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As people age, they may begin to experience vision problems, even if they have had 20/20 vision their entire life. In order to focus on objects close up, the eye’s crystalline lens must flatten and thicken. Over time, this lens’ flexibility begins to diminish, which causes objects within an arm-length’s distance to become blurry. This is called presbyopia, or age-related farsightedness.
Hyperopia vs. Presbyopia
In both hyperopia and presbyopia, a person has difficulty seeing objects up close. However, the causes for this inability to see objects at a close range differ. Hyperopia, which is normally considered a genetic trait, occurs when the eye is too short. With presbyopia, the effects come on later in life and are due to the diminishing flexibility of the lens.
Presbyopia Symptoms and Diagnosis
Since presbyopia occurs later in a person’s life, you may not have had any symptoms in the past. People who begin to develop presbyopia report difficulty reading at a close distance, whether it’s a newspaper or a restaurant menu. The text becomes blurry, and the eyes are unable to focus on their own. Squinting to read the words can cause eyestrain and eventually headaches and fatigue.
A thorough eye examination, along with a series of tests, by your ophthalmologist can determine if you have presbyopia and to what degree. Once diagnosed, your ophthalmologist will discuss your treatment options with you based on your individual needs and find the best way to correct your vision for your case.
Presbyopia Treatment Options
Unfortunately, presbyopia is simply a part of the natural aging process, which is why many refer to it as age-related farsightedness. But there are ways to treat the disorder and give you back the clear vision you’ve enjoyed the majority of your life.
Some of the best treatment options for presbyopia are eyeglasses or contact lenses. Bifocals are often used to correct vision in these cases, and bifocal contact lenses are also available. If you’d rather not fuss with eyeglasses or contact lenses, you may opt for an implantable lens or refractive surgery. A lens implant is an artificial lens that replaces the lens in the eye, and there are now lens implants available specifically for presbyopia treatment. For refractive surgery, LASIK may be chosen to obtain monovision or CK can reshape your cornea to restore your vision.
If you are having difficulty seeing objects up close and have had no vision problems in the past, you may have presbyopia. Contact and eye care office near you to schedule an appointment with one of our highly trained ophthalmologists.
Cataract surgery has proven to be extremely safe and effective. However, there are still many myths about cataract treatment that cause people to feel reluctant about undergoing surgery. This article will discuss some of the common myths about cataracts and cataract surgery.
Myth - Cataracts can only be removed when they are “ripe”
A cataract is a progressive clouding of the natural lens of the eye. In truth, cataracts can be treated as soon as they are diagnosed. However, most patients prefer to wait until cataracts begin to significantly impair vision before undergoing treatment.
Myth – Cataract surgery requires a long recovery period
Cataract surgery recovery is actually very brief. You can expect to be back at work within days of surgery. There are no stitches required during surgery so you will feel minimal discomfort as you recover.
Myth – Cataracts can regrow
This is no longer true. The current method of treating cataracts is to completely replace the natural lens of the eye. It is impossible for cataracts to regrow on an artificial lens.
Myth – Cataract surgery is painful
Cataract surgery is uncomfortable, but not particularly painful.
Myth – I will have clear vision following cataract surgery
This is sometimes true. It depends on what type of lens implant is placed in your eye. Premium multifocal lenses can improve reading vision, eliminating the need for reading glasses.
Myth – I will have to sit in the dark following surgery
This is not true. Cataract surgery patients have no issue with sun exposure following surgery.
Myth – I will have to pay for the cataract procedure out of pocket
Most insurance companies will cover the cost of cataract surgery. If you choose a premium lens implant versus a standard lens implant, there may be some out of pocket expenses. Talk to your ophthalmologist about the cost of cataract surgery and financing options.
Millions of Americans suffer from nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. Until the last few decades, prescription eyewear and contact lenses were the only option for improving visual acuity. Now, however, there is a more convenient option for people with refractive error that offers better and faster results – LASIK eye surgery.
LASIK Surgery and Your Pocketbook
LASIK surgery has truly revolutionized vision correction over the last 20 years. With laser vision correction, eye surgeons can reshape the cornea to correct refractive error in as little as five minutes. The procedure results in significant vision correction and can reduce or eliminate dependence on glasses.
There’s just one drawback to LASIK surgery – cost. Most insurance companies do not cover the cost of LASIK eye surgery because it is considered an elective procedure. Moreover, you can be sure that a specialized procedure like LASIK eye surgery certainly does not come cheap.
LASIK Cost
LASIK costs vary considerably depending on the following factors:
The region where you live
Your doctor
The facility where the surgery is being performed
The type of LASIK procedure you choose (ex: all-laser LASIK is more expensive)
The severity of your refractive error
Most patients can expect to pay from $300 to several thousand dollars per eye for the procedure.
Paying for LASIK Surgery
Most LASIK centers offer assistance to help patients cover the cost of surgery. You can always use your credit card to pay for the surgery, but make sure you look into your options first. Many surgeons will provide interest-free payment plans with no money down.
Keep in mind that while the cost of LASIK surgery can be intimidating, that doesn’t mean it’s impossible to pay for the surgery. Do some research online before you book a LASIK consultation to find out which LASIK centers offer the most competitive rates and/or financing options. Learn more about laser vision correction in Seattle by contacting a LASIK in Seattle specialist.
PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) eye surgery is the original form of refractive surgery that was developed to help fix problems of nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. It has since been replaced by the more popular LASIK but is still offered as a great alternative for those that aren’t suitable for such a procedure, so what actually is PRK eye surgery and what does it entail?
Well, PRK surgery, like its later refractive surgery counterparts, uses lasers to fix any problems with the cornea. It could be too steep, too shallow, or it could have numerous other irregularities, and the lasers are precisely targeted to fix such issues.
Unlike LASIK or even LASEK procedures, during PRK the surface of the cornea doesn’t have to be moved or cut into. The lasers are applied directly to the surface of the eye and the thin epithelial layer of the eye is in fact removed completely during the procedure, being left to grow back over the following months.
This is probably the major disadvantage of PRK. Because this delicate top layer of the eye is completely removed it takes longer to heal, and more discomfort is usually felt following this procedure than following any of the other refractive surgery options.
It has potential for more side effects and it can also take a while for the results to be seen–it’s a gradual process and the full effects may not be seen for days, weeks or even months, whereas with LASIK or LASEK the results are almost instantaneous and take at the most a few days to appear.
However, in some cases, PRK eye surgery could well be the best option. It’s ideal for patients that have particularly thin corneas that can’t be cut into or removed during the procedure, and it can also be incredibly accurate, particularly in patients who suffer from nearsightedness.
So, PRK eye surgery is a form of refractive surgery that lets you experience perfect life-long vision. Although LASIK is often the surgery of choice this certainly shouldn’t be ruled out, so those of you who are on the quest to rid yourselves of glasses and contacts should definitely bear PRK in mind.
It’s better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick
She quickly turns to face her companion, hair swinging seductively, the two crystals dangling from her eyes swaying like two enormous tear drops suspended in time. Is this a scene from the latest sci-fi movie? A lost episode of Star Trek, perhaps? I’m afraid not. This is eye jewelry, and it’s the latest in almighty Fashion’s fetish for the weird and the wonderful.
Finally, those who shy away from the thought of tattooing those baby blues (or blacks, or browns) and cringe at the possibility of embedding stylish shards of metal in those limpid pools of green can participate in the eye-modification craze (crazy?) that is sweeping the industrialized world. One of Amsterdam designer Eric Willem Klarenbeek’s latest projects, eye jewelry consists of shiny baubles dangling from threads attached to the wearer’s contact lenses. Apparently, you haven’t reached the pinnacle of fashion until you’ve experienced swinging a crystal pendulum from your eye.
Yet, perhaps Mr. Klarenbeek is trying to make a statement other than one of fashion. Perhaps he is commenting on the haute monde’s tendency toward one-up-manship – toward fashion’s predilection for excess, its penchant for making life as uncomfortable as possible for the wearer. Here I’m reminded of the infamous Marie Antoinette’s convoluted coif, which took hours to construct and a king’s ransom in padding, pomade and ornamentation. Her most famous style featured a model of the “Belle Poule,” a French naval vessel, ensconced in her towering tresses.
If eye jewelry is Klarenbeek’s honest attempt at a fashion milestone, however, I’ve only one thing to say to the fashion forward: with a nod to France’s most infamous queen, Let them use eye drops!
From the schmaltzy tone of the title, I’m sure you can tell that this will be one schmaltzy piece of writing.
For those of us who love to take risks, there’s nothing better than free-falling. I’m not talking about the schmaltzy Tom Petty jingle from the early 90’s, either. I’m talking about that heart-in-your-throat, brain-scrambling, stomach-doing-somersaults feeling you get when you either intentionally or unintentionally hurl yourself from a distance of greater than about 30 feet to the ground.
We’ve all taken that phantom step in the dark while walking up or down the stairs before. You know, the one where you either think that there’s another step to take when there isn’t or that there isn’t another step when there actually is one (the second of these examples being the more potentially disastrous). Think of that split-second of panic when your mind realizes that you’ve misstepped and gets ready for the searing pain that is certain to follow. Take that feeling, stretch it out over 15 seconds or so, and you can begin to ascertain what it feels like to bungee jump. There is no greater rush than to trick your mind into thinking that it is about to get smashed into a million pieces. Some people say that it is the closest feeling to being born that humans will ever attain (OK, I made that part up, but you know what I’m talking about).
Consider me a wrung-out-rag when I learned today that bungee jumping (and indeed every activity that has a violent jerking motion associated with it) can lead to visual impairment. The New England Journal of Medicine reported in its latest issue that a 24-year-old woman in seemingly impeccable health partially lost vision in one of her eyes due to a “pool of blood, or a blood blister, [that] formed at the back of her left eye as a result of the abrupt jerking stop.” I guess the “bungee” part of bungee jumping caused something back there to rupture and eventually caused her vision to decline from 20/20 to 20/25 (after surgery). So now you know the risks and rewards of bungee jumping. It’s all fun and games until your eye gets jerked out.
Remember back when lip rings, tongue piercings, and navel jewelry were considered strange? Well, now people have taken extreme body modification to an entirely new level. Forget the JewelEye. The last place on the body you would have ever thought could be tattooed has gotten inked.
I guess humans can make anything possible, even getting tattoos on the eyes. And I’m not talking about eyelid tattooing either, but actual tattoos on the eyeballs.
Apparently, cosmetic corneal tattooing has been used since the late 19th century to mask scars and other defects. But somehow the medical procedure has become an elective one, and has migrated from the cornea to the sclera (the white part of the eye).
Some ink addicts are eyeing it as a potential new trend, despite major risks for infection, loss of sight, loss of eyeballs, etc. In fact, three very brave (and maybe soon to be blind) “mice” decided to test it out. Pauly Unstoppable, Shannon Larratt, and Josh decided to willingly get stabbed in their eyes multiple times in an attempt to turn their whites an electric blue.
The result— major bruising and discomfort, and some blisters between the sclera and conjunctiva. But hey, at least they accomplished their goal…
If this actually sounds appealing to you, just remember that trends come and go; so it would be wise to “think before eye ink.”
Not to mention that 17 percent of an estimated 45 million Americans who got inked in normal places (a.k.a. “their skin”) now have tattoo remorse, according to a 2004 Harris Poll. Many of them opt for expensive, painful, and time consuming tattoo removal. But eyeball tats will pretty much leave you marked for life.
Which leaves me wondering— what will these blue-eyed idiots do when they start regretting their moronic experiment?
The lights are low, the music smoky; you catch her piercing gaze from across the bar. As she saunters over, eyes locked to yours, you wrack you brain for the perfect opening line. But before you can find the right words, an odd metallic gleam catches your attention.
“Is there…something in your eye?”
“Oh, it’s my JewelEye,” she croons, blinking a few times for emphasis.
Thinking she may have had a few too many stiff ones, you ask her to repeat.
“Jewel-Eye,” she giggles. “It’s Dutch.”
This does little to explain what looks like a piece of heart-shaped shrapnel lodged in her ocular conjunctiva. But you buy her a drink, all the while wondering what those crazy Europeans will think of next.
Welcome to the future of body modification, where tattoos, septum rings, and 3-inch plugs are no longer enough to stand out in a crowd. Yes, in the true spirit of innovation, today’s young and restless have found an even more cringe-inducing way to shock the parents. The JewelEye, a small platinum implant that is placed under a thin membrane in the white of the eye, was developed by a surgeon at the Netherlands Institute for Innovative Ocular Surgery (NIIOS) back in 2002. Never to be outdone by their Continental counterparts, Los Angeles residents soon flocked to a local ophthalmologist who offered extraocular implants, Dr. Robert Maloney. While other ophthalmologists have dismissed the procedure as dangerous and unnecessarily invasive, Maloney maintains that the JewelEye is not only safe, but also “really exciting and interesting and beautiful and a little bit edgy.”
But if Maloney’s bubbling recommendation hasn’t sold you, you may be swayed the NIIOS website. “It is of all times for people to wear jewelry,” it cryptically insists, making you wonder if the JewelEye isn’t, in fact, the mod of the new Millennium.
But whether the fad will stick or fade like so much Crystal Pepsi has yet to be seen. And in the meantime, you may want to stick to something tried and true, like a puncture to the ol’ nasal cartilage. Ah, those were the days…
Parents: after you read the following, pick your jaw off the ground quickly. You don’t want to get it stuck that way, do you? And so goes the logic of this myth…
Kids are easily amused. No, I’m not kidding. There was a time in life when simply trying to focus on a freckle at the end of my nose would keep me entertained for a surprisingly long time – at least until my eyes got tired and my head started to hurt. The unfortunate side of this coin is that adults are easily annoyed – especially by those things that kids tend to find amusing. So, sooner or later, some grown-up person in my family would lose patience and snap, “Stop crossing your eyes like that or they’ll get stuck that way!”
Now among vision myths, this one is higher than most on the absurdity scale. Furthermore, its effect is, as often as not, the opposite of the adult’s intention, which is to convince the kid to stop crossing their eyes. I know more than one person who, as a child, responded to the threat with something along the lines of, “Really? Cool!” before proceeding to actually try to get their eyes stuck out of alignment.
Furthermore, there is a vaguely harmful element to this particular myth. Strabismus, the medical condition that causes the eyes to be out of synch with each other, is not acquired. Children who have it are born with it. However, imagine a child who has been afflicted with this condition constantly being told by other children, “Gee, you shouldn’t have crossed your eyes so much. My mom says that’s how they get stuck that way.”
So if your kid is amused by crossing his eyes on purpose, let him do it. It’ll eventually cause a headache – perhaps for you as well as him – but it won’t do any damage. It’s also better than him embarrassing himself – and you – the next time he meets someone with an actual visual problem.
Corey Hart, the Federation, and E40, all wear sunglasses at night. Now young club-hoppers and trendsetters everywhere are mimicking their style, sporting clunky designer sunglasses both indoors and at night, in a shameless attempt to look cool.
I guess sunglasses aren’t what they used to be. Gone are the days when their main function was to hide the eyes from the sun’s harmful rays. Now they apparently protect your eyes from moon-rays too.
While hitting the club scene last weekend, I came across a peculiar sight. As I made my way to the dance floor, I saw huddled in a dark corner a group of fashionably-clad gentlemen with brewed drinks in hand— conspicuously sporting sunglasses, as if they just stepped out of a James Bond flick.
Sunglasses? At night? Isn’t it dark in here, or is it just me?
It seemed my drink wasn’t playing tricks on me. So I wondered: what is the point of wearing shades in a club where it’s so dark you can barely tell who (or what) you are dancing with? The green and blue flashing lights must have been blinding. Or maybe they thought they were just too cool to be seen. To me, they looked like idiots wearing sunglasses when there really was no reason to.
Sure, society has accepted some people for their habitual “glamourflage” capabilities. Tom Cruise (before he was jumping on couches) made Wayfarers look good. Angelina Jolie and Heidi Klum look sexy in their Aviators. Bono rocks his signature pair of Armani’s; which according to the rockstar, make him look not-so-ordinary.
But just because a celebrity or two can pull off such a pretentious and purposeless look (or just because a new song makes the fashion faux pas sound cool) doesn’t mean it looks good on everyone. So to avoid looking stupid, just stick to wearing shades in the sun only.
