contact lens focus

An Affordable Upgrade

Lens provides comfort, convenience and affordability.

Jennifer McKay, O.D.

Convenience and value are very important to my patients. In making contact lens recommendations, I have to balance those concerns with choosing the best options for ocular health and vision. Acuvue Advance Plus Brand contact lenses, from Vistakon, are a good choice for achieving that balance. They address discomfort, inconvenience and cost.

Comfort

Acuvue Advance Plus lenses are a redesigned and enhanced successor to the Acuvue Advance lens. Like their predecessor, they employ Vistakon's Hydraclear Technology. This technology combines high performance base materials with a moisture-rich wetting agent.

The lenses differ from Acuvue Advance, however, in that they include Ultra-Clean technology. This technology provides greater resistance to deposits, helping the lens to stay clean and feel smooth. My impression is that they offer better comfort throughout the day compared with the original lenses.

Priced for convenience

The lens is available in a 24-box annual supply. Add that an annual supply of lenses meets patients' desire for convenience, and that this convenience translates to patient compliance to their wear schedule, —making them feel and look better—and it's very easy to convince patients of the lens' value.

For example, a 29-year-old male conventional hydrogel lens wearer presented as a new patient for a regular exam. His eyes were visibly red and appeared irritated. When I asked the patient whether he noticed this, he said: “This is how they always look.” In addition, he admitted poor adherence to the lens replacement schedule.

I educated him that he could achieve healthy-looking eyes without breaking the bank by switching to Acuvue Advance Plus lenses. Specifically, I informed the patient that the silicone hydrogel material would help him look, see and feel better. Also, I educated him on the importance of compliance with cleaning and replacement. Further, I showed him that the cost of the new lenses was almost the same as that of his current annual supply.

At the patient's follow-up visit, he reported improved comfort. Also, he said his friends had commented that his eyes looked much whiter than before. This patient is not unusual. Many people tolerate chronic red eyes, believing they're normal or, perhaps, the price for wearing lenses. That's why it's so important for us to talk to our patients about the benefits of regular replacement and advanced lens materials.

Because the Acuvue Advance Plus Brand contact lenses provide comfort, convenience and affordability, I've found that patients are very receptive to trying them. In addition, they offer practitioners peace of mind, in that the one-year-supply packaging instills patient compliance to the recommended lens wear. This results in optimum ocular health. An additional ocular health benefit: The lens blocks more than 90% of UVA and 99% of UVB rays. OM

Acuvue Advance Plus
	MATERIAL: Galyfilcon A with Hydraclear Technology DK/T: 62 WEARING SCHEDULE: Daily wear RECOMMENDED REPLACEMENT SCHEDULE: Two weeks BASE CURVE: 8.3 mm, 8.7 mm DIAMETER: 14.0 mm PARAMETERS: −0.50 to −6.00 and +0.50 to +6.00D in 0.25D increments. −6.50 to −12.00D and + 6.50 to +8.00D in 0.50D increments. PATIENT COST: $155 to $189 for a 24-box supply.