Category: Eye Resources

If you live an active lifestyle, wearing prescription glasses or contacts can, at times, feel like a nuisance. But you can’t go without them, right? Not necessarily. It’s time you learned about the benefits of LASIK!

The benefits of LASIK

As the most commonly performed laser eye surgery, LASIK reshapes your cornea to allow light that enters the eye to focus on the retina for better vision. The surgery usually takes about 15 minutes for both eyes, can leave you walking out the door with your glasses left behind.

What to Expect 

Immediately after the procedure, you may feel a temporary burning or itching sensation that can cause blurry vision. These side effects are only temporary and should improve by the next morning. Always follow the care instructions set by your doctor in order to have a successful procedure. Although there are cases where you may still need to wear your prescription glasses or contact lenses, most people will achieve 20/20 vision or better after having LASIK. 

So are you the right candidate for LASIK?

Generally, there are a few things that you must consider before determining whether or not LASIK is right for you. 

• Your eyes must be healthy–if you have any condition that might affect how your eyes respond to surgery or heal afterward, you must wait until that condition is resolved. 
• Because LASIK reshapes your cornea, it’s also essential to determine whether or not your cornea is the right thickness to undergo this procedure. 
• Your prescription must be within certain limits; if your prescription is too high, it may not be wise to undergo LASIK. 

Because everyone’s needs and personal circumstances are different, talk to your doctor to see if he/she believes you’re a good fit for this procedure.

Want to learn more about LASIK? Give our office a call or ask our staff your questions at your next appointment. Our team is prepared to help you choose the right vision management options for your lifestyle. 

Today, Myopia presents itself at an earlier age in more children than in the past. Studies have shown that part of the increase in nearsightedness is because more people are doing work up close; this isn’t just a computer and increased screen time, though–reading for long periods can also impact your eyes. There are four options your eye doctor may use for myopia control in children.

Atropine Eye Drops

Myopia occurs when your eye is too long, or your cornea is too curved. The light that enters your eye has a harder time focusing the way it should, and this results in blurred vision. When you use atropine eye drops, you’re temporarily dilating your pupil, which relaxes your eyes’ focusing ability, making it easier to see. The recommended dosage is .01. At this dosage, side effects typically are not noticeable.

Multifocal Contacts

The primary use of multifocal contacts is to help achieve clear vision at all distances. According to studies, children who wore multifocal contacts had a 50% reduction in the advancement of Myopia compared to children who stuck with traditional soft contacts.

Multifocal Eyeglasses

Like multifocal contacts, multifocal eyeglasses intend to help you gain a clearer vision regardless of the distance. These glasses have two parts, one being the top, which allows you to see objects far away. The second part is on the bottom of your lenses and assists when you read. These glasses slow the progression of Myopia.

Orthokeratology

Orthokeratology is a treatment that uses a gas-permeable contact lens to reshape the corneal surface on your eye temporarily. A patient wears these lenses overnight, reshaping the front surface of the eye so vision is clear upon waking up. This treatment is temporary, and the effects of the overnight treatment will usually last throughout the day.

Do you want to take the next steps in ensuring your child has full potential regarding his/her vision? Contact our office today to ask our staff any questions you have about your child’s next appointment. 

Thanks to our busy lives, multiple hobbies, and all the activities in between, having multiple pairs of eyewear handy is a necessity. Even contact lens wearers should have alternative pairs of eyewear. But some of us still haven’t jumped on that bandwagon. If you’re still on the fence, here are a few reasons why it’s a great idea to have at least two pairs of eyewear:

Misplacement

We’ve all been there, searching for missing glasses just when we need them the most. An additional pair of eyewear can’t guarantee they won’t keep slipping through the cracks, but it will significantly reduce the chances of having to go without. Lost a contact lens and don’t have a replacement? Backup glasses can hold you over until your new contact lenses come in!

Style

Think about it: a night out on the town is going to call for more stylish eyewear than the amber-tinted lenses you wear at your computer desk. Funky frames may better showcase your personality, but a more neutral pair may be needed for professional situations. Having different styles of glasses removes this dilemma by giving you situation-specific options.

Protection

Chances are, your standard glasses aren’t going to adapt and darken in reaction to sunlight (unless you have photochromic lenses), so it only makes sense to invest in a pair of prescription sunglasses to protect your eyes. Polarized lenses are a good option, especially since the tint can be tailored to your specific sport or hobby.

Contact Lens Wearers

Plano sunwear is a must have for all contact lens users. Contact lenses do not protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun. We recommend plano sunwear that blocks 100% of UV rays for anyone who wears contacts.

Schedule an appointment with our office if you’re interested in investing in a second pair of glasses! We will help you find the best frames and lenses for your lifestyle!

Playing with a toy stimulates a child’s vision at a young age and grows their imagination as they get older. As a parent, it is important to consider toy eye safety before purchasing for the children in your life. Typically, toys are deemed unsafe because they are not age-appropriate for the child. Here are some common toy-related injuries and tips for choosing eye safe toys!

Toy-Related Eye Injuries

Each year more than a quarter of a million children were seen in emergency rooms due to toy-related injuries. Nearly half of these injuries were to the head and face. In a survey conducted by AllAboutVision.com, 41% of parents say they ‘rarely’ or ‘never’ considered eye safety when choosing toys. When asked if any of the toys their children own could cause harm to their eyes 54% of parents responded ‘definitely,’ and 22% said ‘possibly.’

We encourage you to consider eye safety everytime you purchase a toy. Toys that pose a higher risk for eye injuries include:

• Toy Guns
• Water Balloon Launchers
• Toy Fishing Poles
• Toy Wands, Swords, Sabers
• Aerosol String
• Laser Pointers and Bright Flashlights

Tips for Choosing Eye Safe Toys

Anytime you are purchasing toys for someone else’s child, be sure to discuss with the parent if the toy sounds fitting for their child. Parent’s know the maturity and personality of their child which plays a huge factor into whether a toy would be suitable or not suitable for their child. Check the recommended age range for the toy. This is usually a good way to determine the safety of the toy. However, don’t be afraid to trust your gut and use your common sense to assess the safety of a toy! We also recommend shopping in a store rather than online. When shopping in a store, you can see the features of the toy and make better judgments to the safety of the toy.

Toy eye safety is an important consideration for all parents. If you have more questions please reach out to our office, we want to help you protect your child’s eyes.

Screen time is the amount of time a person spends staring at digital displays including computers, tablets, smartphones, and TVs. In our modern and technology-focused world children are spending time on digital displays for educational and recreational purposes. Children who spend several hours on digital devices are at risk of developing vision-related problems.

Average Time Children Spend On Digital Devices

According to the Vision Council, 72% of American parents report their children regularly spend more than two hours on screens per day. It is likely that children spend significantly more time on screens than their parents think. Common Sense Media reports that children under age eight spend more than two hours a day with screen media. For 8 to 10-year-olds screen time triples to six hours per day. Kids in middle school and high school spend up to nine hours per day looking at digital displays.

Risks of Screen Time

Too much screen time can be dangerous for anyone’s eyes, children included. Screens emit a broad spectrum of visible light. While most of these light rays are harmless, blue light is a high-energy visible light that can cause damage to your eyes. Blue light has shorter wavelengths and higher energy causing harm to the retina over time. Overexposure to blue light can cause:

• Difficulty sleeping
• Headaches
• Neck/shoulder pain
• Eye strain
• Reduced attention span
• Poor behavior
• Irritability

Computer Vision Syndrome

Computer vision syndrome is a condition caused by visual stress. Symptoms include tired eyes, dry eyes, headache, and fatigue.

Unhealthy Posture

Your body naturally slouches inwards when on digital devices. Your back and shoulders round, your head tilts back, and your chin justs forward. This reaction to digital devices is called “turtling” and can cause neck, back, and shoulder pain.

How To Protect Your Child’s Eyes

It is clear digital devices will not be going away anytime soon. Therefore it is essential to ensure you are doing everything you can to protect your children’s eyes from digital screens. One way you can do this is by limiting screen time for your children while at home. You can also apply blue light filters or download blue light filtering apps to all digital devices. If your child wears prescription glasses, ask us about add blue light blocking to their lenses during your next appointment.

Nighttime Use

The largest source of blue light is our sun, which tells our brain when to be awake or sleep. The high use of digital devices emitting blue light may disrupt your natural circadian rhythm (sleep cycle) by miscommunicating the time of day and if you should be awake or asleep. Stop digital device time two hours before usual bedtime to ensure your child’s sleep schedule affected by blue light.

Do you have more questions about screen time and blue light? Stop by our office or give our office a call and we would be happy to answer your questions!

Whether you’re playing or watching the game, one incident everyone dreads is an injury. Injuries can prevent players from finishing the game, or worse, end an athletic career. Protective sports eyewear helps to prevent injuries and allows players to continue to play their sport. In today’s world, many sports facilities and fitness clubs require athletes to wear proper eye gear in order to minimize injury.

Why is it important to wear protective eyewear?

Emergency rooms treat more than 40,000 sports-related eye injuries every year, and up to 90 percent of those injuries could have been prevented by using protective eyewear. Any sport in which a ball, racquet, or other flying object is present poses a risk for injury. However, injuries can also result from close contact with others in the way of pokes or jabs with fingers and elbows. Protective eyewear is important because it keeps your eyes safe from a variety of injuries. As an additional bonus, the sharper your vision, the better you will perform in your sport of choice.

Features to look for:

• Various sizes and shapes designed to fit the user.
• Customized to best suit the sport including reflective lenses, space for headgear, and wrap around bands.
• User’s prescription can be added to the lenses, which allows for better clarity during the game and increased overall performance.
• Lenses are often made of polycarbonate, an impact-resistant material, to protect eyes from high speed and high impact objects.
• Sports frames are also made of impact resistant material and often come with rubber padding where the frame comes in contact with the head or nose.
• Wraparound sports glasses help to ensure the eyewear remains in place for the duration of a sporting event and prevents dust or debris from entering through the sides of the glasses.

Get the Facts

Experts agree sports-related eye injuries can be prevented by wearing protective eyewear. Parents and coaches should ensure athletes are wearing safety glasses during sporting events, especially considering 43 percent of all sports-related eye injuries occur in children younger than age 15. Regular eyeglasses are not safe to use as protective sports eyewear because they do not have impact resistance and could shatter or break upon impact.  

It is imperative that protective eyewear properly fits the user. Resist the urge to buy children’s eyewear with “room to grow.” Purchasing protective eyewear too large for the user could cause eyewear to be less effective and increase the risk of injury. Additionally, be sure the user has not outgrown protective goggles as this increases the risk of injury as well.  

Sports using Protective Eyewear

• Badminton: sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
• Baseball/softball: batting and baserunning- helmet with polycarbonate face shield. Fielding- sports goggles or sports sunglasses with shatterproof lenses and head strap
• Basketball: wraparound sports goggles
• Bicycling: performance sunglasses with anti-fog and anti-scratch lenses
• Fencing: full face mask made of rigid metal
• Field hockey: all players- sports goggles with a head strap. Goalies- full helmets and face masks
• Fishing: polarized sunglasses
• Football: polycarbonate shield attached to a helmet
• Hunting and shooting: polarized shatter resistant shooting glasses
• Ice hockey: full face helmet
• Lacrosse: form fitting and padded face mask
• Paintball: full face helmet
• Racquetball: sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
• Skiing and snowboarding: ski goggles or wraparound polarized sunglasses with mirror coated lenses
• Soccer: sports goggles
• Squash/Tennis: sports goggles with wraparound frame
• Swimming and diving: swim goggles and diving masks
• Volleyball: sports goggles or sunglasses
• Water Polo: swim goggles with polycarbonate lenses

Have you ever been tempted to buy cheap glasses you see online or the reading glasses you found at a discount store? They look just as good as the prescription eyeglasses you paid full price for, right?

The hard truth is they are not the same as the high-quality prescription eyewear provided by our office. Unreliable eyeglasses are more likely to break, scratch, and discolor over time. Your goal should be to buy glasses that will last and will not need frequent replacement. The cost of replacing cheap glasses can add up to the same cost as purchasing a more expensive, quality pair, originally.

Know what you lose

When comparing costs, there is always a compromise to be made. One of the biggest elements lost when buying cheap eyeglasses is individual care. Opticians recommend eyewear based on your daily routine, provide professional fittings, and ensure the quality of your eyewear is examined.

Same top quality?

Online glasses retailers often state that they offer the “same top quality” as eyecare practices. How do you know what their definition or range of top quality is? Cheap price often means cheaper materials.

Try before you buy

Usually, when buying glasses from an online retailer, you sacrifice the opportunity to try the glasses on and see how they fit your face. A virtual try-on does not allow for an accurate representation of how glasses look and fit on your face.

You cannot receive a proper fitting

If you choose to purchase eyeglasses from an online supplier, you forfeit a proper fitting. As a result, you may purchase a pair of glasses that are too tight or loose for your face.

Cheap frames

A downside to cheaper frames is they are more likely to cause skin irritation. Cheaper metal frames can discolor your skin or even cause a skin rash due to allergy. With prolonged wear, cheap plastic frames will discolor in sunlight and the smooth finish will diminish.

Durability

Another inevitable loss with cheaper eyeglasses is durability. Frames made with inexpensive materials are not designed to withstand extended use as well as eyeglasses sold by eye practitioners are able to.

Reading glasses

A wide-spread myth: all reading glasses are the same whether you purchase them at a discount store or at an eye practitioner. The truth is, your eye practitioner is able to customize the lenses to fit your exact eye and lifestyle needs. Read more about progressive lenses available at our office here.

Sunglasses lose UV protection

It’s tempting to buy cheap sunglasses because you are worried you might misplace or scratch them. However, it is crucial to protect your eyes from UV radiation damage. Don’t give up 100% UV protection for a cheap sticker price.