...that my optician seemed to think it acceptable to reduce me to tears this morning?

[Weegle]

Or am I just being oversensitive?

I hadn't been for 3 years. In those 3 years I have moved house, had an incredibly difficult, mostly bed ridden pregnancy, spent a year with agonsing pain post childbirth before being diagnosed with a lifelong chronic condition which is only just showing any response to drugs and pain relief (hence I felt up to making an opticians appointment).

He told me off for leaving it 3 years. He told me because I am on steroids and my condition I am at risk of losing my sight. He told me off for not buying my contacts from him but from the internet (they are cheaper). He told me off because I couldn't remember my mum's eye sight history. Then, he asked if I had my lense case. Admittedly it could have done with a clean and I said so. Every night when I go to bed I am in agony - my DH frequently has to help me, cleaning my lense case is not often top of the agenda. But I accept they are MY eyes, MY responsibility and I should try harder - I said this to him. By now I was crying. At which point he got out a poster with about 10 pictures of eyes with different infections and pointed at each of them in turn saying "this could happen to you, you will go blind". I said "I get your point you don't need to carry on". But he carried on making me more and more upset. Why the hell I didn't just up and leave is beyond me. He also said "49 people a year go blind because of eye infections - IF you read the paper you'd know that" - how does he know whether I read the freakin paper or not?! I am so wound up. I KNOW I need to take better care of my eyes but I really don't think he should have treated me like that. AIBU?

I work in an opticians (only as an optical associate not an optician) so here goes nowt..

Yes, it's a really bad idea to wash your lens case out with tap water. There are still bacteria in the water that, if they come into contact with your lenses, could cause major infection and damage to your cornea. Empty it, turn it upside down and let it air dry. Replace your case every three months or sooner. Ask your optician if you need spares, the chain I work for will hand them over no problem.

Toric daily lenses? Can be done and very handy they are too. Ask about Focus Daily Torics, they're the first ones that spring to mind.

If you're unhappy in any way with your treatment from your optician then you can complain to the General Optical Council. They take stuff extremely seriously so your complaint will be followed up and opticians are known to quake when they come calling. If they work for a chain of opticians try mentioning that you are unhappy to the store first, you might be able to switch to another optician in house.

If you want to change contact lens suppliers totally then you have the right to do so. You'll need your details from your last sight test (which should be less than 12 months old) and any aftercare info. Your current optician should hand these over as they are your medical records. Optics isn't like dentistry, you don't register with one practise and stay there no matter what. If you're unhappy in anyway then you can take your prescription and hightail it.

Finally there's a lot here about how stupid we are for doing regular checks on your contacts and how nothing's gone wrong so why are we bothering. We have to do checks because it's the law, pure and simple. I get people in all the time who have eyes that are red raw because they've overworn their lenses but they refuse to take them out.

You might be fine but we can't supply lenses if your aftercares and sight tests are out of date so go with us on this one. If we didn't bother and you got an infection from your lenses who are you going to sue? People who continually miss aftecare appointments are the baine of my working life.

Oh, some opticians think they are God's gift by the way. Looks like the original poster got one. Take your prescription and walk.

LittleBella - I'm too tight to use saline, that's why I used boiled from the kettle to swill round the case. I use a hard plastic case & boil it up once a week too, and my optician is happy with that.

CripleH - do you work for SS by any chance??

Find a new optician. Bully! And I second the idea of using disposables. Too much hassle otherwise.

Lol UrbanDryad

That may be interpreted as swearing in the CripleH house!

Urbandryad, I don't work for Specsavers. I work for one of the others who shall remain nameless.

Should matter if it has changed recently, you should have access to your current prescription at any time.

OMG I am an optometrist and I would never talk to a patient like that, particulary after the time you've had. Most people IME are a bit vague about their family history, unless you are in the optometry business it is very difficult to remember the names of eye conditions! I will point out that a person should have a pair of specs to use in case they have an eye infection because I have seen too many cases where the contact lenses can't be worn and the person has no back-up whatsoever and it always seem to happen before they go on holidays/on an important career-making business trip, that's just sod's law! In any case a patient should never be reduced to tears and a gentle explanation of the effects of acanthamoeba keratitis without resorting to gruesome pictures should be enough!
If you have astigmatism you can now get daily disposables but in very limited prescriptions though this will probably improve with time. My current favourites are One-Day-Acuvue for astigmatism, most of my patients find them more comfy than Focus Daily torics and they have a better range of axes.
Cooled BOILED water from the kettle is fine to swill out the case, the boiling will kill the bugs that cause infection. But it is wise to frequently replace your case, I have seen some horribly encrusted ones in my time.
BTW, I work in an independant opticians and have also worked in multiples and have to say that most independant opticians do not behave like this and I have known some in multiples that do behave like this but it is wrong to tar all independants with the same brush. Independants have to be very aware of their patients' needs as clearly they will lose business otherwise.
Weegle, I would write to him explaining how upset you were, that you will be taking your business elsewhere and that you will not be recommending him to your friends and family and, seeing as he likes statistics, a quick reminder that a satisfied customer will tell 3 people while an unsatisfied one will tell 11 people may do the job.

Sue, it may be worth asking if your optician can match the internet price. Unfortunatly sometimes we can't but it may be worth asking.