Hello, we’re Mackey Opticians, Northern Ireland’s largest independent chain of optometrists.
We are a family business supported by a friendly professional team that caters for all your optical needs. From detailed eye examinations to a wide choice of eyewear, your eye health is in good hands at Mackey Opticians.

Our 14 large comfortable practices have been created and furnished with our patients in mind and our philosophy is to provide tailored, high quality optical care for you and your family.

We cater for both NHS and private patients. If you are uncertain whether you are entitled to an NHS sight test please contact us and we’ll answer any of your queries.

You might be surprised to hear that some of the instruments and techniques used by your Optician have remained unchanged for more than a hundred years – the ophthalmoscope has been in use for 150 years. But new technologies are helping us spot conditions earlier than ever before.

OCT – Optical Coherence Tomography – is just one example of a groundbreaking imaging technology that is advancing the precision and quality of eye examinations.

With many sight-threatening conditions, time is of the essence. The sooner you take action, the more effective your treatment will be. That’s why Mackeys offers OCT as part of our Advanced Eye Examination.

This is not just a photograph – the machine uses a laser to scan the interior of your eye and build up a 3-dimensional model of your eye with the ability to see underneath the retina and into your optic nerve. The measurements can then be compared to an age-related database to see if your eyes are different to that expected, or can be compared from year to year so that we can discover small changes that may not normally be apparent.

OCT lets us take images of the tissue behind the eye and a cross-section of many layers of the retina, not just the surface. It’s a little like an ultrasound for your eyes, and produces 3D high-definition scans.
Having an OCT eye examination as part of your usual eye testing means we can spot issues sooner, detecting any changes to your eyes up to 5 years earlier than other methods, and long before you may notice any issues yourself.
It can highlight, or help us to detect early signs of common eye problems such as glaucoma, diabetes and age-related macular degeneration.
Our 3D high definition images let us see more of your eyes than ever before, and all your scans are stored as part of your records. So when you come in for your next appointment we can compare the images and accurately track any changes in your eye health.
OCT 3D – Laser scanners can detect early signs of glaucoma nerve fibre loss and macula changes that may not be otherwise visible. They may help explain why your vision may have changed. OCT’s can also look behind any cataracts and other opacities to check that your retina and optic nerve are still healthy.
All this information lets us build a complete picture of your eyes, so that we can detect, track and treat eye conditions more effectively than ever.

An OCT machine takes scans of your eyes without touching them. The process is non-invasive and painless, and our expert Mackey optometrists are always on hand to answer any questions.

Mackey Opticians can now offer Night Lenses (Ortho-keratology or Ortho-K contact lenses) from 8 of our 14 practices including Bangor, Carnmoney, Church Lane, Cookstown, Donaghadee, “Holywood Arches”, Yorkgate and our newly refurbished practice on High Street, Newtownards. Please visit our Night Lenses page or contact your local Mackey Opticians for more advice.

The Hearing Care Partnership Cookstown is located in Mackey Opticians, offering a range of hearing services including our comprehensive free hearing assessment, hearing aids, and ear wax removal.

Myopia Management is available in our practices.
Myopia means short-sightedness. If your child is myopic (short-sighted), this is usually because their eye is slightly longer than usual (from the front to the back). This means that light focuses in front of their retina at the back of their eye, rather than focusing directly on it.
Around a third of people in the UK are myopic. The condition usually starts in childhood (between six and 13 years of age) and tends to get worse until the eye has stopped growing. Myopia can also develop in younger children and adults. People are more likely to become myopic if their parents are also myopic.
Myopia is usually easy to correct with glasses or contact lenses (or both). Some adults with myopia have laser surgery to correct it. There are some treatments that may slow down myopia during childhood. This is called myopia management.
A number of treatments have been developed for this, including specially designed contact lenses or glasses, and atropine eye drops, but not all are commonly available in the UK. Current evidence suggests that using special contact lenses glasses or atropine eye drops may reduce the progression of myopia by 40% to 60% after one to two years.

If myopia management is successful, this may mean your child grows up with a lower level of myopia than they would have had without treatment. This means that they may not depend on their glasses as much as they would otherwise have had to, and the prescription for their glasses will be lower, so their glasses will be thinner and lighter. Being less myopic may mean your child is less likely to be affected by conditions such as retinal detachment and myopic retinal degeneration.

Although a lot of research has already taken place, it will take many more years before we fully understand how successful myopia management can be. Much of the current research is based on children from east-Asian ethnic backgrounds, and we need more research to understand how myopia management will affect children with European ethnic backgrounds and whether it will be more or less successful in the UK.

The reduction in progression will vary from person to person – while some may have a 100% reduction in progression (their prescription stops increasing) , others may find that their myopia still progresses. MiYOSMART research identified an average 60% reduction and our own Ortho-Keratology results have helped stop any increase in myopia in over 80% of our young patients fitted in the last 10 years – some starting at age 7. There are no long term studies as yet to determine how much myopia may appear or progress when the treatments are stopped in the future (myopia progression normally reduces in adulthood).

We will try to give you advice on the best treatment plan for you or your child based on the current evidence. Eye examinations will be scheduled every six months to review any increase in myopia/ short-sightedness.
wearing glasses with special lenses in them eg MiYOSMART (Hoya)
Speciality daytime soft contact lenses eg MiSight (Coopervision)
Speciality overnight Ortho-Keratology contact lenses eg Nocturnal (Night Lenses) or Wave
using eye drops – not currently available in UK except as part of trial.
None of these treatments are available on the NHS. Costs vary but start from £300 initially – we can offer payment options for future annual/replacement fees. Please ask us for further details.

In addition to these treatments, children should be advised on the importance of time outside and restricting time on computers and tablets. With children who look at risk of becoming short-sighted, vision therapy with exercises and bifocal or progressive lens spectacles may help to stop or reduce myopia progression. However there is limited research in this area and once myopia has become established, such treatment methods have been found to be limited in effect compared to those listed above. It is therefore very important for such children and especially children where there is a family history of myopia to have regular eye examinations throughout their school career.