Products
Contact Lenses
Contact lenses are an excellent alternative to spectacles, be it for cosmetic, lifestyle, or just for practical reasons. It is most likely that you too can benefit from the freedom of vision that contacts can provide.
Modern contact lenses are usually exceptionally comfortable and easy to use but they must be fitted to your eyes correctly as there can be serious complications to your eyes and vision. At Vision X, we carefully assess your eyes and fit you with contact lenses that will most suit your eyes. We will also provide important information about their use and maintenance. Regular follow-up is necessary to ensure your eyes stay healthy.
There are many types of contact lenses including rigid contact lenses and soft contact lenses. The modern day type of rigid contact lenses are known as rigid gas permeable contact lenses; and as the name implies they allow oxygen to pass through them to your eyes. They can be a very healthy lens option to use and are particularly suited to some eye conditions and prescriptions.
In recent years, soft lens technology has dramatically improved. Nowadays, most types of soft contact lenses are what are commonly referred to as disposable, soft contact lenses. Replacing the contacts on a regular basis eliminates many of the historical problems with soiled or old lenses causing irritation and other problems. As the name implies they are lenses replaced on a regular basis and are usually either daily, fortnightly or monthly replacement.
Daily Replacement Contact Lenses
Daily lenses have become our first choice contact lens because of the health benefits, and convenience they offer. They literally are a lens that you wear once and then throw away. This eliminates the need for any cleaning solutions and maintenance and provides the most hygienic, cleanest way you can wear contact lenses. They are ideal for all part-time wearers, those that have quite sensitive eyes, those that are prone to allergies, or for people just wanting the best in technology, convenience and cleanliness.
In particular, "Total 1" manufactured by Alcon stands out as an exceptional contact lens in terms of comfort and eye health. Contact us for more information.
Fortnightly and Monthly Contact Lenses
These are lenses replaced fortnightly or monthly and require cleaning and disinfection with the appropriate contact cleaning solutions. There have been many advances in recent years, notably the development of silicone based lens materials which have significantly increased the oxygen permeability of the lenses meaning more oxygen passes through the lens to your eye. Another advantage to these silicone based materials is they don’t tend to dehydrate as much as conventional lens materials which often translates to more comfortable lens wear.
Spherical vs Toric Contact Lenses
For those individuals whose optical prescription is predominantly just short-sightedness (“myopia”) or long-sightedness (“hyperopia”), normal “spherical” contact lenses are usually fitted. Astigmatism is a condition usually associated with the shape of the front surface of the eye (cornea). Many people have minor amounts of astigmatism and a normal spherical contact lens may be all that is required. However, if the magnitude of the astigmatism is significant, a special form of soft contact lens may be required to give good vision. These are referred to as toric contact lenses.
Contact Lenses for Presbyopia (age related loss of near focus)
It is a normal age related process that the eyes lose the ability to focus with the consequence of loss of good near vision. This is due to changes to the lens inside the eye and is called presbyopia. For correction of presbyopia, there is the option of bifocal or multi-focal contact lenses; monovision contact lenses, where one eye is corrected for far vision and the other eye for near vision; or contact lenses to improve distance vision and reading glasses over them to improve near vision. At Vision X, your optometrist has the skills and knowledge to fit these modalities.
Coloured & Cosmetic Contact Lenses
Looking for a change of look. Contact lenses have the ability to change your natural eye colour. With opaque coloured contact lenses even brown eyes can be blue. Or perhaps enhancing the green in your eyes appeals. The possibilities are numerous. Even though they are chosen for cosmetic reasons, your eyes still need to assessed for suitability, and the lenses correctly fitted by your optometrist.
Spectacle Frames
At Vision X, we endeavour to carry distinctive frame ranges, often designed by major and boutique design houses, and made from quality materials. We look for renowned, trusted manufacturers, many of which are based in Europe and Japan.
Premium ranges include brands as Gucci, Kio Yamato, O&X New York, and WOOW. We also carry a large range of arguably the best rimless frames available from leading Austrian manufacturer Silhouette.
Other leading quality frames come from Adidas, Oakley, Jono Hennessey, Light Tec and others....
We do carry a “See and Save” range of frame/lens packages as a very competitively priced option while maintaining minimum quality standards.
Spectacle Lenses
We believe using premium spectacles lenses is imperative to ensure the clearest and most comfortable vision is achieved with your glasses. For that reason, we only use lenses from the world’s leading, most trusted and recognised spectacle lens manufacturers including Hoya, Zeiss and Essilor. These companies invest huge sums of money and resources to develop the best spectacle lens products.
Using the appropriate lenses is vital to making you see and perform the best. At Vision X, we will discuss and make recommendations for your prescription requirements.
Anti-reflection lens coatings/hard coats/Ultraviolet Protection
Over time, spectacle lenses have evolved with the main emphasis to provide clearest, most comfortable vision. Part of this evolution has been non-reflective lens coatings; with modern day coatings giving the lens greater than 99% transparency (compared to approx. 92% with just hard-coated lenses) as well as having a pleasing cosmetic appearance. For this reason we always recommend anti-refection coatings. These coatings are a combination hard coat and non reflection coating with many layers, manufactured on state of the art equipment.
A premium coating provides crystal clear vision as well as being durable, with hydrophobic surfaces ensuring minimal smearing and easy cleaning. However, not all anti-reflection coatings are equal which is another reason to use only lenses from the leading lens manufacturers (a poor quality anti-reflection coating is almost worse than not having the coating at all). All the coatings we use come with a 2 year manufacturer’s warranty.
There is no doubt ultraviolet light from the sun can contribute to eye health problems so ALL lenses from Vision X are ultraviolet blocking.
Thin Lenses/Aspheric Designs
Once again technology is to the forefront here with many options available in lens thinness and design. At Vision X, we look at every person’s prescription individually to consider which lenses will give you the most visually and cosmetically acceptable result. This may include thin lens materials (hi-index) or aspheric lens designs which will enhance the appearance of the lenses.
Computer technology allows us to produce a 3-dimensional image of what your finished spectacle lenses will look like to help you make an informed choice of which spectacle lens option is best for you.
Progressive Spectacle Lenses
These are lenses that allow vision at all distances with areas in the lenses dedicated for distance, intermediate (VDU) and near vision. Traditionally bifocal lenses were the only option but their visual limitations and cosmetic appearance has led to progressive lenses now being the preferred option. Very complicated optics and lens design have been a huge challenge for progressive lens manufacturers and once again it is important to use lenses from the best manufacturers to ensure best results and adaption to your progressive lenses. We do have a wide range of progressive lens designs to choose from – to keep it simple the difference really comes down to the technology incorporated into the lenses to give the widest field of view, most “natural” vision and the best clarity at all distances. (Do be aware that some of the “budget” lenses available do not perform the same).
An excellent variation of the progressive lens is an occupational lens which is really an enhanced near vision lens, but does perform exceptionally well for someone spending time at the computer but also needing to read normal hard copy material.
Prescription Sunglasses
Prescription sunglass lenses are an excellent option for many, especially in a country like NZ where we all enjoy the outdoor lifestyle, but unfortunately are exposed to harsh sunlight and high ultraviolet levels. We specialize in sunglass lens options and with modern technology and specialized fitting, we can incorporate prescription sunglass lenses in most sunglass frames even including “wrap around” and sports sunglasses.
An optional enhancement are Polarized lenses which are especially useful for glare, particularly those who spend time out on the water.
Also, there are photochromatic (darkens outdoors/lightens indoors) options; and even lenses specifically designed for driving.
At Vision X, we will assist you to find the best solution for you.
Blue Light Filters
LED screens are known to produce a lot of light at the blue end of the light spectrum. Research shows that blue light can affect Circadian rhythms (and consequently sleep patterns), cause eye fatigue, and potentially contribute to damage to the back of the eye (macula degeneration). This is obviously a concern with a significant proliferation in the time spent in front of LED screen devices (from phones to tablets to VDU screens). If you are a regular user of LED screens, consideration should be given to filtering the blue light out. We are pleased to advise many of our lenses have an option to add a blue filter. Please ask for more advice.