Stylish eyewear made 100% with recycled ocean plastic waste.
It is predicted that there will be more plastic than fish in our seas by the year 2050! Which is why we want to do as much as we can to help this amazing company. Plus, there is the added bonus that we love the Sea To See Frames that have been designed!
Sea to see is the first eyewear brand to have it’s raw material certified by the Cradle to Cradle products program. The World’s most advanced, science based standard for designing and making products for the circular economy. Praised for positivity for people and planet!
Sea to See saw the potential of marine recycling and set about collecting 1000kgs of fishnets, ropes, lines and bottles. Collected daily from 27 Spanish ports and off the coast of Ghana. Then in 8 steps transformed waste into highly resistant eyewear.
The upcycled raw plastic is sorted, dried, heated, moulded and individually hand painted. To create unique, stylish frames which flex, to eliminate pressure points and provide 100% UV protection from both UVA and UVB radiation.
Sea to See are also committed to providing free eyewear to the fishing community who help them clean the Ocean, making a difference together, wearing their eyewear with pride!
Interested?
We love the whole ethos of this company! As well as using recycled products, they have such amazing ideas and philosophies. Have a read here.
If you would like to find out more about our Sea to See frames, then please get in touch with us at Focus Eye Centre in Hailsham. Call now on 01323 442062 to book your appointment.
Do you feel confident and comfortable with your sight when you drive?
As eye care specialists one of the most frequently asked questions we come across is ‘How can I make my driving vision more comfortable and improve glare especially when driving at night?’.
Glare refers to the debilitating dazzle and unwanted reflections that a large proportion of us experience and suffer when we drive, especially at night. Glare can come from all directions and different sources. Including flat surfaces, headlights, traffic lights, street lamps and the sun. Bright sunlight causes visual discomfort and blinding glare caused by reflected sunlight in some cases can even be dangerous.
Good eyesight is fundamental when it comes to preparing your journey and travelling on the road. With the right driving lens solution you can turn the driving experience from an inconvenience into a real pleasure. No matter what the weather or the time of day.
What makes up the best driving lens solution?
This can be broken down into 3 areas; the correcting lens design, the corrective lens technology and the lens enhancement.
Each part of the lens is vital when you’re on the road. Whether it is correcting an eye condition so you can see clearly, protecting your vision from glare or enhancing your clarity when you’re on and off the road. A lens built for driving will help you no matter what vehicle you have.
Correcting Lens Design
Ensure your prescription is up to date to give you the clearest vision possible. Corrective spectacles may be required in order to meet the legal driving requirements. Your Optometrist will advise you on this. The following lens designs offer the best driving visual solutions:
For wearers under 40
If you suffer from long-sightedness (hypermetropia), short-sightedness (myopia) and/or astigmatism you might have to correct your vision with glasses to meet legal driving requirements. Even if you don’t need your glasses for driving, it’s recommended to still wear your distance vision glasses to ensure you have optimum vision whenever you’re on the road.
Delivers high resolution and wide fields of vision over the entire lens. So you can see the road and any hazards clearly. Essilor Road Pilot lenses even enhance the contrast to improve your ability to react to changes on the road.
For wearers over 40+
Presbyopia is a natural part of ageing. This is where your near vision starts to weaken due to the lens within your eye losing flexibility. Symptoms usually start to occur from your early 40s.
Even if you’ve had perfect eyesight before, you may find that you need to hold your phone a little further away. If left uncorrected you could be on the road with less sharpness than what’s necessary in order to remain safe – for you and others.
Optimised for all vehicles, Varilux Road Pilot lenses deliver wide fields of vision. Giving you a clear peripheral vision, which is perfect for driving.
Corrective Lens Technology
For Strong Sunlight and Glare
Whether you’re driving to the coast for a holiday, spending the sunny days visiting friends and family or just driving to and from work, you spend a lot of time on the road and will most likely face bright sunlight. Bright sunlight can cause visual discomfort. Blinding glare caused by reflected sunlight in some cases can even be dangerous. Glare is caused by light reflecting off flat surfaces, such as roads, bodies of water, ice or snow. The light becomes concentrated horizontally, which can be very uncomfortable for your eyes.
Polarised lenses are specifically designed to eliminate bright and unwanted reflections. The unique filter in polarised lenses block out the intense glare that follows. Allowing only vertical light to enter your eye. Wearing polarised lenses for driving can enhance your visual comfort and make it safer for driving. Xperio Polarised lenses offer enhanced colour perception compared to tinted lenses. Making it easier to see in bright light conditions. They also offer the highest level of UV protection within the Essilor range. This is incredibly important when maintaining healthy eyes and vision.
For Artificial Lights and Glare
Lights at night can create reflections and glare on our spectacles. They can come from all directions and different sources (headlights, traffic lights, street lamps). Turning the driving experience into an convenience more than a real pleasure.
Solution = Crizal Drive (Daytime and Night-time Driving)
Lenses can create reflections; however a lens coating will enhance their performance. Crizal Drive has been specifically designed to aid with driving during the day and throughout the night. It reduces the number of reflections, up to 90% less reflections when driving at night. Resulting in comfortable vision and improved visual acuity.
For Changing Light Conditions
When you’re on the road and your journey involves you driving through the evening into dusk you’ll experience a change in external lighting conditions. Sometimes we don’t have the opportunity to pull over and change from sunglasses to clear lenses. Sunglasses are the ideal solution for bright sunny conditions but for those times when the weather changes, you can find yourself trying to swap between your glasses every time the sun goes behind the clouds.
Light intelligent lenses will adapt to changing light conditions, tinting when UV is present and clear when the sun isn’t out. Modern windscreens of vehicles block UV light meaning that standard photochromic lenses will not adapt even in the brightest conditions. Transitions XTRActive technology will adapt to visible light as well as UV. Making it an ideal component for your lenses for driving. By adapting to visible light, your glasses can tint to the required amount to combat glare, but will be almost clear when the sun has set, meaning you don’t have to change your glasses.
Lens Enhancement
For enhanced Night Vision
With a lack of light sources when driving on certain roads at night, your vision can be impacted negatively. This is due to the fact that vision with low light is mostly produced by rod cells. Instead of cone cells which are responsible for peripheral vision, colour vision and depth perception. Which are very important when it comes to driving.
Solution = Crizal Drive (For Daytime and Night-time Driving)
When driving at night it’s important to get as much visible light through your lenses so that you can see clearly and distinguish colours and shapes. Make sure you wear lenses that reduce reflections and glare so that majority of the essential light reaches your eyes.
Imagine you’ve got a shiny new pair of glasses from us, and you’re looking forward to wearing your fancy new specs. Do you take much notice about what you do with your old ones? You’d more than likely put them in a drawer somewhere and leave them at home. Just in case anything happened to your new pair. Or even worse, you could have thrown them away.
If you’re a regular glasses wearer, you might have gone through a fair few pairs of glasses over time. Maybe your prescription has been updated, or maybe your old pair has broken and you need new glasses. But we’re here to tell you that if you’ve got spare pairs of glasses you don’t use, we can take them off your hands.
We Can Recycle Them For You
At Focus Eye Centre, we are able to recycle your old glasses and give them a new home. At our opticians in Hailsham, we have a box for your old pairs of glasses that is picked up by Hailsham Lions Club. These glasses are collected and then sorted based on prescription and condition. In the end, these glasses get sent all around the world. To countries like Papua New Guinea, Sri Lanka, Ghana, and Nigeria. Any glasses that are broken or in bad condition can be recycled too. Spectacles can be broken and recycled separately. You can find out more about what the Lions Club do with your recycled glasses here.
So if you come in to pick up your new glasses, just let us know that you don’t need your old glasses anymore. Then you can then put them in the little recycling box we have. It also makes you feel good to know you’re doing your bit for the environment!
If you’d like to know more about our recycling scheme, or you’d like to book an appointment to get a shiny new pair of glasses, then get in touch with us.
According to an official study by Ofcom, 1 in 5 people spend more than 40 hours a week online, in front of a digital device. With more and more people using smartphones, tablets and computers, it seems that as we enter 2020, more and more people are having issues with their eyes, in the form of eyestrain. This blog is all about ideas on how to prevent eye strain from computers.
For a long time there has been concern over the effects that using digital technology has on eye health. You may remember the well-known childhood myth that warns children they’ll get square eyes if you stay in front of the TV? But if you’ve ever spent a long time in front of a computer or television that you might have some discomfort with your eyes, you’ll know that it can cause varying amounts of discomfort.
What is Eyestrain & How do I get it from Computers?
Eyestrain is caused by excessive use of computers and looking at computer screens or other digital devices. According to Medicine Net, eyestrain can occur after extended use of the eyes on digital screens, with symptoms including headaches, blurred vision, or dryness. This can be quite uncomfortable, but there is no evidence to suggest that eyestrain causes permanent damage to your vision.
People who look at screens for over 2 hours in a row have the greatest risk of getting eyestrain. But there are a few simple ways you can prevent eyestrain from computers affecting your daily life.
Distance from the Screen
You should make sure that your computer screen is at least 20 inches away from your eyes. Making sure that the top of the screen is level with your eyes. You should either do this by having a monitor stand that can be adjusted to suit your height, or by using an adjustable chair. This is also good for other parts of your body, it should stop you from slouching and causing back pain.
Lighting
Making sure that the light around you isn’t too harsh is also important to make sure that the light from the computer screen doesn’t cause strain on your eyes. You should make sure that the lighting around you avoids a lower glare and harsh reflections. You can also have glare filters put over your digital screens which also help to reduce the risk of eyestrain.
Adjust Your Brightness Settings
If your computer screen is too bright or too dark, it can be straining for the eyes. You should always make sure that the brightness of your screen is the same as the brightness as the room you’re in. If it looks like the computer screen is more of a light source, it’s probably too bright. If you’re struggling to see using lower brightness settings, you can always change the contrast or text size of your computer.
Take Regular Breaks
According to all about vision, you should take at least one 10 minute break every hour that you’re in front of a screen. Other medical advice suggests to go by a 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, look at something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds. You might be able to do this to keep a timer on your desk to make sure you’re making sure your eyes get regular breaks from the screen.
Need Any Help?
If you’re starting to find it difficult to look at a computer screen for long periods of time, you might want to consider getting a professional examination on your eyes. Getting glasses for use with your computer might help protect the health of your eyes.
We are an award winning local opticians based in Hailsham, East Sussex, so if you’re in the area and want an eye test, or have any questions about the health of your eyes, then please call in and see us!
We’d like to wish all of our customers and friends at Focus Eye Centre a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!
We hope that you get to spend time with your friends and family over the Christmas period.
We also hope you get everything that you asked for from Santa! Don’t forget, as you can see if the video above(!!) with our very own Anthony and Amanda, that our winter sale is now on…
We’re going to be closed for a few days over Christmas; so make sure you check we’re open before you come and visit us! We do still have appointment availability during some of these days, so please call us if you are worried about anything.
If you have any glasses-related enquiries between Christmas and New Year, our opening times are;
Monday 23rd – 9-5.30pm
Tuesday 24th – 9-1pm
Christmas Day – Closed
Boxing Day – Closed
27th – Closed
28th – 9-1pm
30th – 9-1pm
31st – 9-1pm
New Years Day – Closed
2nd January – 9-5.30pm
Business as usual…
We are very excited to be able to start our Winter Sale before Christmas.
Details
It will run from now until the end of January 2020 and you will be able to take advantage of up to 70% off many styles of frame. These include designers such as Hugo Boss, Ralph Lauren Polo, Wolf, Jimmy Choo and Tiffany & Co.
So there will be definitely something for everyone!
Next Steps
Please either pop in and take a look or give us a call on 01323 442062 if you need to arrange a sight test, in order to choose your frames.
Please note, the cost of the lens will be on top of the frame price.
At this time of year, you may not have seen the sun in a long time. It certainly doesn’t provide the warmth as it does in the summer! With the days getting shorter and the evenings drawing in, I’m sure you’ve not seen much of it this winter. It might actually be incredibly useful to have a pair of prescription sunglasses to hand, over the winter months. Here are a few reasons about why you should get prescription sunglasses this winter.
Winter Driving
Although the sun might not be out much during this time of year, it’s a lot lower in the sky than in the summer. This can cause havoc when you’re driving, especially during school pickup time and rush hour. During sunrise and sunset, the sun is much lower in the sky for much longer so the glare that you’ll get when driving can create some pretty hazardous driving conditions. It’s always a good idea to have a pair of prescription sunglasses in the car with you throughout the year, particularly at this time when the sun visor doesn’t block out the sun’s rays.
Let it Snow!
In the South East, we might not have had too much snow in the last few years, but there’s always a chance! Either that or you might be going for a little trip to the ski slopes this winter. In snowy weather, it’s also useful to have a pair of sunglasses. As snow reflects the sun’s light, it makes it (fact) brighter than usual. In these conditions, you should always wear sunglasses to protect your eyes from that extra brightness that’s all around. You can actually get sunglasses that are perfect to protect your eyes from these conditions.
Prescription Sunglasses
Many people swap over glasses on a regular basis. Having prescription sunglasses when you need sight help can make your life so much easier. At Focus Eye Centre, we have a fabulous array of sunglasses to choose from, including all our designer sunglasses. And you can choose from nearly all our standard and design ranges, to have your own prescription fitted. That way, you can still enjoy having a pair of designer sunglasses, but with your own prescription added to them.
Polarised Sunglasses
You may have also heard of polarised sunglasses before, and they are a popular type of sunglasses – particularly with skiers. Read a bit more about the benefits of having polarised lenses here.
So if you’re interested in getting a pair of prescription sunglasses, pop into our opticians in Hailsham and we’ll set you up with a stylish pair of sunglasses, all ready for the winter months!
We all like to know who is actually looking after us within a business. Your visit to your local Opticians is no different and can be somewhat confusing with all the different types of people who work within a practice. Various optical jargon can be used to describe the various people that you see and processes that will be carried out. So here is an overview of various terms that you may hear and an explanation to what they mean.
Who is an Optician?
The word ‘Optician’ has been used for many years to describe staff members within a practice. But what does it actually mean and who does it refer to? The simply answer it can refer to either the person conducting your eye examination or the person fitting and measuring your spectacles. Optician is a generic name and as such will mean different things to different people. An Optometrist is the person who actually conducts your eye examination inside a consulting room. A Dispensing Optician is the person who is the lens expert who helps you pick your new spectacles outside of the consulting room. They are both professionals with special qualifications and have very important but differing roles within a practice.
Who is an Optometrist?
An Optometrist is the primary provider of vision care. They have completed a degree in Optometry and have spent a minimum of 4 years in study before qualifying. They are registered with the General Optic Council who oversee standards and codes of practice within the profession. An optometrist can examine and diagnose vision difficulties or diseases of the eye. They can test and prescribe spectacles or contact lenses and other medical treatments.
Some Optometrists choose to specialise and undertake further training and qualifications. A prescribing Optometrist can prescribe medications for the treatment of various eye conditions and has become an ‘eye GP’ in effect. Other specialities can include Paediatrics including School Vision, Glaucoma and Medical Retina including Age Related Macula Degeneration.
Please note: Anthony is a fully qualified Prescribing Optometrist in addition to being a Hospital Specialist Optometrist. Amanda is a fully qualified School Vision Childrens Specialist Practitioner in addition to her normal roles.
Who is an Ophthamologist?
An Ophthalmologist is a medically trained doctor who commonly acts as both physician and surgeon. They examine, diagnose and treat diseases and injuries in and around the eye. They typically have undertaken 5 years of study at medical school and 2 years as a newly qualified doctor. A further 7 years of specialist ophthalmic training is then undertaken before passing very rigorous examinations set by the Royal College of Ophthalmologists.
An Ophthalmologist generally works within a hospital setting although some will also undertake private work. A Consultant Ophthalmologist is a very experienced doctor who is an expert in clinical care, assessment and treatment of patients and is competent in a range of practical and surgical skills.
Who is a Dispensing Optician?
A dispensing optician is the primary provider of dispensing services within a practice. They are responsible for advising on, fitting and supplying the most appropriate spectacles. After taking account of each patient’s visual, lifestyle and vocational needs.
Dispensing opticians also play an important role in advising and dispensing low vision aids to those who are partially sighted as well as advising on and dispensing to children where appropriate.
They are also able to fit and provide aftercare for contact lenses after undergoing further specialist training. They typically have undertaken at least 3 years of specialist training and will be registered with the General Optical Council who oversee standards and codes of practice within the profession.
Please Note: Sara is a fully qualified Dispensing Optician and Practice Manager at Focus Eye Centre.
Who is an Optical Assistant?
Optical assistants are the support staff of a practice. They have differing roles within a practice based on the needs of the practice and their level of training. The role of an Optical Assistant can range from reception and admin work through to carrying out delegated tests for the Optometrists and dispensing spectacles. An Optical Assistant generally works under the supervision of an Optometrist or Dispensing Optician.
If you have any questions or would like further information about this topic, please do not hesitate to contact the practice of info@focuseyecentre.co.uk or by calling 01323 442062.
With the great success of all our other promotional days, we will be running a Tiffany & Co open day on 29th November, in conjunction with Black Friday.
Tiffany & Co are renowned for their class and style and we find them a really popular choice for frames. Tiffany & Co prescription glasses are always a really good option if you want spectacles that are a bit different, as well as being hardwearing and versatile.
If you come in on the 29th November, you can choose one of the many looks we have from Tiffany & Co, in this exclusive day. Then to make it even more special, we will give you 25% off.
If you would like to book an appointment beforehand, then please call us on 01323 442062. We can’t wait to see you!
