EP #5: Exploring the World of Specialty Contact Lenses with Dr. Nguyen

Ever wondered what's the best solution when your corneas say no to regular soft lenses? Get ready to delve into the world of specialty contact lenses with your hosts, Dr. Thuy Nguyen and Jeremy Wolf, as they guide you through the transformative journey of rigid gas permeable lenses, also known as RGBs. Dr. Nguyen enlightens us with a deep dive into the science behind these specially designed lenses, their unmatched ability to enhance vision for those with irregularly shaped corneas, and even how they are a lifeline for severe eye conditions.

But that's not all! This episode also uncovers the intriguing advancements in Lasik surgery and how 3D imaging is revolutionizing the creation of customized lenses. As we embrace the Halloween spirit, we also touch upon the fun, yet cautiously used, Halloween-themed contact lenses. Join us in this exciting conversation to understand your vision better and the extraordinary world of specialty contact lenses!

For more information visit: JazzyEyes.com 

or contact: (954) 473-0100

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:03

Welcome to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. Taking care of your vision with expert precision. Here's your host, dr Tween Neuen.

Jeremy: 0:14

Hello, hello everyone, and welcome to episode number five of the Jazzy Eyes podcast. I'm your co-host, jeremy Wolfe, and I'm joined with none other than your host, dr Tween Neuen. Dr Neuen.

Dr. Nguyen: 0:28

Hello.

Jeremy: 0:29

I'm doing well. Happy Monday to you.

Dr. Nguyen: 0:32

Happy Monday, yes.

Jeremy: 0:34

Yeah, we just saw you this weekend with the family. I was telling Dr Falco I'm glad that I came in to finally get my eyes checked.

Dr. Nguyen: 0:40

Yeah.

Jeremy: 0:41

Yeah, if there's a long, long overdue, you got a chance to meet the family so I know you had your hands full in your office with my two kids. Oh, they were great, they were great.

Dr. Nguyen: 0:52

Yeah, they were kind of trying to outcompete each other to see who had better vision, and then there would be little giggles here and there when someone would read a letter wrong and be like oh no, I have so much better vision than you.

Jeremy: 1:03

They were great, too funny, too funny, good deal. So I just spoke with Dr Falco and she was talking a little bit about soft contact lenses, some tips, some background about that. So I was hoping maybe you could share a little bit about more specialty types of cases or specialty lenses for our listeners.

Dr. Nguyen: 1:27

So Dr Falco talked about the traditional soft contact lenses which most people are familiar with. What most people are not familiar with is that there are specialty contact lenses which we call them rigid gas permeable lenses, but that's not what they were traditionally called.

Jeremy: 1:45

They rigid gas permeable lenses.

Dr. Nguyen: 1:47

Yeah, it doesn't roll off the tongue.

Jeremy: 1:50

I guess those would be the hard lenses as opposed to the soft lenses.

Dr. Nguyen: 1:55

People now used to call them hard contact lenses. We don't call them that anymore just because when we tell patients, oh, we're going to move on to a hard contact lens, usually they have some hesitation, like oh, I'm going to be putting something hard in my eyes, kind of thing. So we now call them rigid gas permeable, you can call them RGBs. Correct, they're called RGBs.

Jeremy: 2:15

They are called, though, because that's the variation.

Dr. Nguyen: 2:16

That's exactly what they're called, yeah, instead of hard contact lenses, just to ease them into it a little bit more. But they are still made out of the silicone materials that traditional soft contact lenses are made out of. They're just a little bit more rigid and they hold their shape a little bit more. So the soft contact lenses, when you put it onto your eyes it conforms to the shape of whatever your cornea is. For the RGBs they're a little bit more hard and so they hold their shape a little bit more.

Dr. Nguyen: 2:46

And why that's important is because some people, because of genetics or disease or whatever the pathology might be, their cornea might be irregularly shaped and so when we put a soft contact lens on it and it kind of collapses onto that irregular cornea, it doesn't really do much for them. Their vision is not. They can't get the most optimal vision. But when you put a hard contact lens in and it kind of it holds its shape more and it's not distorted by the shape of your cornea, it actually allows light to focus better and so you get more optimal vision out of it.

Jeremy: 3:23

Interesting. I remember going back to many, many, many years ago when I had contact lenses. I remember I think I'm pretty sure I had the soft disposable ones. I remember my stepfather. He always had the hard RGBs.

Jeremy: 3:36

Yes, the RGBs and I remember I'd asked him, if I recall correctly, why he has those. I'm not a candidate for the other lenses. He had very, very horrible vision. I'd imagine that folks that have more severe cases are probably not really candidates for the soft lenses. The more it warped your cornea I don't know how to express the science behind it, but I'd imagine the worst the case you have, the more you need to have an RGB. Is that right?

Dr. Nguyen: 4:05

Yes. So RGBs are great for people who have very thin corneas. So when you have an area of thinning on the cornea, the fluid behind the thin cornea kind of presses on that thinness and the cornea protrudes forward, which is now. It creates an irregular cornea. It's not spherical anymore, it's kind of cone shaped or it's not as regular. Those are people who had lefic or any other surgery to the corners before that could cause the thinning and cause the irregular shape. People who have genetic diseases such as keratoconus that also causes irregular corneas. People who have very dry, severe dry eyes. They can also find therapeutic uses. Out of an RGP Are those with super high prescriptions that traditional soft contact lenses can't give them the best vision. Those are all good candidates of RGPs.

Jeremy: 5:06

Very interesting. The human body never ceases to amaze me, how we've talked and what we are, especially the eye. It's so fascinating how it works. Are there a lot of people or these more fringe cases that just don't qualify at all for any kind of contact lenses, whether they are soft or RGPs, and just have to wear glasses? I'd imagine that in extreme cases, that's the default. Right is open-leaf glasses.

Dr. Nguyen: 5:39

For people who so, let's say, you go into an eye exam and you're able to be corrected to 2020. We usually would give you contacts or glasses. For cases that glasses or soft contact lenses cannot give you 2020 or the best ultimate vision, we actually move on to a hard contact lenses. In some cases the hard contact lenses is better than glasses. We always recommend people to have a back-up pair of glasses, just in case you're trying to put your hard contact lens on, you drop it and you accidentally hear a crunching sound because you stuffed on it. It's happened to a lot of people. That's why you have back-up pair of glasses, but usually for people who have been placed in RGPs, glasses don't usually give them the best, a better vision than the RGPs.

Jeremy: 6:31

Interesting. So glasses, soft contact lenses, RGPs, and you have Lasik surgery, which has been around now for quite some time. Are there any new cutting-edge technologies beyond Lasik surgery that are being used to treat certain eye conditions? Is there anything on the horizon Do you share with?

Dr. Nguyen: 6:52

us as of right now. All I know is the techniques for Lasik has evolved over the years. They're not cutting as much tissue as they used to or they're not shaving off as much tissue. The concept is still the same, where they reshape the cornea a little bit or they shave off a little bit of the cornea to correct your vision, but in terms of Lasik it's still Lasik. They're just improving the techniques of Lasik, so you're not shaving as much tissue off and you're not having as much of these complications such as corneal thinning.

Jeremy: 7:28

So they're not 3D printing new eyeballs anytime soon for folks.

Dr. Nguyen: 7:32

No, but it's funny that you mentioned 3D printing because the RGPs one of the RGPs is called sclerals and they're actually bigger than traditional soft contact lenses and they're so customizable that you know that alginate molds that dentists would use to form a mold for the teeth.

Jeremy: 7:53

I remember it and I had a conversation with a dentist recently about that, how he doesn't use that anymore because it's kind of outdated. Yeah or it turns out they use like 3D imaging for this instead of the molds, the thing that always, when you were a kid, they put it in. You gagged on it.

Dr. Nguyen: 8:11

So for sclerals and RGPs, they actually do that. Now for the mold, they use an alternate mode as well and they mold your eyes. They take a mold of your eyes and they send it to a lab so that they can create a customized, personalized contact lens that fits to your eye shape and only your eye shape. Another thing is, instead of doing the molds, they do have other technologies that lets you scan the surface of your eyes and map it out 3D. We can customize your contact lens that way, your RGBs that way, and that's what makes RGBs right now A great thing for people who can't fit in soft contact lenses. It's a great tool to use right now.

Jeremy: 8:55

Very, very interesting Anything else that you'd like to share with our listeners about RGBs or anything related to the subject of contact lenses?

Dr. Nguyen: 9:05

Yes, so Halloween is coming up, and so a lot of people are trying to get fit into these Halloween contacts right now.

Jeremy: 9:16

Oh, scary eyes, yes, Spooky eyes.

Dr. Nguyen: 9:21

Usually October is the month that people or healthcare professionals raise awareness of contact lens hygiene, but because Halloween is at the end of October, we want to do it in the middle of September so that we can give people the time to educate themselves on how to wear contact lens, how to use contact lens and when to start ordering the Halloween contact lenses when it comes, because people think you can just walk in and get your Halloween contact lenses the same day, but usually, because they're special contact lenses, you have to come in about three at least three weeks before Halloween to get your order in and to get it on time for Halloween. So if anyone's hoping to get some Halloween, scary Halloween contacts, I would recommend coming at least three weeks before actual Halloween to get evaluated for them.

Jeremy: 10:15

Don't tell my kids about it. They might want that an add on for their costumes to get this fancy contact lens.

Dr. Nguyen: 10:19

Oh my gosh, they've never worn contacts before, right.

Jeremy: 10:22

No, never. No glasses.

Dr. Nguyen: 10:24

It's going to be a task teaching them to put it on Goodness All right, cool.

Jeremy: 10:30

Unless there's anything else, we'll wrap this one up. That was very insightful and informative as always. So it's always a pleasure getting a chance to talk to you and have you share your expertise. So until next time, thank you, listeners, for tuning in, and we'll see you on the next episode of the Jazzy Eyes podcast. Everyone, have a wonderful day.

Speaker 1: 10:55

Thank you for listening to the Jazzy Eyes podcast. For more information, visit jazzyeyescom or contact 954-473-0100.