IcareLabs Blog

Over five years ago, we launched our Heritage line of digital progressives with three offerings. These three designs very quickly became some of our best-selling lenses. Today we are very excited to announce that we have launched six new Heritage freeform digital designs. Along with our proven Heritage, Heritage Plus, and Heritage Ultimate lenses, we have added an ultra-premium design with our Heritage Xtreme.

On top of these four everyday designs, we have also added the Heritage Single Vision, Heritage Office, Heritage Desk, Heritage Sport, and Heritage Driver lenses. These new options will better service SV patients, occupational lens wearers, and patients looking for lenses best suited for playing sports or driving.

Having been in the optical industry for most of my adult life has spoiled me. Like many of you, I have multiple pairs of glasses covering all my needs. For many of us, we probably have multiple pairs for a specific need. This is just what you do when you are in the industry; you try new products and add-ons and enjoy their benefits.

Essilor of America has announced the launch of the new Eyezen® Kids lens for April 12, 2022. This will be an add-on to the proven Eyezen family of lenses.

To better assist our customers and improve thickness and cut-out, we are expanding our database to begin storing frame information, including the shape and measurements of each frame. This is a brand new tool in our battle against thick lenses and cut-out issues.

Author and motivational speaker John Maxwell once said that “everything worthwhile is uphill." While this is a true and profound statement, I don't think that it is something that most of us do not know. So many great quotes speak to this same subject. For example, John Hawkins once said that "if success were easy, everyone would do it."

But why is it this way? Does success have to be hard? Why are the best things in life often difficult to obtain? We could get deep into the weeds with this subject and never find our way out. To avoid this, let’s narrow it down a little. Let’s simply look into being just a little bit more successful in your optical business.

While it has been many years since I have dispensed glasses, the memories of troubled patients are still fresh in my mind. I had the blessing of being trained under a master optician back in the days when this still meant something. I wish I could remember half of what he shared with me.

Through this training early in my career, along with hundreds if not thousands of calls working with dispensers over the last 18 years I've been with IcareLabs, I feel I have become pretty good at troubleshooting issues with a pair of glasses.

Much like a complex recipe, troubleshooting seems challenging from the outside. However, when broken down into individual steps it becomes effortless. In comparison with cooking, following each step in sequence makes even the most complex dishes seem easy.

Last month we asked for some input from our readers, both customers and prospects, on what content they would like to see in our newsletters. We had some good responses; one request was on fixed/variable progressives. While we have dug into this in the past it might be time for a refresher.

Never in the history of optics have your patients had so many options to choose from. With hundreds of progressive designs, multiple photochromic options, and a vast array of materials it is easier than ever to fill their needs.

The other day I had the pleasure of reading a very good article featured in 20/20 written by Palmer R. Cook, OD. He dug very deep into Chromatic Aberration and the effects it has on patients.

Part of my job here at IcareLabs is assisting our customers with trouble shooting problem patients. Often the issue is clarity or blur when not looking through the optical center. Lenses work great while looking straight ahead but with even minimal eye movement the clarity goes away. We always look at Rx, base curve, and lens design. This is the lowest hanging fruit.

Over the next year we will try to post a few articles geared towards those who are new in the industry or maybe those looking for a little refresher. We will simply title these our "Optics 101 Series".

To create a good pair of glasses that offer the best optics, fit, and comfort all start with the frame. Frame choice is the foundation that can either make or break the satisfaction for your patient.

The main goal of opticianry is recreating perfect 20/20 vision for your patient. The second goal should be doing this with the thinnest, lightest lenses possible. This will give your patient added comfort and good cosmetics. We are going to break this down into 5 parts of how to give your patient the best overall satisfaction, comfort, and performance of a pair of glasses.