Happy New Year – Still Open!

In addition to the Kristian Olsen; Vinyl Factory; Paul & Joe and Spine designer frame ranges we also have a limited number of frames from the following ranges available in our sale:

; Carolina Herrera; Adidas; Dutz; Zero 15; Silhouette (full rim); Pala; Christopher Cloos; Dario Martini; Anna Hickman; G-Star and Vanni. If your prescription is unchanged you can request a styling consultation with one of our specialists who will be delighted to help you choose the ideal frame for your new spectacles. If your vision has changed, and you would like a comprehensive eye examination, you can book one by calling us on 0117 9735929 or you can request this via our website here. Mask & Zoom Eye

We’ve had patients of all ages (even teenagers) with sore; tired and even painful eyes after wearing a mask or working all day on computer and smart phone screens. ‘Zoom eye’ is caused by excessive screen time which has increased enormously since lockdown began and more people are working from home. We’ve even been seeing teenagers with tired sore eyes. Often there are dry patches on their corneas where their tears have dried up. This happens because they’re not blinking enough as they watch their screens. Another problem is holding phone screens too close. Phones should be held at a minimum distance of 40 cms but at that distance it’s really hard to see detail on a phone screen. One answer is to have Eyezen lenses in your glasses which are designed for digital use specifically. Eyezen lenses deliver sharper vision than ordinary single vision lenses and help prevent, or reduce, eyestrain. They look like an ordinary pair of glasses but have a hidden zone at the bottom which relaxes the eyes. You can also have a Prevencia coating on your lenses which cuts out the blue light emitted by computer and mobile phone screens. This is very popular in the USA where they consider that blue light interferes with sleep patterns and can damage the eye. Some of our patients have found this hugely helpful.  Another answer is to take frequent breaks (20/20) or every twenty minutes spend 20 seconds looking into the distance…does that mean daydreaming is good for you? Seems the answer is yes! ‘Mask eye’ is caused by the upward draft of exhalation. As you breath out your breath is forced up and out of the top of the mask. This dries your eyes out and also mists up your lenses.  Jan has seen this in all age groups. It can be very painful and can also make contact lenses almost unwearable. There are several ways to tackle this. * Bending the mask so it contours over the nose and then resting your glasses on top to hold down the mask. * Spex that fit well along the nose also reduce gaps and help stop misting up of your lenses as well * Moisturising eye drops and lipid sprays help reduce the drying * A strip of cushioned window insulation tape along the top of the mask can help close the gap or a bit of micro pore tape can be used to hold the mask firm against the cheeks and stop glasses fogging. We’re still giving free antifog with new lenses and it’s available on a lot of lens types. Please ask Chris or Jo for details. Colorimetry Assessment One of the most popular of our additional eyecare services is a Colorimetry Assessment which is particularly helpful for people suffering from dyslexia or visual stress.  Dyslexia is characterised by difficulties in learning to read and in comprehension of language. About 40% of dyslexics find that coloured lens in spectacles (or Colorimetry overlays) make reading more comfortable; easier and reduces visual stress. Colorimetry has also been shown to help some migraine sufferers. We use the Intuitive Colorimeter to find the best tint. It replicates the symptoms of visual stress which can include movement of text; letters changing size; moving patterns in the print; words which lift off the page or slope and headaches. It can then be programmed with 100s of different colours to eliminate, or reduce, the symptoms.

The whole Colorimetry assessment experience takes about an hour and a half and is painless. However, it can be tiring especially for small children. Therefore, we recommend 6 years as the minimum age for this procedure. If the Colorimetry assessment suggests that this would be beneficial we can provide coloured overlays which work on flat pages or spectacles with the appropriate coloured lenses which also work on PC screens and whiteboards. For more information on dyslexia and visual stress click here or call us for a discussion on how we could help. Competitions

Congratulations to Victoria Baker who was the winner of a signed Prue Leith cookbook in our December Prue Leith frames competition. Also, congratulations to Jade Adams who won a pair of sunspecs in our December reviews & referrals competition. Don’t forget that If you leave us a Google review, or recommend us to friends or family, we will enter you in our monthly competition to win a pair of designer sunglasses.  A quick and easy way to do this is to click on this link shorturl.at/myC23 or enter it in the address line of your browser. Also, please make sure to ask your friends or family to mention your recommendation when they visit us for the first time. You and they will both be entered into our monthly referrals and review competition. Webstore Refresh

Following the introduction of our brand new website last month we have also given our webstore a ‘refresh’ with the addition of our popular Eco frame range. Should you so wish (and your prescription is unchanged) you don’t necessarily need to visit the practice to buy a spare pair of single vision specs or order your contact lenses. You can do these things online at any time of the day or night seven days a week. If you need any help with online browsing or purchasing you can request an online styling consultation with one of our specialists during our normal opening hours. Best wishes and stay safe! Jan Juul and the Juul & Payne Team (You can call us on 0117 9735929 or you can email juulpayne.reception@gmail.com)