New-look Trouteaud is set to pioneer treatment

TROUTEAUD couldbecome the first opticians in the island to offer a revolutionary eye treatment. New owners Tony Cowen and Suzanne Dimayo have just revamped the Smith Street store.

The married couple have invested substantial sums of money into the business in which they are partners.

The technology has been updated, including computerised records and allowing digital images of eyes to be taken.

Changes have also been made to displays, lighting and decor to make the store more approachable, accessible and user-friendly. They have also increased the range of prescription eyewear and sunglasses.

But now the couple are looking to make the opticians the first in the island to offer orthokeratology.

'It is non-surgical correction of the cornea,' said Mrs Dimayo, a trained optometrist.

'It is slightly odd in that you wear a contact lens at night and then when you wake up your sight is better.

'It works in a similar way to surgery except that it is reversible, in that if you do not keep putting the lenses in then your eyes will revert to how they used to be.

'It is a huge boost for people who do computer work and have problems using normal contact lenses and them drying out. It is also great for those who play sport.'

Mrs Dimayo said that Trouteaud Opticians is the oldest practice in the island. The previous owners, a small family group from the UK, has owned it since April 1968.

Mrs Dimayo worked in the group's Torquay practice and heard that the optometrist in Guernsey was retiring after 20 years.

The couple used to come to Guernsey on their boat and when the firm offered to sell them the practice they jumped at the chance.

'We liked the island and we liked the people,' said Mrs Dimayo.

'I knew the practice - it works in the way I want them to work - and what a nice place the island was. The two came together. We were not planning to leave but it was an opportunity we could not turn down.'

She said that an interesting element in Guernsey was the higher percentage of people who wore contact lenses compared to the UK.

About 25% of customers in Guernsey wear contacts, about five times the national average.

She said that in the UK of people who needed f eye correction, only 6% used contact lenses. They tended to go for glasses or get nothing at all.

Higher contact lens use was the result of affluence and also, probably, the fact that they were actually offered to customers.

Mrs Dimayo said she wanted the practice to provide both primary health care and quality and fashionable eyewear.

'Optometry in the UK has become focused on the shopping aspect of it all. It all revolves around the cost and they are losing sight of the healthcare element,' said Mrs Dimayo.

'In Guernsey - and the Channel Islands is quite unique in that respect - this has not happened. There are a lot of independent opticians. This was one of the main attractions for me because it focuses on what I was trained to do.

'Trouteaud Opticians has an excellent reputation and we want to build on that and improve the service where we can.'