The American Optometric Association 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.
| Patient age (years) | Asymptomatic/low risk | At-risk |
| 19 through 40 | At least every two years | At least annually, or as recommended |
| 65 and older | Annually | At least annually or as recommended |
As you can […]
If you were to do a Google news search for sports-related eye injuries today, chances are you'd find multiple recent stories about some pretty scary eye injuries. Whether they are professionals, high school or college athletes, or kids in community sports programs, no one is immune to the increased danger sports brings to the eyes.
Here are some facts about sports-related eye injuries:
Protective eyewear includes safety glasses and goggles, safety shields, and eye guards designed for individual sports.
Protective eyewear lenses are made of polycarbonate or Trivex.
Ordinary prescription […]
We sometimes get asked, "Why do I need an eye exam when I can see great?"
An eye exam doesn't just check your visual acuity–we are also looking for a number of treatable eye diseases that have few or no visual symptoms in their early stages. In fact, the three leading causes of legal blindness in the United States all start with almost no visual symptoms detectable by the person with the disease. These three diseases are macular degeneration, glaucoma, and diabetic retinopathy. Each of these diseases gets more prevalent as people age. That is why regular eye exams are recommended to become more frequent as adults get older.
Macular Degeneration: The leading cause of legal blindness in the United States is a treatable–but not curable–disease. Early detection and treatment can significantly improve the long-term outcome. In the earliest stages, often when people are unaware that they have a problem, treating the disease with a very specific vitamin regimen called AREDS 2 can help. These vitamins have been shown […]
Not everyone understands the importance of sunglasses when the weather turns cold.
Polarized sunglasses are usually associated with Summer, but in some ways it is even more important to wear protective glasses during the Winter.
It’s getting to be that time of year when the sun sits at a much different angle, and its rays impact our eyes and skin at a lower position. This translates to an increase in the exposure of harmful UV rays, especially if we are not wearing the proper sunglasses as protection.
Polarized sunglasses, which are much different than the older dye-tinted lenses, are both anti-reflective and UV resistant. A good-quality polarized sunglass lens will protect you from the entire UV spectrum. This not only preserves your vision, but it also protects the skin around the eyes, which is thought to have a much higher rate of susceptibility to skin cancer.
Snow poses another issue that can be countered by polarized sunglasses.
Snow on the ground tends to act as a mirror because of its white reflective surface and this reflection can become a hindrance while […]
Choroidal nevus is the fancy term for a freckle in the back of the eye.
This lesion arises from a collection of cells that make pigment in the choroid, which lines the back of the retina and supplies the retina with nutrients. These choroidal nevi (plural of nevus) are usually grayish in color and develop in about 5-10% of the adult population. They are usually asymptomatic and detected during a routine dilated eye exam.
Just like any freckle on our body, we should monitor it for any change in size or growth. This is usually done with a photograph of the nevus and annual exams are normally recommended to monitor any change.
In addition to a photograph, other tests that can be used to monitor the nevus are:
Ready or not…here are 13 more jokes to make you groan!
1. Patient: "What’s that floater doing in my eye, doctor?" Doctor: “The sidestroke.”
2. Doctor: “Have your eyes ever been checked before?” Patient: “No, they’ve always been hazel.”
3. Why did the cyclops have to close his school? He had only one pupil!
4. Why wouldn’t the optometrist learn any jokes? He had heard that a joke can help break the eyes.
5. What is it called when you poke your eye with safety glasses? Eye-rony!
6. Did you here about the new website for people with chronic eye pain? It’s a site for sore eyes.
7. When are your eyes not eyes? When an onion makes them water!
8. Why do beekeepers have such beautiful eyes? Because beauty is in the eye of the bee holder!
9. Why were the teacher’s eyes crossed? Because she couldn’t control her pupils.
10. What's your eye doctor's favorite treat? Candy cornea!
11. What has four […]
Need a chuckle or a groan? Here you go…
1. Did you hear about the guy who just found out he was color blind? It hit him right out of the purple!
2. What happened to the lab tech when he fell into the grinder? He made a spectacle of himself.
3. Why is our staff so amazing? They were all bright pupils!
4. Why did the smartphone have to wear glasses? It lost all of its contacts.
5. What did one pupil say to the other? I’m dilated to meet you.
6. What do you call a potato wearing glasses? A Spec-Tater!
7. What do you call an optician living on an Alaskan island? An optical Aleutian.
8. What was the innocent lens’s excuse to the policeman? "I’ve been framed, officer!"
9. Where is the eye located? Between the H and the J.
10. Where does bad light end up? In Prism!
In 2020, Alzheimer's Disease International estimated that the number of people living with dementia worldwide – nearly 55 million in 2020 – will almost double every 20 years.
There is no single test that can show if a person has Alzheimer's, but doctors can almost always determine if a person has dementia, although it may be difficult to determine the exact cause. Diagnosing Alzheimer's requires careful medical evaluation, neurological testing, and sometimes brain imaging and blood tests to rule out other causes of dementia.
Most of the testing for early disease – MRI scans of the brain, brain PET scans looking for amyloid, and spinal taps looking for certain proteins in the spinal fluid – are not very accurate, and they are invasive and often expensive.
A few years ago, researchers have turned to findings in the eye to help with early detection and are hoping to find ways to make the diagnosis earlier when potential treatments may have a better outcome. There is also hope that these tests will be less expensive and invasive then the other options.
One […]
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 phenomenon during the 6th to 7th decade of life called "second sight." This is simply progressive nearsightedness in older […]
We all know that during pregnancy, a woman's body goes through a great deal of change hormonally and physiologically. But did you know her eyes change as well? Below are some of the most common effects pregnancy can have on the eye.