Thursday, July 16, 2009

Why do I need a binocular loupe in my professional practice?

Why should I buy a loupe for my dental or medical practice?

This question is asked by quite a large number of students.

They rationalize by saying:

  1. My eye vision is perfect.
  2. I am healthy.
  3. I do not need any kind of loupe.

Many dental surgeons and hygienists in the dental industry and micro surgeons in medical industry suffer a shortened professional career due to occupational hazards such as eye strain and or back pain.

A recent study said, by the age of 45, as many as 87% of dentists and 93% of surgeons suffer from eye strains, though in variable degree.

Similarly, 60% of dentists and 67% of surgeons suffer from back pain in some form.

Ask yourself,

  1. What is the average time you need to spend to complete a procedure on a patient whether you are a dental surgeon, hygienist or a micro surgeon?
  2. What is your posture when you practice in the college lab, or perform a procedure in the clinic?
  3. Observe the posture of other students; how are they performing their procedures?

For the majority of them, you will find that they are a little bended towards the subject. As their eyes get strained due to a continuous focus on one particular area, the bending angle increases .

This bending is putting pressure on your back.

Will you feel anything at this stage? No, you will not, since your body is healthy and can withstand the strain for now.

What will happen when your body is weak and frail, making it vulnerable to back injury.

Weakening eyesight and back pain is inavitable.

The experts recomend that

  • You should always have correct posture while proforming procedure.
  • there should be sufficient light on the subject's body part where surgery needs to be performed.
  • Relax for atleast 10-15 minutes between 2 procedures.
  • Make a habit of doing some relaxation yoga exercises for eyes and back atleast once during the day. The duration of these exercises should be around 30 minutes. these exercises can be done while sitting on your office chair.

We created a set of special yoga exercises for Dental and Surgical professionals. Please contact us to obtain your free copy.

A loupe magnifies the image and brings it closure to you. This enables you to maintain correct posture.

A good loupe produces a sharp and clear image, protecting your eyes from strain.

A good loupe coupled with portable light (such as LED light) provide you sufficient light on body part of your subject which helps your eyes further.

Caution! Using a loupe does not mean you should ignore the recomendations stated above.

STAC Loupes are made using microscopic lenses and come with special coating which helps you to get crisp, clear and un distorted image even in low light conditions. The ergonomic design of STAC loupe helps you to maintian your correct posture.

Final thought.

Buying a good quality binocular loupe with correct working distance is important, but more important is using them in your daily practice.

It is your health and only you can protect it.

Use binocular loupe in your daily practice.

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