Over the holidays, I fit my son into orthokeratology lenses, commonly referred to as Ortho-K or CRT (Corneal Refractive Therapy) lenses. These are rigid gas permeable contact lenses that are worn only at night while asleep. They reshape the cornea temporarily so that upon awakening, you have normal vision at all distances without the need for glasses or contact lenses! The effect lasts the entire day, even two days for those with lower prescriptions. Continue reading
Have you ever heard your parents or grandparents say, “I think my vision is getting worse, but it’s just because I’m old”? While there are age-related changes that occur in the eye, many are correctable or can be prevented with regular eye exams and early intervention. The most common cause of preventable vision loss in the world is cataracts. Cataracts are the gradual clouding of the lens inside the eye. This occurs to everyone with age, but can happen more rapidly due to certain medications, fluctuating blood sugar levels (diabetes), and also significant or extended exposure to UV light. Continue reading
Taking a quick glance through Google images reveals quite a few depictions of what vision is like with glaucoma. Usually a couple of kids or scenery is shown in the middle with darkness surrounding it, otherwise known as “tunnel vision.” While this may be jarring for some, it’s not entirely accurate until an individual reaches end stage glaucoma. What’s more frightening to me is that vision “loss” for the vast majority of glaucoma is just subtle peripheral blur well before dimming or darkness manifests. In fact, it’s so subtle that you would never notice it in everyday life. Continue reading
With the holidays fast approaching, shopping for toys is a past-time many parents are only too familiar with. Choosing the perfect gift for a child is a difficult task in itself, but what parents may forget to consider during the hustle and bustle of holiday shopping is the eye safety of certain toys for their children.
As you begin preparing your holiday dinner menus, make sure to add in a few foods that are rich in nutrients that keep your eyes and body healthy!
November is National Diabetes Awareness Month, so let’s take this opportunity to learn more about how diabetes can affect your vision and eye health. In the United States alone, approximately 29 million people have been diagnosed with some form of diabetes, making it one of the most common diseases in this country. Diabetes is a condition in which your blood sugar levels are too high. This increase causes damage throughout your body, but specifically affects your kidneys, lungs, and eyes. Continue reading
Last week, the American Academy of Pediatrics released new guidelines regarding screen time and electronic devices for children. Recognizing that not all screen time is harmful, they eliminated the recommendation of no screen time before the age of 2. The new guidelines state that video chatting is acceptable for those 18 months and younger. And for children between 18 months and 5 years old, an hour per day of high quality programming is acceptable, and best when an adult is actively watching, commenting on and reinforcing the programming. Of course, as children grow, the focus shifts to responsible use of electronic devices including time management, social media interactions and age appropriate content. These guidelines are not ground-breaking. It reinforces what we all know intuitively, that human interaction and adult guidance play the biggest roles in a child’s cognitive and social development. Continue reading
By now, most of the world’s population is aware of how pervasive digital devices are in how we work and entertain ourselves. In this week’s blog, I want to take this knowledge a few steps further to paint a picture of how we might all achieve visual comfort despite the challenges. Continue reading
Candy…check, decorations…check, costume…check, accessories…check! If your to do list looks like this you might be part of the 70 percent of Americans who will be celebrating Halloween this year. If you’re looking to put the final touches on the perfect costume by wearing cosmetic contact lenses, make sure you are aware of the risks. As much as you might want have the scariest costume use the following tips to avoid having a seriously scary complication from decorative contact lenses. Continue reading
It’s that time of year again, when the eyes are red, itchy and watery. Fall allergies may or may not affect the eyes. About 75 percent of people allergic to spring plants also have reactions to ragweed, the main culprit of fall allergies. Sometimes, fall allergies only affect the eyes while the nose/throat/chest/etc. remain unaffected. Let’s focus on eye allergies. Continue reading
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