What are conditions that can affect a child’s vision and the potential for learning? What is Amblyopia? What is Strabismus? What about Convergence Insufficiency? These are serious conditions of a child’s eye that need addressed. Did you know that 80% of learning comes through vision? The proverb that states, ”A picture is worth a thousand words” is true! But what if a child cannot visually see or process those words?

Let’s explore Amblyopia , or “lazy eye”. It affects 3-5% of the population, enough that the federal government funded children’s yearly eye exams into the Accountable Care Act or ObamaCare health initiative. Amblyopia occurs when the anatomical structure of the eye is normal, but the “brain -eye connection” is malfunctioning. In other words, it is like plugging in your computer to the outlet and the power never gets to the computer all the way.

Amblyopia need to be caught early in life, in fact if it is not caught and treated early (before age 8) it can lead to permanent vision impairment. Correction with glasses or […]

The American Academy of Ophthalmology has recommendations for how often adults need to get their eyes examined and those recommendations vary according to the level of risk you have for eye disease.

For people who are not at elevated risk the recommendations are:

• Baseline eye exam at age 40.
• Ages 40-54 every 2-4 years.
• Ages 55-64 every 1-3 years.
• Ages 65 and older every 1-2 years.

Those recommendations are just for people who have NO added risk factors. If you are diabetic or have a family history of certain eye diseases then you need exams more frequently.  

As you can see, the guidelines recommend more frequent exams as you get older. Here are the Top 4 reasons why you need your eyes examined more frequently as you get older:

1. Glaucoma

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States. It has no symptoms when it begins and the only way to detect glaucoma is through a thorough eye exam. Glaucoma gets more and more common as you get older. […]

I recently received a text from an out-of-state relative, asking if he should have his college-age daughter put in progressive lenses to help delay progression of her nearsightedness.

I told them that there wasn’t good evidence that doing that would help, and since progressive lenses generally cost about three times as much as single-vision lenses that he shouldn’t do it.

The optometrist they were seeing at the time insisted I was wrong and strongly encouraged them to do it. Included in that exchange was a comment by their optometrist that I should stick to surgery and let her handle refractions!!

Based on that exchange I decided to do some homework and make sure I wasn’t missing something. There have been multiple interventions tested over the years to help slow the progression of nearsightedness (myopia).  Some have worked, some have not. Some that have worked have side effects that limit their usefulness. We will try and delve into several of these here.

Progressive Lenses

Let’s start with the intervention that got me into this review.

There have […]

1. Vision is so important to humans that almost half of your brain’s capacity is dedicated to visual perception.

2. The most active muscles in your body are the muscles that move your eyes.

3. The surface tissue of your cornea (the epithelium) is one of the quickest-healing tissues in your body. The entire corneal surface can turn over every 7 days.

4. Your eyes can get sunburned. It is called photokeratitis and it can make the corneal epithelium slough off just like your skin peels after a sunburn.

5. Ommatophobia is the fear of eyes.

6. You blink on average about 15 to 20 times per minute. That blink rate may decrease by 50% when you are doing a visually demanding task like reading or working on a computer – and that’s one reason those tasks can lead to more dry-eye symptoms.

7. Your retinas see the world upside down, but your brain flips the image around for you.

8. If you are farsighted (hyperopia) your eye is short, and if you are shortsighted (myopia) […]

Just like adults, children need to have their eyes examined. This begins at birth and continues into adulthood.

Following are my recommendations for when a child needs to be screened, and what is looked for at each stage.

A child’s first eye exam should be done either right at or shortly after birth. This is especially true for children who were born premature and a have very low birth weight and may need to be given oxygen. This is mainly done to screen for a disease of the retina called retinopathy of prematurity (ROP), in which the retina does not develop properly as a result of the child receiving high levels of oxygen. Although rarer today due to the levels being monitored more closely, it is still a concern for premature babies.

The next level of an eye exam that I would recommend would be at 6 months. At this stage, your pediatric eye doctor will check your child’s basic visual abilities by making them look at lights, respond to colors, and be able to follow […]

Sunglasses are more than just a fashion statement – they’re important protection from the hazards of UV light.

If you wear are sunglasses mostly for fashion that’s great, just make sure the lenses block UVA and UVB rays.

And if you don’t wear sunglasses, it’s time to start.

Here are your top 6 reasons for wearing sunglasses:

Preventing Skin Cancer

The strongest evidence that sunglasses provide a medical benefit is in preventing skin cancer on your eyelids. UV light exposure from the sun is one of the strongest risk factors for the development of skin cancers.  

Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.

About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.

Your eyelids, especially the lower eyelids, are also susceptible to UV light and they do develop skin cancers somewhat frequently.

Many people who now regularly apply sunscreen to help protect them from UV light often don’t get that […]

A recent study published in JAMA Ophthalmology has demonstrated in older women a correlation between having cataract surgery and a decrease in death rate from all causes.

The data comes from a prospective longitudinal study called the Women’s Health Initiative. This study involved women 65 years or older and collected data from Jan. 1, 1993, until Dec. 31, 2015.

In the study, there were 74,044 women who had been identified with a cataract and within that group 41,735 had undergone cataract surgery during the study time period.

The results showed that of those in the group who had cataract surgery, the mortality – or death – rate was 1.52 deaths per 100 person years. That means that in any given year if you took 100 women who had cataract surgery about 1.52 died in that year. The mortality rate in the women who did not have cataract surgery was 2.56 deaths per 100 person years. Those numbers mean that women who had cataract surgery were 40% LESS LIKELY to die in any given year than […]

Have you ever wondered what happens to the visual system as we age? What does the term "second sight" mean? What is presbyopia? What are the eyes more susceptible to as the aging process occurs? What can be done to prevent certain aging factors of the eye? The answer lies in a theory known as apoptosis (no that's not the name of the latest pop artist).

Apoptosis is the pre-programmed life of every cell in our body. Most studies show that it's a function of our programmed DNA. It's the ability for cells to survive and thrive in the anatomical environment. The body's ability to withstand and thrive during the aging process depends on proper nutrition, good mental health, exercise, and adequate oxygen supply. That's why studies have shown smoking can shorten your life by a decade or more.

In regards to aging and the eye, there is a phenomina during the 6th to 7th decade of life called "second sight". This is simply progressive nearsightedness in older adults secondary to cataracts. Close to 50% of […]

It is safe to say that many people prefer shopping online to shopping in stores for many of their needs.

With technology constantly improving and evolving, people tend to take advantage of the convenience of shopping online. Whether it’s clothing, electronics, or even food, you can easily find almost everything you need on the Internet.

Eyeglasses, unfortunately, are no different. Many online shops have been popping up in recent years, offering people that same convenience. But what they don’t tell you is that it comes at a price, and this article’s purpose is to shine a light on the negatives of shopping online for eyeglasses.

Here are some important reasons to avoid the temptation of ordering glasses online.

1. Accuracy- Instead of saving the most important point for last, we will focus on the main reason that ordering eyeglass online is a bad idea first. Product accuracy is a huge reason that the online market has not completely taken off. Every person who needs eyeglasses needs to understand the process for how their prescription is obtained […]
   

You’ve been diagnosed with a cataract and you’ve been told you should have cataract surgery. The surgeon is also telling you that you should consider paying extra out of pocket it for it.

Where did this come from? Why should you have to pay out of pocket for cataract surgery? Shouldn’t your health insurance just cover it?

In trying to answer those questions, you will first need a little history of both cataract and refractive (correcting errors of refraction such as nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism) surgery.

Radial keratotomy (RK) was the first widely used refractive surgery for nearsightedness. It was invented in 1974 by Russian ophthalmologist Svyatoslav Fyodorov, and it was the primary refractive procedure done until the mid-1990s. Then it was surpassed by the laser procedure called PRK and then, eventually, LASIK; they are still the predominately pure refractive surgeries done today.

Cataract surgery has its origins all the way back to at least 800 BC in a procedure called couching. In this procedure, the cataract was pushed into the back of the eye with […]