If you’re a breakfast radio fan, then you may have heard Chris Evans talking about the revelation for his son that is treatment for his retained reflexes. To see his son’s newfound ability to learn to read & write as well as reduced anxiety must surely be a sight to behold!
Vision is a process that is learnt; we are normally born with two eyes that can see but have not yet fully developed nor have their connections to the brain and the processing that needs to take place. Babies have to learn how to move their limbs in a voluntary and planned way and gain enough control so that they can then start to coordinate movements and vision together. They can then learn to crawl towards something they see and use fine movements to pick up something small; do you see? Gaining control over primitive (retained) reflexes (the reflexes we are born with, such as the startle reflex) is needed. However, as with many aspects of our early development, things don’t always go as smoothly as they should and it is quite possible that some of these primitive reflexes are retained which can actually hinder more advanced development in some learning areas. I’ve found that in my patients who have dyslexia, or dyslexic type symptoms, there is a higher amount of retained early reflexes. The most common reports from parents tend to be that a child or young person is just not achieving their potential. Patients are often bright, but have difficulty expressing this in their academic performance. They have usually developed coping strategies, but these then ultimately limit their performance ability. A sight test usually shows little as our patients have often developed ways to pass this vision assessment. As part of our vision therapy (behavioural optometry) clinics, we offer a full diagnostic vision assessment, which includes time to discuss your symptoms & concerns. We’ll then produce a written report of our findings. Following this diagnostic assessment we can tailor a vision therapy exercise program to help you or your child develop a well functioning and balanced visual system - the aim of which is to enable our patients to achieve their full learning potential. The process of visual system recovery & development usually takes from four to twelve months with often extraordinary results. If you’d like to know more, our website has information under our vision therapy heading, or if you have any questions you can drop us an email at [email protected]. You can book an appointment for a routine eye exam or more specialist vision assessment, for yourself or those you love, by calling 0117 962 2474 or 0117 965 4434, via our website, or just pop in to our practices in Henleaze or Fishponds and say Hi! We look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Peter Turner is a Senior Optometrist, who also practices Behavioural Optometry, at Turners Opticians in Bristol, and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital.
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We’ve probably all had a dry or watery eye at one time or another; it's just part of being a human. For some of us though it can be a real drag, even a life changing experience - I'll explain this one later. Now if you've had an eye concern yourself then you've probably either tried eye drops, or even been to see someone about it. I found myself in this position in 2013. My eyes went from being very sore, gritty and dry feeling to watery in almost the blink of an eye! At that time I'd been an Ophthalmic Optician for around 14 years, yet I'd not been able to understand why I had the problems I did. I tried the obvious eye drops, rubbing my eyes and yes blinking. Each day I had the same problems return. Eventually I'd had enough. I found a super chap based up north who at that time was seeing patients from all over the country - he must know a thing or two about dry & watery eyes I thought! It was a worthwhile trip, watching how he diagnosed and treated his patients. His methods were effective and actually quite straight forward. What he didn't answer was the why. My modus operandi, is knowing the why. Clinically speaking, once we have a diagnosis for you then we can follow a step by step treatment plan to the point of resolution. It took a long time to get answers, but being tenacious I kept going until I did! Our approach is now an initial diagnostic assessment, then we'll give you a detailed explanation of our findings, and importantly why you have your symptoms. Then we'll explain to you how we’re going to get you the results you want. We often get asked “can’t you just tell me which drops to use”. The short answer is no! The long answer is that to provide you with an effective, personalised treatment plan we need to carefully examine the front of your eyes on our sophisticated equipment to understand the nature of your eye troubles. Once we've a diagnosis we can even offer advice based on the salt (osmolarity) of the tear products we advise for you. I had the privilege to once meet a chap who had a watery eye experience that was out of this world. Literally in his case as he was an astronaut! The story goes that whilst out on a spacewalk he got some of the visor oil in his eye. Yes really. His eyes began watering, now I’m not sure if you know what happens when your eye waters in zero gravity, but I do. Let me tell you. Because of the zero gravity the only force directing the path of the water is it’s own surface tension. If you’ve guessed that this means you get a blob of oily water covering your whole eye and stopping you seeing anything then you’d be correct. Now ordinarily if you found yourself in zero gravity with this issue presumably you’d just wipe it away. Imagine yourself in a bulky space suit with a large domed visor over your face - out in space of course. What now? Clearly you get on the radio and say ‘Houston we’ve got a problem...’ I’ll write part two of this story another day. To benefit from a diagnosis, (which is so much more than just an assessment), our gentle & effective treatments, as well as thorough aftercare, you're welcome to contact us to arrange your appointment in our dry & watery eye clinic. See you soon! A conversation, and perhaps a bit more than a gentle nudge, with a patient last week got me thinking that I should be writing about the wider aspects of Optometry that you can experience at Turners Opticians. Our practices offer extended eye exams for those of you who would like thorough & in-depth eye care but what else?
For many years we have visited patients in Hospital after accident, injury or ill health. We are asked to help out many patients with wide ranging vision concerns. Common problems include eyelids that have dropped (we fit spring devices, called ptosis props, to the glasses frame to lift their eyelids just by putting on glasses) and significant glasses prescription change relating to illness or injury. The patients who sometimes struggled the most were those who unfortunately experienced blindness to one side, called hemianopia, or who lost an upper or lower quarter of their vision called quadrantanopia. Hemianopia or quadrantanopia are when you become literally blind in an area of your vision after a stroke, brain injury or tumour. As these patients could just not see in an area of their vision, they often found they were knocking drinks over on their blind side, missing people walking up to them and finding difficulty reading. Younger patients who had hemianopia following stroke, have also reported being unable to play games with their children or even continue working. I remember one request for help from a patient’s relative. They reported that when guiding their parent along a street their parent had been so blissfully unaware of a large hedge on their blind side that they turned and walked their child straight into the hedge! Following a pilot, we then launched our field expander. It is a simple device which is fitted to the inside of your glasses which then increases your awareness of objects which would otherwise be in your blind area. With these field expanders fitted, patients report greater confidence when walking out and about in shops and busy places, as they are much less likely to bump into people or objects around them. As with any new skill, there is definitely a learning phase! The fact that 8 out of 10 patients continue using their field expander after a year of use is, perhaps, good testament to the benefits they experience. For extended eye exam appointments or to discuss other services we offer such as field expanders, please call 0117 962 2474 or 0117 965 4434, book via our website, or you are very welcome to pop in to our practices in Henleaze or Fishponds and say Hi! We look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Peter Turner is the Lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Bristol and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. Having recently had a fun half term which culminated in a family party, I then had time alone while my darling Jo had a few days away with her University friends. The time apart really did make me value the time we have together all the more.
Quality time with our patients, is something that I came to realise as important and valuable, a good few years ago now. Giving each patient our undivided attention means that we can listen and understand their eye or vision concerns. This builds trust as well as meaning we can better care for the things that really matter to our patients in their day to day lives. One such area of personal interest to me as well any so many of our patients is reading. I am regularly told “I can read just fine thanks, all I need to do is hold the book a bit further away now.” Whether or not you feel the need for longer arms (it’s just the birthdays don’t you know), this is very easy to help with. Our tailor-made reading glasses or contact lenses are a great solution! Our younger patients often have more fundamental reading problems. Many come to see us reporting words that move, jumble, or even hop skip and jump! The specialist assessment we carry out for our young readers shows up the underlying cause which we can usually treat very successfully. My love of gadgets and tech has led me to investigate more advanced options for diagnosing the cause of reading difficulties - many patients are referred to our clinic with tracking problems. Diagnosing why, is the key to successful treatment. Our latest bit of kit is an eye tracker which we discreetly attach to the computer and then ask the patient to read a passage of text from the screen. The technology is similar to that used by gamers and web designers. A harmless infra-red tracking bar watches the reflex from each eye as the patient reads. The software then displays this data as charts and images and can also replay a slow-mo video showing each eye movement that the patient made while reading. This really helps our patients understand better how they use their eyes and once treated, lets us show the improvements they have made! This process all takes time, the initial visit can be a good three quarters of an hour (much like our extended eye exam) and then another few appointments for eye and reading training. The results though are most definitely worth the time investment. To be told by parents that their child has gone from a reluctant reader to choosing a book to read by themselves is hugely rewarding all round. Appointments for reading vision assessments, including eye tracking, or extended eye exams can be booked by calling 0117 965 4434, via our website or you are very welcome to pop into our Fishponds practice and say Hi! We look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Peter Turner is the Lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Bristol and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. From our guest author -Optometrist Zoë Herbert
One of the many great things about working in an Opticians is getting to look at (and well quite frankly spend lots of time trying on) the beautiful, stylish, colourful and simply gorgeous glasses. When it comes to choosing one, well okay maybe two, or even three… it’s actually quite easy. Keeping abreast of the current styles, dropping in on the visits by the frame account managers from whom we select the best of their frame collection for you to wear, our eye is always drawn to one or two frames that Wow us! We all have our favorites, at the moment one of ours is the Vanni frames. We all find with these that once you experience the comfort, fit and beauty of the Italian designed frames, it is hard to be happy with anything else! Many of our patients comment just how unbelievably comfortable and stylish this frame collection is, how the light catches the frame to accentuate the colours and how they fit brilliantly. Vanni glasses hark back to Giovanni Vitaloni himself (Vanni to his friends), born in Milan he was an artist with a technical flare and an eye for design. Vanni's influence is still visible today in the glasses that his family design which are at the cutting edge of creative eyewear - beauty stemming from the spark of genius mixed with culture and style. The design and colours are second to none and the current personal choice of several of our eye care team in practice! These glasses frames are made in Italy, genuinely they are. Handmade by artisans whose skill and knowledge has been passed down through generations ensures a blend of the highest quality craftsmanship and precision manufacturing. The colours used to make the frame acetate are specifically chosen and inspired by the clothing and fashion designs gracing the leading catwalks of the fashion world. The traditional acetate material design means that every frame is truly unique. Each time you wear your Vanni glasses you are wearing a work of art, crafted just for you to enjoy and feel a million dollars in. We have a new Vanni glasses collection arriving this week - make sure you do not miss out and call in to choose yours today! As well as the latest Vanni glasses styles, our extended eye exam is designed with you in mind. Much more than just a sight test, your thorough & in-depth appointment includes time for your Optometrist to listen to any eye or vision concerns you may have as well as accurately checking your glasses prescription and providing you peace of mind about your eye health & vision. Appointments can be booked by calling on 0117 962 2474 or 0117 965 4434, via our website or you are very welcome to pop in to our Henleaze & Fishpond practices and say Hi! We look forward to seeing you soon. Zoë Zoë Herbert is a Clinical Optometrist who works at Turners Opticians in both Henleaze and Fishponds. With the darker evenings and increasing rain (did it ever decrease?) I must admit that although a keen cyclist I am taking to the car at least once a week now. I am not sure if you notice an increase in headlight glare each year when driving - it could just be me? I am still a huge fan of my contrast enhancers, particularly on those days I have to drive, either day or night in the mist or rain. The clearer vision from these glasses lenses is just superb!
Never one to shy away from trying new tech, I was really looking forward to my bespoke frame consultation this week. Yes, I have had a bespoke frame consultation! I chose a frame made from carbon fibre and titanium. The fitting model was already quite comfortable, but I did have the nose bridge width reduced by 1mm - making the frame much more comfortable, and the side length increased by 5mm. I never thought I had a big head, but apparently my cranium is a touch larger than some. The thing that really struck me was the quality of the frames, even the fitting model was just superbly manufactured and amazingly light. The first thing most of us Brits will be thinking by now is golly gosh just how much is all that going to cost? Well to be fair I am not exactly sure. I had a rough quote, and I can say it is more than a nice lunch for Jo and I but less than a night for the two of us in a hotel. Anyhow the price is not the point here, this is my treat to myself for passing my exams over the summer. (Yes, yes I know, Jo my wife got 91% and I was behind her with 89%, not that I am competitive but there is always next time…) This talk of bespoke did get me thinking about our extended eye exam, which has in fact been truly bespoke for almost a year now. Gone are the days of the ‘routine eye exam’ or the ‘standard sight test’, bespoke eye care is here to stay - at least in my clinic! The Turners Opticians extended eye exam is a more thorough and in-depth assessment of your eye health and vision. We have time to discuss any concerns you may have as well as reviewing the sophisticated 3D eye imaging scans and detailed peripheral vision assessments. Your eye exam is tailored to your individual needs, resulting in a higher quality of care and more satisfying experience. I would like to extend a personal heart felt thanks to all of you who have experience and then recommended our bespoke eye care. So how do you book an extended (bespoke!) eye exam at Turners Opticians, well either pop in, telephone, email us or visit our online booking page on our website www.turnersopticians.co.uk Our family practices are now open in both Fishponds and Henleaze. You are very welcome to pop in to either (or both!) practices and say Hi. I look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Peter Turner is the Lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Bristol and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. Grandpa Harold, who was the first Turner in our family to qualify as an Optometrist in 1939, was a keen gardener & Rotarian. He applied himself to all he did with a commitment to doing things thoroughly; we are still benefitting from this approach to his gardening today. He was, perhaps without realising it, ahead of the current trend as one of many organic gardeners of his generation.
The effort he applied to preparing the ground, developing his own four year cycle of compost preparation, careful crop rotation, and planting only the best seeds means even today our family enjoy home grown organic veg from the ground Grandfather Harold prepared decades ago. I must thank my Dad Philip, who these days does most of the preparation & planting and then kindly goes on holiday when the crops are ready for picking leaving the pleasure of enjoying the fruit and veg to Jo and I! So why should you choose Turners Opticians? Grandfather Harold and Dad Philip after him, taught me the family approach of attention to detail and dedication to all we do. This approach remains at the core of Turners Opticians to this day. Since Harold started out in 1939 our focus has been giving the best eye care to each & every patient. Our specialist clinical equipment means we are able to examine the health of your eyes with a fine detail not even dreamt of in Harold (& even Phillip’s) time! The gratitude of many patients who have benefitted from early detection and treatment of their eye, vision and general health problems is such a rewarding part of our jobs. As well as my 10 years working in the Bristol Eye Hospital, I along with our associate Optometrist’s, have undertaken specialist additional qualifications in detecting (and often managing) eye conditions including macular degeneration, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease & cataracts. At Turners Opticians we run a successful minor eye conditions clinic for our patients who have dry, sore, gritty, itchy eyes, blepharitis, flashes or floaters and other eye and vision symptoms of concern. The feedback from these high quality, rapid access clinics has been overwhelmingly positive; our patients are especially pleased when we have saved them a 4hr A&E wait! The advent of our latest generation of spectacle lenses, made possible due to the sophisticated manufacturing technology our lab now uses, enables us to fine tune your spectacle lenses to a precision previously not possible. These lenses are so unique to each patient we can even have a micro engraving of your initials hidden in the lens! Clinically we have increased the length of our eye care appointments up to 45 minutes to allow time to listen and understand your individual needs, thoroughly check the health of both the front and back of your eyes and also include our sophisticated 3D eye scans and detailed peripheral vision assessments. Our extended eye exam and minor eye conditions appointments, available to both NHS and private patients, can be booked by calling the practice, popping in to see our friendly team or via our website; www.turnersopticians.co.uk. October is an exciting season for us at Turners Opticians, we are soon to open our second family practice in Henleaze. You are very welcome to pop in to either (or both!) practices and say Hi. I look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Peter Turner is the lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Bristol and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. It never ceases to amaze me when I read the figures comparing the number of children going to see a Dentist with those going to see an Optician. Not wishing to bore you with statistics, I will just say that the reported numbers are largely in favour of the dental checks. Why perhaps? Well I am not sure we know for definite. Certainly I am pleased so many parents regularly book dental checks for their children, why not book children’s vision and eye health checks too?
Around 80% of learning is thought to be visual, knowing this it can only be a good thing having your children's vision checked at least once a year. Mind you, by vision check I do not mean asking a child ‘can you see the plane in the sky’ - which in my eighteen years working is probably the most common explanation I am given by parents for their child not needing to see an Optician! Would you not rather have a highly trained and dedicated professional check the vision and eye health of the children in your family? The NHS even fund children’s visits to the Optician, and at Turners Opticians we give children two free pairs of glasses with their NHS optical voucher. Children with reading or writing difficulties in particular those who report jumbly, wobbly or blurry words, really should have very regular visits to the Optician. I remember when I was at school two of my classmates having tinted glasses, which are often prescribed to aid a child’s reading and school work. We offer this coloured lenses and coloured overlay assessment at Turner Opticians. It has many names including; dyslexic vision assessment, scotopic sensitivity and Meares Irlen syndrome. I have a particular interest in offering this service, I am only too aware of the problems that dyslexic children can experience learning to read and write. Thorough eye care for a child should also detect signs of visual fatigue, where using our two eyes together is much harder than it need be, often due to a prescription or eye muscle imbalance between the eyes. It has been said that for a child with visual fatigue the extra effort required to concentrate on reading and writing during the school day is equivalent to walking a few miles. Often a short course of eye exercises or glasses to strengthen the vision system can relieve this fatigue. One of my younger patients was heard to exclaim to her Dad as she tried on her glasses for the first time ‘oh so this is how everyone else sees!’ Since writing this blog, I have been asked how you can arrange appointments for your family with us at Turners Opticians. Well, we have tried to make this easy, you can choose from the tech option of online booking via our website (using a phone, tablet or computer), email us a request, pick up the telephone or just come on in for a friendly welcome! I hope you all enjoy a wonderful summer, particularly our children who are on their well earned summer holidays! I look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Turner is the lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Fishponds and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. It’s been another busy month in the eye world. Three of us Optometrists (myself, Georgina & Joanne) have been revising hard for our MSc practical and written exams. We really must be mad, working full time, busy with our families and now taking on additional qualifications as well! At least the end is in sight.
A new first for me, not only did I break from my studies, I attended a British Contact Lens Conference. It was certainly a fun weekend away with friends, ahem a very educational experience from which our patients will benefit hugely (just for when my dear wife reads this). I thoroughly enjoyed myself discussing the latest contact lens technologies, discovering new lenses to add to our already extensive catalogue and testing new dry eye products. I also had the opportunity to learn new complex lens fitting techniques, something I started when working in the Bristol Eye Hospital Contact Lens Clinic a few years ago. One lens in particular stood out as it really does suit virtually any eye and visual need. One gentleman in our clinic is an extreme runner - 100 miles over 36 hours certainly does sound extreme to me! Whilst it is truly impressive that he can stay on two feet for that length of time, the other amazing aspect, from a contact lens perspective, is that he can comfortably wear these new lenses the whole 36 hours!! I honestly have never come across such an amazing contact lens before. Yes we have many patients who wear ultra breathable lenses that are safe to sleep in, but this takes contact lens wear to the next level. On of the main messages I took away was the reminder of just how much contact lenses have improved, even over my 16 years of specialist contact lens work. Many of our patients who have tried contact lenses in the past can now benefit from the new comfortable-all-day lenses that also give clear vision and are healthy for your eyes. The message is clear, what ever your prescription and vision needs we almost certainly have a lens for you! Our great eye care team are highly trained to teach contact lens application and removal as well as contact lens care for those who do not throw their lenses away each night. The new dry eye treatments I mentioned are now in stock at the practice. Whether you have dry eyes, watery eyes, gritty eyes, sore eyes, red eyes or just tired eyes we have more treatment options than ever before. One startling statistic I heard from a dry eye researcher was that many dry eye patients have worse quality of life than patients diagnosed with angina. My plea - if you have dry or watery eye symptoms please, please come and have a chat. Our friendly eye care team will be happy to discuss your symptoms and recommend appropriate treatments. So what is stopping you? Have no fear, life in contact lenses provides clear, comfortable vision and definitely gives you another option for your visual wardrobe. Call or pop in today to arrange your contact lens vision experience. I look forward to seeing you soon! Peter Turner is the lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Fishponds and also works part time as a Senior Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. Whether we admit it or not, there must be things we never quite get around to doing. I for one have
been enjoying more time outdoors recently. With the constant delight of time spent with my family, the enjoyment of seeing patients at the practice along with our time at Church, life is busy. This does mean that certain less popular jobs, such as clearing brambles, get left until they have to be done! It is perhaps no surprise that the same applies to seeing an Optician. Statistically, us working age men are more likely to put off going for an eye exam than ladies. Myself, well I love my tech, so I buck the trend and have more eye exams on more high tech equipment than most! I had a startling reminder recently of the importance of going to the Opticians, rather than relying on our own assessment of our eye sight. A 40 year old cricketer arrived in my specialist eye clinic with advanced loss of peripheral vision, called glaucoma. During a cricket match, when out in the field, he became aware that a team mate to one side seemed to disappear then reappear again. This concern prompted him to get an eye exam which detected high eye pressure and loss of peripheral vision. This vision loss could have meant losing his driving license and his job. Fortunately, he held on to his license, which also saved his job, but he reported it was a nervous time waiting for the results. One new way we have been able to help so many of our patients is with the amazing new contrast enhancing lenses for glasses. I make no apologies for discussing the virtues of mine to all that will listen. Just this week while cycling to work, I was again impressed at the stunning clarity and sharpness of my vision through these lenses. The flickering, as the rising morning sunlight danced through trees, has been no problem at all. I have now used my contrast enhancers at work; at home on a PC and tablet; in the practice; out with family in the woods and parks; as well as driving in bright day light; on overcast days and driving at night. It’s just superb vision all the time. Still my best ever glasses lenses, and I have worn more than most people! Having recently had the importance of regular visits to the Optician again highlighted my plea to all is book an eye exam. Many eye and general health issues can be detected by simply seeing an Optician. Our extended eye exam is particularly good at finding the early warning signs before trouble hits, which saves the fear of what may be found as we can often help before you notice any changes! As Benjamin Franklin said “an ounce of prevention is better than a pound of cure”. I look forward to seeing you very soon! Peter Turner is the lead Optometrist at Turners Opticians in Fishponds and also works part time as a Senior Medical Optometrist at the Bristol Eye Hospital. |
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