One of our loyal patients today brought in this little bit of history at her annual check up: her first ever lens case, holder and ‘sucker’ we gave her back in 1976. It also still had the original lenses in there…
We use to give out these little packs with RGP lenses back then (when RGPs were actually ‘hard’ and no one had thought of making them soft) and I don’t really know why we stopped. They are really quite handy for storing lenses provided you replace the sucker and the actual plastic case regularly to keep things clean. This lady assured me that the lenses, the case and the sucker were all original 1970s.
We have a lot of patients who have been with us since the 1970s and still a few who have been going even longer since 1960s and still have many lens wearing years ahead. We always enjoy seeing any eye related memorabilia so bring it with you to your next appointment.
PS. This patient now wears soft lenses
Early accounts attributed his failing sight in his mid sixties to overstressing his vision in poor illumination. He was convinced to have cataract couching by a British surgeon (where the cataract is simply pushed into the back chamber of the eye). Although his vision improved initially he was confined to bed by excruciating pain in the eyes and body. He died less than 4 months after this procedure.