Today's guest post is from my girlfriend Dana Sacco.  She is a busy mom of twins, an entrepreneur and super stylish lady.  I've known her since the early 90s and she was my optician for many years.  Then I moved out west in '99 and got laser eye surgery.  After decades of wearing glasses I didn't give my eye sight much thought. Until recently when I notice more eye fatigue, as well as more light sensitivity.  My local optician says my eyes are in perfect health, they are just starting to feel the effects of age.   And just recently a long time girlfriend (who is 41) got her first pair of reading glasses.  Clearly this is a topic we can't ignore. So I contacted Dana and asked her if she'd be willing to contribute a piece.    She has had some recent personal revelations, and a few tips for us on our choosing glasses for ourselves.

Dana Sacco

As a veteran Optician with 15 years in the retail trenches, I have consulted and filled countless eyeglass prescriptions. In that time a curious paradigm shift occurred. I turned 40.

My approach to eye care consultation always included a thoughtful gathering of my clients lifestyle, habits, interests and profession to better understand the fashion look and prescription needs to make this a fun, fashionable and perhaps educational experience.

I could recite all the pertinent marketing messages from the most exciting lens manufacturers and how their technology would give you sharper, crisper vision, with better depth perception, wide field of view and improved color perception and night vision. I recommended the best coatings that were easiest to keep clean, Transitions® to change in the sun, a clip on for the car, a second pair of computer lenses specially designed for intermediate working distances. The fashion options were an endless myriad of colors shapes and sizes. That was then…

Now lets skip ahead to last week. My four-year old daughter woke up in the middle of the night screaming. I bounded out of bed and checked her. She had a fever and was tugging at her ear.

I rushed to the medicine cabinet grabbed the bottle of Tylenol and by the dim light of the bathroom nightlight attempted to read the dosage.

Now logically I know reading vision starts to go at age forty. I understand the biological process associated with the ageing of the eye. The lens inside your eye is made mostly of collagen. So chances are if you are starting to see a wrinkle or two around the outside, the lens inside is also starting to age.  Well logic be damned, here I was with a sick kid in the middle of the night and I couldn’t see well enough to make out the small writing on the label. And so reality hit, more like a crash than a journey, even a lifelong career as an Optician didn’t really prepare me.

So what next? The good news is I am still “technically” too young for bifocals (aka multi-focal or progressive lenses).  The best solution to my problem is an anti-fatigue lens. Anti-fatigue technology takes the “edge” off the strain I am beginning to experience at near point.  This may not be the best solution for every age/ prescription but it is an option for most that are starting to feel more comfortable either removing the glasses to read or feeling like the prescription needs to be stronger even though the Optometrist assures you it is rightJ

The first tip I recommend in the realm of fashion is to explore color. Since the basic fashion mainstay of fabulous forty chicks remains the all-forgiving “black”, instead,  try frames in jewel tones and interesting tortoise colours. Depending on your prescription and face shape, target the trend for larger frame shapes.

Lastly, make sure you get premium eye care advice from an experienced licensed optician.

Dana rocking some great light coloured frames.

Dana Sacco is a Licensed Optician registered with the College Opticians of Ontario since 1996. She owns Rossland Optical in Whitby Ontario. www.rosslandoptical.com. Dana and her husband Salvatore are raising twin 4-year old girls. Successful mom-prener, Dana has recently expanded her business to include management consulting in the human capital analytics sector. www.predictivesuccess.com.


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