Proud to announce that we have 4 new optical lines and hopefully there will be a 5th new one soon.
Our 4 new ones are:
Lilly Pulitzer
Vera Bradley
XOXO
Teka
Line Them Up
Category: lifestyle
Elderly and Eyes
It’s important to be pro-active in looking after your eyes, and it’s especially important for the elderly to do so.
I write about this at the AARP website where I outline 6 steps to save your sight.
As people age, aches and pains set in and the eyes are part of it. So instead of it getting to the point where you have to deal with a serious eye illness, be proactive and nip it in the bud.
Volunteering
There are so many suffering with eye diseases who don’t even know it.
This is why it is critical to increase awareness, this is why it is critical to give back.
It is a privilege and honor to be an EyeCare America volunteer!
Pingueculas and Pterygium
Pingueculas and Pterygium aren’t common names.
The Pinguecula is a conjunctival degeneration in the eye while the Pterygium is a growth on the cornea.
The best way to avoid either of these is to wear sunglasses.
Smoky Eyes
When it comes to smoking and the health dangers it poses, first and foremost it’s about the lungs.
It seems reasonable that this is the case, but the eyes are also part of the equation.
As I’ve written previously, a healthy lifestyle is good for the eyes and the reverse is also true, to the extent that the eyes are actually a barometer of the body’s overall health.
Because illnesses such as glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy aren’t on the radar of people, it’s not on their radar when it comes to smoking.
If you said to someone, there could be a good chance you may lose your eyesight from smoking, do you think they would continue to do so?
Ocular Preventive Care – How to Prevent Eye Surgery
Prevention is better than cure and this is definitely the case with anything and everything pertaining to the eye.
Surgery is a very disruptive and invasive process and rather than put the eye, which is very sensitive through it, better to be proactive and avoid it.
So what can you do to prevent eye surgery?
Whenever you are doing any serious physical activity, wear safety goggles.
If you are going to participate in pursuits such as paintball and boxing, eye protection is mandatory.
Walking around in the sunshine is a lovely and wonderful thing to do but the eyes are exposed to the bright sunlight. So whether you are walking around or driving, wear sunglasses.
To find out more, watch the video above.
Sports and the Eye
Sports is great for staying fit and healthy, but the physical exertion means injuries can occur, especially in contact sports.
In sports such as football and basketball where fingers are flying everywhere, serious eye injuries can occur.
When it comes to sports and the eye, certain precision sports such as archery require the athletes to have unbelievable vision. You may be surprised to hear this but softballers also have great vision.
Athletes such as golfers and tennis player don’t have the issue of being poked in the eye to contend with but they have to put up with a relentless harsh sun. Because of this, many of these athletes wear contact lenses in an attempt to reduce the harsh UV light they are exposed to.
Then there are the fans who also may be in the sun the whole day cheering on their favorite athletes. Don’t make sunglasses on how they look
Vyzulta Drops Now Available – To Make Big Splash
For those suffering from glaucoma, you will be pleased to know that Vyzulta is going to be available shortly.
It is designed to reduce IOP in those with ocular hypertension or open-angle glaucoma.
It is made by Valeant Pharmaceuticals and will be distributed by Bausch + Lomb.
For those who aren’t familiar with the team IOP – it stands for intraocular pressure and is the fluid pressure inside the eye.
There are other ways to try to reduce eye pressure without drops.
Improving your diet and living a healthier lifestyle with more exercise can aid it.
Happy New Year!
I read a couple of articles relating to New Year’s Eve and wanted to share them.
The first was from Lee Shu Yen, deputy head of the Surgical Retina Department at Singapore National Eye Centre. She says something that I’ve spoken about before and that is being proactive when it comes to your health.
I urge Singaporeans to actively get health checks. Some diseases can be easily treated if diagnosed and managed early. For example, all diabetics should have an eye check-up at least once a year. This is important as there are often no symptoms of diabetic eye disease until it is late/advanced, and it can be challenging to treat and preserve vision.
This is something I wrote about last week.
Then there was the article I saw about New Years and fireworks. In it, Dr. Sumitra Khandelwal discusses the dangers of fireworks and what to do if you suffer an eye injury.
It’s a great piece especially for all the other times during the year when there are fireworks. But more importantly than that, we have to take away the point that in any situation, the eyes are at risk. We have to be careful and if something happens, not to panic. The points about not touching, rubbing or rinsing the eyes and not applying pressure to the eyes are universal and apply to any situation.
Have a wonderful 2018 and hope it’s a safe one.
Exercise, Extremes and Macular Degeneration
This time of year, New Year’s Resolutions are very popular. A New Year signals a new start and all we pledge to stop putting off all the things we didn’t get round to.
A common theme of many resolutions is lifestyle – I want to go to bed earlier, eat less or work out more.
But could working out be bad for you?
A Korean study revealed that vigorous exercise could increase one’s chances of macular degeneration.
They found that men who exercised for five or more days a week had a 54% higher chance of it.
Before you cease to ever work out again, note the study depended on self-reporting which is notoriously unreliable and it was only an observational study.
Notwithstanding, what to make of this? Like I’ve written previously, anything good for your body is good for your eyes and vice versa.
If you put intense strain on your body, the body could well react adversely. Could running, working out and any form of exercise give you a heart attack? Possibly, but there are so many personal variables at play that it’s almost impossible to generalize.
Ultimately it’s all about balance and moderation. If you run a marathon, your body is clearly in great shape. Do it every day and you’re going to start feeling the strain.
Everyone knows that eating carrots is great for the eyes, but if you start to eat a ridiculous amount of them everyday you will begin to suffer side effects from it.
And this is the underlying message. Not that exercise is bad for the eyes, but vigorous exercise could be overdoing it.
Anything too much without balance and moderation is putting your body at risk.
Just like being overweight isn’t healthy, so too being underweight isn’t healthy either. It’s about striking that middle ground.
Good luck keeping those resolutions!