Dr. White talks to The Washington Post

You’re not imagining it. Masks can make your eyes feel dry. Here’s what to do.

“Mask-associated dry eye” is an emerging phenomenon, but experts say the condition is easily managed and should not be a reason to stop wearing face coverings.

Excerpt: The “Ah-ha” moment:

The sight of the man’s steamed-up glasses coupled with his sudden onset of eye dryness are both signs of what White is calling “mask-associated dry eye,” or “MADE” — an emerging phenomenon amid the novel coronavirus pandemic that eye experts are now urging the public to be mindful about.

Full Article:   https://www.washingtonpost.com/lifestyle/wellness/masks-dry-eye-covid/2020/09/08/179cb85e-edf1-11ea-99a1-71343d03bc29_story.html

Vision Development and Children

Childhood is a critical time for vision development. Nearly 80% of what a child learns in school is presented visually. Arguably making vision the most important of the five senses. Visual skills start developing during pregnancy and continue to evolve and develop as a child grows. Undetected vision problems can cause developmental and educational delays in children.

Infant Vision Development

Your infant’s vision starts developing during pregnancy. It is crucial that toxins are not consumed during pregnancy as they can cause serious vision problems. At birth, babies only see black, white, and shades of gray. Infants are unable to focus on objects for several months and can only see the outline of objects.

As infants grow, they can distinguish between high contrast colors. By six months your child can see color, has sharper vision, and has begun developing hand-eye coordination skills. Schedule your child’s first eye exam at six months to make sure their eyes are healthy and on the right developmental track. Detection of eye health issues and vision problems at this stage in development can help to ensure your child does not experience setbacks in learning and growth.

When your infant begins to crawl and potentially walk they are learning to coordinate their body movements and their vision. Over time, your child will become better at judging distances. However, this is also a time when your child may grow more injury prone because they are exploring their environment. Bumps, bruises, eye injuries, and other injuries can occur which is why it is so vital to ensure that your infant’s vision is on track to prevent these injuries as much as possible.

Early Childhood Vision Development

During these years your child will be growing, developing, and improving their visual skills. It is recommended to schedule your child eye exam at three years old. Even if you don’t think your child has vision problems, your child is growing and changing. A comprehensive eye exam before your child enters school provides enough time to catch and correct any vision problems.

They are discovering how to integrate their vision and body position to complete new tasks. They learn this through playing games, throwing a ball, and riding a bike. Children are also working on developing their fine motor skills. The primary way preschool age children are learning this is through writing their name and the alphabet.

Between the ages of 3 to 6 is when you, as a parent, may begin to notice signs of a vision problem. If your child complains about headaches or tired eyes, this could potentially be due to a vision problem. Signs of vision problems include squinting, tilting the head, frequently rubbing eyes, and closing one eye to see. Additionally, look for sitting too close to a tv, holding a book too close, or avoiding activities that require near or distance vision. Some of these activities include coloring, reading, playing ball, or tag if you notice these signs in your child schedule an eye exam as soon as possible. Correct their vision before any learning is delayed!

Screen Time and Children

Screen time is the amount of time a person spends staring at digital displays including computers, tablets, smartphones, and TVs. In our modern and technology-focused world children are spending time on digital displays for educational and recreational purposes. Children who spend several hours on digital devices are at risk of developing vision-related problems.

Average Time Children Spend On Digital Devices

According to the Vision Council, 72% of American parents report their children regularly spend more than two hours on screens per day. It is likely that children spend significantly more time on screens than their parents think. Common Sense Media reports that children under age eight spend more than two hours a day with screen media. For 8 to 10-year-olds screen time triples to six hours per day. Kids in middle school and high school spend up to nine hours per day looking at digital displays.

Risks of Screen Time

Too much screen time can be dangerous for anyone’s eyes, children included. Screens emit a broad spectrum of visible light. While most of these light rays are harmless, blue light is a high-energy visible light that can cause damage to your eyes. Blue light has shorter wavelengths and higher energy causing harm to the retina over time. Overexposure to blue light can cause:

  • Difficulty sleeping
  • Headaches
  • Neck/shoulder pain
  • Eye strain
  • Reduced attention span
  • Poor behavior
  • Irritability

Computer Vision Syndrome

Computer vision syndrome is a condition caused by visual stress. Symptoms include tired eyes, dry eyes, headache, and fatigue.

Unhealthy Posture

Your body naturally slouches inwards when on digital devices. Your back and shoulders round, your head tilts back, and your chin justs forward. This reaction to digital devices is called “turtling” and can cause neck, back, and shoulder pain.

How To Protect Your Child’s Eyes

It is clear digital devices will not be going away anytime soon. Therefore it is essential to ensure you are doing everything you can to protect your children’s eyes from digital screens. One way you can do this is by limiting screen time for your children while at home. You can also apply blue light filters or download blue light filtering apps to all digital devices. If your child wears prescription glasses, ask us about add blue light blocking to their lenses during your next appointment.

Nighttime Use

The largest source of blue light is our sun, which tells our brain when to be awake or sleep. The high use of digital devices emitting blue light may disrupt your natural circadian rhythm (sleep cycle) by miscommunicating the time of day and if you should be awake or asleep. Stop digital device time two hours before usual bedtime to ensure your child’s sleep schedule is not affected by blue light.

Do you have more questions about screen time and blue light? Stop by our office or give our office a call and we would be happy to answer your questions!

Why You Need Multiple Pairs

Thanks to our busy lives, multiple hobbies, and all the activities in between, having multiple pairs of eyewear handy is a necessity. Even contact lens wearers should have alternative pairs of eyewear. But some of us still haven’t jumped on that bandwagon. If you’re still on the fence, here are a few reasons why it’s a great idea to have at least two pairs of eyewear:

Misplacement

We’ve all been there, searching for missing glasses just when we need them the most. An additional pair of eyewear can’t guarantee they won’t keep slipping through the cracks, but it will significantly reduce the chances of having to go without. Lost a contact lens and don’t have a replacement? Backup glasses can hold you over until your new contact lenses come in!

Style

Think about it: a night out on the town is going to call for more stylish eyewear than the amber-tinted lenses you wear at your computer desk. Funky frames may better showcase your personality, but a more neutral pair may be needed for professional situations. Having different styles of glasses removes this dilemma by giving you situation-specific options.

Protection

Chances are, your standard glasses aren’t going to adapt and darken in reaction to sunlight (unless you have photochromic lenses), so it only makes sense to invest in a pair of prescription sunglasses to protect your eyes. Polarized lenses are a good option, especially since the tint can be tailored to your specific sport or hobby.

Contact Lens Wearers

Plano sunwear is a must have for all contact lens users. Contact lenses do not protect your eyes from the harmful UV rays of the sun. We recommend plano sunwear that blocks 100% of UV rays for anyone who wears contacts.

Schedule an appointment with our office if you’re interested in investing in a second pair of glasses! We will help you find the best frames and lenses for your lifestyle!

How to Pick Eyewear for Your Child

Picking eyewear for your child can be stressful. There are many options for lenses and additional features to make lenses better suited for the wearer’s needs. Children often want to be involved in the decision, but it’s ultimately up to the parent to be sure that their child has the eyewear they need. Well, we’re here to help make the process simpler, and to give information for every step of the way.

There are a few main things that you need to think about. After all, your child’s eyewear needs to be safe, durable, effective, and your child needs to actually wear them! Here are the main things you need to consider in making this decision.

Lens Material

Eyeglass lenses used to be made from glass, but modern lenses come in various materials that are safer and last longer. Children’s eyewear needs polycarbonate or Trivex lenses because these are more impact-resistant. These options also make the lenses thinner and lighter, even for strong prescriptions. They have built-in UV protection, too!

Coatings or Treatments

Anti-reflective treatments or non-glare coatings provide many additional benefits that you can consider when getting eyewear for your child. Non-glare materials on the front and back of lenses may help resist scratches, dirt, debris, water, and fingerprints. These coatings also usually protect against UV rays. Most notably, AR treatments guard against glare. Glares are distracting when looking at someone’s eyes, but the brightness on your lens can also wash out what you’re seeing and cause eyestrain. We suggest anti-reflective options for all glasses wearers.

Size and Fit

Of course, a child’s head is smaller than an adult’s so they need a different sized frame. You don’t want frames that are too big and will look over-sized on their face, but you also don’t want wants that are too big because they’ll be too heavy and slide down the nose. Children’s frames come in many shapes and sizes to be sure you get a personalized fit for your child. Additional sizing can be done with certain adjustments. Many plastic frames don’t allow for a custom bridge fit, but metal frames have nose pads and a bridge that may be adjustable to be sure they won’t slide off your child’s face.

Style

Picking the frames is the most fun part! There isn’t a stigma with glasses now like there used to be. Celebrities and eyewear brands have made glasses cool. Even kids who don’t need glasses often want a pair as an accessory. This means that parents have an easier time helping their child settle on a nice pair of frames. Think about things like the color—do you want them to stick to a certain color that will look good with their eyes, hair, or wardrobe? Does a certain shape fit their face better than others? Do they like metal frame styles or trendy plastic ones? Set aside enough time to look at several options, then give them the decision between the final two. Kids can have a hard time choosing if you don’t narrow down the best options with them.

Backup Pair

We strongly suggest getting a backup pair for all children’s glasses. It is so common that children get caught up in activities, visit somewhere engaging, or simply forget and end up losing, leaving, or breaking their eyewear. Accidents happen, but it doesn’t have to be an emergency if you have a backup pair. Often, we can do special pricing to make the second pair a great deal, too. You don’t want your child to go without glasses until you get a new pair (or find the ones that went missing).

If you need any help from an optician, don’t be afraid to ask questions. The optician can help inform you on features, prices, maintenance, and more.

Why Your Children Should be Wearing Sunglasses

As you may know, the sun’s harmful ultraviolet (UV) rays can cause damage to your skin, but how often do you think about the damage these rays can cause to your eyes? What about your child’s eyes? At a young age, children’s eyes are still developing, and with the substantial time they spend outdoors, it is important to purchase sunglasses to protect their eyes from harmful UV rays.

What Are UV Rays?

UV rays or ultraviolet radiation is a form of electromagnetic radiation or energy. These rays are emitted from the sun as well as a few man-made sources, like tanning beds. A key factor in what makes ultraviolet rays so dangerous is our inability to see them. Ultraviolet rays fall outside the range of visible light for the human eye. To read more about UV rays, click here.

Your Exposure to UV Rays

Eye Development

The lens inside a child’s eye is still developing and is not as capable of filtering high energy rays similar to eye lenses in adults. This inability to filter and fully protect their eyes causes children to have a higher risk of damage from UV rays. Shielding your infant’s or child’s eyes from UV rays as early as possible will help prevent overexposure to UV radiation throughout their lifetime. For younger children and infants, a sun hat provides additional protection to their skin and eyes throughout the day as the sun shifts and in case they remove their sunglasses.

Environment

Exposure to UV radiation increases at high altitudes, tropical locations, and in reflective environments. Consider the level of risk in your environment and if protective eyewear should be worn. Here are a few environment aspects and how they could affect your exposure to harmful UV rays.

  • Altitude: At higher altitudes, the earth’s atmosphere is thinner and unable to provide the same protection from UV rays.
  • Location: As you move closer to the earth’s equator, the level of UV rays increase. If you and your family are visiting a tropical location near the earth’s equator, always wear 100% UV blocking eyewear when outdoors.
  • Highly reflective services: Areas with highly reflective services like pools, lakes, oceans, and snow reflect UV rays. Snow can reflect up to 80% of UV rays creating a higher risk of UV damage to your eyes.
  • Clouds: Keep in mind clouds do not block UV radiation. UV exposure can be high on cloudy days.

Time of Day

  • Time of day: UV levels are higher between 10 am to 2 pm when the sun is at its peak.
  • Setting: Highly reflective surfaces like sand, water, and snow provide a much higher risk of eye damage due to UV radiation.

Children’s Eyewear

We understand convincing your child to wear sunglasses can be a challenge. Use these pointers when talking with your kids about sunglasses! Don’t forget, you know your children better than anyone else, so some of these tips may not work for them.

  • Match the current trends. If your child loves a certain color, pattern, or shape, purchase sunglasses to match their unique style.
  • TV shows, young celebrities, and brands like Disney create sunglass lines to appeal specifically to children. That’s right, children notice and prefer brand named items just like teens and adults.
  • Keep frame in the family. If the child has an adult or sibling they look up to and admire, purchase your child similar sunglasses to what the adult or sibling owns. This will appeal to the child’s desire to look more like their older sibling or parent!
  • Let them do the shopping. Take children shopping specifically to pick out their very own special pair of sunglasses. The more they like their sunglasses, the more likely they are to wear them, and the better protected their eyes will be from harmful UV radiation from the sun.

Corrective Eye Surgery Basics

Corrective eye surgery can address a number of eye problems. Most people have heard of laser eye surgery to eliminate the need for prescription glasses. As the procedure has gotten easier and less expensive, more people are opting for things like LASIK and telling their friends about the results.

LASIK

LASIK is the most popular refractive surgery. Because healing time is fast, many people check to see if they are good candidates for LASIK before considering other options. With LASIK, a flap is made on the front of the cornea. A laser is then used to remove some corneal tissue and smooth irregularities in the surface of the lens. The cornea can be made flatter or more rounded to cure nearsightedness or farsightedness, as well as astigmatism.

Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK)

Photorefractive Keratectomy (PRK) was the first laser eye surgery that became widely available for vision correction. It may help people who are nearsighted, farsighted, or have astigmatism. PRK is similar to LASIK, but the main difference is that the procedure does not involve cutting a flap on the surface of the eye to resurface the lens. With PRK, the epithelium covering on the eye is essentially buffed away, and the surface of the cornea is reshaped using an excimer laser. This means the protective covering on the front of the eye has to heal which creates a longer healing process for PRK than some other procedures.

LASEK

LASEK is a corrective eye surgery that can also address myopia, hyperopia, and astigmatism. LASEK reshapes the front of the cornea with a specialized laser procedure, eliminating the need for glasses in some patients. The thin covering on the front of the eye is not entirely removed like with PRK. Instead, an even thinner flap than what LASIK uses is created and then replaced after the procedure to act as a natural bandage. Some people who cannot get LASIK are instead candidates for LASEK because it can be performed on someone with a thinner cornea.

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is also considered corrective eye surgery. For this type of surgery, the cloudy lens of an eye with a cataract is removed and an artificial lens is replaced. Vision is then made clear again, which often reduces the patient’s need for glasses. The procedure is very common and considered one of the safest and most effective corrective eye surgeries. As our population ages, instances of cataracts surgery are on the rise and continue to provide great results.

The different kinds of corrective eye surgeries have their benefits and possible side effects. Make sure that you consult a qualified eye doctor if you have questions about these procedures.

How to Read Your Prescription

Have you ever received your prescription at the end of your exam but were unsure how to interpret it? Below are some common questions and terms explained to help you better understand what each part of your prescription means. If you have any questions about your prescription, please reach out to our office.

What does it mean to be nearsighted?

Nearsightedness (myopia) is the most commonly diagnosed refractive error. Nearsighted individuals have difficulty reading road signs and clearly seeing distant objects. This refractive error typically begins in childhood and stabilizes in early adulthood. Symptoms of myopia include squinting, eye strain, and headaches.

What does it mean to be farsighted?

Farsightedness (hyperopia) affects about one-fourth of the population.* Farsighted individuals will have difficulty focusing on objects up close but can clearly see objects at a distance. The eye shape of someone who is farsighted is shorter than normal. For this reason, many children are born farsighted and outgrow it as their eyeball grows.

I have astigmatism, what does that mean?

Individuals with astigmatism usually experience some degree of blur or distortion at all distances. In astigmatism, light comes into the retina at multiple focus points because of an irregular shaped cornea, which causes blurring. With astigmatism, one or both eyes can be farsighted, one or both eyes can be nearsighted, or one eye can be nearsighted while the other is farsighted.

Reading the Prescription

Your prescription is an outline of corrections your eyes need in order to see as precisely as possible. Every prescription will look different based on the patient’s eyes. If you have questions or do not understand a section of your exam or prescription, be sure to ask your doctor.

OD and OS

Doctors use the abbreviations OD, OS, and OU when writing a prescription for eyeglasses, contact lenses, and eye medicines. OD and OS are abbreviations for the latin words oculus dexter (right eye) and oculus sinister (left eye). The latin term oculus uterque is used for describing both eyes.

Other terms on your prescription:

  • Sphere (SPH): Indicates the lens power needed to correct nearsightedness or farsightedness. If you have a minus sign (-) you are nearsighted; if you have a plus sign (+) or no sign you are farsighted.
  • Cylinder (CYL): Indicates the amount of lens power for astigmatism. If nothing appears in this column you do not have astigmatism. The minus sign is for nearsighted astigmatism and a plus sign for farsighted astigmatism.
  • Axis: Indicates the direction of astigmatism. For example, if the axis is 180 degrees the astigmatism is horizontal.
  • Add: Indicates the magnifying power applied to the bottom of multifocal lenses to correct presbyopia. The number is typically a plus power and will be the same for both eyes.
  • Prism: This is to compensate for eye alignment problems, a very small percentage of prescriptions contain a prismatic power. Abbreviations used for prism direction: BU- base up, BD- base down, BI- base in, BO- base out.

Sample Prescription:

How to Read Your Prescription - INTERNAL IMAGE

*All About Vision

Tips for Choosing Your Perfect Eyewear

Have you ever gone to pick out new eyeglasses, but been overwhelmed by all your options? Do you ever struggle to know what eyewear shape looks best on you? We’ve compiled our best tips for picking the perfect pair of eyewear to help make your decisions easier.

  1. Contrast your face shape

    • There are seven basic face shapes to review including oval, base-up or base-down triangle, oblong, square, diamond, and round. Eyewear should contrast your face shape but be in scale with your face size. Find your face shape below and try out our recommended shape frames

      1. Oval: wide or walnut-shaped frames
      2. Base-up triangle: frames with a wider bottom, light color or lightweight
      3. Oblong: frames with more depth than width
      4. Square: narrow frames and with more width than depth
      5. Diamond: cat-eye shaped frames or other detailing on the brow line
      6. Round: narrow frames which are wider and have a clear bridge
      7. Base-down triangle: frames with color or detailing on the top half
  2. Highlight your features

    • Pick your best or favorite feature and pick a frame to highlight it.
    • Some features to consider highlighting would be your eyes, hair, skin color, and face shape. For example, if you have blue eyes, try a blue frame to match and highlight your eye color.
  3. Match or complement colors

    • Your skin, eyes, and hair work together to create your overall coloring. Everyone has either a cool (blue or pink undertones) or a warm (yellow or orange undertones) overall color. Try a frame from our color list below to complement your coloring.
    • Warm coloring: camel, khaki, gold, copper, peach, orange, coral, red, or warm blue
    • Cool coloring: black, silver, rose-brown, blue-gray, plum, magenta, pink, blue, or tortoise
  4. Find the perfect size

    • Try on multiple pairs to see what size fits your face shape best.
    • If the frames are too small your peripheral vision will be limited and could potentially feel tight on the head. The frames should not pinch your nose, leave red marks, slide down your nose, or easily slip off your head. The tightness around your ears can be adjusted to get the perfect fit.  
  5. Match your frames to your lifestyle

    • Make sure your frames will work for every part of your life and will be a representation of you and your personality.
    • Pick frames to match your unique lifestyle and hobbies. Consider your common activities when choosing frames. For example, if you are more active you may want a pair of sports eyewear or a wraparound band. If you spend a lot of time on the computer, you may want eyeglasses with a tinted lens.
  6. Anti-reflective coating

    • An anti-reflective coating helps eliminate reflections on both sides of your lenses to cut down annoying glare and improve night vision.
    • Anti-reflective coatings allow for sharper, clearer vision with less glare. The lenses appear to be nearly invisible, giving the eyeglasses a more attractive appearance and allowing for better eye contact.
  7. Are weight and material important to you?

    • Frames are most commonly made of plastic, metal, or a combination of materials. This combination determines the longevity, weight, and average cost of a frame.
    • Key Features:
          • Stainless steel and titanium are long lasting
          • Metal frames often have adjustable nose pads
          • Metal frames can come in hypoallergenic materials
          • Plastic frames tend to be less expensive
          • Plastic frames are lighter
          • Plastic frames typically need less maintenance than metal frames
          • Flexible hinges allow the “arms” to bend more than regular hinges

The Importance of Sports Eyewear

Whether you’re playing or watching the game, one incident everyone dreads is an injury. Injuries can prevent players from finishing the game, or worse, end an athletic career. Protective sports eyewear helps to prevent injuries and allows players to continue to play their sport. In today’s world, many sports facilities and fitness clubs require athletes to wear proper eye gear in order to minimize injury.

Why is it important to wear protective eyewear?

Emergency rooms treat more than 40,000 sports-related eye injuries every year, and up to 90 percent of those injuries could have been prevented by using protective eyewear. Any sport in which a ball, racquet, or other flying object is present poses a risk for injury. However, injuries can also result from close contact with others in the way of pokes or jabs with fingers and elbows. Protective eyewear is important because it keeps your eyes safe from a variety of injuries. As an additional bonus, the sharper your vision, the better you will perform in your sport of choice.

Features to look for:

  • Various sizes and shapes designed to fit the user.
  • Customized to best suit the sport including reflective lenses, space for headgear, and wrap around bands.
  • User’s prescription can be added to the lenses, which allows for better clarity during the game and increased overall performance.
  • Lenses are often made of polycarbonate, an impact-resistant material, to protect eyes from high speed and high impact objects.
  • Sports frames are also made of impact resistant material and often come with rubber padding where the frame comes in contact with the head or nose.
  • Wraparound sports glasses help to ensure the eyewear remains in place for the duration of a sporting event and prevents dust or debris from entering through the sides of the glasses.

Get the Facts

Experts agree sports-related eye injuries can be prevented by wearing protective eyewear. Parents and coaches should ensure athletes are wearing safety glasses during sporting events, especially considering 43 percent of all sports-related eye injuries occur in children younger than age 15. Regular eyeglasses are not safe to use as protective sports eyewear because they do not have impact resistance and could shatter or break upon impact.  

It is imperative that protective eyewear properly fits the user. Resist the urge to buy children’s eyewear with “room to grow.” Purchasing protective eyewear too large for the user could cause eyewear to be less effective and increase the risk of injury. Additionally, be sure the user has not outgrown protective goggles as this increases the risk of injury as well.  

Sports using Protective Eyewear

  • Badminton: sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
  • Baseball/softball: batting and baserunning- helmet with polycarbonate face shield. Fielding- sports goggles or sports sunglasses with shatterproof lenses and head strap
  • Basketball: wraparound sports goggles
  • Bicycling: performance sunglasses with anti-fog and anti-scratch lenses
  • Fencing: full face mask made of rigid metal
  • Field hockey: all players- sports goggles with a head strap. Goalies- full helmets and face masks
  • Fishing: polarized sunglasses
  • Football: polycarbonate shield attached to a helmet
  • Hunting and shooting: polarized shatter resistant shooting glasses
  • Ice hockey: full face helmet
  • Lacrosse: form fitting and padded face mask
  • Paintball: full face helmet
  • Racquetball: sports goggles with polycarbonate lenses
  • Skiing and snowboarding: ski goggles or wraparound polarized sunglasses with mirror coated lenses
  • Soccer: sports goggles
  • Squash/Tennis: sports goggles with wraparound frame
  • Swimming and diving: swim goggles and diving masks
  • Volleyball: sports goggles or sunglasses
  • Water Polo: swim goggles with polycarbonate lenses