Our Blog

Eye Safety at Home: Keep Your Family’s Vision Intact

Eye Safety at Home: Keep Your Family’s Vision Intact

Your home is your safe haven — or is it? About half of all eye injuries happen in and around your home! The good news? You can reduce your risk of eye injury by 90% by wearing protective eyewear. The bad news? Only three in ten people wear eye protection, even...

6 Eye Makeup Safety Tips For Healthy Eyes

6 Eye Makeup Safety Tips For Healthy Eyes

March is “Save Your Vision” month, encompassing every aspect of eye health. On a daily basis, you must protect your eyes from various potential hazards – UV rays from the sun, eyestrain from digital screens, and environmental hazards such as...

4 Questions About Age-Related Macular Degeneration

4 Questions About Age-Related Macular Degeneration

What is Age-Related Macular Degeneration (AMD)? Age-Related Macular Degeneration — called AMD for short — is an all-too-common eye disease that blurs central vision and can make it harder to drive, read, see faces or do “up-close” work. It is...

Low Vision: Who’s at Risk?

Low Vision: Who’s at Risk?

February is Age-Related Macular Degeneration and Low Vision Month. Many people aren’t sure what the definition of low vision is or how it manifests in patients’ lives. Let’s dive into low vision, explore its causes and symptoms, and discuss how...

Guard Your Vision: It’s Glaucoma Awareness Month

Guard Your Vision: It’s Glaucoma Awareness Month

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month, which encourages us to start the year thinking about our precious sense of vision and how to safeguard it. Glaucoma is a thief – a silent “sight thief” associated with gradual and permanent vision loss caused by...

5 Questions about Diabetes and Your Eye Health

5 Questions about Diabetes and Your Eye Health

It’s that time again – the “use it or lose it” end-of-year push to make your pre-tax Flexible Spending Account (FSA) dollars count! There are a number of qualifying optometric products and services to keep in mind when caring for your eye...

5 Questions about Diabetes and Your Eye Health

5 Questions about Diabetes and Your Eye Health

In the last 20 years, the number of American adults diagnosed with diabetes has doubled. Did you know that 37 million Americans have diabetes, and approximately 21% of those are unaware that they have it? Couple that statistic with the 96 million people considered...

9 Surprising Health Conditions an Eye Exam Can Uncover

9 Surprising Health Conditions an Eye Exam Can Uncover

Did you know that an annual eye exam goes far beyond making sure that you are seeing your best? It is one of the few ways to uncover possible health concerns without imaging, surgery, or blood draws. Your optometrist is actually looking inside of your body as they...

How to Care for Your New Baby’s Vision Development

How to Care for Your New Baby’s Vision Development

A New Parent’s Guide to Your Baby’s Vision Development We get it: Having a baby can feel overwhelming. Caring for an adorable new life is a big job, and there’s a lot to learn. One important area of focus new parents sometimes overlook is your...

Help Your Student Avoid Pink Eye This School Year

Help Your Student Avoid Pink Eye This School Year

In the U.S. alone, students miss an average of 3 million school days a year due to symptoms of conjunctivitis or “pink eye” as it is commonly known. Pink eye is highly contagious and can spread rapidly in areas of close contact, such as schools, daycares,...

Is Your Student at Risk for Digital Eye Strain?

Is Your Student at Risk for Digital Eye Strain?

Technology today offers your student so many good things, but Digital Eye Strain isn’t one of them. Also called Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS), this condition is the result of prolonged use of tablets, computers, e-readers, and cell phones — every type of...

How to Reduce Your Risk of Eye Injury

How to Reduce Your Risk of Eye Injury

July is National Eye Injury Prevention Month. While about half of all eye injuries happen at work (2,000+ eye injuries a day occur at workplaces across the U.S.), you’re just as likely to injure your eyes at home. With that in mind, here’s how to reduce...

Do the Sun’s UV Rays Cause Cataracts?

Do the Sun’s UV Rays Cause Cataracts?

June, July, and August are when the sun’s rays are most intense in the US. That’s why June 27 is National Sunglasses Day, reminding us about the importance of protecting your eyes from the sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays by wearing sunglasses every day,...

5 Eye Conditions You May Inherit from Dear Ole’ Dad

5 Eye Conditions You May Inherit from Dear Ole’ Dad

On the third Sunday each June, we celebrate Father’s Day to acknowledge Dads and the good things they do. Though the origins of Father’s Day are much different than those of Mother’s Day, the idea is the same: Extending gratitude for the role male...

How Prescription Eyewear Is Made

How Prescription Eyewear Is Made

Eyeglasses are an amazing invention, aren’t they? For centuries, prescription lenses have helped to restore people’s vision and protect their eyes from damage caused by the sun’s ultraviolet radiation and glare, in addition to blue light that comes...

5 Eye Conditions You May Inherit from Your Mother

5 Eye Conditions You May Inherit from Your Mother

It’s almost Mother’s Day — time to celebrate moms and everything they do. To all of the great moms we see each day in our offices, taking excellent care of their children’s health and wellbeing, in addition to all of the other priorities that...

3 Reasons To Wear Premium Sunglasses This Sun Season

3 Reasons To Wear Premium Sunglasses This Sun Season

Spring has officially sprung! As we move into the longer days and stronger UV rays, we cannot emphasize enough the importance of wearing premium sunglasses to protect your eyes from the harmful effects of the sun's ultraviolet (UV) rays. We say it often because...

How Contact Lenses Are Made

How Contact Lenses Are Made

If you yourself don’t wear them, you almost definitely know someone who does: Contact lenses — those small, curved pieces of plastic that correct vision impairment — are one of the most successful medical device technologies. They are a part of daily...

5 Causes and 6 Treatments for Digital Eye Fatigue

5 Causes and 6 Treatments for Digital Eye Fatigue

Do you find yourself staring at digital screens—computer monitors, cell phones, tablets, televisions—for most of the day? Are your eyes tired, red, or itchy? Are they dry or irritated? If you answered yes to these questions, it’s possible that you...

Celebrating the Rise of Women in Optometry

Celebrating the Rise of Women in Optometry

In March, we celebrate Women’s History Month. And we’re proud to say that optometry is one place women are making history. Did you know that optometry began as a predominantly male profession in the late 1800s, but today, women make up nearly half of all...

10 Ways To Minimize The Progression of Low Vision

10 Ways To Minimize The Progression of Low Vision

In February, we recognize Low Vision Awareness Month and the millions of Americans who live with the condition. Low vision is a term used to describe a visual impairment that cannot be corrected by standard glasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery. It often...

9 Strategies to Adapt to Life With Low Vision

9 Strategies to Adapt to Life With Low Vision

February is Low Vision Awareness Month, a time to increase awareness of this condition which affects millions of Americans each day. Low vision is the term for a visual impairment that cannot be corrected by standard glasses, contact lenses, medication, or surgery....

3 Simple Metaphors To Explain Glaucoma

3 Simple Metaphors To Explain Glaucoma

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month. It is a time to increase awareness of this group of diseases that are known as the “silent thief of sight” because they are painless and symptom-free. Glaucoma cannot be prevented, and though there are treatments, there...

How Your Eye Doctor Diagnoses Glaucoma

How Your Eye Doctor Diagnoses Glaucoma

Happy 2023! As you start the new year, it’s a common practice to assess what you’re most thankful for and consider goals and resolutions to guide you in the coming 12 months. If you’re fortunate enough to have healthy eyes and good vision, please...

8 Ways To Protect Your Gift of Sight This Season

8 Ways To Protect Your Gift of Sight This Season

Optometrists often receive “eye-themed” cards and gifts for holidays and birthdays — and we love it. In December, we almost always get something that mentions the movie A Christmas Story. You may remember the film – it’s the one where...

What is Diabetic Retinopathy?

What is Diabetic Retinopathy?

The US Centers for Disease Control estimate that there are 37.3 million Americans living with diabetes. That’s about 10% of our nation’s population! What’s worse: About one in five of those people are not aware that they have this dangerous chronic...

How Does Diabetes Impact Your Eyes?

How Does Diabetes Impact Your Eyes?

It’s November: Time to shine a light on how diabetes impacts your eyes during Diabetic Eye Disease Awareness Month. Did you know that diabetes often affects a patient’s vision? And that uncontrolled diabetes is a top cause of blindness for people aged 74...

What are Eye Floaters?

What are Eye Floaters?

What are Eye Floaters? If you haven’t yet experienced floaters in the eye, it’s understandable that you may be puzzled about what they are and what they look like. However, as you age, floaters become more common. You will get used to seeing an oddly...

Why Retinal Detachment is an Eyecare Emergency

Why Retinal Detachment is an Eyecare Emergency

Why Retinal Detachment is an Eyecare Emergency Your retina is the extremely light-sensitive nerve tissue at the back of your eye that enables your eye to focus and see. The retina captures and processes incoming light and images, then passes that information to the...

Is Your Student At Risk for Progressive Myopia?

Is Your Student At Risk for Progressive Myopia?

In our offices and around the country, optometrists are seeing a significant—and disturbing—new trend: more and more patients are presenting with myopia, or nearsightedness. People with myopia can see close-up objects clearly, but objects at a distance...

7 Ways College Students Can Protect Their Eye Health

7 Ways College Students Can Protect Their Eye Health

Are you the parent of a college student or a new college student yourself? It’s a big responsibility! College days are full of excitement and learning. Sometimes you learn in a classroom, and sometimes you learn things from friends in a dorm or other social...

9 Ways To Protect Eyes from UV Damage

9 Ways To Protect Eyes from UV Damage

As we continue observing National UV Safety Month throughout July, we want to offer smart strategies to help you minimize the exposure your eyes have to harmful UV rays. Minimizing UV ray exposure can help maintain your healthy vision for as long as possible. UV ray...

Why It’s Smart To Protect Your Eyes From the Sun

Why It’s Smart To Protect Your Eyes From the Sun

It’s the dog days of summer! If it’s not hot enough for you in July, it never will be. July is National UV Safety Awareness Month. With more than 14 hours of sunlight each day, it’s a great opportunity to learn why you need to protect your eyes from...

7 Comments From Post-Procedure Cataract Patients

7 Comments From Post-Procedure Cataract Patients

In our practice, we see a lot of patients in their 60s, 70s, and 80s. Of the eye problems and diseases this age group faces—including glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, and other inoperable conditions—cataracts are the one eye condition...

8 Facts About Cataracts

8 Facts About Cataracts

June is Cataract Awareness Month, an ideal time to share information about one of the most common vision problems people experience as they age: the formation of cataracts. A cataract is a clouding or yellowing of the eye’s natural lens, which typically occurs...

8 Do’s and Don’ts for Cleaning Sunglasses

8 Do’s and Don’ts for Cleaning Sunglasses

It’s sunglasses season! In our optometric practice, it’s always sunglasses season. That’s because we recommend everyone wear their sunglasses 365 days a year, rain or shine. Doing so will protect your eyes from the damaging UV rays of the sun that...

4 Reasons You Need Multiple Pairs of Sunglasses

4 Reasons You Need Multiple Pairs of Sunglasses

Hooray: It’s sunglasses season! While the educated patients who read this optometric blog know that you should wear your sunglasses 365 days a year, every time you go outside, whether it’s cloudy or sunny (to protect your eyes from the sun’s damaging...

How to Get Kids To Wear Sunglasses

How to Get Kids To Wear Sunglasses

As a parent, you want to do everything in your power to protect your kids and give them the best possible opportunity to thrive and enjoy a healthy, happy life. It’s a tough job—overwhelming at times—but one that provides life’s greatest...

6 Must-Have Qualities For Kids’ Sunglasses

6 Must-Have Qualities For Kids’ Sunglasses

What’s cuter than a toddler in sunglasses? Not much! But does your toddler really need sunglasses? And if so, how can you get him to wear them consistently? Do toddlers need sunglasses? The answer is yes! Your toddler’s developing eyes will benefit from...

25 Eye-mazing Eye Facts

25 Eye-mazing Eye Facts

The human eye is a fascinating organ, second in complexity only to your brain. That’s why you can see clearly in both the bright, mid-day sunlight and also when you’re awakened suddenly from a deep sleep late at night. Without thinking about how you do it,...

Eat Your Way To Better Eye Health

Eat Your Way To Better Eye Health

As your parents always told you: You are what you eat. Science and research studies continue to confirm the fact that with every single bite or sip you put into your body, you’re either feeding or fighting disease. For example, we know that whole foods, fruits,...

5 Reasons To Wear Sunglasses in Winter

5 Reasons To Wear Sunglasses in Winter

It’s February! This most misspelled month is the shortest of the year and the final month of meteorological winter. It’s also Low Vision Awareness Month and National Cancer Prevention Month. Are you aware that protecting your eyes from the sun’s UV...

Say Goodbye to These 6 Poor Eye Health Habits

Say Goodbye to These 6 Poor Eye Health Habits

Are you doing everything within your power to protect your vision and maintain good eye health? Studies show that many Americans aren’t. But it’s not too late to turn things around and adopt good eye health practices that will benefit you now and help you...

6 Tips For Living With Glaucoma

6 Tips For Living With Glaucoma

January is Glaucoma Awareness Month, a time to draw attention to one of the leading causes of blindness and vision loss in the United States. Glaucoma is known as the “silent thief of sight” because it doesn’t have any noticeable symptoms in its...

What Is OptiLight by Lumenis?

What Is OptiLight by Lumenis?

How Can It Manage Your Dry Eye? Dry eye disease is a widespread and common issue for up to 49 million Americans. This chronic condition can have a significant impact on your quality of life, causing a foreign body sensation in your eyes, pain, blurry vision, and dry...

Contacts or Glasses: Which is Right For You?

Contacts or Glasses: Which is Right For You?

According to the Vision Council, more than 194 million people in the U.S. wear prescription lenses – either contact lenses or eyeglasses. If you’re one of them, and you’re trying to decide which type of corrective lenses are right for you, read on....

15 Facts About Diabetic Retinopathy

15 Facts About Diabetic Retinopathy

Diabetes is a disease that affects approximately 25 million American adults and children. For anyone diagnosed with diabetes, one very real concern is vision loss from the onset of diabetic retinopathy. What is Diabetic Retinopathy? So what is diabetic retinopathy?...

6 Eye Care Tips for People Living With Diabetes

6 Eye Care Tips for People Living With Diabetes

November is National Diabetes Awareness month. If you or someone you love are living with diabetes, you likely understand the importance of controlling blood sugar levels to stay within the target range your doctor sets. When blood sugar levels are well-controlled, it...

Protect Your Eyes From Costume Contact Lenses

Protect Your Eyes From Costume Contact Lenses

It’s Halloween season! It’s also the time of year when optometrists worry about their patients risking eye safety and injury from using illegal medical devices during Halloween celebrations. Which illegal medical devices are we talking about? Contact...

7 Diseases Your Eye Doctor May See in Your Eyes

7 Diseases Your Eye Doctor May See in Your Eyes

We hear a lot about early detection when it comes to successfully treating diseases and health conditions. Did you know that your annual visit for a comprehensive eye exam with your optometrist also serves as an early detection checkup for a variety of health...

How To Prevent Pink Eye

How To Prevent Pink Eye

Back-to-school can mean back-to-germs. And while you’ve likely coached your kids on proper handwashing techniques this year, it’s also critically important to teach them not to touch their eyes without washing their hands first. Viruses and...

Why Depth Perception is Critical for Student Athletes

Why Depth Perception is Critical for Student Athletes

Back to school season often means back to sports—so it’s a smart move for parents to bring their student athletes in for a comprehensive eye exam before sports seasons begin. This exam may be a game-changer for your student athlete. Young eyes grow and...

6 Tips to Enhance Vision in Learning

6 Tips to Enhance Vision in Learning

It’s back-to-school season! And while everyone hopes that students will be able to attend class in person this year, computers and other digital screens will likely still play a significant role in your student’s education. Here’s the challenge...

Back to School: Beware of Computer Vision Syndrome

Back to School: Beware of Computer Vision Syndrome

August is Vision & Learning Month. The goal of Vision & Learning Month is to increase awareness among parents and teachers about the prevalence of undiagnosed or misdiagnosed vision problems. Vision problems can often present as learning challenges, and should...

6 Benefits of Wearing Sunglasses Every Day

6 Benefits of Wearing Sunglasses Every Day

Sunglasses are an essential part of summer! You’ve probably been wearing them since you were a kid when mom or dad would remind you to put them on before going outside to play. Then, as a teenager they became a cool accessory. And as an adult, you may wonder:...

10 Fun Facts About Sunglasses

10 Fun Facts About Sunglasses

July is UV Safety Month. In our optometry practice, eye safety is always top-of-mind. Did you know that the sun’s harmful rays can damage your eyes if you don’t protect them? You slather on the sunscreen to protect your skin from sunburn before you go...

5 Benefits of Cataract Removal

5 Benefits of Cataract Removal

As we age, our cells and tissues start to break down in predictable ways. Some of these familiar age-related ailments include arthritis of the joints, osteoporosis of the bones, and atherosclerosis of the arteries. Changes that occur in the eye as we get older cause...

5 Signs of Cataract Formation

5 Signs of Cataract Formation

If you live long enough, there’s a good chance you’ll get cataracts. Your risk for developing cataracts increases as you age, beginning around age 40. By age 65, more than 90% of the population will have at least one cataract, though it may or may not be...

How To Choose the Best Sunglasses for You

How To Choose the Best Sunglasses for You

If you don’t yet wear your sunglasses daily, today’s the day to start! Overexposure to the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays over time causes eye and vision damage that can result in diseases with the potential to steal your sight. It’s a...

Top 5 Reasons To Wear High-Quality Sunglasses

Top 5 Reasons To Wear High-Quality Sunglasses

May is Healthy Vision Month, a time when we focus on steps we can take today to keep our vision healthy for a lifetime. Sunglasses are an essential tool in your long-term eye health toolkit, and we recommend that you wear them every time you go outside, in every...

6 Options for Treating Allergy Eyes

6 Options for Treating Allergy Eyes

In our previous post, we explored the symptoms of seasonal allergies that affect the eyes—what we call allergic conjunctivitis. These include itchy, watery, swollen red and irritated eyes. If you’ve had them, you know how annoying and uncomfortable the...

Are Your Eyes Suffering From Seasonal Allergies?

Are Your Eyes Suffering From Seasonal Allergies?

Ah, Spring! The birds are chirping, flowers are blooming, and the trees are “leafing out” all over. After a long winter, the arrival of Spring is a welcome one. In fact, some of us get so excited by the warmer Spring weather that we completely forget that...

10 Safety Tips For Eye Makeup

10 Safety Tips For Eye Makeup

If you’ve found yourself wearing more eye makeup in the past 12 months, you’re not alone. According to Fortune magazine, interest in and sales of eye makeup products have surged since March 2020. So-called “above-the-mask” beauty has become a...

February Is Low Vision Awareness Month: Are You at Risk?

February Is Low Vision Awareness Month: Are You at Risk?

The National Eye Institute designates the month of February as Low Vision Awareness Month in order to increase awareness about this visual impairment condition. It’s estimated that more than 3 million Americans age 40 and older are experiencing low vision, which...

Who Is At Risk For Glaucoma?

Who Is At Risk For Glaucoma?

The National Eye institute designates January as National Glaucoma Awareness Month. Did you know that more than 3 million people in the United States have been diagnosed with this sight-stealing disease? In our previous post, we addressed the top five questions people...

Top 5 Questions About Glaucoma

Top 5 Questions About Glaucoma

Many of us breathed a sigh of relief when the year 2020 with its many challenges came to an end. But the New Year brings a critical reminder: January is National Glaucoma Awareness Month. It’s an important time to educate yourself, family and loved ones about...

A Thank-You To Patients and Friends

A Thank-You To Patients and Friends

We wish you a safe and healthy holiday season! We realize that many of you — just like many of us — are ending this unprecedented year much differently than we have ever done in the past: By spending the holidays at home, canceling travel plans, avoiding...

5 Ways to Reduce or Prevent Diabetic Eye Disease

5 Ways to Reduce or Prevent Diabetic Eye Disease

November is American Diabetes Month. It’s estimated that more than 30 million adults over age 18 currently have diabetes, with another 84 million showing signs of prediabetes. For those over age 65, one in four have diabetes and its associated complications. Did...

13 Surprising Health Issues An Eye Exam Can Detect

13 Surprising Health Issues An Eye Exam Can Detect

In our previous post, we explored 7 serious health issues your optometrist can detect during your annual comprehensive eye exam. These include: Diabetes High Blood Pressure Thyroid disease Rheumatoid Arthritis Brain tumors High cholesterol Cancer But your...

7 Serious Health Issues An Eye Exam Can Detect

7 Serious Health Issues An Eye Exam Can Detect

The eyes are sometimes called the windows to the soul. That may be true, but for health purposes, they’re also a window that provides a clearer view of your total body health. Did you know that your optometrist can detect 20 or more health conditions that may be...

10 Ways Vision and Learning are Linked

10 Ways Vision and Learning are Linked

Whether your child is back in the classroom this year or learning virtually, you want your student to learn in the most effective way possible. Did you know that there’s one key factor in learning that is sometimes overlooked? That factor is how well the eyes...

5 Visual Skills Your Child Needs This School Year

5 Visual Skills Your Child Needs This School Year

While this back-to-school season is unlike every other back-to-school season we’ve ever experienced, one thing that remains the same: It’s important that your student is seeing their best so they can take advantage of every learning opportunity presented...

How Vision and Learning Go Together

How Vision and Learning Go Together

It’s back-to-school season. And whether that means in-person or virtual learning for the students in your school district, the vision needs and capabilities of school-age children remain the same. Making sure that your child has the visual skills necessary to...

How Eyelashes and Eyebrows Protect Your Eyes

How Eyelashes and Eyebrows Protect Your Eyes

Wearing a facial covering or mask—as many of us are doing this summer—draws a lot of attention to your eyes! Because of masks, you’re likely noticing other peoples’ eyes and eyebrows more than ever. Have you ever wondered why humans evolved to...

9 Home Safety Tips to Prevent Eye Injury

9 Home Safety Tips to Prevent Eye Injury

If you’re like most Americans, you’re spending more time than ever at home this summer. And while you’re reaching new heights in cooking, cleaning, yard work and home projects, you may not have considered that each of these activities can cause eye...

6 Sunglass Myths: Debunked

6 Sunglass Myths: Debunked

You might be spending more time outside this summer than usual, especially since many inside activities have been moved outside to lower the spread of coronavirus. Because of that, it’s more important than ever for you and your loved ones to wear high-quality...

How to Avoid Lens Fog…

How to Avoid Lens Fog…

How to Avoid Lens Fog while Wearing a Mask with Glasses The White House coronavirus task force has confirmed that there is clear scientific evidence that wearing face masks is an effective way to limit the spread of coronavirus. People should wear face masks if they...

Our New Safety Protocols to Prevent Virus Spread

Our New Safety Protocols to Prevent Virus Spread

We are as eager to get back to normal as you are! However, we also need to do our best to protect you and our eye-care team during these trying times. We have always taken steps to sanitize patient areas, reduce contact with sick people, and provide comfortable...

5 Ways to Cultivate a Gratitude Practice

5 Ways to Cultivate a Gratitude Practice

It’s easy to feel sorry for ourselves or experience anxiety during the COVID-19 pandemic. We didn’t want our lives to change so dramatically, and we didn’t do anything to “deserve” this complete change in lifestyle, and yet here we are,...

7 Ways to Save Your Vision

7 Ways to Save Your Vision

It’s Save Your Vision Month, which the American Optometric Association (AOA) decrees as the perfect time to bring awareness to the importance of good vision, healthy eyes and steps you can take to achieve both. Did you know that more than 40 million Americans...

How The Eye’s Different Parts Power Your Vision

How The Eye’s Different Parts Power Your Vision

March is Save Your Vision Month, as designated by the American Optometric Association (AOA). This month is an ideal time to increase awareness of the importance of scheduling a comprehensive annual eye examination with your optometrist. Optometrists diagnose eye...

The Curious Case of an Eye Cancer Cluster

The Curious Case of an Eye Cancer Cluster

In our most recent post, we explored the rare diagnosis of eye cancer—specifically ocular melanoma, which occurs in about 5 people out of a million. That’s around 2,000-2,500 cases diagnosed per year in the US. Risk Cancers for Eye Cancer Eye cancer is...