GLASSES FITTED UNDER EYELID

Hawke's Bay Herald-Tribune, Volume 81, Issue 67, 11 December 1937, Page 15

GLASSES FITTED UNDER EYELID

Tricky Methods Employed BOON TO NEAR-SIGHTED

— — . — . ' X •THE idea of substituting an invisible lens, hidden under the eyelid, for unsightly spectacles is not new, writes Professor HeJJne, Kiel. It was conceived over a century ago by the great astronomer Sir William Herschel. He did not, however, concern himsglf with its practical application so that actually the contact glass, as it is called to-day, was born half a century after its spiritual conception. We do not know whether the first contact glass was blown or ground, but at any xate it was made in Zurich, in 1888, at the suggestion of the German physiologist Fick, and was used for treating a malformation of the cornea. But although this and a few other experiments of the same kind proved quite successful, there was as yet no indication that the invention would ever .transcend the experimental stage. The idea was revived and given a new impetus about - 1920 by F. . E. Mueller of Wiesbaden, a member of the world-famous firm of makers of artificial eyes. He designed a new shellshaped lens and had it blown under his own supervision. This lens was used to protect an eye the lids of which had been destroyed by cancer. The success of the experiment encouraged Mueller to continue his efforts. His brother, another partner in the firm, began to wear one of them himself at games and was very satisfied with it. When the two gentlemen came to my clinic on their annual business trip I had one of my very near-sighted women patients take a good look at the devico. Then she went to Wiesbaden, where the Muellers had their headquarters, tried ninety contact lenses in three days, went back to her hotel utterly exhausted and, leaning on her husband's arm, but perfectly satisfied that she had got what she wanted: well-iitting contact glasses with which she could see like any normal person.

Of course, the whole. problem is not quite so easy as it sounds. Like everything else, contact glasses, as used now, are the outcome of years of patient research and experimenting. They had been blowing such glasses at the Zeiss works in Jena since 1892, but only in four strengths and all with the same curvature. Of these lenses only two were suitable for very near-siglited people but at least it was a foundation upon which the experimenters could build, especially as the optical principle was sound. In general, the sliape of the latest contact-glass is that of a helmet. When progerljr fitteS to individual require-

ments its brim rests evenly on tho selera, and the crown clears the cornea. Before applying it it must be filled with a lukewarm 0.9 per cent. solution of table salt. The liquid fills out the space between cornea and tho glass. This serves to correct abnormalities of sorneal curvature. There is practically no hazard connected with the wearing of contact glasses, even if a glass does occasionally crack while in the eye. This happened to two of my patients, but the two halves merely fell out without causing the slightest injury. I never heard of a contact glass breaking through a blow on the eye, as so frequently happens at games with ordinary spectacles. It is not even necessary to use shatterproof glass. This is very important for this glass is much more difficult to grind than ordinary Zeiss glass. These conclusions are based upon my experience with almost twelve hundred patients. ; The advantages of contact glasses, as compared with ordinary Spectacles, are so obvious that they require no special comment. Summarising them briefly we may say that they present the threefold advantage of a gain in perspective, fusion and range of vision. There are no rims to xeduce the visual field, nor do they dimiaish the objects as do ordinary glasses. Fitting tightly over the eyeball, the contact glass moves with eye, so that no matter how he turns his eyes the wearer can see equally well and always through the centre of the lens. This is of the utmost importance to very near-sighted people. Contact glasses do not get moist when the wearer enters a warm Toom in cold weather, because thanks to their fitting closely on the eyeball, their temperature is the same as that of the eye. The principle is the same as applied to the little electric heaters which keep the windshields of our cars clear. Nature has even provided a wiper in the lids. Contact glasses may be completed with equally invisible protective glasses, which &r« dyed with umbsr uud so Mui

out about seventy-five per cent. of the light. They pass absolutely unnoticed when worn by people with brown eyes, while blue-eyed persons become temporarily brown-eyed. My experience is that this improves their appearance considerably, especially in the case of people with very pale, . watery blue eyes, And with this we come to one of the most important aspects of the whole problem: its esthetic side. Ordinary spectacles are most unbecoming and they spoil the looks of even the most beautiful women. In the past, when people cared less for their appearance than to-day, glasses were already disliked, even by such geniuses as Goethe. To women, especially, contact glasses should prove a boon. Many women put up with great inconveniences and do without glasses as long as they possibly

can, but in the long run the strain caused by deficiencies of sight is bound to sliow on the face. I have seen patients rejuvenated and become different women almost unde,r my eyes as soon as they got well-fitting contact glasses. People are willing to undergo painful and costly operations for appearance 's sake, and tlie trouble of fitting and getting used to contact glasses is after all only child's play compared with an operation for strabism, for example. Contact glasses are a blessing for people so near-sighted that they must wear. very thick lenses, and they are, moreover, the only means we have today effectively to correct abnormalities of corneal curvature. Naturally, the fitting of these glasses is somewhat tricky. It takes a lot of time and patience on both sides. Apart from the customary measurement of the range of vision, the oculist must study a number of details, especially the correct curvature, before he prescribes. The glass must not be too tight, for it would make the eye burn and weep, althought it would not injure it. A glass that fits too loosely is bound to slip backward and forward and thereby impair the sight. When the proper glass is devised, the paiieot must bg taught to put it in

and take it' out, This is not painful and not difficult, but it requires a little experience. We have inserted such glasses on people for the first time without their noticing it. We have had patients who, upon having had one glass inserted by us and listened to a few instructions, were able immediately to insert the second glass correctly. As a rule, however, it takes them some time to get the correct "twist." "Men learn more rapidly than women, and quiet people more quickly than nervous and fidgety subjects who are the worst patients to be fitted with such glasses and to get used to them. Contact glasses are a great kelp to people handicapped by ordinary glasses in the exercise of their profession, such as artists, models, and sportsmen. A bank cleak of twenty-five was sent to us by his oculist. He was extremely near-sighted and therefore compelled to use glasses with thick lenses. The result was a serious inferiority complex. He could gain no admission to any of the party organisations and they did not want him at any club. He was in a state of utter dejection when we first attended him, but tbe inferiority .complex vanished as tbough by magic as soon as we fitted him properly with the new device, A young sailor who had been in ser-

vice seVeral years developed a deficiency in sight, which made him unfit for many of the duties on board ship. Finally be was discbarged. It took a little experimenting with him, but finally we fitted him too, and he at once asked to be allowed to go for an hour's walk with the new glasses. He went and returned jubilant skowing a contraet: he had signed up with another company, whose physician had declared him normal of sight. A sportswoman in her thirties had had three accidents with ordinary glasses while playing tennis. She had been fortunate to escape serious injury but decided to take a chance with contact glasses. While wearing them she was again hit by a ball in the eye but nothing happened. She went to visit a friend in another city and accompanied the latter to a well-known oculist. After he had examined her eyes and preseribed glasses for her friend, the sportswoman remarlced that she was quite a "case" herself, whereupon he asked to be allowed to see her eyes. The ordinary examination failed to reveal anything until she began ito rap on her eyes with her fingernails. But this story goes back to the days when contact glasses were still in their 'teens and not universally known m tho/ ari to-dur, N "W