A patient’s visual and ocular health needs reign supreme in contact lens selection. But if you’re not factoring in a patient’s daily activities into consideration as well, you may be missing a make-or-break piece of the puzzle into which contact lens is the best fit.
Look no further than the recent Tear Film and Ocular Surface (TFOS) Lifestyle Workshop report1 that detailed at length how patient lifestyles and different environments can influence ocular health and contact lens use. The report looked at several categories, including digital device use, cosmetics, nutrition, medications, and more, and found numerous instances in which contact lens wear can be impacted by lifestyle choice.1
So how can you marry patient lifestyles and contact lens selection into practice?
“When selecting the best contact lens for a patient, eye care professionals should consider the patient’s occupation, hobbies, and daily needs,” says Dr. Harmin Chima, OD, of Family First Vision Care in Cleveland. “It’s important to ask leading questions that can uncover the needs of the patient. We can then make professional recommendations based on those needs.”
Dr. Chima offers a behind the scenes look at how patient lifestyles factor into his contact lens selection and shares case report examples illustrating how clariti® 1 day supports various patient lifestyle needs.
Make Lifestyle Questions a Permanent Part of Your CL Discussion
“One of the reasons I love optometry is because it fulfills my extroverted personality. I get to have 25–30 new conversations every day I’m in clinic,” Dr. Chima says. “I get to learn about new people and catch up with old friends, all the while serving their eyecare needs.”
During these conversations, Dr. Chima makes it a point to ask leading questions that uncover the visual needs of each patient. Some talking point examples Dr. Chima frequently uses are:
- “What do you do on a daily basis at your job?”
- “What hobbies do you have?”
- “How many hours per day do you spend in front of a screen?”
You can also enlist your entire team to be part of the patient lifestyle/CL conversation. In a recent report from the Contact Lens Institute, Disrupting the Dropout Dilemma: Practical Steps to Keep Patients in Contact Lenses,2 patients were surveyed about the most important actions doctors and staff could do to promote continued contact lens wear. One of the top three patient responses was making sure that contact lens prescriptions were updated to adapt to lifestyle changes (representing 69% new wearers, 57% long-term wearers).2
Patient 1: clariti® 1 day Enhances a Young Athlete’s Performance on the Court
Dr. Chima recently treated a 12-year-old young man who loves to play basketball but was facing challenges on the court. The patient has myopia with a -3.50D prescription in both eyes.
“He hated wearing glasses when he played,” Dr. Chima says.
Dr. Chima’s first instinct was to talk to the patient and his mother about MiSight® 1 day, since it’s the first FDA approved* soft lens to slow the progression of myopia in children aged 8-12 at initiation of treatment.†3 “Unfortunately, the patient was terrified of wearing contacts,” he continued.
However, the young man was willing to give contact lenses a try for basketball. Given the fact that he would only wear contacts part-time, Dr. Chima decided clariti® 1 day sphere would be the best choice for him in tandem with a myopia management treatment.
After overcoming an extremely strong blink reflex, the patient was able to safely insert and remove the lenses and remarked how much easier the lenses were to handle than he had anticipated,‡4 Dr. Chima notes.
When considering contact lens dropout, emphasis is mainly placed on comfort and vision, he adds. “Handling is often overlooked. However, it’s one of the biggest reasons for contact lens dropout. Lenses can feel great and provide stellar vision, but if they’re too hard to put in or take out, the patient may eventually discontinue lens wear. The clariti® 1 day lens is extremely easy to handle, which makes insertion and removal a breeze.5 This very important feature helps prevent contact lens dropout, allowing patients to stay in lenses longer in life.”
As for the patient, he was very happy with the comfort6 and vision7-9 he experienced with clariti® 1 day, in addition to the ease of use and handling§ that all fit seamlessly into his lifestyle as a part-time wearer, Dr. Chima explains.
In fact, the wearing experience exceeded his expectations10 so much that he wanted to wear contacts full-time.
Because of his excellent experience in clariti® 1 day, Dr. Chima eventually transitioned the patient into MiSight® 1 day to slow his progression of myopia during his growing years.|3
Patient 2: clariti® 1 day multifocal 3 Add Offers Freedom from Glasses After a Life Changing Event
Another patient, a 62-year-old female, recently had a brain tumor removed and part of her temporal bone was removed during the surgery. The patient’s glasses were bothering her, and she initially wanted a lightweight frame that would take the pressure off her temporal bone, Dr. Chima explains.
“When I brought up the possibility of contacts, she looked surprised. ‘I was told I couldn’t wear contacts because of my bifocals,’ she told me. I explained that at one time, perhaps that was the case, but new contact lens technology has now made it a possibility,” Dr. Chima continues.11-13
The patient was curious, and after further discussion, her curiosity soon turned to eagerness to try a multifocal contact lens. Dr. Chima fit the patient in clariti® 1 day multifocal 3 Add, and she was immediately impressed,he says.
After trialing the lens for a week, she returned to the office full of gratitude because she could now see clearly 11-13 without the pain of a spectacle frame against her temporal bone, Dr. Chima notes.
“The patient was impressed with both the vision and comfort of the clariti® 1 day multifocal. She was able to see distance, intermediate, and near with relative ease,” Dr. Chima says.¶**11,14,15 “Being new to contacts, she initially intended to wear the lenses part-time, but they were so comfortable and fit so well into her everyday routine, she decided to wear them full-time.”**15
Final Takes
Discover more about clariti® 1 day lenses for your patients’ lifestyles needs and find more learnings and resources at CooperVision’s Online Success Center.
