It is ContactsNZ policy to only supply contact lenses to customers who have a current contact lens prescription, when you shop with us we will be asking you to tick a box to verify that you have had an eye examination inside the last 12 month period, please be assured this is for your own protection.
Optometrists are bound by national association ethics. We must ensure wherever possible that our customers are having regular eye examinations.
The New Zealand Association of Optometrists recommends that all people should have an eye examination every two years; contact lens wearers however should have an examination each and every year.
We also recommend that our customers and patients, never miss use the wearing schedule of contact lenses, if it’s a daily lens then it’s a daily disposable lens, if it’s a fortnightly lens then use it for a fortnight. Your risk of eye infections multiply significantly when these “use” schedules are stretched or not followed.
Commitments
ContactsNZ and our Optometry partners are very environmentally minded and socially responsible businesses. We are always looking for ways to use less, recycle more and have less impact on our fragile environment - we also place pressure on our suppliers to follow suit.
For this reason we have opted to utilise the services of Courier Post for all contact lens deliveries, like that of Air New Zealand, they are shining examples of organisations who acknowledge their impact on the environment and are doing all they can to lead the way in reducing their footprint, providing a superb example to all others along the way. To find out more about what these two companies are doing to help our environment – www.takingcare.co.nz and www.airnzenvironmenttrust.org.nz
Facts
Our eyes are our only internal organ exposed to the outside world, when we place a contact lens on our eye - it is in fact deemed to be within our body
There are close to 30,000 different eye conditions and diseases – yet there are less than ten that display symptoms. Regular eye examinations are the key to a life of good vision. We recommend examinations annually for contact lenses wearers and every two years for non contact lens wearers (unless advised otherwise by your Optometrist).
Common knowledge of what’s involved in an eye examination is that your Optometrist is testing for your ability to focus, while that’s correct they are also looking at how well your eyes are working individually and together, while also completing a full ocular eye health check and it is this ocular eye health check that is most important.
80% of our learning comes via our sense of sight – so please don’t ever take your vision for granted.
Whenever we are asked ‘what would be our one core message we would wish to communicate to everyone?’ – The answer is clear ‘Don’t ever underestimate the importance of regular eye examinations, and take a personal responsibility to having an eye examination every two years at minimum’.
The eye disease Glaucoma for example is New Zealand’s largest theft of our sight, yet 50% of people with Glaucoma, don’t know that they have it.
Fact is we all want perfect vision for life, but that’s simply not possible. So the question for each of us? What can we be doing right now to improve our chances of quality vision and good eye health in our later years?’ Some immediate responses are, have regular eye examinations and make sure to wear your sunglasses when outdoors.