A while ago I had some fillers placed in my cheeks and under my tear troughs. Six weeks ago my eyes started watering and have been watering since. I feel I have developed some sort of allergy to the filler. I have been to an eye specialised had my tear ducts drained, everything checked out. Doctor did say I had a bit of dry eye. Maybe my eyes are overreacting to the dryness. It’s driving me nuts. It’s constant and I am wondering if I can maybe take something anti inflammatory to settle things down. Maybe the tear ducts are inflamed. Because I am constantly mopping my eyes I now have an infection, which I have drops for. Can you enlighten me or offer some help. Desperate.

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You could try some antihistamine eye drops that you can buy from the pharmacy (the same used for hay fever) and I would also use lubricating eye drops used often for the first week or two to keep your eyes moist which may stop them watering. Don’t use antihistamine and lubricating drops at the same time. It is difficult to say otherwise what is causing the watering, but if it does not settle you may need to return to see the eye specialist. 

My pair of glasses broke last week and I don’t get paid until Monday so I can’t get them fixed until then.

But today, I tried on my friends glasses and… surprisingly they work. I dont feel any side effect (headache, blurry vision) and I can see through them exactly as if I was using my own glasses.

If my friends glasses work, would I be safe in using them until I get mine fixed?

As soon as I realised that these glasses work, I just wanted to get a professional opinion before I continue. Just in case I end up doing something abnormal to my eyes or brain.My Optical Record is with your company at the moment if that helps at all. 

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You can’t really do any harm to wear them if they feel comfortable. You could always ask the store to check the glasses to see how close they are to your own prescription. 

I am just wondering weather you help in anyway toward funds for glasses when you have glaucoma.

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There is no provision for help towards the cost of glasses through the NHS if you have glaucoma, except the NHS will pay for your eye test every two years, or more often if clinically necessary. 

Can my local Specsavers issue me with a new voucher for glasses and/or contact lenses? I’m 16 so I think this qualifies me for a discount. I no longer have any previous prescriptions or vouchers that were issued to me. I’m currently with Boots but a lack of variety in frames made me want to switch to Vision Express and they told me that I needed to get the voucher from Boots. I then went to Boots and asked them for it so that I could switch opticians, but all that they gave me was a voucher covering the cost of a minimal repair on my current glasses and I was told by Vision Express that I’d have to pay full price. I’m now stuck with an opticians that won’t give me the papers required to switch to any other optician. If I go into my local Specsavers will they charge me for an eye test and full price for glasses and/or contact lenses if I don’t have the voucher? and will they be able to issue me a new one and let me switch to them?

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The way it works is that if you are under 16 or under 19 and in full-time education you are entitled to a free eye test through the NHS every two years and if there is a change in prescription, an NHS voucher that you can use towards the cost of glasses. The value of the voucher depends on your prescription. You cannot have a voucher without an eye test and at the end of the test the optometrist is obliged to issue you with a copy of your prescription and a voucher that you can use at any opticians. You do not need any documentation to change opticians, but you do need the voucher from Boots to get money off the purchase. Depending on the optician the voucher will cover all or only some of he cost of complete glasses. At Specsavers there are offers for people with an NHS voucher and you are free to shop around for the best value if you wish. I do not know why Boots 

My Father who is 80 years old, went to the opticians today because he was having a problem with his right eye. When he looks at things, the lines of the item looks uneven and seems to be moving. Plus his eye is constantly running with water. A while back he had an operation on his eye for Cataracts. The Optician referred him to hospital for a acute referral. As you can imagine, we are all very worried once we heard the word acute, so can you please explain what it could be, thank you! Oh yes, he mentioned possible bleeding behind the eye.

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He is likely to have a problem with the retina like a blocked or leaking blood vessel. He also may have the wet type of macula degeneration which will cause the distorted vision, and there is some effective treatment available, but it has too be seen urgently in case more damage occurs. The retina is responsible for good vision and the macular area of the retina for central vision, so any condition affecting this needs investigating by an ophthalmologist. 

I woke up with what I think was an eyelash or fluff in my eye. Lots of pain; lots of tears. I believe that I removed it with my finger, which brought temporary relief, though I never saw the object. A few minutes later I got eye pain and lots of tears again. Pain feels like it is on the surface of the eye, near the nose. Closing the eye, keeping it still, and waiting for the tears clears it within 30 seconds or so, but it ranks up there on the exceedingly painful scale. This repeats every 10-15 minutes. Artifical tears – “optrex bloodshot eye drops” on the advice of pharmacist help. These (or cold water) sting when first applied, then the pain disappears. Blinking regularly prolongs the period between bouts of pain/lots of tears. No ooze and no problems with vision. I assume that I’ve scratched my eye – does this likely? How long should I leave it to see if it goes away of its own accord?

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Assuming you have scratched your eye it should take 24 to 48 hours to feel a lot better. A scratch is usually treated with antibiotics as a precaustion against infection whilst the eye heals but you will need a prescription. Brolene eye drops can be bought over the counter at the pharmacy and this may help. Please note if it becomes worse you must seek immediate help from your optician, GP or A & E.

I want photogray lenses which when in natural state are not clear but a slight light grey, then when in sunlight they are dark.

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Photogray lenses were one of the original photochromic lenses are a very old technology nowadays and the latest photochromic lenses are designed to go as clear as possible indoors. Corning who manufacturer them have more modern equivalents but they may still be available, bearing in mind that this is a glass lens. However a relative new lens is the Transitions Xtractive which has a slight residual tint indoors and in the car and is extra dark outdoors. These would seem ideal for your purposes and are made in lightweight plastic (http://gb.transitions.com/Products/Transitionssupregsup-XTRActivesupregsup/).

I’m enquiring about prescription goggles for my daughter. Her prescription for each eye is +11. Can goggles be ordered to suit this prescription? I can only find a maximum of +9 when I look online. 

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You would have to have them custom made by the optician. She may however get away with a reduced prescription for the short time she is swimming and will still see a lot better then without correction. 

I was wondering if there was any way to correct slight amblyopia in one eye. Even slightly in your mid twenties by means of an eye patch or eye drops on the good eye to make it blurry for a couple of hours a night for a few months. Could it correct my acuity at all? At the moment I only just see the third line from the bottom on a eyesight chart. And even glasses do not correct it much. Also would the use of glasses eventually bring back some acuity?

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There is no proven method or therapy that can improve the visual acuity in an amblyopic eye once you reach adulthood and most authorties state an age of eight to 11 as the maxiumum at which any improvement can be made. The therapy mostly used in children is to occlude the good eye usually for a few hours a day, and this an be done with a simple eye patch. If you are really keen there is no harm in trying this yourself and using the weak eye exclusively when you are around the house, but I would not expect any  significant improvement in the vision. 

I have recently had an eye test at Specsavers, I have the prescription that my previous optician gave me on the 18th February 2013, following on from this I was referred to the hospital because of cataract problems. I have decided after discussion with the eye specialist not to proceed with surgery as it might not be a complete success. I would now like to proceed with having the prescription filled but require some advice. I am approaching my 83rd birthday in August I also receive pension credit to supplement my national pension so am I entitled to any help in regards to payment for the glasses, if so what do I need to do?

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If you are in receipt of Pension Credit Guarantee Credit, then you are entitled to a free eye test through the NHS (you are entitled anyway because you are over 60), and an NHS voucher towards the cost of glasses. The value of the voucher depends on your prescription. You can use the prescription you obtained at your last test as it is recent, and you can ask for an NHS voucher based on this test. If you have proof of the benefit you should take it with you, but if not they can still issue the voucher. The optician will explain the cost of glasses after taking into account the value of the voucher. So you really just need to go into the store (you don’t need an appointment) and the staff will help you choose glasses.