Yesterday we posted about Blogilates Founder Cassey Ho on her start to favorites must haves when working out. Today we are delving a little deeper with the help of Dr. Falco for Alcon Dailies Total1 contact lenses, their benefits, and how to know if it’s right for you.
Tell us about the Alcon Dailies Total1 contact lenses?
Yeah, you’d mentioned about your own eyes and having challenges with contact lenses. What’s really neat about the new innovation from Alcon with Dailies Total 1 is it’s a water gradient lens, has a very high oxygen core that let’s six times more air than conventional one day lenses, and then at the edge of the lens it becomes almost 100 percent water. Our tears are made of oil, water and mucus and the outside of the lens mimics what it feels when we blink on our tear film, which is why it feels so natural. The health benefit is the increased oxygen for better comfort and better vision through the day, because your eyes are healthier.
Dailies are the safest, healthiest lenses on the market, it’s the fastest growing part of the contact lens market in the US. Europe is already, more than half the wearers are in Dailies, well more than that but in the US I think it’s around 25 percent and growing because doctors and patients have seen that it’s not as expensive as what people think. It’s actually environmentally responsible because you can recycle the bottoms of the packs and the cardboard and you’re not getting bottles for waste, so it generates less landfill waste and it’s just a fabulous product that feels great on the eye.
::hands me a lens to feel::
It’s super soft and squishy and wonderful. The moisture agent is different. The polymer, or the type of material is different.
I think it’s actually rounder.
It may hold its shape a little differently. It’s a softer lens than some other lenses in this kind of category, this high oxygen silicon hydro-gel and so because it’s so smooth and thin and light, it stays on the eye for up to 16 hours retaining it’s moisture and then at the end of the night, you might be laying in bed, oh shoot I forgot my contacts. Flick them on the floor, vacuum them the next day.
I mean, it’s a great supplement even if you enjoy the lenses you have, if you travel, if you’re outdoorsy, it gives you another option that’s cleaner and healthier for the times you need it.
What about the benefits of working out with them in?
When I work out, I love Dailies as well and what Cassey brought up about having something comfortable and clean and allows you to do the things she needs to do, it’s a great point about contacts in general. They empower people to do the things they like.
Can we also like talk about the importance of people who wear contacts and glasses? How they glasses/contacts script differs, and other things that need to be examined?
Part of my evaluation is not just vision, it’s actually pretty in-depth health exam where I look at the front surface of the eye, what factors affect comfortable contact lenses use as well as vision. Dry eyes can cause blur, so it’s so important. I love that you brought up that you’re both a glasses and a contacts wearer, because there shouldn’t be one or the other. Everybody should have both. It promotes good health and having the vision checked regularly is only going to allow you to do the things you need to do. Knowing that your eyes are healthy proactively vs. reactively prevents infection and prevents inconveniences in life.
When you typically get an eye exam, the doctor already, I always find the doctor always tells me that, okay we’re going to fit you for like a certain brand, why don’t they offer the other brands like Alcon?
Honestly, it would really depend on doctor preference. I consult for several companies in the past, I know a lot about all their designs. I like Alcon products personally but it’s whatever is right for my patient, I think. That really should be the message from any doctor. It’s not about branding, it’s about providing the best and the most innovative product. It just so happens that Dailies Total1 is the only water gradient lens on the market.
What about doing research before coming in?
Absolutely. Doctors are like dates, contacts are like dates. You don’t always like what you get so you got to go back and try again sometimes. But if you find something that’s a good fit and you have a good eye care professional who hears what you’re looking for, they’re going to pick the product that’s right for you. On the backside, you can do your homework, go on the industry websites. There might be something that they say, their message, that stands out. Would you like 16 hours of comfortable wear time? “You’re like yes, I would love that. My day doesn’t stop at 8 hours,” so yeah, I think from both directions it works like that.