Eye Yoga is it a Thing

Paul McCartney swears by it. During an episode of the podcast Table Manners, the former Beatle revealed that his eyesight is still totally sharp and said he regularly practices eye yoga to help keep his vision intact.

There’s some evidence that eye yoga might actually, be able to help with your ability to focus your eyes and help relieve eye strain symptoms

Common eye yoga exercises include:

1. Deliberately and repeatedly looking up and down, then left and right.
2. Closing your eyes for several seconds to increase moisture on your eyeballs.
3. Warming your palms and then placing them over your closed eyes.
4. Choosing an object and staring at it without blinking. During this exercise, focus and unfocus your eyes.

Exercising eye muscles will not eliminate the most common need for corrective lenses:

1. nearsightedness
2. farsightedness
3. astigmatism
4. presbyopia (age-related lens stiffening)
5. Above all, eye exercises will do nothing for glaucoma and macular degeneration.

A 2013 study of 60 participants noted that simple eye exercises improved response time to what the study group was seeing. In other words, eye exercises helped them to more quickly identify what they were looking at.

We need more research to back up the many claims that people make about eye yoga. There’s reason to believe that eye yoga and other eye exercises might help with eye strain by decreasing stress and improving your focus, but the truth is that we don’t have a lot of definitive science to support that one way or another.

If you want to give eye yoga a try, there’s very little risk, no minimum fitness level, and at the worst, you’ll lose a minute.

Speak to your doctor if you’re concerned about diminishing eyesight, dry eye, cataracts, or frequent eye strain. Eye yoga and other eye exercises aren’t an acceptable form of treatment to replace medical advice from an eye doctor.

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist

Sources:
www.today.com

www.healthline.com

www.see-eci.com

www.health.Harvard.edu

Image: www.lifeasalifestyle.com

Kaleidoscope Vision

 

Image: www.eyespyoptometry.com

Kaleidoscope vision is a short distortion of vision of vision that causes things to look as if you are peering through a kaleidoscope. Kaleidoscope vision is not a standalone condition, but rather a visual symptom of something else. Visual disturbances can occur in one eye or both eyes.

Kaleidoscope vision is commonly caused by migraine headaches. According to the American Migraine Foundation. Kaleidoscope vision is one type of distorted or altered visual symptom that usually occurs before the onset of a visual or ocular migraine.

The visual disturbances of migraine generally last less than an hour, most commonly 10 to 30 minutes. The visual symptoms may or may not be associated with a headache.

An ocular migraine occurs when nerve cells in the part of the brain responsible for vision fire erratically.

As with all other vision changes, it is important to distinguish if kaleidoscope vision may be a warning of a more serious issue. If you experience kaleidoscope vision or any other aura effect, especially for the the first time, consult an eye doctor for a comprehensive eye exam.

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist

#eyegotcha

 

Sources:

www.healthline.com

www.eyelink.com

www.americanmigrainefoundation.org

Men’s Health Week- Vision Care

 

Images: www.feelgoodcontacts.com

Men’s Health Week June 14 to June 20th, the week leading up to Father’s Day. Men, just like women struggle with hormone changes as they age. Beginning in puberty, hormones cause many changes, and that even including the way their eyes grow. Some teenage boys become temporarily nearsighted as their eyes grow longer to the point of creating myopia, commonly known as nearsightedness.

Studies have shown that lower androgen levels, including testosterone, are linked to dry eye disease and ocular surface disease (indicates damage to the surface layers of the eye namely the cornea and conjunctiva.)

Males are sixteen times more likely to be colorblind.

Men are three times greater risk of suffering accidental eye injuries than women. Men are more involved in activities that pose risks to vision such as contact sports or construction work. So guys wear those safety glasses.

Five of the most common health issues men face can harm vision:

1.  Diabetes-15% of men in the US have diabetes with that comes the risk of retinopathy.
2. Cardiovascular disease-The heart distributes blood and oxygen to the areas of the body where it is needed. With cardiovascular disease, the flow is disrupted, including the flow to the eyes.
3. High blood pressure-Can damage vision. The tiny blood vessels in the eyes are damaged and restrict blood flow to the retina.
4. High cholesterol-can restrict blood flow in your veins. Including in the eyes. When a retinal vein is blocked, it will hemorrhage and retinal vein occlusion (RVO).
5. Cancer-Males have a 40% risk of developing cancer in their lifetime. Treatments like chemotherapy is known to worsen existing cataracts and chronic dry eye. Radiation treatments near the eyes can inflame the skin, cornea, and conjunctiva and cause bleeding from the retina. When cancer involves the brain, double vision, visual field loss, and optic nerve swelling occurs.

As a general rule most adults should have a comprehensive eye exam every one to two years, but that would depend upon:

•  Age
• Risk factors
•  Already wearing corrective devices

An eye exam can help diagnose and treat medical conditions in the early stages.

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist

  

Sources:

www.visionsource.com

www.eyesiteonwellness.com

www.ashvillevisionandwellness.com

www.smartvisionlabs.com

A Career in Vision Care, is it for you?

Do you find the eye fascinating? Is someone in your life visually impaired?  Do you want to help someone else? Whatever the reason there are many career paths in vision care.

Ophthalmologist - An eye physician with advanced medical and surgical training. Some have specialized expertise in specific eye conditions. While others do research on causes and cures for eye diseases and conditions.

Optometrist- is considered to be your primary eye healthcare, a physician specially trained to examine the eyes to detect defects in vision, signs of injury, ocular disease or abnormality and can see general health problems.

Orthoptist-is an eye doctor who diagnoses and treats eye movement disorders such as Strabismus and Nystagmus, as well as visual impairments related to the way that the eyes interact with the brain.

Optician- is a technical practitioner who designs fits and dispenses lenses for the correction of a person's vision.

Ophthalmic nurse- a nursing professional that focuses on assessing and treating patients with a variety of eye diseases and injuries.

Ophthalmic assistant- A person that works as an assistant to an eye care Physician.

Ophthalmic technician- a versatile employee who plays an important role in patient care that includes familiarizing patients with procedures or what a patient will experience while in an eyecare center or answering a patient's questions.

Ophthalmic technologist is considered to be a specialist in the eye care sector. The job is very detailed and involves the use of very sophisticated equipment such as Ophthalmic Ultra Sonography.

Certified Retinal Angiographer-This career falls under the ophthalmic technician, but specializing in photography of the retina and is certified by the Ophthalmic Photographer's Society.

Ophthalmic scribe-The role of the scribe is to assist the physician with documentation of the patient's medical record as given by the patients.

Not all eye care practices use these professionals. Many of these positions overlap. Some are attainable through on-the-job training, others require a higher level of education. The skillset needed for some careers in this field can also be escalated to the next level. If you feel you want a career in vision care, start at a level you believe you can excel in and grow. Whether it is in the technical field, experimental and research field or becoming a Doctor, it is up to you to strive for it.

#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist

 

Sources:

www.eyetechtraining

www.aao.org

www.everynurse.org

www.opticianEDU.org

 

June is Cataract Awareness Month

Image: www.preventblindness.org

42% of all cases of blindness in the world is caused by cataract(s). An estimated 25 million Americans have cataracts. As the population of America continues to age, the number of cataract cases are projected to increase by 50% to 38.5 million by 2032.

Getting cataract(s) is a natural aging process, in which the lens of the eye becomes progressively opaque, resulting in blurred vision.

Risk factors for cataracts include:

• Older age
• Intense heat or long-term exposure to UV rays from the sun
• Certain diseases, such as diabetes
• Inflammation in the eye
• Hereditary influences
• Events before birth, such as German measles in the mother
• Long-term steroid use
• Eye injuries
• Certain eye diseases
• Smoking

Most cataracts develop slowly, over the course of years. Cataract(s) don’t disturb vision early on. Once a cataract interferes with someone’s visual activities, the cloudy lens can be replaced with a clear artificial lens, this is generally a safe outpatient surgery.

The artificial lens is called an intraocular lens (IOL). This lens can be made from silicone or acrylic. Complete recovery can be expected over 1 to 2 days. The artificial lens that is implanted during cataract surgery do not break down and never need to be replaced. To receive the long lasting benefits of IOL’s patient should follow any aftercare instructions given by the surgeon following the procedure.



#eyegotcha

#PittsburghEyeCare

#PittsburghOptometrist



Sources:

www.preventblindness.org

www.mayoclinic.org

www.thenewyorkdoctor.com

www.oaveyes.com