At The Glasshouse Opticians we pride ourselves on providing a wide range of services.
If you’re suffering from headaches, eyestrain or struggling to make things out clearly, it could be the result of an eyesight problem. We offer comprehensive vision tests for NHS and private patients, both of which take place in our modern practice using the finest equipment. No two sets of eyes are the same, so we give every patient at least 30 minutes for an eye examination. This means we can provide you with precisely the tailored care and advice you need.
- OCT Enhanced eye care
- Contact lenses assessments fitting and aftercare
- Colourimetry
- Home Visits
- Pre and Post cataracts assessments
- Dry Eye management clinic
- Glasses repairs
OCT – Optical Coherence Tomography
When you visit an optician, you may be forgiven in thinking that your appointment is simply just to test your eyesight. For many years we at the Glasshouse have provided much more than the average eye exam. We are proud to add an OCT instrument to our portfolio.
Ocular Coherence Tomography is an advanced eye scan of your eye. OCT technology uses state-of-the-art 3D technology to take 128 individual high-resolution scans of the back of the eye, and creates a detailed picture of either the optic nerve and the macula (central vision area). Every distinctive layer of the retina can be seen using these scans. Imagine a cake – You can see the top of the cake, with an OCT scan you can see the top of the cake, a slice of the cake, the layers of the cake in detail and how the cake is made up. During an OCT scan, you will be asked to sit in front of a small machine with your chin placed on a support. The instrument can scan your eye without touching it. The scan is done on both eyes, one at a time. It is completely painless..
- Gives our optometrist the best view of your eye, and what lies beneath
- Can detect conditions up 4 years before being picked up on regular checks
- Non-invasive and completely comfortable
- Only takes a few minutes
- Identifies a wide range of conditions which could be missed
- Helps monitor conditions with the greatest accuracy
- Age related Macula degeneration (AMD)
- Diabetic Retinopathy
- Glaucoma
- Macula Damage........ and many more conditions
Many of the conditions are easily treated when caught early, which is part of what makes OCT eye tests so important.
OCT can not only identify conditions but can monitor progression, which helps for us to implement prevention, treatment and management.
Macula
Macular damage is rare, but if caught early can be treated successfully. AMD, macular holes, central serous can all affect your central vision. OCT scans shows very early macular changes when they are invisible with conventional viewing techniques.
Glaucoma
OCT imaging scans the optic nerve, allowing our optometrist to see any damage or monitor the progression of conditions like glaucoma, with more accuracy then ever before. Once you’ve had an OCT eye test, your images will be securely archived to create a library of your eye health, documenting the changes over time, aiding appropriate management.
Picking high-quality contact lenses to complement your lifestyle
Do you want to change up your look by swapping from glasses to contact lenses? Perhaps you play a sport that makes wearing glasses difficult? We’ve got a wide range of high-quality contact lenses that provide the perfect alternative to glasses, whatever your specific vision needs may be.
These include:
- Daily disposables: perfect for anyone with an active lifestyle, daily lenses are worn once then thrown away. They’re clean, safe and quick to use - from £20 a month
- Monthly or fortnightly disposables: these will require more care and cleaning to maintain, but as they start from £10 a month, they can be more cost-effective for long-term contact lens use
- Continuous wear lenses: these breathable lenses can be worn for an extended period of time without being removed, even during sleep. They don’t work for everyone, so speak to our optician before ordering them
- Coloured lenses: fancy trying a new eye colour? These can be worn purely for cosmetic reasons, but can also come as a prescription lens
- Progressive lenses: ideal for patients with distance and reading prescriptions, these will give you clear vision at both distances
- Toric lenses: designed specifically for people with astigmatism, toric lenses will fit to the shape of your eye to ensure your comfort
- Rigid gas permeable lenses: these offer superior vision correction
- Free full aftercare services
- Free replacement lenses if damaged
- Free eye examinations
- Discounted spectacles
- Free home delivery
Order your lenses in the shop, by email, phone or by using the ‘Contact Us‘ form
Visual stress is a term used to describe visual discomfort and perceptual distortions in printed text, and is suffered by many people who struggle to read. The condition is estimated to be present in approximately 40% of poor readers and 20% of the general population. Many thousands of individuals who find reading tiring and unpleasant, unknowingly experience visual stress. They have to work harder than their peers to achieve the same outcomes, often with extra tuition. Many could be helped by overlays or Precision Tinted Lenses.
How Colour Helps?
In many cases, the symptoms of Visual Stress can be reduced by the use of coloured filters: a coloured overlay placed over text or coloured lenses worn in spectacles. Research has shown that offering a large number of colours allows for optimal results. We at the Glasshouse possess an Intuitive Colorimeter which offers many thousands of colour combinations, and offers true precision to the patient.These techniques can help both adults and children. Whilst coloured overlays are useful when reading from a book, precision tints are more convenient when copying from the board or from another book or for those individuals who are particularly light sensitive and may develop headaches and eye strain when attempting to read.
From simple improvements in reading speed to dramatic transformations in quality of life, Precision Tints offer a wide range of potential benefits.
Visual Stress refers to reading difficulties, light sensitivity and headaches from exposure to disturbing visual patterns. It can be responsible for print distortion and rapid fatigue when reading. The severity of these symptoms can vary from person to person. The symptoms can occur despite normal vision and can include:
- Movement of print
- Fading of print
- Letters changing shape or size
- Letters fading or becoming darker
- Patterns appearing, sometimes described as 'worms' or 'rivers running through the print'
- Illusions of colour – blobs of colour on the page or colours surrounding letters or words
- Rapid tiring
- Headache or eyestrain
- Moving closer to or away from the page
- Becoming restless when reading
- Using a finger as a marker
- Skipping words or lines
- Rubbing eyes or blinking excessively
- Low self esteem
Symptoms of Visual Stress are not always immediately obvious. Many individuals who suffer with this condition believe the discomfort they feel when reading or the distortions they experience on the page are “normal” and experienced by everyone. That is until someone presents them with an appropriate colour and they realise that reading can become more comfortable and even enjoyable.
Dyslexia is term used to refer to a number of complex specific learning difficulties that often also include problems with reading and spelling.
Dyslexia is really about information processing: dyslexic people may have difficulty processing and remembering information they see and hear. This can affect learning and the acquisition of literacy skills. (British Dyslexia Association)
Visual Stress often runs concurrently with dyslexia, and it has been established that there is a far greater propensity amongst the dyslexic population to suffer from Visual Stress.
It is sensible to ensure that anyone who struggles to read or who shows or reports visual discomfort when looking at a book, should be offered testing with a coloured overlay.
Migraine is often associated with a sensitivity to glare, and some patients are photophobic during an attack. Glare sensitivity may occur in response to bright lights and bold geometric patterns, particularly those of stripes. This sensitivity is associated with a strong response in the visual cortex of the brain and may be reduced by using Precision Tinted Lenses. Precision Tinted Lenses may also prevent migraine attacks. More often they enable patients to continue their daily activities despite attacks.
Each time you blink, tears keep the surface of the eye lubricated. A shortage of tears, or a reduction in their quality, can leave the front of the eye exposed to the air – eventually, this causes dry eyes syndrome to develop. It’s a chronic eye problem which cannot be cured, but with the correct treatment its symptoms can be confidently treated and managed. We have the skills, experience and equipment to successfully assess the severity of your condition, diagnose the root cause and prescribe an appropriate treatment plan.
Common symptoms of Dry Eye include:
- Dryness
- Burning or Stinging
- Gritty Feeling
- A sensation of something in the eye
- Irritation with wind or smoke
- Blurred or smeary vision
- Tired and/or red eyes
- Excessive watering
- Contact lens discomfort
- Ageing
- Hormonal changes
- General health problems
- Certain types of medication
- Blepharitis
- Dry environment & pollution
- Computer use
- Contact lens wear
- LASER/LASIK Surgery
So, how can we treat dry eye syndrome?
Caused by imbalanced tear production, the simplest way to treat dry eye syndrome is to artificially replace the tears (thereby improving their quality and quantity).
There are a variety of options for accomplishing this, but we’ll advise you on the most suitable one during your appointment. We’ll also investigate any underlying causes and prescribe treatments or medication to address these.
In some cases, simple environmental changes, such as avoidance of air conditioning or taking regular breaks away from computer screens, can relieve symptoms.
Our expert dry eye clinic
We’re happy to run an expert dry eye clinic, designed to help you manage your symptoms better. Using state of the art equipment, like our Retina 400 scanner, we can analyse your eyes and correctly prescribe a personalised course of action to address your irritating symptoms and increase your comfort.
It’s easy to forget just how much you rely on your glasses every day until they’re suddenly put out of action as the result of accidental damage.
So you’re not left inconvenienced and without the clear vision your glasses provide, we offer free minor repairs to our loyal patients. Most frames will have some natural flexibility, but if you notice the legs loosening or if the frame becomes damaged in any other way, don’t ignore it. Bring them into the practice to be fixed, as soon as possible.
No hassle, no fuss – just pop in with your frames and we’ll see what we can do.
Free health checks on specs
To keep your glasses in tip-top shape for as long as possible, we’ll also give them a free health check anytime you visit the practice.
We’ll check they’re sitting right, straighten the frames, change the nose pads and take care of any other little tweaks they might be needing – all as a thank you for coming in to see us.
