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.