Sunglasses Season is Here

Style Tips 101 As summer approaches, one of the hottest accessories is sunglasses. Not only can sunglasses protect your eyes they can also make fashion statement.  The theme for summer is go big, bold, and colorful. For ladies, larger lenses are in this season and are complimented by lots of colors and bold designs on frames. For men, the classic vintage look is in but the cool aviators are sticking around for the long haul. To see the latest style of sunglasses come by for your free sunglasses fitting.

Sunglasses: Protection for Your Eyes Putting on sunglasses is as  important as putting on sunscreen. They both offer protection against the sun's harmful rays. A good pair of sunglasses acts as a shield that can offer 100% UV protection and keep your eyes healthy for years to come.    To see if your sunglasses measure up, stop by our office for a free UV meter test. For more information on sunglasses and their importance please visit our website.

Getting the Most Out of Your Sunglasses  A $20 pair of sunglasses can look pretty similar to a $250 pair, so why pay more? The difference is in the technology, which offers more comfort, durability, and performance. Most find name brands that they recognize offer a sense of reliability in the quality of their product. When you know the name you trust the quality of the craftsmanship.  How do you enhance the performance of any pair of sunglasses? Polarized lenses offer the ultimate vision experience and provide enhanced vision by eliminating glare off of surfaces such as water, windshields, and snow. To learn more about polarized lenses visit our website or come by for a polarized demonstration

Allergy Season - Worst in Years

We have felt has been a bad allergy season, now it is official. I just read that Paul Gomes, the director of allergy research in Andover, Mass has reported that this year's weather was perfect for increased pollen counts. He says, "Trees received a healthy amount of precipitation during a very cold winter. This was immediately followed by a sunny, warm and dry spring."

A pollen count is high at 120 - Yet in April, Atlanta recorded a pollen count of 5,722 - it's second highest count ever. In my career, I have never seen so many eye allergies or seen as many bad cases. I guess the drought wasn't all bad?

May is Healthy Vision Month

The following is from a press release from the National Institute of Health. I hope that we can spread the word about the importance of regular eye exams for everyone. I am really surprised that 9% of all Americans have never had their eyes examined.

The National Eye Institute (NEI)is encouraging community organizations and Americans to make vision health a priority. This year’s theme, “Your Eyes are the Windows to Your Health,” highlights the importance of scheduling an eye exam to maintain good quality eye health and preserve the sense of sight.

In a 2005 national survey conducted by NEI and the Lions Clubs International Foundation, 70 percent of adults reported that the loss of eyesight would have a great impact on their daily lives—a 10 on a scale of 1 to 10. However, 26 percent reported they had not had an eye exam within the previous two years, and 9 percent reported never having had their eyes examined.

Unfortunately, an estimated 14 million Americans are visually impaired. In fact, the prevalence of myopia, or nearsightedness, was shown to have increased 66 percent in the past 30 years, according to a 2009 NEI study. Nearly 11 million Americans have refractive errors that can be detected during an eye examination and simply remedied with glasses or contact lenses, according to the NEI.

Click here for a Link to the NEI web-site.

Help with Glaucoma Medicine

I was reading an article from the Glaucoma Research Foundation (GRF) that I thought would be good to share. Most of the time, glaucoma is treated with prescription eye drops and our biggest barrier is problems with the drops. The GRF shares some ideas on helping with drops and I want to share them with you. Enjoy....

-To help you remember to take your medications, schedule them around daily routines such as waking, mealtimes, and bedtime.

-Keep your medications in a visible place at home and carry them with you when you are away from home. Remember to keep all medications, including eye drops, out of the reach of children. Also, keep bottles out of direct sunlight.

-If you are putting in more than one drop or more than one type of eye drop, wait five minutes before putting the next drop in. This will keep the first drop from being washed out by the second before it has had time to work.

-If you forget to use your eye drops on schedule, put the drop in when you remember. Do not wait until the next scheduled time. Then get right back on your regular schedule.

-Tell your doctor or pharmacist if your medications are causing reactions, or if you are having any difficulty using them. It may be possible to change your medication program.

Here is a link to the Glaucoma Research Foundation website.

Spring is in the Air

Spring is in the air and allergies are coming with them. In Georgia, April brings the Masters, beautiful blooms on the trees and pollen. The pollen covers everything with a thin film of yellow that runs down the streets after a good spring rain.

With this new life, we all experience some form of allergy. (Almost all of us anyway.) For some it is a runny nose and sneezing and for others a sinus headache. But many have the dreaded watery and itchy eyes - our speciality.

So what should you do if you have eye allergies? First, you should resist the urge to rub your eyes. This can cause a release of inflammatory cells and make things worse. Try instead, using a cold cloth on your eyes to relieve the itchiness and irritation. There are many over-the-counter drops that help with itching and redness but be careful not to use too regularly as they can actually cause a dependency on the drop.

If cold cloths and OTC drops aren't enough, we can prescribe drops that have quick action and are long-lasting. For some patients, we change their contact lenses to daily disposable during allergy season or permanently. Other treatments are available so that no one has to suffer this allergy season.

Care for the Heart is Care for the Eyes

Today is Valentine's Day. What could be a better topic for today than heart health?
I often say that the best thing you can do to take care of your eyes is to take good care of your heart. By keeping your blood pressure controlled, keeping a watch on your cholesterol levels and by watching your weight - you can reduce your chances of eye disease. If that sounds crazy to you, let me explain:
The eyes are very active organs. They constantly receiving light images and sending impulses to the brain. This constant activity uses a lot of energy so the eyes need a lot of oxygen and nutrients, which all comes from the bloodstream. So the eyes have a lot of blood vessels, which are supplied by the HEART.
In addition to bringing oxygen and nutrients to the eyes, these blood vessels take away the carbon dioxide and other waste materials. Macular Degeneration is primarily caused by a build up of these waste materials.
So basically when the heart is healthy, it can do a good job. And when it does its job well, our
eyes get what they need and get rid of what they don't need. This helps protect us against glaucoma, macular degeneration and other eye diseases.
On this Valentine's Day do your eyes a favor and take care of your heart.
Happy Valentine's Day!

Computers and Your Eyes

This week, Apple introduced the iPad and there has been a lot of talk about it. It made me realize how computers are becoming more and more a part of every aspect of our lives. It seems funny to me that when I began as an optometrist, computers were becoming a major part of the workplace. But think about computers now. Many of us are looking at a computer all day at work, looking at a Blackberry or iPhone while getting home then pulling out the laptop to “socialize” on Facebook. It is something we can’t get away from.

I think it is important for us to remember how to care for our eyes, which are obviously very important to us while using all of this technology. An optometrist friend of mine in Colorado shared an ABC News story with me about how near-sightedness is on the rise and thought increased computer use may be to blame. Well let me tell you for sure, increased computer use IS to blame.

We should all use this technology to benefit our lives but there are some things you should know and do. Our eyes are not designed to stay focused at near for extended periods of time. Our eyes relax when looking far away and work when looking at near. I like to think of it like holding a brick with your arm straight out from your body. You can do it for a little while, but soon your arm will get tired, then your arm will hurt, then your shoulder and your neck. You will need support and / or you will need to rest periodically.

So when using the computer (or iPhone, or Blackberry, or Kindle), take frequent breaks by looking at something far away. Make sure your prescription is up-to-date and that the print isn’t ridiculously small. The further away your monitor is from your face the easier it will be on your eyes (the brick will be lighter). And for kids, please balance time at the computer with time outside playing.