The Best Candidates For Photochromic Lenses

Who’s the best candidate for Photochromic Lenses?

(Hint: They’re probably wearing sneakers….)

Looking for new ways to provide your patients the best visual experience and eye protection possible? It might be time to re-examine how frequently you promote and prescribe photochromic lenses.

Though light-reactive eyeglass lens technology has been around for decades, recent data published by The Vision Council show that still less than 16 percent of eyeglasses sold in the U.S. include photochromic lenses.¹

Why so low?

Today’s photochromic lenses darken quickly, are virtually clear indoors, and provide the convenience of clear, comfortable vision in nearly all outdoor light conditions — without having to fumble with clip-ons or a separate pair of prescription sun lenses.

So who are the best candidates for photochromic lenses?

Take a look at the demographics of your practice. How many of your patients are kids? If you aren’t prescribing photochromic lenses for a significant majority of children who need prescription eyewear, you may be doing them a disservice.

Here’s why:

Children spend significantly more time in the sun than adults. Research suggests that nearly half of our lifetime exposure to UV radiation from sunlight occurs by age 18.²  To limit the risk of age-related eye diseases linked to lifetime UV exposure, it’s important to take a long-term approach. Photochromic lenses provide superior UV protection for kids to reduce sun-related eye damage later in life.

More time in the sun means more blue light exposure, too.  Though the long-term effects of increased blue light exposure on the eye are not yet fully understood, we know children today are exposed to significantly more blue light from digital devices than earlier generations. But blue light intensity from sunlight dwarfs that of digital devices. Photochromic lenses provide superior protection from solar blue light exposure compared with clear lenses to mitigate potential eye damage from high-energy visible light.

Why limit benefits for kids?  Most eye care providers automatically prescribe polycarbonate lenses for children. No other lenses offer a comparable combination of impact resistance and lightweight comfort. But why stop there? Adding the benefits of photochromic and anti-reflective technology to polycarbonate lenses gives young eyes the absolute best combination of safety, comfort, UV and blue light protection, and visual acuity in all lighting conditions.

Are you offering best-in-class lenses as the first choice for your young patients? When prescribing for kids, that choice is anti-reflective, photochromic polycarbonate lenses.        

And, by the way — If you’ve shied away from prescribing photochromic lenses because you’re worried about light-absorptive properties behind automobile glass, remember: children under age 16 don’t drive!

Learn more about the NEW VISION EASE Photochromic Lenses

References:

¹ Vision Care Market Quarterly Review, June 2016. The Vision Council.

² Proportion of lifetime UV dose received by age 18: what Stern et al actually said in 1986. Journal of Investigative Dermatolog y. May 2005.