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Archive for the ‘Refractive Errors’ Category

Eye Care for Children

Wednesday, September 21st, 2011

While most children are born with healthy eyes and good vision, it is quite common for children to develop refractive errors in their vision early in life. It is important to address these vision issues as soon as they arise since they can impact many areas of your child’s life, including performance in school, sports, and many other activities.

The most common vision issues affecting children include:

Myopia (nearsightedness)
Hyperopia (farsightedness)
Astigmatism

These refractive errors can easily be diagnosed with a routine eye exam, and your child’s vision can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses.

If your child holds reading materials up close or very far away, it may be a sign of vision issues. Similarly, if your child squints at far away objects such as the TV or a blackboard at school, you should have their vision checked.

Unfortunately, most children are not suitable candidates for LASIK. You must wait to undergo LASIK until after your vision has stabilized and for most children, this will not happen until after the age of 18. As a general rule, you must wait until your child’s prescription has been constant for at least one year before considering LASIK.

Please contact eyes.com today to find an experienced eye doctor in your area.

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Eye Strain: A Growing Trend

Wednesday, June 22nd, 2011

Every day, we rely on screen-based technology – such as cell phones, computers, GPS devices, and more – to accomplish basic tasks and keep us connected. Unfortunately, the constant use of technology has put an immense amount of strain on our eyes, especially those of us who work desk jobs that require us to stare at a computer screen for several consecutive hours.

Eye strain that results from computer use is termed computer vision syndrome. However, eye strain can also be caused by other repeated activities, such as performing tasks in dim lightning, focusing on written words for too long, or failing to blink often enough. A good way of preventing eye strain when using a computer or performing visually intensive work is to perform eye exercises.

Some symptoms of eye strain include:

Blurred vision
Headaches
Dry or burning eyes
Sore back and neck muscles
Soreness around the eyes

Eye strain can affect more than just your vision; it also leads to a general feeling of exhaustion, enhancing irritability and making it difficult for you to concentrate. If regular eye exercises are not effectively reducing your symptoms, consider having an eye exam performed by an experienced ophthalmologist to detect other potential causes, such as refractive error. Glasses, contacts, or eye drops may be an effective way of treating the underlying problem.

If you believe you may be suffering from excessive eye strain, contact an experienced eye doctor in your area today to schedule a consultation.

Posted in Computer Vision Syndrome, Diseases and Conditions, Eye Safety, Refractive Errors | Comments Off

Eye Care for Children

Thursday, April 28th, 2011

Most children are born with healthy eyes. However, it is quite common for refractive errors in vision to develop when your child is still very young. These include:

These conditions are easily detected at your child’s regular eye checkup and can be treated with eyeglasses or contact lenses. However, failure to treat your child’s refractive error can impact performance in school, sports, and other activities.

Unfortunately, LASIK is generally not a viable vision correction option for children since refractive errors in vision do not usually stabilize until after your child is over the age of 18. Once your child reaches adulthood and has experienced a stable prescription for at least one year, LASIK may become an option to replace the hassles of contact lenses or glasses.

Signs that your child is suffering from a refractive error in vision include holding reading materials either closer or farther away than normal and squinting when viewing far away objects such as TV or the blackboard. These vision problems can occur at any time. Therefore, it is important to make sure your child goes for regular eye exams to detect these issues as they develop.

If you have a young child that needs to schedule an eye exam, please contact eyes.com today to find an eye doctor in your area.

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How Long Does LASIK Last?

Friday, April 15th, 2011

If you are considering LASIK eye surgery, you may have heard conflicting information about how long the results of the surgery last. Is it permanent, or temporary? To understand the answer, you need to have a proper understanding of how LASIK works.

During LASIK, your cornea – the clear membrane that covers the front of your eye – is reshaped to address and correct your specific eye condition. This is permanent; your cornea will not lose its new shape after surgery, no matter how much time has passed.

However, as we get older and begin to reach middle-age, our vision starts naturally deteriorating. LASIK cannot avoid this future problem; it can simply address your specific eye disorder now. Along with our bodies, our vision will change as we grow older. This is unavoidable.

A common eye disorder that comes with age is presbyopia, where a person’s near vision starts to become increasingly blurry, often making reading glasses necessary for many patients. This is not an issue with the cornea, which has been corrected by LASIK, but rather with the eye’s lens. At the time of your LASIK screening, your ophthalmologist can explain this to you in more detail.

If you have further questions about LASIK surgery, please contact an experienced ophthalmologist near you to schedule a consultation.

Posted in Diseases and Conditions, Eye Surgery, LASIK, Laser Vision Correction, Presbyopia, Refractive Errors, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Common Eye Problems – Refractive Errors

Friday, January 7th, 2011

Refractive errors are the leading cause of vision problems in the United States. It is estimated that over 150 million Americans wear eyeglasses or contact lenses to correct refractive errors. The three most common eye problems are nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism.

Symptoms of Nearsightedness

Myopia, or nearsightedness, allows you to clearly see objects that are close but results in blurred images of objects that are father away. Most forms of myopia do not develop in children until about age five to seven, the greatest changes occurring between ages six and twelve. You should consider having an eye exam if you or your child has any of the following symptoms:

· Squinting

· Eyestrain

· Headaches (uncommon)

Causes of Farsightedness

Hyperopia, or farsightedness, enables you to see objects at a distance but not close up. Reading, writing and watching television can be difficult if you suffer from hyperopia, as your eyes may feel tired or sore. Depending on the degree of your farsightedness and your age, you may only need reading glasses. Hyperopia can be caused by:

· Genetics (like myopia)

· Aging

· Eye tumors or diseases such as retinopathy (in rare cases)

Astigmatism Correction

Astigmatism means your corneas are in the shape of an oval instead of the normal round shape. This leads to a distortion and blurring in your vision. Astigmatism is the most common refractive error and is often accompanied by nearsightedness or farsightedness. Astigmatism can be corrected with

· Eyeglasses or contact lenses

· LASIK – surgical procedure that uses a cold-beam laser to reshape your cornea

· PRK – refractive surgery used to treat patients with large pupils or very thin corneas

· LASEK – surgical procedure used to treat patients with too thin or flat corneas that can’t be treated using tradition refractive surgical techniques.

· Implantable lenses – replaces the eye’s natural lens

If you notice symptoms of any refractive errors like those listed above, please use our Eye Doctor Directory today to schedule appointment with an optometrist or ophthalmologist in your area.

Posted in Diseases and Conditions, Eye Anatomy, Eye Surgery, LASIK, Laser Vision Correction, Refractive Errors, Uncategorized | Comments Off

Have You Gone for an Eye Exam Recently?

Wednesday, December 1st, 2010

When was the last time you went for an eye exam? Whether you realize it or not, eye exams are important for everyone, not just individuals with refractive errors in their vision. As you age, you may develop certain eye conditions which are much more easily treated if they are detected early. Often symptoms do not become obvious until significant damage has been done to your eyes. Going for regular eye exams will help prevent this damage from occurring.

If you have refractive errors such as myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism, you should go for an eye exam about once a year. If your eyes are healthy, you only need to visit your ophthalmologist once every few years.

However, once you reach the age of 40, it is a good idea to get a regular eye exam at least once every two years, even if your eyes are completely healthy. Many age-related conditions start developing as early as your mid-40s, so you will need to have your eyes screened frequently enough to detect any issues that may arise.

If you are in need of an eye exam, eyes.com can help you find an experienced ophthalmologist in your area.

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