How You will Apply Your Optician Training
- Frame styling your patient.
- How to build their lenses, also talking about upgrades or add on to the lenses.
- How to make your measurements.
- How to dispense your frame.
Finding the Proper Eyeglass Frame for Your Patient
As your patient walks up, take an assessment of them, take a look at their hair color, their eye color, their bridge size, and their face shape. Once they sit down start to ask them fact-finding questions about their lifestyle, their job, are they in front of a computer, do they live an active lifestyle, and how durable does your frame need to be. Are they on and off with their glasses? Take a look at their prescription are they with a high-powered lens, are they a high minus or high plus? This will help you determine what kind of frame for you to select for your patient.
Then start to ask the patient some other questions: do they want to make a statement with their glasses, do they want their glasses to blend, are they looking for a completely rimless frame, do they want a drill mount? At this point, you can help the client pick a frame based on their lifestyle needs and colors of clothes they wear.
Helping the Patient Build Their Lens
First, you must explain the basics of lenses available along with their qualities.
- No-Glare Lenses Let the patient know the benefits of no glare lenses, such as no glare for nighttime driving and computer work, the cosmetic feature of the lens cuts out glare going in and out.
- Lens Materials Upgrades Based on the patients’ prescription whether they are a high minus or plus, or fitting for a child you may want to push for a polycarbonate lens material. Polycarbonate is a thinner lighter more durable material, it also comes with a scratch-resistant coating. This lens material also qualifies for as an anti-standard safety lens, which could be put into a safety frame. Most would stress for patients with children to put this lens material into their child’s glasses to keep them from shattering or cracking for the safety of their children.
- If the thin and light is not sufficient enough for a patient with the need for a power of a 7 or higher. You may want to guide and recommend the patient toward a high index lens, which is similar but just going to keep the thickness down.
- No-line Progressive Lenses The no-line progressive lens is a tri-focal which has the 3 different viewing channels: your distance, your intermediate, and your reading. These lenses are going to give the patient minimal peripheral blur and will help with depth perception problems. The best selling points on the progressive lens are simply asking the patient, if you could change anything about your lens what would you change? Most people may say: they have depth perception problems, they have problems, they have problems stepping off stairs, my peripheral vision is obscured when I drive. A progressive lens will help with these issues, let the patient know the benefits of a progressive lens over a traditional lined bi-focal or tri-focal lens.
- Transitions Lenses Three common types of transitions lenses are transitions traditional, transitions extra active, and transitions advantage (which is a polarized lens). You want to sell a product that the patient needs and wants, so it is your job to let them know the differences between these types of lenses.
Measuring the Patient’s for Eyeglasses
This measurement is extremely important because it allows you to know where to put the optical center of the patient’s lens. The tool you will use to find this measurement is a pupilometer. A pupilometer is a tool for measuring the pupillary distance (PD).
First, you will push the pupilometer right up against the patient’s face, with forehead bar pressed right up against their forehead and their bridge against the tools nose pads. You will want to make sure that you and your patient are sitting down and you are sitting level with the patient. Again, placing the tool right up against the patient’s face and look directly through the eyepiece. Before you measure them you are going to want to measure the patient’s pupillary distance (PD). Have the pupilometer setting to the infinity symbol and place your thumbs on the dials right as you set the device on the patient’s face. There will be lines, tell the patient to look directly in the center at the light, the light is going to reflect off the light of their pupil and you’re going to line up the light with the reflection on their pupil. This will give you the patient’s pupillary distance (PD), so you can then record it. You are going to want to record both the Binocular PD measurement, along with Monocular PD measurement. You may need this measurement for single vision or a progressive lens. Always remember to clean your pupilometer after use with an alcohol swab to keep it as sanitary as possible for the next patient.
Once the Eyeglasses are Received
Once the glasses come in you want to make sure the prescription in the glasses is exactly what the doctor wrote. What you will first do is take the glasses to the lensometer (A tool used by the optical field to verify the correct prescription in a pair of eyeglasses, to properly orient and mark uncut lenses, also to confirm the correct mounting of lenses in eyeglass frames). First, you will check and read the prescription, you want to make sure the prescription is correct to the properly written prescription and not the lab bill, because of possible human error. You want to make sure the axis is completely correct, if it is a “plus” make sure power is a “plus” and if it is a “minus” make sure your power is a “minus”. If it is off by a certain amount of diopters of ANSI standard, you must turn it into the lab or else you may damage a patient’s vision. Once you check the glasses and everything checks out, you may now then call the patient and let them know their eyeglasses are ready.
Once a patient comes in, you’re going to want to bring their glasses to the table. You are going allow the patient to try on the eyeglasses, you will then want to adjust the fit of the glasses before you test the vision. You are going to: make sure the temples are secure behind the ears and nose pads are at the correct angle needed for the patient’s needs. All patients are going to be different for their needs, some may want them to sit a little lower or higher. You really want to make sure you listen to the customer, to make the glasses fit comfortably to their needs.
After properly fitting and adjusting the frames for a patient, you are then going to want to test the vision. I would suggest keeping a reading card or something suitable at your work area for the patient to read and be able to know they can see clearly. Some patients at first might have a little difficulty with their glasses, if it is something that they feel they will adjust to, let them leave with their glasses. Tell them to try it a day or two, in many cases with prescriptions it may take a day or two for the patient’s eyes to become comfortable prescription or new glasses. Before the patient leaves always make yourself available for adjustments or if the patient is having any problem with their vision. You want to make sure the patient leaves happy and comfortable with their new glasses and prescription.