contact lens solution options

Contact lens care

Brands:
Alcon
- Opti-Free Express: multi-purpose, 6 hours, POLYQUAD (polyquaternium-1) .001%
- Opti-Free Replenish: multi-purpose, 6 hours, POLYQUAD (polyquaternium-1) .001%, plus propylene glycol!

Allergan
- Refresh Contacts: lens rewetting drops and eye drops

CIBA Vision
- AQuify: multi-purpose, polyhexanide 0.0001%, 5 minutes in a special silver-infused case
- Clear Care: peroxide, 1-step in a special case
- Aosept: peroxide, special cup and disc, use with daily cleaner as well
- MiraFlow® Extra-Strength Daily Cleaner: alcohol to dissolve makeup
in South Africa
- Aosept
- SOLO-care Soft: 10 minute soak, polyhexanide 0.001 mg
- Miraflow

Bausch & Lomb
- ReNu: multi-purpose, Dymed® (polyaminopropyl biguanide) 0.00005%
- ReNu MultiPlus: multi-purpose, DYMED ® (polyaminopropyl biguanide) 0.0001%, website has studies about other micro-organisms but not acanthamoeba

AMO
- COMPLETE Moisture PLUS: propylene glycol as a moisturizer!
- UltraCare Disinfecting Solution/Neutralizer: peroxide with tablets and special cup

Thoughts:
- AQuify looks good. Unfortunately, according to one study, the polyhexanide has no anti-acanthamoebic activity below .0005%.
- ReNu's active ingredient (polyaminopropyl biguanide) as well as Opti-Free's (polyquaternium-1) were cited in a study as completely ineffective against acanthamoeba trophozoites and cysts.
- That really only seems to leave the peroxide formulas for cleaning in the US.
- I wish the Oxysept 1 was available in the US as it was tested in South Africa as eliminating acanthamoeba cysts.
- One-step peroxide disinfection systems aren't as effective as they should be against acanthamoeba. "The possible exception was found with use of the AOSept 1-Step system" says one study, though they couldn't figure out why.
- There is a full listing of contact lens care found here.
- OK, now I'm looking at the PuriLens system. Disinfection with UV light? Cool! One study at UofC Berkeley in 1993 indicated that the UV method of contact lens disinfection was effective, tested on 3 common bacteria. A study of the PuriLens system in particular was conducted in 2000 and found superior for disinfection capability. Yet I've never heard it from an eye doctor. Why? Maybe because a recent study from 2004 found that, it too, couldn't handle acanthamoeba. Hmmm.
- "Neutralized AOSept, SOLO-Care Soft, and COMPLETE Comfort Plus were noncytotoxic by all four tests. ReNu MultiPlus and ReNu MPS inhibited the growth of cells after exposure. OPTI-FREE Express (with ALDOX) may have a higher potential for ocular irritation correlating to severe cytotoxicity in vitro." [from a 2002 study]. Cytotoxic, as in damaging to living cells. Yikes.
- "ReNu MultiPlus (Bausch & Lomb, Rochester, NY), AOSEPT (CIBA Vision Corporation, Duluth, GA), and Opti-Free Express with Aldox (Alcon Laboratories, Ft. Worth, TX) were the only lens care products that met the stand-alone criteria for all required microorganisms within their minimum recommended disinfection time." [from a 2001 study]. Given the above information, that leaves only AOSept.
- "Overall, patients using AOSept showed less corneal staining and inflammatory response than patients using ReNu and Opti-Free." [from a 1996 study]. Again, a clear winner.
- "HCE–T cells are significantly more viable when grown on HiDk SiHy contact lenses cycled in Clear Care® or Aquify MPS compared to HiDk SiHy contact lenses cycled in OPTI–FREE Express with Aldox." [from a 2005 study]. That's corneal cells, living better on lenses cleaned with Clear Care, which is (if I understand correctly) the new AOSept.

So, Clear Care, which I've been using for the last year or so anyway, here in the US and I can go to AOSept when we move to southern Africa. Case closed.

upcoming CA trip

We're looking at visiting some of our partner churches while we wait for visa approval. That would mean a trip to northern CA, at least, if not all the way to the south. We're looking at visiting Trinity Lutheran and St James Lutheran in Redding, CA. If we do go south, we'll want to drop in on Peace Lutheran and Mount Cross Lutheran in Camarillo, CA. There's also Trinity Lutheran in Simi Valley, CA. Well, there's a month's worth of Sunday church visits right there.

back in Ferndale

We actually got back here on Thursday; I'm only just getting around to posting about it now.

BTW, we hope to have some kind of a Namibia departure update sometime next week. Our newsletter should be coming out soon, though, so keep an eye out for that.

golden dancing shoes

Here are the golden party shoes that I found at Zappos:

$44.95

$49.95

$201.95

$215.00

$68.95

$88.95

I also found shoes on Amazon and they can be looked at by clicking here:

velcro shoes at Zappos

Like I said, I prefer Zappos' service when it comes to online shoe-shopping. Keeping in mind that most of the shoes pictured below are also available in colors different than as pictured, here are the AA velcro shoes that I found at Zappos. You can click on any picture to reach the Zappos product page for that shoe; price, color, size and all.















The other option would be to check out my Walking Shoes selection from Amazon by clicking here:

Maryland Square Shoes

Was looking for narrow, flat, velcro-closure shoes for someone and this is what I found at the Maryland Square shoes website:







You can go to the page that the shoes are found on by clicking the picture of the shoe to go to that page.

These were the only 3 velcro pairs on the whole site. Drawbacks of ordering from Maryland Square is that you have to pay shipping (no less than $5.95) and return shipping if the shoe doesn't fit ($6.95 each return). This is too much, in my opinion, given that most shoe places (such as Zappos.com) have free shipping both ways.

weedless in Seattle

Dennis had his surgery and is now recovering. There was a fairly serious complication on Friday which was dealt with (more surgery) late Friday night. Dennis is back on track now and quickly recovering from the complication. Rob & I have been at the hospital with him each day and have been transporting his mother back and forth to do so as well. The earliest Dennis might be ready to go home and finish recovering there would be Thursday but the doctors generally think that it will be a bit later than that. We'll see and keep posting.

In other news, I took my first flower pictures with the new Canon Powershot A570 IS that we got in prep for Namibia. This rose is a good example of the kind of closeup work I was able to do. I may put some more online to share; will post that link if I do.

Lady in waiting

In a waiting room, that is. Rob's dad is having bypass surgery on his left leg (femoral artery) today so we're at the hospital in Seattle with him (Dennis), Rob's mom (June) and Rob's aunt (Jill). We'll keep you posted on his progress.

Happy birthday to me!

Yes, yesterday was my birthday. I spent most of it at the Bellingham Highland Games with Rob; we had a great time. We got to hear the Wicked Tinkers and Maggie's Fury as well as hundreds of bagpipers and a slew of marching pipe bands.

Another cool thing was that I learned that both of my families have Scottish roots. I tracked down tartans for both sides. My father's side, the Smallwoods, come under the Paisley district:


My mother's side, the Starks, are a sept of the Robertson clan:


My great, great grandmother, Julia (mother of Charles William Smallwood), was a Cooper, also with a tartan:


And my great, great, great, great grandmother, Margaret (Magdalen) MacRobie, wife of Captain Joseph Smallwood, also has a tartan, as a sept of the clan Drummond:


Newfoundland has a tartan as well, though:


See how Scottish I am? Check out ScotClans.com to see how Scottish you are.