Air Optix Multifocal fitting guide

Alcon Air Optix Multifocal fitting guide

Lens Options Tailored for Presbyopic Patients:

Alcon recognizes that presbyopic patients have diverse preferences and lifestyles. To accommodate these differences, the company offers two distinct multifocal contact lens options:

  • DAILIES TOTAL1® Multifocal contact lenses: These lenses are ideal for patients seeking the ultimate contact lens-wearing experience in a daily disposable modality. They provide the convenience of a fresh lens every day.
  • AIR OPTIX® plus HydraGlyde® Multifocal contact lenses: Recommended for patients who prefer a monthly replacement contact lens, these lenses offer comfort and clarity for an entire month.

Key Features of AIR OPTIX® plus HydraGlyde® Multifocal:

  1. Precision Profile® Design: These contact lenses incorporate Alcon’s Precision Profile® Design, ensuring clear and seamless vision at all distances, including near, intermediate, and far. This design is engineered to provide presbyopic patients with consistent visual clarity.
  2. HydraGlyde® Moisture Matrix: The lenses also feature HydraGlyde® Moisture Matrix technology, which offers lasting lens surface moisture. This technology helps maintain comfort throughout the day by preventing dryness and irritation.
  3. SmartShield® Technology: Alcon’s unique SmartShield® Technology provides excellent deposit protection and consistent comfort. This innovation ensures that the lenses remain comfortable even with extended wear.
Air Optix Multifocal fitting guide

alcon air optix multifocal fitting guide

The AIR OPTIX MULTIFOCAL Fitting Guide is a comprehensive resource designed to assist eye care professionals in fitting AIR OPTIX MULTIFOCAL contact lenses effectively. These multifocal lenses are designed to address presbyopia, a common age-related vision issue, by providing clear vision at both near and distance ranges within a single lens. Proper fitting is crucial to ensure patient comfort and optimal vision correction. Below, we’ll outline the key steps and considerations from the AIR OPTIX MULTIFOCAL Fitting Guide:

What is Therapeutic optometry and who are the therapeutic optometrist ?

1. Consultation and Patient Assessment:

  • Begin by scheduling a consultation with the patient to assess their visual needs and eye health.
  • Determine if the patient is a suitable candidate for multifocal contact lenses, considering factors like their age, prescription, and lifestyle.

2. Comprehensive Eye Examination:

  • Perform a thorough eye examination to determine the patient’s visual acuity, prescription needs, and overall eye health.
  • Identify the extent of presbyopia and any other vision conditions that need correction.

3. Lens Selection:

  • Based on the examination results, select the appropriate AIR OPTIX MULTIFOCAL lenses for the patient.
  • Consider factors like lens design, material, and prescription strength to match the patient’s visual requirements.

4. Trial Fitting:

Easily Adjusting to Your New Contact Lens Base Curve

  • Provide the patient with trial lenses to evaluate comfort and effectiveness.
  • Ensure the lenses are inserted and removed correctly, and that the patient is comfortable with the fit.

Allow the initial trial lenses to settle for about 15 minutes before evaluating them. Encourage the patient to browse around the practice in this time – judging real world vision instead of letters on the chart is better to initially let the patient experience. 

Step by step Air Optix Multifocal fitting guide

Air Optix Multifocal fitting guide

Air Optix Multifocal fitting guide

Optimizing the prescription for multifocal contact lenses is a critical step in ensuring clear and comfortable vision for patients who need both distance and near correction. Here’s a step-by-step guide on how to achieve this, starting with the vertexed distance power and selecting the appropriate add power:

1. Start with Vertexed Distance Power and Initial Add Selection: Begin with the vertexed distance power prescription for the patient. Select the same add power for both eyes based on a traditional scale. This initial add power should provide a starting point for near vision correction.

2. Over-Refraction at a Distance: Using +0.25/-0.25 trial lenses or flippers, perform a binocular over-refraction at a distance. Ensure both eyes are open during this process; do not perform monocular over-refractions. The goal here is to fine-tune the prescription for clear distance vision while retaining acceptable near vision.

3. Adjust Power to Enhance Near Vision Without Harming Distance Vision: Change the power of the trial lenses accordingly to maximize near vision without compromising distance vision. The objective is to add as much plus power as possible without causing distance vision to deteriorate.

4. Verify Vision Quality: Assess the patient’s vision quality both at distance and near with binocular vision and under good lighting conditions. If the vision is acceptable for both distance and near, proceed to dispense the trial lenses.

5. Address Ocular Dominance: If issues persist with either distance or near vision, consider ocular dominance to refine the prescription. You can use the +2.00 blur-out method to determine the dominant eye. Hold up a +2.00 or +1.50 lens over each eye at a distance binocularly and ask the patient which option provides better clarity. The eye that cannot tolerate the plus power is the dominant eye.

6. Split Adds if Necessary: Depending on the issues identified, you may need to split the adds between the dominant and non-dominant eyes.

5. Customization:

  • Tailor the lens prescription to the patient’s unique visual needs.
  • Consider factors such as dominant eye, near and distance vision requirements, and daily activities. You can check here for more details

6. Follow-Up Appointments:

  • Schedule follow-up appointments to assess the patient’s adaptation to the lenses.
  • Fine-tune the fit and prescription as needed based on patient feedback and observations.

7. Lens Care and Maintenance:

  • Educate the patient on proper lens care and maintenance to ensure hygiene and longevity of the lenses.
  • Emphasize the importance of adhering to recommended cleaning and replacement schedules.

8. Lifestyle Considerations:

  • Discuss the patient’s lifestyle and daily activities to ensure the lenses are customized to their specific needs.
  • Address any concerns related to activities like reading, computer work, or outdoor pursuits.

9. Patient Education:

  • Educate the patient about the benefits of AIR OPTIX MULTIFOCAL lenses and what they can expect in terms of vision correction and comfort.
  • Provide information on adapting to multifocal lenses and managing expectations.

10. Ongoing Support:

  • Continue to provide support and guidance to the patient as they adapt to their multifocal lenses.
  • Address any issues or concerns that may arise during the wearing experience.

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