Nov 2016

SPECIAL FEATURE: SUMMER SPECIAL AND SUNGLASSES
Summer sun: don’t forget your eyes
EDITORIAL BY JAI BREITNAUER
The highly successful Slip, Slop, Slap campaign,
first launched in Australia in the 1980’s,
didn’t include a reference to sunglasses
for many years. In a part of the world where the
percentage of damaging UV rays is generally
known to be high, it seems crazy that eyes would
be left out for so long.
In New Zealand, the campaign has been known
as Slip, Slop, Slap and Wrap (with the wrap referring
to sunglasses), for many years, and is currently
reaching out to the fourth generation of young
sun seekers in the hope of reducing the number
of preventable diseases – including melanoma –
caused by unprotected exposure to the sun.
It’s a delicate balance though isn’t it? As an
exceptionally fair-skinned child growing up in
the UK, my mum was so paranoid about the risks
associated with the sun we rarely spent much
time outdoors in the height of summer and didn’t
holiday abroad until I was in my teens. The upshot
of this is actually the reverse of what she hoped to
achieve – in my twenties and early thirties, I was
quite slap-dash with sun cream and barely wore
sunglasses or protective lenses. It was only after
developing a blister on my conjunctiva in 2013
that I began looking into eye health and the sun,
and realised just how thin is the wire we walk.
Cataracts, cancer, dry eye, AMD … the list of
eye-conditions that could possibly be affected
by exposure to the sun goes on. And yet, reports
have shown sun exposure can also help reduce
myopia, counteract the negative effects of too much
gaming, reduce the risk of diabetes (let’s face it, if
you’re outside you’re probably active) and, according
to one 2015 study, potentially counteract the
symptoms of dry eye by increasing vitamin D*.
Giving our clients good quality advice about
caring for their eyes in the summer months has
never been more vital, and this special feature is
designed to help you do just that. I’d like to thank
everybody who has contributed to this timely
feature, in particular Drs Peter Hadden and David
Worsely and Eleisha Dudson, for their articles. You’ll
also find some style tips from the fabulous Jo Eaton,
a product round up, and some industry news all
related to summer eye wear and care.
I hope you enjoy reading and, as always, please
send us your feedback via editor@nzoptics.co.nz
*Yildrim P, et al. Dry eye in vitamin D deficiency: more than an
incidental association. Published in the International Journal of
Rheumatic Diseases
Selling sunnies: what your customers need to know
Research conducted by The Vision Council in the US revealed
that 48% of people regularly wear one or more pairs of
non-prescription sunglasses, while 64% of people wear
prescription glasses, suggesting a huge opportunity to upsell
prescription sunnies.
NZ Optics has tapped the minds of many specialists in the
industry to provide the following five important facts if you have a
patient (or ‘client’ as many of you now say you prefer to call them)
interested in tinted or photochromic lenses:
1. UV rating of normal lenses and CLs
Your client will probably be interested to know their prescription
lenses have some UV protection already.
“The actual lens material blocks most of the UV from being
transmitted ‘through’ the lens,” says Emma Gee, training
manager for OPSM. “Different materials will block differing
amounts, for example, polycarbonate blocks 99% without
additional coatings.”
However, while reassuring for your client, this doesn’t mean
they can forget about sunglasses altogether.
“Quality sunglasses provide 100% protection from UVA and
UVB,” says Gee. “They provide visual comfort with tinting and
optional polarisation. Certain sunglass tints can also help with
increasing contrast in conditions such as cycling, golf and skiing.
Sunglass frames are also much better suited in terms of their
size and wrap to provide correct coverage for UV protection than
an optical frame.”
Your patients might also be interested to know about back-UV
coatings that can be added to the back surface of the lenses to
stop light coming around the edges and reflecting off the back of
the lenses into the eye.
Contact lenses also have built in UV protection but, says
contact lens specialist Alex Petty, they are no substitute for
wearing sunglasses. “The majority of contact lenses have UV
protection, however, they will only cover the 14mm or so of the
lens diameter. The conjunctiva, lids and lid tissue all needs UV
protection to decrease the chance of skin cancer and UV related
tissue degeneration.
“Contact lens wearers will also still suffer from glare so
sunglasses are an important part of improving the visual
experience when outside,” he says.
2. Sunnies have standards
Your clients need to understand the quality of sunglasses they
buy from you, compared with the quality they buy from a nonoptical
business, varies dramatically. Even if your client isn’t
interested in purchasing prescription sunglasses, there is important
information you should pass on to them to protect their eye health.
A practice needs to make sure its clients know their sunglasses
meet NZ standards (AS/NZS 1067:2003) with UV 400 protection,
says Mark Gaunt from Zeiss, and that the eyes are covered enough
to protect them from incidental light entering the eye - a good hat
helps here.
“If they make the wrong choice, they may be doing more harm
than good,” he says. “If they purchase a pair without UV400nm
protection their pupils may enlarge and cause harm from the extra
UV being transmitted into their retina.”
Many sunglasses are labelled as having UV protection, but that
doesn’t mean they have the right protection for New Zealand
or for anywhere for that matter. Your client needs to know the
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November 2016
NEW ZEALAND OPTICS
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