RXD contact lens?
Tom Hubin
I am an optician but out of the business for 20 years. Now an optical
engineer so not totally out of touch with the ophthalmic world.
My sister, many miles away from me, is annoyed cuz her contact lenses
seem to self destruct every year or so. One or the other breaks apart
during routine handling. She swears she follows the procedure to the
letter and uses only materials recommended by the prescriber.
Is this typical for gas permeable contact lenses? Is the RXD brand more
fragile than other brands? Is there another brand she should replace it
(or them) with?
In Massachusetts, is the brand prescribed or selected at the discretion
of the provider?
RX:
+5.50 -2.00 x 55
+6.00 -0.75 x 105
Contacts:
OU BC 0.10, diam 8.6mm
OD +6.00D
OS +6.25D
Tom Hubin
thu...@earthlink.net
Larry Bickford
Tom Hubin <thu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
> Hello,
>
> I am an optician but out of the business for 20 years. Now an optical
> engineer so not totally out of touch with the ophthalmic world.
>
> My sister, many miles away from me, is annoyed cuz her contact lenses
> seem to self destruct every year or so. One or the other breaks apart
> during routine handling. She swears she follows the procedure to the
> letter and uses only materials recommended by the prescriber.
>
> Is this typical for gas permeable contact lenses? Is the RXD brand more
> fragile than other brands? Is there another brand she should replace it
> (or them) with?
>
> In Massachusetts, is the brand prescribed or selected at the discretion
> of the provider?
Boston RXD is one of the first gas permeable materials, dates to about
the time you were in business. Things have changed, haven't they?
RGP lenses are more fragile then they look. Most will self-destruct
after 18 months or so and few last more than two years. Some of the
really high-tech, high permeablity lenses disintergrate at about one
year. And some cleaners can destroy them pretty quickly. Thin centers or
thin edges hasten their decline.
I take "reasonable" care of mine (latest technology multifocals) and
I've had two of four lenses fall apart in one year. I'd bet that my
version of reasonable was not reasonable enough.
Your last question: Rx is Rx----it must be filled as written. That's a
federal law. Often ignored by mail-order dispensers. The brand specified
is it. Although sometimes different materials are interchangable,
performance and fit may not be comparable across the list.
---Larry
--
Larry Bickford, O.D.
Family Practice Eye & Vision Care
The EyecareConnection
http://www.eyecarecontacts.comSPAMTRAP
suzee
> RGP lenses are more fragile then they look. Most will self-destruct
> after 18 months or so and few last more than two years. Some of the
> really high-tech, high permeablity lenses disintergrate at about one
> year. And some cleaners can destroy them pretty quickly. Thin centers or
> thin edges hasten their decline.
I've had them last 4 years or more. Boston IIs I think.
sue
The Real Bev
> Boston RXD is one of the first gas permeable materials, dates to about
> the time you were in business. Things have changed, haven't they?
>
> RGP lenses are more fragile then they look. Most will self-destruct
> after 18 months or so and few last more than two years. Some of the
> really high-tech, high permeablity lenses disintergrate at about one
> year. And some cleaners can destroy them pretty quickly. Thin centers or
> thin edges hasten their decline.
>
> I take "reasonable" care of mine (latest technology multifocals) and
> I've had two of four lenses fall apart in one year. I'd bet that my
> version of reasonable was not reasonable enough.
Ouch! How much do they tend to cost for replacements? The guy I'm thinking
of going to charges $450 for service+lenses, and I had assumed that they
would last until I needed a different prescription or lost/stepped on them
:-(
--
Cheers,
Bev
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
I remember when everybody posted to Usenet with their real, deliverable
e-mail address. Of all the sins committed by the spammers, destroying
the viability of the open Internet was the worst.
(Shmuel (Seymour J.) Metz, news.admin.net-abuse.email)
Tom Hubin
Hello Larry,
Thanx for the response.
I got the RX by phone and the HMO indicated that they had provided the
RXD brand. It was not clear that it was prescribed as such and I was not
asking at the time.
What I am asking here is if it is customary to specify the brand or if
the optician is usually given that responsibility? Even if prescribed,
is it reasonable to request that the prescriber change the brand or
allow the optician and patient to choose?
As you say, the prescription must be honored as written. But is it
required, common, or rare for the prescriber to specify the brand,
particularly in Massachusetts?
Tom Hubin
thu...@earthlink.net
Larry Bickford
Tom Hubin <thu...@earthlink.net> wrote:
The brand IS part of the prescription and, as I wrote, not necessarily
interchangable with another.
So: required, always and the law everywhere in the USA and most of the
world. Including Massachusettes (except, sometimes, The Cape area. ;-)