A quick test for glaucoma can help you prevent blindness

Posted by & filed under Eye Exams, Eye Health, Featured, Glaucoma.

by  Dr. Doug Herriott and originally printed in the Lee’s Summit Journal on January 9, 2019

The new year is an excellent time for Lee’s Summit citizens to become educated, to get their eyes checked and to get treatment if needed, before permanent and irreversible damage begins.

Experts call glaucoma “the sneak thief of sight” because there are no symptoms in the early stages such as blurred vision, a feeling of pressure in or behind the eye or pain. When a person finally notices a change in their sight, more than 40 percent of their optic nerve (the nerve that transmits the light from our eyes back to our brain) may be destroyed. This damage is permanent.

Once the individual sees symptoms it can be difficult to prevent more damage, vision loss or potential blindness.

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Wearing Hubble Contacts? You’ll want to read this…

Posted by & filed under Contact Lenses, Eye Health, Featured, General Vision.

Hubble sells only one size and kind of contact lenses. Contacts are not a one size fits all product

original source: GRITDAILY

Contacts are not a one size fits all product, so it can do more harm than good if used incorrectly.

Bad news, contact lens wearers—the hot new (cheap) service Hubble has one pretty big catch.

If you’ve been on social media at all in the last year or two, odds are you’ve come across an ad for Hubble Contacts. Hubble is an automated subscription service that delivers contact lenses to your doorstep every month for about $30. Most delivery contact lens companies can’t sell contacts for such a low price, so consumers are rife with questions about what catch (if any) there might be. How is it possible to sell contacts for such a low price when no competitor can go that low? Turns out, there’s a big reason why.

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Contact lens disposal contributing to contamination in waterways

Posted by & filed under Contact Lenses, Featured.

Kari Burchett, OD

August 20, 2018

Contact lens disposal contributing to microplastic contamination in our waterways

The American Chemical Society has recently published research regarding microplastic contamination in our waterways and how improper contact lens disposal is contributing to such contamination. Approximately 45 million Americans wear contact lenses, and according to research, about 20% may be flushing their contact lens down the toilet or washing them down the sink rather than disposing of them in the trash. Lenses in the waterways do not biodegrade easily at the wastewater treatment facility and can defragment and make their way into surface water. Read more »

Nearsightedness in children

Posted by & filed under Childrens Vision, Featured.

nearsightedness in children; Eyecare Associates of Lee's Summit

More children are being diagnosed with nearsightedness, but experts aren’t sure why.

Helping to prevent nearsightedness in children may be as simple as urging them to spend more time outside, some experts say.

Possibly due to changing habits among children — spending more time reading in dim light and spending more time indoors than those of past generations — doctors are seeing an increase in the number of cases of nearsightedness, also known as myopia.

Children’s Hospital of Pittsburgh of UPMC recently opened a Myopia Treatment Center to meet the growing demand.

Nearsightedness is a condition in which vision gets blurred when viewing an object at a distance. In some countries such as China nearsightedness has reached epidemic proportions with as much as 80% of the population being affected.

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The eclipse and your eyes

Posted by & filed under Childrens Vision, Eye Health, Featured.

Parents: The solar eclipse is nothing to fear. Here’s how to watch it with your kids.

(Fethi Belaid/AFP/Getty Images)

Parents: The solar eclipse is nothing to fear. Here’s how to watch it with your kids.

(This is reprinted from the Washington Post.)

A total solar eclipse is an incredible thing — something I deeply believe should be experienced by adults and children alike. It literally illustrates how our solar system works as the moon travels directly between the sun and Earth. It is a science class brought to life in a way schools will never be able to re-create.For kids, this could be a significant moment in their little lives. They could be inspired to learn more about space and science in general. For older students, it could trigger exciting new career goals. For you, parent, the eclipse will give you the opportunity to create a memory your children won’t forget.As the big event gets closer, some schools have decided to close on Aug. 21, simply because they can’t handle the logistics of wrangling a thousand kids to watch the solar eclipse. That makes sense. It’s unfortunate for parents who aren’t going to be able to arrange child care that day, let alone child care that will help the kids watch the eclipse. But I understand the eclipse may be a burden — particularly when special equipment and planning is needed to ensure the kids are able to watch it safely. Read more »

Eyelid Twitches: 7 Things You Should Know

Posted by & filed under Featured, General Vision.

Eyelid Twitches: 7 Things You Should Know from Eyecare Associates of LS

You may have experienced this before. Out of nowhere, your eyelid starts twitching uncontrollably. While this can be a cause of aggravation, eyelid twitches, spasms or tics are actually quite common. Here are 7 things you should know about this eye condition:

  1. Eye twitches are generally caused by a repetitive, involuntary spasm in your eyelid muscles and are known in medical terms as a blepharospasm.
  2. Almost all sudden-onset eye twitching is not considered to be a serious medical condition, though it can be hard to treat without knowing the underlying cause.
  3. Eyelid twitches can occur sporadically, though some people have been known to feel them for a few consecutive days or weeks
  4. Stress, tiredness, eyestrain, caffeine alcohol or tobacco usage, dry eyes, allergies or nutritional imbalances are factors that can trigger or exacerbate eye twitches. The body produces endogenous cortisol (a steroid) when stressed, which may cause biological warning signs to the body to de-stress.
  5. If reducing stress does not alleviate the twitches, your eye doctor can perform a refraction (vision test) and comprehensive eye health exam to see if eye treatment can resolve the problem. Sometimes the solution is relieving eyestrain by updating your glasses.
  6. Rarely, a twitch will continue despite these efforts to alleviate triggers. In that case, they can be treated with Botox injections to help stop the muscles in your eyelid from contracting.
  7. Eyelid spasms are only considered a medical emergency when the twitch is accompanied by red or swollen eyes, unusual discharge, a drooping eyelid or twitching in other parts of the face. These may be symptoms of a more serious neurological disorder.

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Eye injections help vision loss in diabetes.

Posted by & filed under Eye Health.

 

 

Eye injections help vision loss in diabetes.

For the past 20 years, Julio has taken medication daily to treat his diabetes, but it was still a shock when he suffered a hemorrhage in his right eye more than a year ago.

“I could see blood,” said the 46-year-old from Kendall, who did not want his full name used. “It started with minor bleeding and I couldn’t see from my right eye.”

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Zika Virus

Posted by & filed under Eye Health.

 

Zika Virus

 

Zika Virus, also known as ZIKV, is the latest infectious disease threat to capture the attention of the American public. With its origin in Brazil, the host country of this year’s Summer Olympics, and its association with potentially severe birth defects, Zika understandably has many people concerned.

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