Myopia Treatments Beyond Corrective Lenses
For those who may not know, 40 percent of the U.S. population has myopia, also known as nearsightedness. Most people with myopia use corrective lenses, either eyeglasses or contact lenses to achieve near 20/20 vision. For some, turning to surgical procedures, such as LASIK or having intraocular lenses implanted, is an option. Although myopia is […]
Contacts—They’re Not Just for Adult Vision
There are a lot of benefits associated with contact lenses. Increased field of vision, less vision distortion and contacts don’t fog up when it is cold, rainy or while wearing a mask. For the most part, contacts are first recommended for teenagers. Children as young as 7 can wear and care for contacts and here […]
Contact Lenses That Deliver Medication
Aren’t contact lenses great? They sit right on the eye and give the wearer more natural vision than glasses. They also don’t fog up in rainy damp weather and don’t get in the way when a person plays sports. Recently, scientists developed a way for contacts to deliver medicine to the eye. This is very […]
Myopia Can Be Reversed In Children With Bifocal Contacts
True confession: I’ve been wearing glasses since I was 10 years-old. It didn’t bother me to wear glasses because I was so pleased to be able to see the chalkboard clearly. For me, wearing glasses was a simple thing I could do to maintain good grades. Many kids aren’t like me in that they aren’t […]
Visibly (Formerly Opternative) No Longer Offering Online Vision Tests
The online vision screening site Visibly, (formerly Opternative) was removed from service in August 2019. Since 2016, the American Optometric Association (AOA) has been lobbying the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) that the site’s online vision test did not have a premarket review from agency, nor did it receive approval for safety or efficacy. The […]
How to Reward Staff
I’ve worked in large organizations and I was rewarded on two separate occasions for my birthday. One was at a large hospital system, where I received a voucher for a free meal in the cafeteria and the other was at a college where I received a card and gift card from the college president. Granted […]
Slowing the Increase in Myopia
Myopia is the Rodney Dangerfield* of vision conditions. Unlike glaucoma or macular degeneration, myopia isn’t ‘given respect’ because the majority of treatments don’t involve surgery. Most of the time, either eyeglasses or contact lenses do the trick. If a person is fed up with glasses or contact lenses, there’s vision correction surgery (e.g., LASIK). The […]
Alternative to Reading Glasses
Benjamin Franklin is credited with developing bifocal glasses in 1760. Of course, one wonders if he wore them while he flew his kite on that dark and stormy night or if he ever had trouble finding them when he wanted to read a book or write a letter! Most people are smart enough not to […]
Contacts and Diabetes
According to the American Diabetes Association, in 2012 there were over 29 million Americans with diabetes. Of these 29 million, many are contact lenses wearers. In the past, contacts were not recommended to patients with diabetes. Now contacts are recommended to diabetics as an vision option. Yet, optometrists need to be on the lookout for […]
New Competition for Optometrists/Ophthalmologists & How to Beat It!
Times are changing! In the new world of Internet everything, there are services such as Blink and Opternative.com that offer vision exams either by computer or via specialized tools. These services stress convenience since they allow people to get vision exams at their home or office. While these services have their downsides, they are definitely […]