an arm and a leg insist on lecturing his outgoing patients on getting "blue blocker" lenses, no matter what anyone else says? When I tell the patients "these lenses will be red" they insist that he has told them there is a way to do it in clear lenses. Usually to older folk as well. So freakin' annoying. There's even that little checkbox down on the Rx, and some people think that it's nothing short of the Word of God that they must follow. Like telling someone that they can get clear polarized lenses. Just doesn't exist.

He's also the same quack that convinces entire families to head up two hours north and pay is buddy/cousin $ONE HOJILLION.00/pair for what are essentially dark-red tinted lenses. I get that some people get headaches and have other rare conditions that require things like that (had someone last month who has their left eye tinted marroon/green so they can see colors...strange but legitimate) but convincing a (usually medicaid) family to do that seems wrong. I have a feeling the place up north bills the insurances for it, as he instructs them to come to us for "basic" glasses :angry: and get the "real" glasses :angry::angry: from the other quack. It also sucks that he's one of the cheapest in town and, besides the fluff, I've never really had a problem with his Rxs. Very accurate as long as you only listen to his numbers.

[drk]

Maybe he means a lens that cuts out UV, and colloquially calls them blue (short wavelength) blockers?

If not, it's a good response on your part.

[Geirskogul]

I thought that, too, but he checks both the UV400 box AND the BlueBlocker box. He also tells all progressive patients that they should look for the "Varilux Comfort" lens, as that's the "only one he's ever had any luck with," and that our SOLA progressives are inferior. Our freeform SOLA progressives that we sell (90% are the HDV) are about 25% less that what we charge for the Varilux Comfort (we try to sell Zeiss and Seiko, so they're cheaper here) so I'm MORE than happy to sell a Comfort to the patient...but I'd really like doing something a bit newer or, IMHO, better for them. He has these 70 year old biddy's brainwashed through and through, though, and it's hard to convince them otherwise becuase the OD's recommendations are hard to overturn. Like trying to argue with a cult leader, this man.

I should mention that he sends people to us for glasses, especially progressives, because he's burned bridges with our one local lab and a few of the nearer ones, so our 1-2 week turnaround time is favorable compared to what others do here.

I don't want to bash the man too much; he's very accurate and can handle some of our more "difficult" fits, like the patients who tell us, straight or subtly, that our ODs can't be good because they're "female," (and one is African-American! Let me tell you the stories!) or the diabetics who just won't get thier blood sugar under control, and he can be quite helpful otherwise. But he's just too set in his ways! It's like an old man who knows where each gear and pedal are, and all the specs on his favorite car down to the trim color, can't see the road worth a damned to drive, but does so anyways because of stubbornness. That's my best analogy.


EDIT for post below: MarySue, he may be stuck in the 1980's, who knows? I do know he does the Goldman on each and every patient, and all of his dilations are of the 48-hour-long type. Though that could be just for thoroughness, to be honest.

[MarySue]

Maybe he means a lens that cuts out UV, and colloquially calls them blue (short wavelength) blockers?

If not, it's a good response on your part.

Is it possible that he means the Essilor Melanin lens which claims to help keep your macula safe? I can't even phathom an optometrist recommending the 1980's version. Does this info helP? http://www.essilor.ie/productinfo/pd...earmelanin.pdf

[OHPNTZ]

EDIT for post below: MarySue, he may be stuck in the 1980's, who knows? I do know he does the Goldman on each and every patient, and all of his dilations are of the 48-hour-long type. Though that could be just for thoroughness, to be honest.[/QUOTE]



Dilation lasting 48 hours??? That's longer than 1% Cyclopentalate...

No problem with Goldman. I tend to try to do that on most patients. I would say the majority prefer it over NCT...

[Happylady]

Blueblockers? Do you keep a sample of a blueblocker lens for patients to look through? I would think actually looking through one would make a lot of people not interested. And if they got it after they saw it at least they will know what they are getting.

[Wes]

I went to a CE seminar about a year ago on ARMD. It was suggested by the speaker that according to recent studies (no links provided; if you want more info, do your homework) ARMD can be exacerbated by violet and blue light, as they have higher energies than the rest of the visible spectrum. Standard uv is blocked by the crystalline lens and/or treated/tinted spectacles and most contacts. These higher energy frequencies are attenuated more by brown lenses. Grey tends to attenuate visible light pretty evenly across the visible spectrum.

Perhaps the doc is looking at it from this perspective?
Thoughts, comments?

Wes

[kat]

Years ago, (25+) I had a Doc that loved to prescribe Rx Ambermatics.......had to keep reminding him that they were not available for over 3 years!!!!!

[Geirskogul]

I've read studies about the high-energy blue and violet light relation to ARMD, and I can understand that. But it's whole families, or when it's the elderly people he tells them they should be worn all the time, even at night. Plain crazy, dude.

[optilady1]

I went to a CE seminar about a year ago on ARMD. It was suggested by the speaker that according to recent studies (no links provided; if you want more info, do your homework) ARMD can be exacerbated by violet and blue light, as they have higher energies than the rest of the visible spectrum. Standard uv is blocked by the crystalline lens and/or treated/tinted spectacles and most contacts. These higher energy frequencies are attenuated more by brown lenses. Grey tends to attenuate visible light pretty evenly across the visible spectrum.

Perhaps the doc is looking at it from this perspective?
Thoughts, comments?

Wes

Wes, are Serengeti's like this? I know it makes me an old fuddy dud, but I just love them. Are these considered blue blockers?

[Wes]

Wes, are Serengeti's like this? I know it makes me an old fuddy dud, but I just love them. Are these considered blue blockers?

From what I understand, a nice BROWN lens will do the trick nicely. So, if your Serengeti's are brown, which most of the ones I've seen are, you're good to go. I switched out all of my sunlenses from grey or g15 to brown about a year ago. I don't have ARMD or a family history of it, but I don't want it either. It'd be nice to hear what the OMDs and ODs have to say on the subject.

[harry888]

Just stop by his office and ask what he means by "blue blocker" and what you have available.

Call first of course, and say thank you for the referrals.

Harry

[finefocus]

It isn't so much that brown lenses filter blue light (lots) more than grey lenses do. It is that their filtration curve is skewed to the blue end and they therefore transmit relatively more red light. That's why patients who get mid-winter depression like them; they're rose-colored glasses in a way. That's why they are better on overcast days when the cloud-cover makes the ambient light bluer; the clouds make the light bluer, the lenses make the light redder, and you get a wash, you get back the contrast that the flat light takes away. That's why patients comment on how much "brighter" the world seems. Make a gray lens a little darker and you'll filter just as much blue, but you'll darken up the rest of the spectrum also. I have the filtration curves of Nupolar Gray and Nupolar Brown, both measured as 15% visible transmission; the transmission at 500nm is 18% (gray) and 14% (brown) on my equipment. Maybe one of you lens manufacturers can firm up those numbers, but the point is they aren't very different. Go ahead, wear your G-15's, your retinas won't mind too much.

[Chris Ryser]

In ophthalmology, high-energy visible light (HEV light) is high-frequency light in the violet/blue band from 380 to 530 nm in the visible spectrum HEV light has been implicated as a cause of age-related macular degeneration.[2][3]
Some sunglasses are now designed specifically to block HEV.

Blue-light hazard

Blue-light hazard is defined as the potential for a photochemical induced retinal injury resulting from radiation exposure at wavelengths primarily between 400 nm and 500 nm.[4] The mechanisms for photochemical induced retinal injury are caused by the absorption of light by photoreceptors in the eye. Under normal conditions when light hits a photoreceptor, the cell bleaches and becomes useless until it has recovered through a metabolic process called the visual cycle.[5][6] Absorption of blue light, however, has been shown to cause a reversal of the process where cells become unbleached and responsive again to light before it is ready. This greatly increases the potential for oxidative damage.[7] By this mechanism, some biological tissues such as skin, the lens of the eye, and in particular the retina may show irreversible changes induced by prolonged exposure to moderate levels of UV radiation and short-wavelength light.

[Geirskogul]

Chris comes in with the copypasta again.

[braheem24]

Find an amber cheap amber/red photochromatic from China and call it a day.

Does it block blue light? YES
Is it clear? YES
OD Happy? YES
Customer Happy? YES
Sales figures happy? YES
Your cardiologist happy? YES

[MarySue]

Chris comes in with the copypasta again.

Copypasta is yum - thanks Chris!

[Chris Ryser]

Chris comes in with the copypasta again.

This one not copy and paste, but real finger sweat typing .....................................

Blue-Blocker or Melanin or whatever you call it got very popular in the early 1980's by a promoter out of Chicago who advertised them as being a device helping better vision outside and more contrast and all the other goodies.

These lenses would absorb all UV even in the visible spectrum up to 535nm. The basic tint is an orange as the one on the picture.

This is the latest version, as this light orange fully absorbs the blue light, which is so called fuzzy light, and therefore provides a crystal clear and sharp picture.

A nice article about sunglasses can be found at : http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sunglasses

In the S the dental industry suddenly needed protective glasses when curing the new daylight cavity filler plastic that was replacing the amalgam fillings. We tinted and cut thousands of lenses for that trade.

The orange blue blocking lenses can be tinted over to produce a good looking amber, brown, chocolate brown and dark green lens.

These are super high contrast lenses and while not polarizing they are verify useful in haze and fog as well as in boating going against the sun which still allows you to see colored buoys.

See some at : http://optochemicals.com/products/info_blueblocker.htm

[optilady1]

That's why patients who get mid-winter depression like them; they're rose-colored glasses in a way.

Great, so now along with all the other million lifestyle questions, I now have to ask patients if they get seasonal depression? :)

[kcount]

Wes, Its called a neodymium property and actually does work. I'm presently working on a prism and projector set up to show how the banding of color works for each type of sunglass. Basically a neodymium property suppresses High Energy Blue light and bands green and red. Where it gets interesting is that it doesn't suppress all Blue just the lower level bits (Aqua, if you will). The patient when gazing through a brown based lens can see this first hand. Interestingly Green lenses will do the same to some extent. This would get one thinking that it's actually a property of the color yellow more than any rare earth element and they may be right. But the best examples I have played with are the Keanon C-12, The Serengeti Driver, and the Maui Jim Rose. One of these days I'll actually finish the paper on light and the use of filters for visual enhancement and post it on here.

By the way, on a separate note (Read: Thread Hi-Jack) what ever happened to the on-line master repository of Masters Papers? Doesn't some one have an disc with a boat load of them on it? Do we need a web page to stick them up on? If thats all it's going to take I'm happy to donate some space on the web server and even do the linking/typing of titles and authorship.