Helping You Make More of the Vision You Have
If you’ve been diagnosed with age-related macular degeneration (AMD), simply making your glasses prescription stronger doesn’t always solve the difficulties you experience.
You might still struggle with:
At Farmilo Optometrist, we can look beyond your basic prescription and explore specialist lenses, tints and magnification designed to help you make better use of your remaining vision.
The important part is finding out what actually helps you.
- Small print
- Fine detail
- Recognising faces
- Glare
- Reduced contrast
- Bright sunlight
- Changes between different lighting conditions
- Hobbies and detailed tasks
Why Ordinary Glasses May No Longer Be Enough
Glasses are extremely good at correcting focusing problems such as short-sightedness, long-sightedness and astigmatism. Macular degeneration is different. AMD affects the macula — the central area of the retina responsible for detailed central vision. Changing your prescription cannot reverse retinal damage caused by AMD.
But that doesn’t mean there’s nothing more we can do.
By looking at magnification, glare control, contrast and specialist optical designs, we may be able to make certain everyday visual tasks easier.
The aim isn’t to restore the vision AMD has taken away. It’s to help you use the vision you still have more effectively.
E-Scoop Lenses
More Than an Ordinary Prescription Lens
For some people with macular degeneration, we can explore E-Scoop lenses. E-Scoop is a specialist spectacle lens designed for people with reduced central vision. What makes it particularly interesting is that it doesn’t rely on just one optical feature.
Instead, the lens combines several elements designed to work together, including:
- Prism
- Magnification from the lens design and high base curve
- Specialist filtration
- Anti-reflection treatment
Together, these features are intended to help make better use of the vision a person with macular degeneration still has.
How Does E-Scoop Work?
1. Prism — Shifting the Image
AMD primarily affects central vision because it damages the macula.
Some people with macular disease learn to make greater use of areas of retina away from the most affected central area.
The prism incorporated into an E-Scoop lens changes the direction of incoming light and shifts the position of the retinal image.
The principle is to alter where the image falls relative to the person’s central retinal damage and remaining vision. This doesn’t repair the damaged macula, and the effect varies depending on the individual pattern of retinal changes.
But for an appropriate patient, changing the position of the retinal image may help them make better use of their remaining retinal function.
2. High Base Curve — Creating Magnification
E-Scoop also uses a specially designed, relatively high base curve. This optical design can produce a magnification effect, making the image appear somewhat larger.
For somebody with macular degeneration, making an object larger can be valuable because larger retinal images may make details easier to recognise with the vision that remains.
Rather than having to hold a separate magnifier, this magnification is incorporated into a pair of spectacles.
3. Specialist Filter — Managing Light and Contrast
E-Scoop lenses also incorporate specialist filtration. For some people with AMD, controlling particular wavelengths of light may improve visual comfort and the perception of contrast.
This can be particularly useful for patients who struggle with glare or find that their vision changes significantly under different lighting conditions.
4. Anti-Reflection Treatment — Reducing Distracting Reflections
Reflections from spectacle lenses can reduce visual comfort and interfere with the quality of the image reaching the eye. An anti-reflection treatment helps minimise unwanted reflections from the lens surfaces.
When somebody already has reduced vision, optimising the quality of the image reaching the eye becomes particularly important.
Four Optical Features Working Together
The easiest way to understand E-Scoop is that it isn’t simply a stronger pair of glasses. It combines:
Prism to shift the retinal image. Magnification from the specialist high-base lens design to make the image larger. Filtration to modify the light entering the eye and potentially improve visual comfort and contrast for suitable patients. Anti-reflection treatment to reduce distracting lens reflections.
The objective is to provide an everyday spectacle lens that may help someone with macular degeneration make better use of their remaining vision.
What Are the Potential Benefits of E-Scoop?
Depending on the individual, E-Scoop may help with aspects of everyday visual function such as:
The important word is may. AMD affects different people in different ways, so the benefit of a specialist lens can vary considerably.
- Recognising detail
- Seeing larger images more easily
- Contrast perception
- Glare sensitivity
- Television viewing
- Recognising faces
- General everyday vision
- Visual comfort in different lighting conditions
Does E-Scoop Work for Everyone?
No. And that’s important.
The location and extent of macular changes, your remaining vision and the particular tasks you’re trying to perform can all influence whether E-Scoop is useful.
Some people may notice a worthwhile improvement. Others may notice relatively little difference. That’s why our approach at Farmilo is:
Don't assume. Demonstrate. Compare.
Where possible, we’ll assess your response to the specialist lens and discuss whether the improvement is meaningful enough for you.
Specialist Tinted Lenses
E-Scoop isn’t the only specialist lens option available.
Many people with macular degeneration become particularly aware of glare or find that certain lighting conditions make seeing considerably more difficult.
Different filters and tints can sometimes improve visual comfort. These may include:
Rather than automatically prescribing a particular colour because you have AMD, we can explore which options are most comfortable for your vision.
- Yellow or amber filters
- Specialist contrast filters
- Polarised lenses
- Photochromic lenses
- Prescription sunglasses
More Magnification for Reading
One of the most common problems with macular degeneration is reading smaller print. Sometimes a conventional reading prescription simply doesn’t provide enough magnification. In appropriate cases, we can prescribe higher-powered near spectacles that provide additional magnification for close work.
These may help with tasks such as:
As magnification increases, the working distance generally becomes closer and the area you can see at once may become smaller. We’ll demonstrate this to you so you understand how to use the glasses effectively.
- Reading letters
- Food packaging
- Medication instructions
- Bills and paperwork
- Photographs
- Sewing and crafts
- Other detailed near tasks
When Glasses Aren't Enough
Sometimes spectacles alone won’t provide enough magnification. That’s where our Low Vision Service can help. We can demonstrate:
We demonstrate specialist equipment from manufacturers including Eschenbach and HumanWare. The aim isn’t to sell you the most powerful device. It’s to find the least complicated solution that allows you to do the task you want to do.
- Traditional optical magnifiers
- Illuminated magnifiers
- Handheld electronic magnifiers
- Larger-screen electronic magnifiers
- Desktop video magnifiers
- Devices with enhanced contrast
- Magnifiers with text-to-speech capabilities
Part of Our AMD Care at Farmilo
Specialist lenses are only one part of the AMD services available at Farmilo. Depending on your individual situation, your care may also include:
4D HD Eye Scan
Using our Heidelberg SPECTRALIS technology, we can obtain detailed OCT images of the macula and monitor structural changes over time.
AMD Monitoring
We can assess different aspects of your visual function, including detailed visual acuity and contrast sensitivity where appropriate.
Valeda Photobiomodulation
For suitable patients with dry AMD, we also offer Valeda photobiomodulation treatment following an AMD and Valeda assessment. Valeda and specialist lenses have different purposes. Valeda is a treatment option for suitable patients with dry AMD.
E-Scoop, specialist tints, magnification and low-vision aids are designed to help you make better use of the vision you currently have.
Who Could Benefit From a Specialist Lens Assessment?
It may be worth seeing us if you have AMD and:
- Your current glasses no longer seem to be enough
- Reading is becoming increasingly difficult
- You struggle to recognise fine detail
- You find recognising faces more difficult
- Glare makes seeing uncomfortable
- Bright sunlight causes difficulty
- You need more magnification
- You're interested in E-Scoop lenses
- You've been told stronger ordinary glasses won't help
- You want to explore practical ways of making everyday vision easier
Dry or Wet AMD
Our specialist optical assessment may be useful for people living with either dry or wet AMD. These optical aids don’t treat the underlying disease. If you’re undergoing injections or other ophthalmological treatment for wet AMD, that medical care remains essential. Our role is different.
We’re looking at what can be done optically and practically to help you with your everyday vision.
Specialist AMD Lenses in Leicester
If macular degeneration is making everyday vision more difficult, changing your ordinary prescription isn’t the only option.
At Farmilo Optometrist, we can explore E-Scoop lenses, specialist tints, increased near magnification and low-vision aids to find out what genuinely helps you.
We can also connect this with our wider AMD monitoring, Valeda and low-vision services.
Related services
A non-invasive light-based treatment for suitable patients with dry age-related macular degeneration
Discover early detection with our advanced Macula Pigment Screening.
Don't just make the prescription stronger. Find out what actually helps.
Farmilo Optometrist — Leicester