The Spectator

Dore welcomes The Eye place and with it A new Level of eye care.

 

There can't be many things as important to us as our eyesight. But how many of us just accept the inevitability of its decline, spend as little as we can on a pair of glasses and think no more about it?

And whilst we are bombarded like never before with messages about the importance of building a healthy lifestyle – exercise this, don't eat that, moderate the other – the health of our eyes just doesn't seem to get its share of the 'must do' headlines.

Well, that can change for us all with the arrival of The Eye Place on Causeway Head Road, our newest business premises, opened by Sheffield born Alex Kemp. If that surname sounds familiar in these parts, especially in regard to opticians, you can claim a house point because Martyn Kemp Opticians is well established in the Sheffield area – and Alex is his son.

Alex, however, has ploughed his own field in the industry and has never worked for the family business, completing his degree and opting to start work in London where he shrewdly assessed the industry before making his move.

“I worked initially for a large independent optician before deciding to do locum work, filling in for people at many multiple opticians, which gave me the opportunity to see how things were done well and, in some cases not so, because I always wanted to open my own business,” he says.

That came to fruition ten years ago when he opened in Bakewell and that was followed by two London branches; one in Belsize Park (near Hampstead) in 2010, and the other on Fleet Street two years later. His new Dore shop follows the same established pattern and what sets them apart is the fusion of two important elements – maintaining eye health, and state of the art technology with which to achieve it.

He explains: “The old fashioned way is fine but I knew we could do a much better job by using technology that is both interesting and relevant. Our equipment can map the retina and see 85% of it compared to just 20% using the traditional method. It helps us detect macular degeneration, glaucoma and other problems.

“There has to be a cost to clients for the extra scans because there has been £200,000 worth of investment in the sophisticated technology. This then allows such detailed analysis, from which we gather so much valuable information, and is well worth while”.

“Firstly, such a scan – along with subsequent regular screening - is so powerful that it can detect eye health problems early which is hugely important in being able to treat them and limit their effects. That, of course, is true of almost anything that affects our general health and it helps us ward off future problems”.

“Additionally, the saying that 'the eyes are a window to the body' is not just an old wives tale. They are linked to blood vessels, the brain and the heart, other potential health issues such as abnormal blood pressure, heart disease and high cholesterol levels can often be detected because they can affect the eyes”.

“In our other branches an extremely high percentage of our clients upgrade and pay for the OCT 3D scan in order to get the best possible eye health check and an indication of overall health.”

 

If you are not convinced, the team at The Eye Place are more than happy to explain the services and options available to you. It is local, will save you a trip out, and they have complete spectacles starting from £55.00 and do offers on premium quality eyewear and contact lenses.

But by using digital technology, the team at The Eye Place take detecting change in the eye to a much higher level, can spot disease earlier, and the higher the level of detail the smaller the change they can detect.

Most of us will have cataracts in later life and they may eventually affect vision and need removal, which invariably improves it.

Macular degeneration is more of a problem and people in their 60's are likely to have friends of a similar age who have had symptoms like visual distortion. This may include wavy lines or bits missing from normal sight. As lost vision can't be restored the key is to find the problem before it does the damage, and treatment is through vitamins which help slow it down, or via injections into the retina to reduce the fluid.

Glaucoma affects peripheral vision, but if spotted early by good detection equipment can now be treated before any loss of vision.

At a time when, generally speaking, we are all living longer it seems to make sense to take whatever measures we can to maximise our chances of being well enough to enjoy it.

As Alex says: “An hour of someone's time spent investing in this level of eye health care can have a significant impact on their quality of life in the future”.

 

Address:

The Eye Place at Dore
28 Causeway Head Road
Dore
Sheffield
S17 3DT