Page 32 - TamuAsia Magazine Feb 2022

FEBRUARY 2022 | ISSUE#02.22
What exactly are contact
lenses?
Contact lenses are a medical
device. A medical device means
before you have it inserted in
your eye, you need to have proper
consultation and checkup. You
need to consult a specialist or
the optometrist before you start
wearing contact lenses. We use
contact lenses for two functions.
One is for cosmetic reasons and
two is the freedom to move
around.
Secondly, we use contact lenses
for therapeutic reasons. We treat
corneal diseases using contact
lenses, there are many people
in this country who has got
eye problems that cannot be
corrected with glasses, and it
has to be corrected with contact
lenses. For those people who are
using it for therapeutic reasons,
usually they have been consulted
by doctors, very attached with
appointments, and after care.
Previously, we have got very basic
contact lenses, where you can
only wear for eight hours but now,
we have contact lenses which has
been approved for wearing for
30 days without ever having to
remove them.
Is the 30-day contact lens
still in production or has it
32 hit the markets?
It already existed in market since
2000. These contact lenses are
made of silicone hydrogen.
So it differs from generation
to generation just like how
smartphones are constantly
being upgraded. This is from
the international market, which
is similar to our nation market,
we already have two brands that
produces these types of lenses.
Of course, if there is no necessity
for you to wear 30 days straight
then you don’t have to. Unless you
really don’t have the luxury of time
to constantly take it off and put it
back on such as a parent taking
care of their children for example,
FEBRUARY 2022 | ISSUE#02.22
then it’s understandable. So the maximum is 30 days but as with any What are some eye exercises we can do for eye fatigue? With lasik there’s no turning
other types of lenses, you still have to take it off to clean and disinfect back. Many things can happen
just as you normally would with your glasses. You have to break the activity. You have to do it hourly or every half an during a surgical procedure.
What do you think of the lenses that are sold in small kiosks instead of hour. You don’t have to get off your chair, but you have to try and look First, you’ll have to go through
in the optometry? at something far away. It could be the wall clock, or whatever is outside an eye examination if you fit the
I guess people prefer cheaper options. Because if you were to see the window. Stretch your legs for a little and then come back to work. It category. Secondly, it’s not like a
contact lenses, which has been sold at kiosks, they retail at maybe doesn’t have to be a long break just a few minutes is fine. fairy-tail where you can magically
RM10? Whereas in a proper shop, the cheapest you can get is RM45. get your vision again. If you’re the
See the prices differences? Sometimes youngsters or teenagers-- they What causes eye fatigue is due to blue light especially on phones and type to be very particular about
are excited to get a new look and know that there’s a cheaper option laptops. If you have practiced going on breaks but your eyes are still your vision, such as precision,
without knowing the consequences. tired, it’s due to the blue light. It doesn’t disturb the anatomy of the eye you’re not a suitable candidate.
but the nerves. Our eyes age faster because of it. Because the operation can go a
We did research on why these people can sell the lenses for so cheap little bit over or under, it won’t be
and why there’s a big difference in price in proper shops. Of course, Are lasik surgeries worth it? What are its pros and cons? 100% okay. You’ll have to adapt.
everybody wants to earn a profit, but how did these kiosks manage to Thirdly, you will have a lot of
sell it for cheap? Maybe the production is cheap, so they were able to One that every must know is that lasik is a surgical procedure. When aberration. If you don’t mind that
sell it for cheap. we say surgical procedure, it means 50/50 which means it doesn’t then it’s fine.
guarantee to be successful. It will just tell you that the success rate is
But it’s actually the manufacturing process. We found out that these 90%. If you could tell the current
manufacturers didn’t polish the edge properly and that’s why they or the younger generation
were able to sell it for cheap. So when you insert the lens into your eye, Not everybody can do lasik, you’ll have to do a proper examination a piece of advice, what
you can feel a lot of irritation and sometimes it feels like its scratching to determine whether you can undergo the surgery. If you have got would you tell them?
your cornea. the money, it doesn’t mean you can do the surgery. It depends on a
variety of factors such as the thickness of your cornea. There are a lot of If they have an interest in getting
When you get good quality ones, it has gone through quality control, it different types of machines in the market where they offer attractive contact lenses or advice on the
polished the edges nicely, and there has been a lot of R&D done for the prices. These days machines are more modern, they have eye trackers. types of contact lenses that
lenses. Every company will have their own R&D department, so if there they should be wearing, seek
are any defects, they will be the first ones to know. professional advice! They can
recommend what sort of lenses
they should be wearing instead of
buying at the kiosk. Again, these
are not cosmetic items, they’re
medical. It’s not something you
can learn on Youtube or do a DIY.
If you come in for a proper eye
examination, the specialists can
aid you in finding a suitable lens
for you and teaching you the dos
and don’t’s, the solutions you
need to use to disinfect them. It’s
a whole new journey. 33