Real Life and Lens Clocks

[RegularGuy]

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Hi everyone,

My friends and professors tell me that lens clocks come in handy for double-checking base curves for glasses we get from opticals, but I'm wondering-- Do real optometrists use these in real life?

And, in general, when optometrists get glasses from opticals, do you check them to make sure they fit the prescription you sent out? It only takes a few minutes per pair of glasses, but I figure the time adds up over the year. Also, it seems unlikely that an optical would screw up enough times to warrant checking every piece of eyewear I receive from them.

What do you think?

 

[KHE]

Hi everyone,

My friends and professors tell me that lens clocks come in handy for double-checking base curves for glasses we get from opticals, but I'm wondering-- Do real optometrists use these in real life?

And, in general, when optometrists get glasses from opticals, do you check them to make sure they fit the prescription you sent out? It only takes a few minutes per pair of glasses, but I figure the time adds up over the year. Also, it seems unlikely that an optical would screw up enough times to warrant checking every piece of eyewear I receive from them.

What do you think?

Labs screw up A LOT! If you're smart, you will have a well trained staff member check EACH AND EVERY JOB that passes through your office. Particularly when it's your money and your reputation on the line.

As far as lens clocks go, I check a pair of glasses with a lens clock about once per month. Often times, these patients have these vague, non specific complaints that you just "tell" with experience are related to base curve issues. Thankfully, it doesn't come up much.

 

[JMU07]

Labs screw up A LOT! If you're smart, you will have a well trained staff member check EACH AND EVERY JOB that passes through your office. Particularly when it's your money and your reputation on the line.

As far as lens clocks go, I check a pair of glasses with a lens clock about once per month. Often times, these patients have these vague, non specific complaints that you just "tell" with experience are related to base curve issues. Thankfully, it doesn't come up much.

Seriously, labs really do make a lot of mistakes. It's definitely worth 5 seconds of your time to check a script to make sure they didn't send you something totally off that the patient will come back and complain about, then you have to waste time and money remaking the glasses, etc. etc.

 

[RegularGuy]

Thanks for the feedback, everyone!

 

[ML1983]

This patient came in for an Rx. check and was complaining that her old glasses were better. Turns out we took out the lens clock, and found that the lab used a different BC, and we made it using a similar one to her old glasses and she was happy. Same Rx. and everything 🙂

 

[KHE]

This patient came in for an Rx. check and was complaining that her old glasses were better. Turns out we took out the lens clock, and found that the lab used a different BC, and we made it using a similar one to her old glasses and she was happy. Same Rx. and everything 🙂

Funny how that goes....every once in a while some of that stuff that you're learning about that you think is "crap" or that you'll "never use in the real world" actually DOES come into play. GO TO CLASS!! PAY ATTENTION!! 👍

 

[Mike S]

I haven't used my lens clock since 2nd year at ICO. Thankfully I've always worked with opticians that use them.

 

[Eye-Spy]

When we learned about lens clocks in ophthalmic optics class I was sure it wasn't something that was ever really clinically used. Recently though, I was given one as a gift by and OD I used to work for, and she says she uses one in her practice pretty often.
As ML1983 said, sometimes the Rx can be correct but if the lab changed the BC on you it can throw the patient off big time.