GP Insights

Some GP Lens Resolutions to Consider for 2016

BY JOHN MARK JACKSON, OD, MS, FAAO

The beginning of a new year is always a great time for self-improvement. You probably already made some resolutions about your personal life; now, I’m going to encourage you to make some about your GP lens fitting habits. Try following these suggestions to increase the use of corneal GPs in your practice.

Resolution #1: Consider Corneal GPs for More Patients

GP lenses are great for lots of reasons; they offer many benefits: great optics, good ocular health, customized fitting, you name it. Why wouldn’t you want to share these with your patients?

It is true that they can take more time...more time to fit, more time to customize, and more time to adapt. However, it’s our job to make sure patients know their options and to help them make the best choice. That won’t always be a GP lens, of course, but they can’t choose it if you don’t offer it.

Resolution #2: Don’t Assume That Patients Can’t Adapt

It’s easy to get in the habit of making assumptions about other people. Over the years, I have been wrong more often than not when I felt that someone would not be able to adapt to GPs. With a good GP candidate, patient education, a great GP fit, and a motivated patient, adaptation can and will happen.

Don’t let the ones who couldn’t adapt cloud your memory. Instead, you should focus on the patients who were successful and use those cases to motivate you to fit more patients into GPs going forward.

Practitioners should consider fitting GP lenses more often this year.

Resolution #3: Brush up on Lens Parameters

If GPs aren’t part of your daily routine, it’s easy to forget some of the finer points of fitting them. Take some time to review how all of the parameters work together to improve a GP fit.

While the most obvious things to change are the base curve and diameter, changing other parameters can really fine-tune the fit.

For example, it would be beneficial to review the changes that happen when you adjust lens thickness, add lenticulation, change edge lift, optic zone size, and specific gravity of the material. There are plenty of archived articles at www.clspectrum.com that discuss all of these changes and more.

Resolution #4: Try Some New Materials

We have some pretty amazing GP materials at our disposal. Why tie yourself down to a couple of them? Information about different GP materials (i.e., their Dk values, wetting angles, specific gravity, etc.) is readily available from your GP lab. You can also ask them about alternative materials to try.

You may find that the plastic you have been using is a bit out of date. Perhaps it’s time to try a newer generation of GP materials for better oxygen, wettability, deposit resistance, etc.

I hope you find these GP resolutions helpful and thought-provoking and that they encourage you to recommend GP lenses more often. I hope you have a prosperous, GP-filled new year and many happy GP-wearing patients! CLS

Dr. Jackson is a professor at Southern College of Optometry where he works in the Advanced Contact Lens Service, teaches courses in contact lenses, and performs clinical research. You can reach him at jjackson@sco.edu.