Why Is My Eyelid Twitching?

You’ve likely experienced it at least once in your lifetime—suddenly your eyelid starts involuntarily twitching in spasms for no apparent reason. When this happens, it’s called myokymia. It’s a common phenomenon, but what causes it?

There is no single, definitive cause for myokymia, but it seems to be rooted in such circumstances as lack of sleep, too much caffeine, increased levels of stress, or prolonged eye strain.
Most often, intermittent myokymia is harmless and will resolve on its own. But if spasms persist, you can try alternating hot and cold compresses to sooth the overactive nerve that’s responsible for the twitching.

Occasionally, myokymia can be a sign of dry eye, light sensitivity, pink eye, or be the side effect of certain medications.

If you experience myokymia that continues for more than a week, or your eyelids completely close when spasms occur, call your eye doctor for an examination. In rarer cases, myokymia could be the result of a more serious condition, such as inflamed eyelids (blepharitis) or a nerve disorder.

Why Do I Have To Get My Eyes Dilated?

It’s true that having your eyes dilated during your routine eye exam can be a bit inconvenient. Not only does it take time, but once it’s over, you have to wear a pair of sunglasses in order to avoid that dreadful light sensitivity, and you may even have to organize transportation from a friend or family member. But dilating your eyes is one of the most important aspects of your eye exam, and wholly worth the trouble.

By using special eye drops to dilate your eyes, your optometrist has the ability to see not only the outer surface of the eye, but also through the pupil, to the retina, and all the way to the back of the eye. This makes for a much more thorough look at your overall health. Through this process, your optometrist can examine your optic nerve and blood vessels and discover issues such as retinal thinning, tears, or holes that can lead to retinal detachment or blindness.

In addition to eye-related diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, and macular degeneration, dilation also enables your optometrist to detect the early warning signs of more general health issues, including high blood pressure and diabetes.

Despite the inconvenience, having your eyes dilated during your regularly scheduled eye exam is an important part of preventive health, for both your eyes and your whole body. Never skip out on having your eyes dilated—reserve the time, take your sunglasses, and schedule a ride home, and rest assured knowing you’re staying on top of preventative health measures that could make all the difference in your eye health and general health.

Ophthalmologists, Optometrists & Opticians: What’s The Difference?

Every ophthalmologist, optometrist and optician is an eye care professional, but not all eye care professionals possess each of these particular specialties. So what’s the difference?

Ophthalmologist. This type of eye doctor is an MD and specializes in both detecting and treating eye diseases. Becoming an ophthalmologist requires up to 12 years of dedicated education, and enables an individual to provide total eye health care, including eye exams, medical and surgical eye care, vision services, glasses and contact lens prescriptions, and general health care as it relates to ocular issues.

Optometrist. This individual, called an OD or doctor of optometry, completes six or more years of education and specializes in performing eye exams, prescribing glasses and contact lenses, and providing vision therapy and low vision solutions. An optometrist can detect and diagnose some eye conditions, but in most cases, will refer patients with more serious eye health issues to an ophthalmologist for further treatment.

Optician. Individuals with two-year degrees in ophthalmic dispensing or optometric technology are opticians. These individuals dispense, adjust, fit, and repair ophthalmic devices such as glasses or contact lenses. They are not doctors, and therefore cannot advise on or treat eye health issues, but can provide a wealth of information and services regarding the glasses or contact lenses you are prescribed.

Each of these eye care professionals offer their own set of useful skill sets that make it easy for patients to receive the eye health care they need. Knowing the differences helps you understand the eye care profession and enables you to make smart choices about your eye health.

Protect Your Eyes at Work

We only have two eyes, so it’s important we protect them with proper eyewear in every aspect. At work is a great example, not just for those that sit in front of a computer all day enduring eye strain, but also for those working in trade and craft fields such as carpenters, plumbers, machinists, millwrights, and laborers that encounter flying debris or small particles and chemicals. Wearing protective eyewear can prevent up to 90 percent of all eye injuries, but not just any eyewear will do. Did you know safety glasses are significantly different from regular eyeglasses?

Safety eyewear must meet specific criteria set by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) and the American National Standards Institute (ANSI). ANSI tests and sets the ratings for safety eyewear and OHSA sets the standards for the workplace. While safety eyewear can be prescription and non-prescription, these higher standards apply to both the lenses and the frames. The lenses and frames must go through several tests for mass impact, velocity impact, durability, flammability-resistance, corrosion-resistance, plus many more. But how do you know what safety glasses are best? Both prescription and non-prescription safety eyewear will be permanently marked with impact ratings. Z87 refers to basic impact rated eyewear and Z87+ refers to high impact rated eyewear. When in doubt, go for the high impact rating.

Remember, keep those eyes of yours protected. Even if you don’t work in a trade or craft field, we recommend keeping a pair of safety glasses at home to wear when working on projects around your home that could create a risk for eye injuries. To order prescription safety eyewear or for other questions related to protective eyewear, give us a call. We’re happy to answer your questions and help you with your eyewear needs.

Smoking . . . It’s Damaging Your Eyes

Study after study has proven smoking is bad for your health, especially your lungs and heart, but there are some detrimental effects smoking has on your vision, too. Smoking has been linked to two of the leading causes of vision loss, cataracts and macular degeneration, as well as a number of other eye health problems.

Cataracts occur when the lens in your eye thickens and becomes less transparent and less flexible. The lens becomes cloudy, causing vision changes including blurring, faded color perception, glare, poor night vision, double vision, and reduced vision. You could compare vision with cataracts to looking through a waterfall. So what’s the link to smoking? The more you smoke, the greater the risk becomes to develop cataracts. Smoking contributes to cataracts by altering the cells of the lens through oxidation. There is also evidence that smoking leads to the accumulation of heavy metals like cadmium in the lens.

Macular degeneration involves the deterioration of the macula, the central part of the retina that allows us to perceive fine details. As the macula wears out, people experience blurriness, distortions, or blind spots in their central vision. And how does this connect to smoking? Smoking promotes macular degeneration by interfering with blood flow to the retina. Smoking also increases the harmful effects of oxidation on the cells of the macula.

What’s one of the safest things to do for your vision? Never start smoking at all. If you are a smoker, quit. Ex-smokers still have an increased risk of vision loss from cataracts or macular degeneration when compared with people who have never lit up a cigarette. For more information on how smoking can affect your eye health, call our office today.

Flu Season is Upon Us

The inevitable flu season. It comes back to get us every year. Luckily, there are many easy ways to help protect yourself this season, and most methods should sound familiar; thorough hand washing, a mix of rest and regular physical activity, and lots of vitamin C are great habits for staying healthy no matter what the season is. Other simple preventative measures include avoiding direct contact with your eyes, nose, and mouth, as well as avoiding close interaction with others who may be sick. And of course, it’s important to get vaccinated to prevent a run in with the flu, but did you know there’s another preventative measure out there?

A routine eye exam is one way that flu symptoms may be detected before they become severe. In the early stages of any virus, symptoms may be less detectable, but there a number of subtle signs in the eyes that can be an early indication of a virus like the cold or flu. Doctors can look underneath your eyelids for a papillary reaction. A papillary reaction looks like goose bumps with redness and irritation, all things that indicate a patient is symptomatic. Besides early detection of viruses like the cold or flu, eye exams can also detect signs of other health problems such as diabetes, glaucoma, or heart disease. Early detection of a variety of illnesses is just another great reason to see your eye doctor at least once a year. Call us today to beat flu and cold season!

The Story on Watery Eyes

It’s safe to say tears play an important role in keeping us healthy. Tears keep the surface of our eyeballs clean and moist, and help protect our eyes from damage. Although they appear to be nothing but water, tears are actually made of mucus, water, and oil. Mucus to coat the surface of the eye and bind tears to the eye, water to act as a saline solution containing various vitamins and minerals, and oil to prevent evaporation of the tears.

Every time we blink, we wash our eyes with tears produced by the lacrimal glands in our upper eyelids. When our eyes are irritated or inflamed, these same glands produce extra tears. Normally, tears are drained out of the eye and into the nose through ducts in the corners of our eyes. When we produce too many extra tears, or when our normal tear drainage is blocked, our eyes may get watery.

Let’s take a closer look at some of the causes for watery eyes. Excess tears can be caused by:

Allergies. The most common allergens to cause irritated, watery eyes are grass, tree, and weed pollens, pet dander, dust mites, and molds, as well as non-true allergens such as aerosol sprays, perfumes, and cigarette smoke.

Infections. Tears are produced to wash away germs and discharge, but they don’t always keep the bacteria away. Conjunctivitis, commonly known as “pink eye” will produce excess tears, in addition to redness, blurred vision, and discharge. Blephartis is another common infection of the eyelid known to cause watery eyes.

Irritants. As a response to irritations like dry air, bright light, wind, smoke, dust, an eyelash, or eyestrain, eyes will produce excess tears.

Dry-eye syndrome. Seems contradictory, but when eyes dry out, the lacrimal glands will produce an overabundance of tears to make up for the dryness, often overwhelming the eye’s natural drainage system.

Blocked tear ducts. Although less common, there is a chance watery eyes are caused by a blockage of the ducts that normally drain away tears.

In general, watery eyes are nothing to get worked up about and will clear up on their own, but if you notice the following symptoms with watery eyes, please give us a call:

• Reduced vision
• Pain around your eyes
• A foreign body sensation
• Unexplained tearing over a long period of time
• Red eyes that are producing discharge

Stay On Top of Your Game with Healthy Vision

Have you ever thought about how your eyes direct the movement of your body while playing sports? Not only are you using your eyes to follow the ball in a game of tennis, but you’re also using vision to properly position your body for the next hit.

Needless to say, if your vision isn’t up to par, neither is your game. Healthy eyes, like strength and speed, are important for the success of any sport, whether its baseball, soccer, or golf.  Fortunately, your optometrist can help you stay on top of your game with regular exams, training, and eye protection.

If you’ve been practicing and training hard, but still can’t seem to achieve your desired level of performance, you may have a vision difficulty standing in the way.  With less than 20/20 vision, you may find it difficult to clearly see objects, such as an archery target. Decreased depth perception and eye focusing can make judging distances and adjusting your focus between close and far objects a challenge, a problem if you’re playing a round of golf. Likewise, reduced hand-eye coordination can slow performance of your body, causing you to strike out when you’re up to bat in baseball.

If you’re ready to take your game to the next level, your optometrist can help by performing a comprehensive eye exam, creating a personalized vision therapy or enhancement program, and recommending protective eyewear, sunwear, or specialty lenses to optimize the visual conditions and needs of various sports.

Schedule an appointment with our office today! With healthy vision, you’ll always be on top of your game.

Are You Seeing Double? Are You Seeing Double?

Double vision, also known as Diplopia, is the simultaneous perception of two images of a single object. The displacement of the image may be horizontally, vertically, or diagonally and should not be confused with blurred vision, which is when an individual sees a single unclear image.

Patients may find they have double vision occasionally, or in other cases, all of the time. Temporary double vision may be caused by alcohol intoxication, concussions, tiredness, or a side effect to certain drugs. Permanent double vision requires deeper investigation as there are two major types of double vision, binocular double vision and monocular double vision. Let’s take a closer look at both.

Binocular double vision is when a patient’s eyes are not perfectly aligned. In other words, the eyes point at slightly different angles, resulting in different images being sent to the brain. The brain does not recognize the images to be similar enough to create a single, clear image, so it creates two images. Binocular double vision is most often caused by a squint due to a weakened or paralyzed eye muscle. Other causes of binocular double vision may be thyroid disease, arterial disease, diabetes, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, an aneurysm, blood clots, a stroke, cancer, or head injury.

Monocular double vision is less common than binocular double vision and is caused by abnormalities to parts of the eye including the cornea, iris, lens, vitreous humor and aqueous humor. Astigmatism, cataracts, dry eyes, swelling in the eye lids, or a dislocated lens usually result in monocular double vision.

Whether it be occasionally or often, it’s important to see your optometrist to diagnose the issue. We encourage you to give us a call to set up an appointment to discuss tests and treatment options that will have you seeing clearly again.

Shape Up: Find The Best Frames for Your Face

Choosing the perfect eyeglass frames can be much harder than you think, as there are several factors to consider. Style, shape, color, and material all play important roles, but determining your face shape is the key to making the right decision.

Most people fall into four face shape categories: heart, round, square, and oval. Let’s break down each face shape to learn which frames will suit you best.

Heart-Shaped Faces
Heart-shaped faces resemble the shape of heart in that the widest part of the face is at the top and the narrowest part is at the bottom. Characteristics to look for include a wide forehead, high cheekbones, and a narrow/pointed chin.

The best frame shapes for heart-shaped faces include rectangle, round, oval, wayfarer, aviator, and square. Styles you’ll want to stay away from include embellished, top heavy, and wide top frames.

Round-Shaped Faces
Just like the name sounds, round-shaped faces are circular, full, and without strong lines and angles. Round-shaped faces will have a wide forehead, full cheeks, and a rounded chin.

Round-shaped faces can pull off several styles including rectangle, square, cat-eye, wayfarer, aviator, and wrap/shield frames. It’s best to stay away from round or oversized frames.

Square-Shaped Faces
Square-shaped faces typically have strong jawlines and facial features defined by strong angles. Square-shape face features include a wide forehead, broad cheeks, and a boxy jawline.

Rectangle, square, cat-eye, wayfarer, aviator, and wrap/shield frames are the most flattering frames for square-shaped faces; while boxy, oval, and heavy brow frames should be avoided.

Oval-Shaped Faces
Oval-shaped faces are very balanced and create the ideal shape for most frames. Oval-shaped faces have a narrow forehead, high cheek bones, and a narrow chin.

Recommended frame styles for oval-shaped faces include rectangle, round, square, cat-eye, wayfarer, and aviator. Oversized frames are the only style oval faces should shy away from.

Once you’ve identified your face shape, play around with the recommended styles in different colors and materials. When you plan to choose your frames at our office, we recommend bringing a family member or friend to provide feedback when you try frames on. And trust your gut. Only you can exude the confidence to rock the frames you love!

Nearsighted vs. Farsighted

If you find yourself squinting to see street signs, the computer screen at work or a picture hanging across the room, it’s likely you are nearsighted. Maybe you have to hold a book far away to read it, have trouble reading the fine print on medicine labels or reading a map. If that’s the case, it’s likely you are farsighted.

To put it simply, nearsightedness is when a person can see better close up than far away and farsightedness is when a person can see better far away than close up.

In normal vision, light enters the eye and is perfectly focused onto the retina, providing a clear view, no matter how near or far the object in view is located. Nearsighted vision focuses on an image before it reaches the retina, often caused when the curve of the cornea is too steep. Just the opposite, farsighted vision focuses on an image behind the retina, occurring when the cornea is too flat or the eye is too short.

Both nearsightedness and farsightedness are frustrating, interfere with daily activities and quality of life, but there is good news. Both conditions can be corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses or surgery. The best approach can be determined by your optometrist.

Want to see clearly at any distance? Call our office today and we’ll get you setup with the appropriate corrective action before your vision continues to deteriorate. 

My First Eye Exam: What to Expect?

Whatever the reason may be, you’ve decided it’s time to visit an optometrist. Good for you! But now you’re wondering, what happens next? Here’s a basic rundown of what to expect:

Prepare. You’ve made an appointment for a reason. Be prepared with a list of questions for your optometrist. Know your (and your family’s) medical and vision history. Be open on the reason for your visit.

Test. Next, your optometrist will perform a series of tests. These tests will determine how clearly you can see, the overall health of your eyes, and your eye pressure. Depending on the type of test, your optometrist will use the following tools to assess your vision: letter charts, lights, color patterns and eye drops to dilate your pupils.

Review. Following your eye exam, your optometrist will review the results of all of the tests and provide an assessment of your vision, preventative measures, and next steps.

Now that you know the basics, it’s time to call our office to schedule your eye exam. We’re happy to answer any questions you have and look forward to seeing you soon!

What Are Eye Floaters?

You’re seeing specks, spots, threads, or cobweb-like objects in your field of vision, but when you try to focus on them, they never stay still long enough to be visible. What’s going on? You’re experiencing eye floaters, and although these phantom forms can be a bit unnerving at times, you likely have nothing to worry about.

Eye floaters generally occur as you age, and are caused by the natural degeneration of your eye’s vitreous, the gel-like substance that helps maintain the round shape of your eyeball. Over time, the vitreous can dissolve, shrink, and liquefy, causing the vitreous to have a stretched or string-like consistency. When this happens, the usually transparent vitreous casts shadows on your retina, ultimately appearing in your vision as an eye floater.

Most often, eye floaters affect older individuals, those with diabetes, or people who have undergone cataract surgery. The occasional floater is nothing to worry about, but in some situations, eye floaters could mean something more serious.

If you are experiencing any of the following signs or symptoms, it’s time to call our office:

- You suddenly begin seeing floaters on a regular basis
- They interfere with your regular vision.
- Your eye floaters are accompanied by flashes of light, vision loss, or pain.
- Eye floaters follow an eye surgery or trauma.

Keep an eye on floaters (figuratively speaking!) and immediately call us if you suspect that you’re experiencing abnormal eye floater behavior. 

Everyday Tips For Healthy Eyes

Keeping your eyes healthy is of utmost importance as a person grows and ages. You may not realize that some of the most everyday activities and routines can help keep your eyes healthy and ensure you’re seeing your very best.

Get a comprehensive eye exam. Even if you think your vision is just fine, a comprehensive vision exam can help detect the early signs of diseases such as glaucoma, diabetes, and macular degeneration. Likewise, an eye exam may point out common vision problems you didn’t even know you had.

Maintain diet and exercise. You already know how important diet and exercise is for healthy living, but did you know it can also affect your eyes? A diet rich in fruits and vegetables, as well as fish high in omega-3 fatty acids, can help sustain good vision. And maintaining a healthy weight can reduce the risk of diabetes, which can often lead to vision loss.

Invest in protective eyewear and sunwear. Whether you’re playing your favorite sport or finishing up some DIY projects at home, wear appropriate protective eyewear such as safety glasses, goggles, and shields/guards to prevent accidental injury. Just the same, protective sunwear will guard against UV-A and UV-B radiation from the sun’s rays.

Practice good eye hygiene. This may be common sense, but it bears repeating to ensure you’re avoiding the risk of infection. Whenever handling your contact lenses, be sure to first wash your hands, always disinfect your lenses before wearing, and replace them at the end of their lifespan.

Students’ Success Begins With Healthy Vision

Now that the new school year is in full swing, your kids have classes, projects, and homework to complete every day. You’ve done a great job preparing them with everything they need to succeed—lunchboxes filled with healthy meals; lots of pens, pencils, and notebooks for assignments; and plenty of help with math homework.

But consider that more than 80% of a child’s learning happens through vision, and it’s easy to understand how an undiagnosed vision problem could impact learning and performance, grades, self-esteem, and more. That’s why regular eye exams are so important for your child. Sometimes, undetected vision problems are mistaken for a learning disability, such as dyslexia or ADD.

Below are some of the major warning signs that your child is suffering from vision problems.

• Sitting too close to the TV or other electronic device, or holding a book too close
• Using their finger as a guide and/or frequently losing their place while reading
• Closing one eye or tilting their head to see better
• Frequent eye rubbing or sensitivity to light
• Complaints of headaches or tired eyes

If your child complains of any of these issues, it’s time to make an appointment with your optometrist. Your child deserves the best when it comes to education, and success in the classroom begins with healthy vision!

The Benefits & Drawbacks to Contact Lenses

Welcome back for the second half of our series on the pros and cons of eyeglasses and contact lenses. Today, we break down the good things and not-so-good things about wearing contact lenses.

The Pros of Contact Lenses

• You don’t have to worry about fogged lenses, which often plague glasses wearers when the climate changes.
• As a matter of aesthetic preference, some prefer the natural look of wearing contact lenses over eyewear.
• Contact lenses are less cumbersome for those that play sports.

The Cons of Contact Lenses

• Contacts require a daily commitment of cleaning and care to avoid bacterial infections. 
• While daily contact lenses reduce the need for regular care, they can be a more costly option. 
• Contact lenses are more likely to increase your risk of dry, irritated eyes. 
• Unlike eyewear, contact lenses can be difficult for some wearers to insert or remove. 

So, what’s your opinion? Do you think glasses or contact lenses are the better option? We’d love to hear your thoughts in the comments section. Of course, if you need help deciding is best for your lifestyle, be sure to call our office and schedule an appointment. We’re more than happy to assist you with your eyecare needs.

The Benefits & Drawbacks to Glasses

Today we’re kicking off a two-part series on the pros and cons of both glasses and contact lenses. There are pluses and minuses to both, but today we'll be focusing solely on glasses.

The Pros of Glasses:

• Depending on the glasses you purchase, they can be more affordable as they may not need to be replaced as often.
• Glasses have made a great comeback in recent years as a fun, stylish accessory. New, trendy frame styles abound.
• With glasses, you avoid an increased risk of dry eye or eye infections.

The Cons of Glasses:

• Glasses do have the dreaded “fogging” issue—this can be worse depending on the area you live in, especially colder climates.
• Peripheral vision may be an issue, as glasses sit further away from your eyes.
• While maintenance is easier, a scratched lens or unadjusted frame can make wearing glasses uncomfortable.

Check back next week to learn what the good, the bad, and the ugly is when it comes to contact lenses! And be sure to share your own thoughts on the glasses versus contacts debate in the comments below.

A Look at Your Pet’s Eyes

You may already know that animals have very different ways of seeing than humans. But did you know, for example, that dogs aren’t really color blind (contrary to popular belief)? Here are some fun facts about your pets and how they see:

Goldfish
These little aquatic guys have excellent, full-spectrum vision, and they also have a visual memory of up to three months. So, if you’re the person responsible for feeding them, they are able to recognize and remember you. They’re also sensitive to sudden light changes because they have no eyelids.

Cats
Furry felines see things in a lower resolution than humans, and they also see less vibrant colors than humans. However, they do have better night vision and their eyes are developed to detect small, quick movements so they are better able to catch prey.

Dogs
Your trusty old sidekick can see colors, although it’s a common misconception that dogs are color blind. However, they see the world with less colors than we do. They’re only able to see blue, yellow, and gray tones, making a dog’s vision very similar to a person that is red-green color-blind.

Do you know any other fun vision-related facts about pets? Share them in the comments below!

Should I be Concerned About Eye Twitches?

If you’ve ever been short on sleep or stressed to the max, you might have also experienced repetitive, uncontrollable eye spasms known as blepharospasm, or eye twitching.

While it can be annoying, eye twitching is usually painless and harmless. It typically happens when you have an increase in fatigue, stress, or caffeine intake. Once these issues stop, you’ll notice your eye twitch is likely to disappear.

In very rare cases, eye twitching can become a chronic condition and affect an individual’s quality of life. In some circumstances, it can also progress to the point of severe vision impairment.

If an eye twitch doesn’t resolve itself within a few days or the twitch is strong enough to close the entire eye or affect other areas of someone’s face, it’s time to set an appointment with our optometrist. Give our office a call and we can determine the underlying cause of your eye twitch and begin any possible treatments.

Protect Your Eyes With Antioxidants

Antioxidants are nutrients that defend cells from damage caused by molecules known as free radicals. Too many free radicals can cause eye health issues, including cataracts and advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Not only do antioxidants help reduce the formation of free radicals, but they also protect and repair any cells damaged by them.

To lower your risk for cataracts and AMD, you need to focus on eating more fruits and veggies. The American Optometric Association recommends at least five servings every day to increase the amount of antioxidants in your diet.

Vitamins C and E are the antioxidants you need to protect your eyes, and they’re often found in colorful fruits and vegetables. Focus on adding the following nutrient-rich foods to your meals, and you’re well on your way to good eye health:

Good sources of vitamin C: orange juice, grapefruit juice, papaya, cantaloupe, green pepper, orange, tomato juice, strawberries, broccoli.

Good sources of vitamin E: almonds, sunflower seeds, safflower oil, peanuts, peanut butter, corn oil.

What Causes Double Vision?

Double vision, which is also known as diplopia, is a condition that happens when you simultaneously see two images of one object. The vision displacement can happen horizontally, vertically, or even diagonally. It can also occur occasionally, all the time, or when looking in one specific direction. While some causes of double vision are relatively insignificant, others are serious and should receive immediate medical attention.

Here are some of the common causes of double vision:

• Cataracts, which is a common problem with the eye lens. The condition may appear in one or both eyes, but it’s treatable with minor surgery.
  
  
• Corneal problems, such as corneal scars, dry corneas, and corneal infections.
  
  
• Weak eye muscles can distort vision, as a weak eye can no longer smoothly move in unison with the healthy eye. Those who have certain autoimmune illnesses and thyroid conditions are more likely to have weak eye muscles.
  
  
• Any condition that can cause damage to the nerves that control your eye muscles, such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
  
  
• Because your brain directly connects to nerves that control your eyes, any brain issues, including strokes, brain tumors, migraines, brain trauma, and aneurysms.

If you or someone else you know is experience double vision, please give us a call to schedule an appointment. We can determine the cause and address the underlying reason for the condition.

4 Habits That are Bad for Your Eyes

We all have our individual quirks or habits. Some of them, like biting your nails, procrastinating, and texting while on the road, are behaviors you know you should avoid. Well, you can also add the following to your list because they can adversely affect your eye health.  

Eating unhealthy foods. Many age-related eye diseases can be prevented or alleviated if you consume a diet that’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids as well as essential vitamins and minerals. You also need to make sure you’re drinking enough water, as this will help prevent the painful condition of dry eyes.

Getting poor sleep. The aging process can speed up, especially if you don’t allow your body to get enough rest. Studies have shown that your eyes need at least five hours of sleep every night to properly replenish. Without that downtime, your eyes won’t be able to work at their full potential. Eye spasms, dry eye, and popped blood vessel due to eye strain can all happen when you don’t get enough shut eye.

Smoking. Your risk for ocular diseases, such as cataracts and macular degeneration, increases when you smoke. For instances, studies show that people who smoke tobacco double their risk of developing cataracts and smokes are 2.4 times more likely to have uveitis, which is the inflammation of the eye’s middle layer.

Exposing your eyes to UV rays. Sunglasses are a must have when you’re outside, no matter what part of the year it is. Baring your eyes to UV rays opens the door to many ocular diseases, including eyelid cancer, macular degeneration, cataracts, and photokeratitis (a sunburned cornea).
And let’s not forgot one more bad habit—forgetting to schedule your annual eye exam! If you haven’t done so yet, this is your friendly reminder. Don’t wait another minute and give our practice a call today!

Diabetes: How Does Your Optometrist Fit In?

You probably associate diabetes with monitoring your blood sugar and diet and taking insulin shots. But did you know that diabetes is also the leading cause behind new cases of blindness in adults? According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, every 15 minutes there is someone with diabetes who loses their vision.  

Diabetes is a serious disease that requires consistent treatment and vigilant monitoring by someone who has diabetes and their team of health professionals. In fact, 8 percent of the entire U.S. population is afflicted with this disease—that’s nearly 24 million people.

For those who don’t have the disease, your optometrist can detect the symptoms of diabetes during a comprehensive eye exam. This is just another reason why it’s important to regularly schedule your exams.  With early discovery, we can help treat and prevent any blindness due to the disease.   

Please give our practice a call to schedule an appointment today! Diabetes is just one disorder we are able to detect and help treat. During your exam, we’ll also look for key signs of other conditions to make sure your overall health remains top notch.    

What is Color Blindness?

Color blindness is more common and less serious than you may think. Being completely color blind is very rare; it’s more likely that if someone is color blind they have trouble seeing red, green, blue, or a mix of those colors.

Most color blind problems are genetic and originate at birth; they usually don’t develop later in life (although it does occasionally happen). Color blindness occurs when one of the three types of cone cells in your eyes is missing or doesn’t work correctly.

Symptoms of color blindness (or color vision problems) include:

• Seeing some colors but not others
  
  
• Having difficulty telling a difference between two colors (for example, not being able to differentiate between red and green)
  
  
• Difficulty noticing the different shades in colors

If you or your child is experiencing any of these symptoms, schedule an appointment with our office. We can perform tests to determine if color blindness is the culprit and what, if any, treatment can be done.

Hereditary color blindness can’t be treated or corrected. However, there are rare cases where color blindness is caused by a cataract and surgery might be a solution.

For those who live with color blindness, there are some ways to better deal with the condition. Those include:

• Training yourself to look for visual cues that aren’t color based. For example, recognizing that the green light in a stoplight is at the top of the sign, while the red light is at the bottom.
  
  
• Wearing glasses that block glare can often help because they make it easier to see color contrast.

• Colored contact lenses are another option to try to differentiate or view colors better.

If you or someone you know thinks they have color blindness, they should schedule an eye exam with our office. We will determine what, if any, treatment can be done and offer suggestions on ways to manage your color vision problem.

Are Contact Lenses OK for Your Child?

There are many factors to consider when determining whether or not your child is ready for contact lenses. To help you make the right decision, here are three key questions to you need to ask yourself:

1. Are contact lenses safe?
Physically speaking, contact lenses are safe for children at a younger age than you might realize. In some cases, infants are fitted with contact lenses for conditions that are present at birth. And unlike adults, children are less likely to suffer from dry eyes, which makes them better candidates for wearing contact lenses.

2. Is my child ready for the responsibility?
The answer to this is obviously subjective. Only you know if your child is ready to take care of his or her contact lenses. Think about how they handle current responsibilities, such as homework and chores. Are they having issues with that? If so, contact lenses might not be in their best interest until they can properly manage these aspects of their life.

Another option to consider is offering your child disposable contacts in lieu of a single pair of permanent lenses. Not only will disposable lenses help ease with your child’s level of responsibility, but they can also help you avoid paying a hefty replacement cost in the event that something happens to your child’s permanent lenses.

3. Are contact lenses beneficial for my child?
Contacts may be safer for your child’s eyes, particularly if they are involved in sports. What’s more, contacts can also help increase your child’s range of vision more than glasses.

In addition, contacts may be a boost to your child’s self-esteem. Multiple studies indicate that the self confidence in teenagers saw a significant increase when they switched from glasses to contact lenses. This confidence also carried over from the social aspect of their life to their athletic performance.

If you’re thinking about switching your child from glasses to contact lenses, give us a call to schedule an eye exam. Our practice is more than happy to assist you with the transition and can recommendation the best options your child.

Tanning Beds: What's the Cost to Your Vision?

Now that summer is officially here, many people are starting to work on their perfect summer tan. There’s no doubt a nice tan is a bonus in the summer months, and thanks to tanning beds you can now get that sun-kissed glow year-round.

Much has been made of the damage tanning beds can do to your skin, but what about your eyes? How does the intense UV light affect your sight both short-term and long-term?

Unfortunately, the tanning goggles or one-time-use eye stickers you can get from a tanning salon do not offer you total protection from the harm of UV light damage. In reality, it’s best to avoid tanning at all—for both the health and safety of your skin and your eyes.

Not only can UV light contribute to the development of cataracts, but it can also cause skin cancer and ocular melanoma.  Macular degeneration has also been linked to UV light exposure. Oftentimes these long-term effects may not show up until much later in life, when it’s too late to undo the damage.

Photokeratitis is a short-term example of damage from UV light. Photokeratitis is essentially a sunburn on the cornea of your eye (one of the most integral parts of your eye). While only temporary, photokeratitis can be painful, cause swelling to the eye, and even result in blurred vision.

The implications of UV damage to vision are not relegated to only the outdoors. The strong UV light from tanning beds can be even more damaging because of the high concentration of UV exposure. For this reason, our practice recommends you avoid tanning beds. It's a smart choice to make because your eyes will be much less susceptible to the UV light-related conditions we discussed today.

Amazing Facts About The Human Eye: An Infographic

The human eye is a fascinating organ--that's why this week we're sharing a nifty infographic full of amazing facts about the eye. Enjoy!

 

What to do When Something Gets in Your Eye

Everyone’s been through this situation: One minute you’re going about life as happy as a clam, but then suddenly you feel something in your eye. It’s an unpleasant feeling, and your first instinct is to rub your eye to try to remedy the situation—we’re here to tell you, do not rub your eye!

You can harm yourself by rubbing your eye. Rubbing only irritates your eye more and increases the risk of dragging the object across your eye and scratching its surface. This is a painful injury because the cornea of your eye (the clear portion of your eye that contains the iris and pupil) contains a lot of nerve endings and is very sensitive. What’s more, you can also imbed objects into your eye when you rub it.

In lieu of rubbing out the offending object, here’s what you should do when you get something in your eye:

Try blinking your eye quickly. This can easily dislodge and dirt or debris that may have entered it.

Have someone else look at your eye to determine the location of the foreign body and whether it can be easily removed.

Use artificial tears or saline fluid to try to flush the object out of your eye.

Pull your upper eye lid down and out over your lower lid and then let it slide back. This simple trick can often help dislodge an object.

If you’ve already done the deed of rubbing your eye and you’re experiencing pain, please contact our office immediately. Our doctor will check for any scratches or embedded particles in your eye and effectively treat your case.

How You Can Beat Digital Screen Fatigue

When was the last time you looked at a device screen? Chances are you’re doing it right now. In today’s world, people spend hours in front of their computers and mobile devices. While being a part of a connected world has its benefits, it also has one sneaky drawback. You might not even realize it, but all of that time spent looking at a screen may be causing you eyestrain.

Eyestrain can happen when your eyes become tired from overuse.
So while it’s easy to blame electronic devices for this annoying condition, it’s not the only contributing factor. Some people experience eyestrain after driving for extended periods of time, reading non-digital books for long hours, being exposed to bright light or glare, or straining to see in dimly-lit areas.

At the top of the list, though, is computer eyestrain. Because it’s the most common cause of eyestrain, it actually has its own diagnosis: computer vision syndrome. Underlying conditions such as an eye muscle imbalance or uncorrected vision can cause or worsen a case of computer vision syndrome.

So what can you do to counteract this common ailment? The steps are quite simple.

User proper lighting. As a rule of thumb, your ambient light should be almost half as bright as what’s used in most office settings. You can reduce that light by closing shades or blinds, turning off overhead fluorescent lights, and using floor lamps.

Reduce glare. From screen glare to reflective walls and surfaces, you want to create an environment where bright light is reduced. Glasses with anti-reflective coating can help minimize glare by reducing the amount of light that reflects off your lenses.

Upgrade your monitor. If you sit at a computer for work and still use an old CRT monitor, it’s time to move to a flat-panel LCD. LCD screens aren’t as harsh on your eyes--they don’t “flicker” images like bulky CRT monitors.

Give your eyes a break. To prevent dryness and irritation, you should blink while looking at electronic screens. Every 20 minutes, you should try to take a break to blink 10 times. This will properly rehydrate your eyes and help prevent fatigue. You can also exercise your eyes to offset focus-related fatigue. Do this by following the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes you should look away from your screen and gaze at a distant object for at least 20 seconds.  

The Correct Way to Use Eye Drops

When you’re trying to combat dry eye, eye allergies, or eye infections, it’s likely you’ll use some sort of over-the-counter or prescribed eye drop solution to treat your ailment. To properly use the drops, you should follow the steps below.

1. Wash your hands—this will prevent new bacteria from getting into your eye.
2. Tilt your head back and look at the ceiling.
3. Gently pull your lower eyelid down so that it forms a small pocket.
4. Turn your eye drop solution bottle upside-down and squeeze its bottom to release a single drop into your eye. If you missed your eye on the first try, go ahead and squeeze a second drop. (It’s important that you don’t touch your eye or eyelid with the nozzle of the bottle.)
5. Release your lower eyelid and gently close your eye for 30 seconds. Dab any excess medication with a tissue.
6. If you need to apply another type of eye drop medication, make sure you wait 3 to 5 minutes before doing so. This lets you get the maximum effect from each medication.
7. When you’re done, immediately put the cap back on your eye drop solution.

There are some other things to keep in mind when it comes to eye drops. First, don’t share your medication with others, as you can easily spread infections. And if you need to use an eye drop as well as an ointment for treatment, always use your eye drops first and wait five minutes to apply the ointment. If you wear contact lenses, you’ll need to stop wearing your lenses until your treatment is finished or follow your eye doctor’s instructions.

And finally, some eye drops can enter the blood stream very quickly and cause side effects. To counteract this, you can slow the eye drop absorption by pressing your index finger where your lower lid meets your nose.  

Tips for Those Who Wear Contact Lenses

It doesn’t matter if you’ve worn contact lenses for years or you’re about to wear your first pair—there are some basic tips you should know to avoid problems with your lenses. Read on to learn how you can properly take care of your alternative to glasses.

Inspect the lens. Before you place a lens in your eye, you need to check to see if it’s inverted or not. First, make sure you wash and dry your hands before you handle your lens. This will prevent any bacteria from being introduced. Next, put the lens on your finger so that it forms a cup. Bring your finger up to your eye level and look at the side of the lens. If it forms a “U” shape with its top edges flared out, your contact lens is inside out. If it forms a “U” without a flare, you’re good to go.

Make a routine. Your lenses are different, meaning the left and right lenses are meant to be put in your left and right eyes, respectively. (It’s really no different than your shoes. Think about it: You wouldn’t try to put your right shoe on your left foot, would you?)  To avoid putting the wrong lens in the wrong eye, make sure you start with the same lens and eye every time. This simple trick helps you avoid switching your left and right lenses.

Keep it clean. Again, it’s important you wash your hands properly. Do this with antimicrobial soap and follow up by thoroughly drying your hands. To prevent contaminating your lenses, avoid any soap that contains creams or oils.

Avoid damage. While it may be tempting to pinch a lens with your fingertips, try to avoid doing so. You can easily nick a lens with your fingernail and cause damage. Not only that, your nails are a good source of bacteria. For these reasons, it’s best to hold your lens in the palm of your hand.

 

Eat Your Way to Healthier Vision

It’s true that “you are what you eat,” even when it comes to your vision. By choosing foods that are full of powerful nutrients, such as omega-3 fatty acids, lutein, zinc as well as vitamin C and E, you can nourish your eyes with what they need to help prevent age-related eye problems.

Macular degeneration affects more than 13 million Americans, and approximately half of Americans over the age of 80 have cataracts. Simply by changing your diet, you can protect your eyes from these conditions. So, the next time you’re at the grocery store, try shopping around the perimeter of the store. This is where you’ll find produce and protein to not only properly fuel your body, but also your eyes.

Super Foods That Do Your Eyes Good
Carrots, Bell peppers, Broccoli, Brussels sprouts, Garlic, Turkey, Sweet potatoes, Spinach, Wild salmon, Sardines, Kale, Oranges, Eggs, Nuts and seeds

If you really want to pack a healthy punch, try some eye-healthy recipes. For instance, here’s an oatmeal recipe courtesy of the American Optometric Association that’s sure you start your day off right.

Creamy Orange-Cherry Oatmeal

Ingredients:
1 ½ cups DHA-fortified milk or soy milk
2/3 cup dried tart cherries
1 cup old fashioned oats
2 tablespoons orange juice concentrate
1 tablespoon chopped pecans (optional)

Directions:
1. In a medium saucepan, heat milk/soy milk and cherries on medium high, stirring occasionally to prevent burning. When simmering, add oats. Reduce heat and simmer uncovered until oats are cooked and liquid is absorbed, which takes approximately 7 minutes. Remove from heat.

2. Add orange juice concentrate and stir thoroughly. Pour into bowls and sprinkle with nuts, if desired. 
Maximize the vitamin C content by adding the orange juice after cooking. This oatmeal is so sweet, you won’t even need sugar!

Makes 2 servings.

Nutritional information (per serving): 417 Calories; 13% fat (6 g total, < 1 g saturated), 75% carbohydrate (78 g), 12% protein (12.5 g), 0 mg cholesterol, 7 g fiber, 26 mg vitamin C, 1 mg vitamin E, 136 mg sodium.

When Does Your Baby Need a Vision Appointment?

If you’ve welcomed a little one into your life, one of the greatest moments you’ll cherish is looking into their eyes for the first time. Not every baby makes eye contact, but there’s good reason for that. Much like walking or talking, the visual system of an infant takes some time to develop—in fact, in the first weeks after birth they don’t see much detail and only see in black and white plus shades of gray. While it takes several months for your child’s vision to develop, there are some steps you can take to ensure they have proper vision.

Once your baby is born, your doctor will quickly examine her eyes to rule out any serious problems. While such problems are rare, it’s vital to detect any issues right away in order to treat and minimize their impact on your child’s visual development.

During your child’s first few months, she will start to focus on objects that are 8 to 10 inches away from her face, which is generally the distance at which you keep your face from hers. This is also the period when eye-hand coordination starts to occur, as your baby will start to be able to track moving objects with her eyes and try to reach for them.

With important vision milestones such as these, the development of your baby’s eyesight will be checked during well baby visits. While you’ll make frequent visits to your baby’s doctor, it’s recommended that you also visit an optometrist after she has reached an age between six and 12 months for a more thorough eye examination. Generally, your baby will be tested for excessive or unequal amounts of nearsightness, farsightness, or astigmatism; eye movement ability; and eye health problems. Just like at birth, if any issues are found early on, it will be easier to deliver corrective treatment to your child.

If you need to schedule an appointment for your baby, please give us a call today!

Makeup Tips for Ladies Who Wear Glasses

Creating a good balance between your glasses and makeup can be quite the challenge. To help you hit the streets looking your best in your stylish specs, here are some makeup fundamentals you should know.

Stay neutral. You don’t want to compete with your fashionable frames, so stick to neutral colors for your eye makeup. Avoid cooler colors such as grey tones because they can leave you looking tired and dull. Instead, play up warm eye shadow tones for the most impact.

Keep it defined. Glasses can make your eyes appear smaller, so it’s essential to line your top lash line. And to maintain an even more polished look, make sure your brows are well groomed.

Punch it up. Opt for a couple coats of mascara instead of eye shadow and color your lips with a bright hue, such as a red, bright pink, or coral. With this quick and easy look, you’ll balance out your face with a modern flair.

Match your frames. Your eye liner should mimic the thickness of your frames. So, if you wear a thick, chunky pair, make sure your eyeliner follows suit.  

Add some glimmer. Your frames magnify your eyes, and you can use this to your advantage. Add a touch of shimmery eye shadow to your bottom lid, and you can subtly play up your look.

Conceal it well. Glasses can also enhance dark circles underneath your eyes, but using an under eye concealer will help make your eyes look bright and refreshed.

Curl those lashes. Not only will your eyes look bigger once you use an eyelash curler, but you’ll also prevent your lashes from touching your lenses.

Not All Sunglasses Are The Same

Who doesn’t love the outdoors on a gorgeous sun-filled day? If you spend a great deal of time outside, you’re likely at a higher risk for eye damage caused by UV rays. The good news is with the right eye protection, you can reduce your exposure to solar radiation so that it’s not an issue.

Most people are aware that getting too much sun is bad for your skin, but what they usually don’t know the same principle applies to their eyes. If your eyes are exposed to excessive amounts of UV radiation over a short period of time, you’re likely to experience a condition called photokeratitis, which in essence is an eye sunburn. Symptoms can include redness, a gritty sensation, extreme sensitivity to light, and excessive tearing. Photokeratitis is usually temporary and rarely causes permanent damage.

Serious conditions, such as cataracts or retina damage, are often caused by long-term exposure to UV radiation.

To protect your eyes, you need sunglasses, and not just any pair will do. The American Optometric Association recommends finding sunglasses that:

• Block 99 to 100 percent of both UV-A and UV-B radiation
• Screen out 75 to 90 percent of visible light
• Are perfectly matched in color and free of distortion and imperfection
• Have lenses that are gray for proper color recognition

Additionally, try wearing a wide-brimmed hat as well as wraparound shades for optimal protection from the sun. You’ll be doing your eyes a favor for years to come!

Are You Playing it Safe?

Spring is finally here, and more people are getting outdoors to participate in sports and recreation. With that, it only seems appropriate that the month of April is Sports Eye Safety month.

According to the American Academy of Ophthalmology, tens of thousands of sports and recreation-related eye injuries occur every year. This ranges from scratches on the surface of the eye to blinding injuries. Because your regular eyewear doesn’t offer protection from such incidents, you need protective eyewear that’s appropriate for your level of activity. By doing this, you can prevent up to 90 percent of serious eye injuries.

According to www.geteyesmart.org, the following will help protect your and your family’s vision during sports and outdoor recreation activities.

1. Youth that play sports should wear eye protection such as polycarbonate lenses or masks that meet the requirements of the American Society of Testing Materials, even if the league doesn’t require it.
   
   
2. People who wear contacts or glasses should also wear protective eyewear because contacts offer no protection and glasses are not sufficient protection (lenses may shatter when hit by a projectile).
   
   
3. To preserve the vision they have left, all functionally one-eyed athletes – those with one normal eye and the other eye with less than 20/40 vision, even when corrected with glasses or contacts, should wear appropriate eye protection for all sports.
   
   
4. Functionally one-eyed athletes and those who have had an eye injury or surgery should not participate in boxing or full-contact martial arts because of the high risk of additional serious injury that could lead to blindness.
   
   
5. For sports in which a facemask or helmet with an eye protector or shield must be worn, such as football and lacrosse, it is strongly recommended that functionally one-eyed athletes also wear sports goggles that conform to the requirements of ASTM F803.
   
   
6. Sports eye protection should be replaced when damaged or yellowed with age, as they may have become weakened and are no longer protective.

Presbyopia is a Part of Getting Older

As we age, our bodies change due to natural wear and tear. Our skin starts to wrinkle and sag, muscles begin to shrink and lose mass, and hair becomes grayer. Your visual acuity also begins to decline, and this typically happens after you reach the age of 40. This common condition is called presbyopia, which means “old eyes” in Latin.   

Because it’s an age-related change and not a disease, presbyopia can’t be prevented. However, living a healthy lifestyle that includes exercise and a well-balanced diet can help slow the process.

What causes presbyopia? The lenses of our eyes lose their flexibility, causing them to become weaker over time. This makes it difficult to focus on close objects. While the condition may seem to occur suddenly, it actually takes a few years for your lenses to become weak.   

Common symptoms. If you hold reading materials at arm’s length, you might have presbyopia. Additional signs include blurred vision when you’re reading at a normal distance as well as eye strain with headaches when you work on things up close.

Simple solutions. To help you see clearly and comfortably, an optometrist can prescribe reading glasses, bifocals, trifocals, or contact lenses to compensate for presbyopia. You may only need to use glasses to complete up close work, such as reading, but you might also find it beneficial to use vision correction at all times.

As with any changing condition, presbyopia requires periodic monitoring. An annual visit to our office will ensure that you’re equipped with the best corrective vision solution for your needs.

If you think you might have presbyopia or you’re due for another age-related vision check, don’t hesitate to contact us today!

The Skinny on Eye Color Genes

You may have learned in biology class that your eye color is determined by the genes you inherited. (Genes are essentially “sets of recipes” that are provided in our DNA.) Along with that, you were probably taught about dominant and recessive genes. For eyes, the dominant gene for the color brown always won over the recessive gene for blue eyes. Unfortunately, that information isn’t right. In the past decade, scientists have discovered the influence of genes on eye color is a little more complicated.

A number of different factors define a person’s eye color, the most important of which is eight different color-related genes. The genes control how much melanin, or color pigment, exists in the iris of your eyes. For instance, a gene called OCA2 controls almost 75 percent of the blue-brown color spectrum. Other genes can overrule OCA2, but that rarely happens. This can explain why green eyes are a rarity throughout the world.

What defines human eye color is the amount of light that reflects off the iris, which is a muscular structure that controls how much light enters the eye. So, a person with a high level of melanin pigment in their iris will have brown eyes. Those with a moderate level of iris melanin will have green or hazel eyes, while someone with a low amount will have blue eyes.

There’s a wide range of eye color among people, and many of them don’t fall neatly into the categories of brown, hazel, blue, and green eyes. That is the result of the many ways in which the eight eye color genes can affect one another. Individuals with eye colors other than brown have a European descent, and those who have brown eyes are typically from African and Asian populations. Interestingly, a group of researchers found in 2008 that the gene associated with blue eyes only appeared in the last 6,000 to 10,000 years in Europeans.

Traumatic Brain Injuries & Vision

It’s not uncommon for someone who experiences a traumatic brain injury (TBI) to develop visual problems. A TBI can be caused by a bump, blow, or jolt to the head or a penetrating head injury that disrupts the normal function of the brain. TBIs can range in severity from mild to severe—in fact, the CDC says that most TBIs that occur in the United States are mild and more commonly known as concussions.

Each year, TBIs contribute to a substantial number of disability cases. A short- or long-term loss in vision quality is just one of the many symptoms an individual may experience. A TBI can also impact attention and memory, coordination and balance, hearing, perception, and touch. Personality changes, aggressive behavior, poor impulse control, and mood disorders, such as depression and anxiety, can also appear after a TBI.  

In addition to cognitive, physical, or other sensory impairments, here are some common visual problems that can result from a brain injury:

• Blurred vision
• Sensitivity to light and glare
• Reading difficulties
• Headaches associated with visual tasks
• Frequent bumping into objects, especially with one side of your body
• Double vision
• Aching eyes
• Reduction or loss of visual field
• Difficulty with eye movements
• Unable to maintain eye contact
• Dizziness/vertigo
• Dry eyes
• Visual hallucinations

Treatments such as vision rehabilitation, corrective lenses, or light therapy can be used to successfully reduce or eliminate vision impairments caused by TBIs. Brain injury or not, if you experience any of the symptoms listed above, give us a call. We can quickly pinpoint any issues with a comprehensive eye exam.  

Prepping for Your Next Eye Appointment

Whether you’re visiting our office for the first time or you’ve been a patient for years, you can do a little homework to be better prepared for your next appointment. To identify some items you should discuss during your next visit, consider the following:

What daily activities impact your eyes? For instance, do you spend lots of time in front of a computer screen or do you find yourself mostly outdoors? Those who frequently use digital devices might experience eye strain while those who work outside are more susceptible to eye sunburns or cancer caused by UV light. If you tell us about the conditions that impact your vision, such as the examples listed here, we can better address your personal eye health.

Have you noticed a change in your eye sight? Even if you answered “no,” your vision can gradually decline without your knowledge. As you age, the sharpness of your visual acuity declines. By the time you reach 40 years old, it’s common to experience a loss of near focusing abilities. (This is called presbyopia.) The best way to keep on top of your vision is to schedule a checkup every year or two.

Will you need more than one pair of glasses? If you need to wear glasses in a variety of settings, it’s best to get more than one pair to fit your different needs. It wouldn’t make sense to wear the same pair while driving at night, working on a construction site, or hitting the bike trails. We will help you choose eyewear with features, such as glare protection, impact-rated lenses, or sports eyewear, to match your lifestyle activities.

Why St. Patrick’s Day is an Eye Healthy Holiday

When you think of St. Patrick’s Day, you may think of leprechauns, corned beef and cabbage, and a pint of Guinness. But did you know that St. Patrick’s Day is also an opportune time to incorporate some eye healthy foods into your diet?

Why? Greens!!!! Leafy greens provide some of the most essential nutrients your eyes need—and what better day to consume these greens than the most Irish of holidays? So, without further ado, here are some of my top recommendations for eye healthy superfoods that will get your family in the St. Patrick’s Day spirit.

• Cabbage. You can enjoy one of the most popular dishes of the holiday, corned beef and cabbage, and reap the benefits to your eye health as well. Cabbage comes in a variety of colors (of the most common is green) and it’s rich in Vitamin A, which is essential to your retinal health.
• Kale, broccoli, or spinach. These green veggies are packed with lutein and zeaxanthin, two nutrients that protect the retina against oxidative damage and decrease the risk for macular degeneration.
• Green tea. I’m not saying you can’t enjoy a good old-fashioned green beer too, but green tea is a wonderful drink with numerous health benefits, including the protection it provides against diseases like cataracts.

 

There are other ways to incorporate eye health into your diet. Salmon, for example, is a food rich in DHA, which helps prevent macular degeneration. Consider a recipe like this Irish-roasted salmon to appease the masses.

http://www.food.com/recipe/irish-roasted-salmon-169936

Do you have an eye-healthy Irish recipe you love? Share it in the comments below!

Work-Related Eye Trauma: Know Your Risks

You may know that there are many things that can hurt your vision—smoking, poor nutrition, computer eye strain…but did you know that your day job could create an even bigger risk to your overall eye health than you realize?

Over 300,000 Americans suffer eye injuries on the job every day without realizing the damage that occurred could be long-term. While many companies do a huge part by training their employees on eye safety if they are in high-risk positions, it’s also important to take personal responsibility for your eye safety. Here are some common ways workers injure their eyes:

• Burns from flying sparks
• Chemical burns
• Welding fumes
• Flying particles
• Flying objects like metal or glass
• Tools
• Machine operator error

 

Even if you don’t work in a labor-intensive environment, you still may be exposed to a combination of these dangers. Be smart about your situation and protect your eyes with OSHA-compliant eye safety wear whenever possible. While it may not protect you from all injury, it can help reduce your risk and minimize any harm that may occur.  

Have you ever suffered an on-the-job eye injury? Share your experience in the comments below.

March is Save Your Vision Month

Did you know that more than 20 million Americans have severe vision loss? We know you can’t completely prevent all causes of vision loss and eye disease, but there are several things everyone can do to maintain healthy eyes and reduce their chances of vision loss in the future.

Because March is Save Your Vision Month, I’d like to talk about some of the most important things you can do to encourage strong, healthy eyesight for many years to come:

Wear your sunglasses. You can delay the development of cataracts and prevent retinal damage by wearing UV blocking sunglasses regularly when you’re outside or in your car. Make sure your sunglasses block 100% of both UV-A and UV-B rays.

Don’t Smoke. One of the best things you can do for your eyes is to steer clear of tobacco smoke. Studies show that people who smoke or who have smoked have a greater chance of developing age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts, in addition to many other adverse health issues.

Get your eyes checked regularly. Even if you have no obvious vision or eye-related issues, you should get your eyes checked so that we can create a baseline and catch any early signs of disease.

Wear eye protection. Every year, we see an estimated 2.5 million eye injuries each year in the U.S. It’s very important to actively prevent eye injuries by wearing proper eye protection during sports activities such as hockey and baseball and home projects such as home repairs, gardening, and cleaning.

Eat right. You’ve probably heard that eating carrots will help your vision. There’s definitely some truth to that, but you should also try to eat a variety of other vegetables and fruits on a regular basis. Vitamin deficiency can impair retinal function, and studies have found that people who ate more food containing antioxidants (see my blog post from last week to learn more) were less likely to develop early and advanced AMD.

Antioxidants and your eyes

Antioxidants are nutrients that defend cells from damage caused by molecules known as free radicals. Too many free radicals can cause eye health issues, including advanced age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Antioxidants help reduce the formation of free radicals and help protect and repair cells damaged by them.

We recommend a diet high in antioxidants, plus vitamin and mineral supplements, for all people with age-related macular degeneration (AMD). Some common antioxidants include vitamin A, vitamin C, vitamin E, zinc, and selenium. You’ll usually find them in colorful fruits and vegetables, especially those with purple, blue, red, orange, and yellow hues.

What are your favorite antioxidant-rich foods? Feel free to share in the comments below!

Do contact lenses bother your eyes?

It’s not uncommon for people to complain that their contact lenses are uncomfortable. But whether you wear them every day or just occasionally, you shouldn’t feel discomfort or irritation when you wear your contact lenses. Let’s review some things you can do to ensure a great experience with your contact lenses every time you wear them.

Replace your lenses on schedule.
You should replace your lenses as often as suggested, even if you don’t wear them every day. Wearing lenses beyond their recommended use is a common reason for eye irritation, and it also increases your risk of developing serious eye infections.

Clean your lenses well.
There are several different systems for keeping your lenses clean. Many people use a multipurpose solution for cleaning, rinsing, disinfecting, and storing their contact lenses each day. While some solutions are marketed as “no-rub” solutions, we still find that rubbing your contacts thoroughly during the cleaning process increases comfort and better removes any film or debris. Always wash your hands before removing or inserting your contacts. If you use a lotion or moisturizer, wait until after you’re done handling your contacts, as residue from the lotion can stick to the contacts.

Don’t use water.
If you run out of contact lens solution, it’s tempting to use water as a backup for cleaning and storage. Don’t do it! Not only will it increase your discomfort, water often has microbes that can introduce infections and further irritate your eyes.

No saliva, either!
Like water, it’s tempting to use your own saliva when you don’t have solution with you to rinse and clean your contacts. But using saliva will also increase your risk of irritation and infection.

When they are really uncomfortable…
If your contact lenses are really uncomfortable, there may be some dust or other debris  clinging to your contacts and irritating your eyes. Remove your contacts and clean them thoroughly, letting your eyes rest before placing the lenses back in your eyes. Always be sure your contacts aren’t “inside out,” as they won’t feel good if they’re not inserted the right way. If they still don’t feel good, try giving your eyes more of a break by wearing glasses instead of contacts for a while. Allow your contacts to soak, or throw them out and start with a fresh pair.

Never let your eyes bother you for very long before seeing your eye doctor. You might have an allergy or eye infection that should be treated. We might be able to recommend another type of contact lens or cleaning and storage solution. Regardless, we’ll help identify the underlying reason for discomfort so that you can get back to enjoying clear and comfortable vision every day!

Is Eye Twitching Serious?

If you’ve ever been short on sleep or greatly-stressed, you might have also experienced repetitive, uncontrollable eye spasms known as blepharospasm, or eye twitching.

While it can be annoying, eye twitching is usually fairly painless and harmless, indicating nothing more than increased fatigue, stress, or caffeine intake. Once these issues are resolved, the eye twitching usually disappears.

In rarer cases, eye twitching will become chronic, affecting the individual’s quality of life or progressing to the point of severe vision impairment.

If an eye twitch doesn’t resolve itself within a few days, or your eye twitch is strong enough to close the entire eye or affect other areas of your face, you should make an appointment to be seen at our office to determine the underlying cause and begin any possible treatments.

Smart Contact Lenses?

The latest in vision technology will no longer need to be put over the eyes—it's becoming part of the eyes. With new contact lenses, able to see magnitudes further than normal glasses, now being experimented with, it's become obvious that vision science has taken a leap forward. First, it was called Google Glass. Now it's something else entirely.

They're called smart contact lenses, and together with a set of glasses inserted over them, they become a quick—and cool—way to view your daily apps. Never mind the ability to see farther than a human has seen before with ordinary lenses. You're also able to process what you see through your social filter, all in the blink of an eye.

The question now: when? Companies currently working on smart lenses hope they will one day replace smart phones as the device of choice. A bold plan to be sure, but one that is becoming increasingly possible.

As vision technology extends into surprising new frontiers, you can count on us to keep your vision and eye health our top priority!

What Causes “Double Vision”?

One eye health symptom we encounter is what we call “double vision,” or diplopia. While some causes of double vision are relatively insignificant, others are serious and should receive immediate medical attention.

Here are some of the common causes of double vision:

• Lens Problems. The most common lens problem that causes double vision is known Cataracts. Cataracts can affect and distort vision in one or both eyes, and are treatable with minor surgery.
• Corneal Problems. It’s common for double vision caused by an issue with the cornea to affect just one of your eyes. Corneal problems include corneal scars, dry corneas, and corneal infections.
• Muscle Problems.   A weak eye muscles can distort vision, as the week eye can no longer move smoothly with the healthy eye. Week eye muscles are seen in people with certain autoimmune illnesses and thyroid conditions.
• Nerve Problems. Conditions such as multiple sclerosis and diabetes can damage to the nerves that control the eye muscles, leading to double vision.
• Brain Problems. The brain connects directly to nerves that control the eyes, and visual processing happens in the brain. Consequently, there are a number of brain problems that can lead to double vision, including strokes, brain tumors, migraines, brain trauma, and aneurysms.

Anytime someone reports having double vision, it’s important that we see them in the office to determine the cause and address the underlying reason for it!