Focus on Eye Care During November or Diabetes Awareness Month

Diabetes is becoming more and more prevalent in our country. Today, over 21 million Americans have Diabetes and it is estimated that one third of this population do not even know they have the condition. During the month of November, I am proud to spotlight the importance of frequent eye exams for individuals with Diabetes and those at risk for this disease.

Dilated eye exams at appropriate intervals are extremely important for individuals with Diabetes and those at risk for this disease due to the possibility of substantial vision loss with long term uncontrolled Diabetic eye disease. In these cases of advanced diabetic retinopathy, an individual may have irreversible vision loss or even total blindness as a result.  Beginning symptoms of diabetic retinopathy can present as what may seem like routine blurry vision or fluctuating vision and this is the reason yearly eye exams are so important as early as possible to prevent vision loss.

To avoid these complications to your eyes make sure to include your eye doctor in your team of healthcare professionals and to visit him/her regularly just as you would with your primary care physician and dentist. As a part of your diabetes management team, your eye doctor can often be your first line of detection for diabetes due to the findings of your annual dilated eye exam. Your eye doctor may also utilize advanced High Definition retinal photography in order to document the presence and progression of any diabetic changes to your eyes during each eye exam.

At my practice we are helping to contribute to a healthier patient population by meeting three specific objectives set by the American Optometric Association and their National Diabetes Month Campaign. These three vision objectives of the Healthy People 2010 campaign are: to increase the proportion of persons who have a dilated eye examination at appropriate intervals, reduce visual impairment due to diabetic retinopathy, and to increase vision rehabilitation.  If you are an individual with or at risk for diabetes please make sure to get a comprehensive eye examination each and every year.    

AN EYE INFECTION FROM DECORATIVE CONTACT LENSES COULD BE A VERY SCARY SIGHT THIS HALLOWEEN

Over the last few years you may have seen decorative contact lenses as a halloween costume accessory for some enthusiasts getting completely into character. However, with celebrities such as Lady Gaga routinely wearing them in her music videos, the popularity of these lenses is likely to hit an all time high this Halloween.

While these contacts may impress your friends or even win you a costume contest, it is important to know the risks involved in wearing contact lenses that aren’t approved for your eyes. Contact Lenses are medical devices that should not be worn without approval and a current prescription from an eye doctor.

These decorative contact lenses often have many pitfalls when they are worn or cared for incorrectly, or when they are worn by an individual that should not be wearing contact lenses at all.

These are some important basics of contact lens care to remember:
• Do not buy contacts without a doctor’s prescription. These are medical devices that fit your eye and if they do not fit properly or are the wrong material for your eyes then they can damage your eyes.
• Do not share lenses, wear them longer than the recommended replacement time, or sleep in contact lenses. Remember to wash your hands every time before handling lenses, change your contact lens case monthly, and always use the proper solution for your contact lenses.
• If your eyes are red, painful, creating mucus discharge, or if your vision is blurry make sure to contact your eye doctor as soon as possible.

Above all remember to be safe this Halloween season, and if your eye doctor has not approved your eyes for a special decorative lens – then it is not worth the risk, because you only get one pair of eyes.

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!

What is that floating spot in my vision?

If you have ever tried reading a book on a sunny clear day outside you may have seen a small speck float across your vision that is commonly referred to as a “Floater”. 

Floaters are small semi-transparent or cloudy particles that are suspended within the vitreous body of your eye. The vitreous body is the clear, jelly-like fluid that fills the inner portion of the eye.

Generally a few small floaters may be normal and are seen by many individuals at one time or another. These floaters often appear as specks of various shapes and sizes or similar to cobwebs in your vision. These floaters are often more apparent in your vision when in natural lighting and while staring at a constant background; such as when reading a book outside.

There are a few different causes for floaters. They may be small flecks of protein trapped during the formation of the eyes before birth that remain suspended in the clear fluid of the vitreous. Deterioration of the vitreous fluid may also cause floaters to develop. This deterioration is a normal part of the aging process, though this process can be brought on by certain eye diseases or injuries as well.

However, if you are experiencing the appearance of streaks of light in your vision this may be a sign of a vitreous or retinal detachment. If you experience any of these signs or symptoms please see your eye doctor for an eye exam. In a comprehensive eye examination, your eye doctor can examine the vitreous, retina and the other interior parts of the eye to determine the causes of the flashes and floaters that you see.  Your eye doctor may also choose to dilate your eyes or use advanced digital retinal photography to examine and document the health of your eyes in order to rule out any eye disease or deterioration related to floaters. 

Sports and Vision: Are Your Eyes Helping or Hurting Performance?

                We love our sports in Georgia and the warm weather can bring many opportunities to participate in new athletic endeavors.  While our love for sports will often lead us to buy the latest and greatest golf driver or baseball bat to help us hit a ball farther; we often may neglect our most important piece of equipment; our eyes.    

Having the correct eyeglasses/contact lenses prescription is paramount in this effort and prescription eyewear must be kept up to date in order to properly see during any athletic activity.  It is also important to know which eye is your dominant eye to determine how to line up objects in your field of vision. The dominant eye processes information faster and often sees more clearly than the non-dominant eye as well.  About 80% of the population is same side dominant; for example Right Handed and Right Eye Dominant while approximately 20% of the population is cross dominant (i.e. Right Handed and Left Eye Dominant). 

Knowing your ocular dominance is particularly helpful in side on sports such as baseball and golf where the athlete stands to the side of the ball as they hit it.  In this situation, an athlete who is cross dominant such as a left eye dominant right-handed batter/golfer is thought to have an advantage because the dominant eye is closer to the action and able to better visualize the ball as they setup and swing. 

                One simple test to find out your dominant eye is to focus on an object across the room such as a light switch. Then make a circle of space between your hands just large enough to see the light switch through your hands from a distance of about 12 feet.  Once you have the light switch in focus between your hands with both eyes open, close one eye and then the other.  The eye that can still see the light switch within the circle made by your hands is your dominant eye. 

After determining your dominant eye, this information can aid your ability to perform in your sport.  In baseball a right-handed batter that is right eye dominant may need to better position his head in order to get his right eye around and better see the ball out of the pitcher’s hand.  There are many applications to this knowledge and a good place to start is a comprehensive eye exam with your eye care professional.

LASIK: Pursue Life with New Confidence, Enthusiasm, and Ease Thanks to Laser Eye Surgery

 
This month I am privileged to have Dr. Jessica Bailey, Clinical Director at TLC Laser Eye Centers of Atlanta, as a guest Blogger.  She has extensive knowledge in the area of LASIK / Refractive Surgery and shares some important information every LASIK candidate should know in this blog. 

LASIK, or refractive eye surgery, is a highly successful vision-correcting medical procedure that is designed to reduce dependency of glasses and contact lenses. It is aimed to reduce vision problems such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.  These vision problems affect the eye’s ability to focus on images both near and far away. 

 

The cornea is the part of the eye the helps light focus an image onto the retina, which then sends the image to be interpreted by the brain. LASIK, which stands for Laser-Assisted In Situ Keratomileusis, utilizes either a laser or a mechanical blade called a microkeratome to create a hinged flap on the most superficial layer on the cornea. The most current technology utilizes bladeless laser technology for corneal flap formation. This is widely accepted in the medical community as the safest surgical way with minimal sight-threatening risk to obtain the quickest recovery following the procedure. After the flap is created, computer-controlled pulses of cool laser light are applied to the inner layers of the cornea.  The laser will make a ticking sound as it pulses and will reshape the eye to mimic the patient’s glasses or contact lens prescription. An eye-tracking device used during the procedure tracks eye movements up to 4,000 times per second for precise correction.

 

  LASIK is not for everyone. Potential LASIK candidates should be 18 years of age or older      and have stable vision.  It is necessary for eyes to be healthy overall, including no glaucoma, cataracts, severe suffering of dry eyes, or corneal disease/injury.  Candidates should not be pregnant, nursing or have certain active autoimmune conditions.

 

Be sure to talk to your optometrist for more information regarding LASIK eye surgery.  Your primary care optometrist is an excellent LASIK resource because he or she knows you and is familiar with your ocular history.  Often, your eye doctor can recommend a reputable LASIK provider who is fellowship trained in corneal surgery.  Be sure to ask your eye doctor about the role they will play throughout your LASIK surgery process.  Many LASIK centers provide complimentary consultations to evaluate your candidacy for surgery. Cost of surgery is often reflective of the experience of the surgeon, available technology, and safety standards. Check out http://www.edwardseyecare.com or http://www.lasik.com for more information regarding LASIK and refractive eye surgery. 

 



Children's Eye Exams:The Important Connection between Vision and Learning

It is that time of year when the activities of summer are keeping you so busy having fun that it is easy to forget the start of a new school year is just around the corner.  While summer is a great time to relax by engaging in various recreational activities and family vacations, it is also a great time to schedule exams for your children as they are on break from the busy school year.  As such, summer is a great time to get a comprehensive eye exam for your children in order to make sure they have optimal vision to aid their ability to learn.    

The majority of all we learn is attributable to the information we are able to process from the images we see.  Recent studies confirm this strong correlation between Vision and Learning as 80% of what a child learns is presented visually.  We know that reading is enhanced when our eyes are functioning properly, and many learning difficulties can be attributed to poor vision.  Unfortunately, the statistics show that only around 31% of children from ages 6 to 16 years old have an eye exam each year.  In addition, 70% of children under the age of six years old have never had an eye exam.  As a result of these infrequent or missed eye exams, one in four children will go back to school this year with an undiagnosed vision problem that could interfere with their ability to see and learn.

I encourage every parent to give their child the best opportunity to learn this school year by ensuring they have proper visual function.  A back to school eye exam from your eye care professional can help make sure that your child has the best opportunity to succeed and give parents piece of mind before the new school year even begins.   

FAQ: Are Contact Lenses Right for You?

Do patients experience discomfort or pain when using contact lenses? Most first time wearers are surprised when they experience how comfortable properly fit contact lenses feel in their eyes. I recommend a trial period for first time contact lens wearers and these patients will often comment that after a few days of this initial adjustment period with a properly fit contact lens they no longer even feel the contact lenses in their eyes. Can I wear contacts when I participate in sports? Absolutely, competitors in every area of athletics have discovered the advantages of wearing contact lenses. Unlike eyeglasses, contacts don't steam up from perspiration, don't smudge and don't become foggy when you transition from cold to warm temperatures. They provide distortion free depth perception and allow you to appreciate full peripheral vision. Properly fit contacts stay on your eyes, even during strenuous exercise. Can I wear soft contact lenses if I have astigmatism? Yes. Patients with astigmatism can wear a special type of soft contact lens called a toric lens that corrects astigmatism. Patients with a large amount of astigmatism may also benefit from wearing a specialty contact lens such as a rigid gas permeable contact lens or a synergeyes hybrid contact lens (a contact lens with a rigid center and soft surrounding area). I currently wear reading glasses over my contact lenses in order to read. Is there an alternative so I don't have to wear glasses at all? Yes. Multifocal contact lenses are available both in the rigid gas permeable material as well as the soft lens material. It offers the best of both worlds allowing patients good vision both close up and in the distance with no dependence on reading glasses. Monovision is another option for contact lens wearers that want to avoid reading glasses - where one eye is corrected for viewing distant objects (usually the dominant eye) and the other eye (usually the non-dominant eye) is corrected for reading and close work. If my disposable contact lenses are still comfortable beyond their replacement period, can I continue to wear the same pair? No. In order to maintain optimal eye health, it is important to adhere to the proper wearing schedule prescribed by your eye care professional. Lipid and protein deposits can accumulate on the contact lens over time, leading to chronic irritation. The main advantage of wearing disposable lenses is that you are able to put a fresh new pair of contact lenses in your eyes at a regularly scheduled interval - this leads to healthier lens wear and the most optimal vision possible.