Eye Care During The Festive Season

A guide to looking after your eyes during the festive season!

The Christmas party season can play havoc with your eyes so the Eyecare Trust has produced some hints and tips to help keep your eyes sparkly and bright.

Smoke Gets in your Eyes

Smokey atmospheres, late nights and drinking alcohol can all place stress on our eyes and they can often become dull, red, puffy, tired or irritated and, although there is nothing physically wrong with your eyes, you may not be pleased with how they look. A quick fix for relieving your eyes from any discomfort is to place a cold compress made from a wet tea bag or a slice of cucumber over each eye then lie back and relax for 5-10 minutes. Afterwards your eyes should feel soothed and revived. The best way, however, to put the sparkle back into your eyes is to get a good night’s sleep!

Popping Corks

Every year at least half a dozen people are admitted to Moorfields Eye Hospital in London with injuries sustained from cracking open the bubbly. A champagne cork is about the size of an eye socket and can be extremely painful and damaging. Iain Anderson, Chairman of the Eyecare Trust advises: “Although the effect is less dramatic ALWAYS place a cloth over the cork and gently twist it out of the bottle.” Christmas trees also pose an unlikely danger to your eyes. If you get a poke in the eye from a Christmas tree branch, immediately rinse the eye out with water. If it is still sore after 12 hours then visit your nearest A&E department.

Caring For Your Lenses

As a result of my profession I witness people using inappropriate methods of cleaning their lenses. They incessantly use clothing, paper towels and tissues to clean their ophthalmic or sunglass lenses. Sometimes while speaking with me right at my desk.  I will be honest: This is like nails on a chalk board to me. I get numerous calls daily from customers asking me for pricing of new lenses because their lenses are so scratched. They inquire about preventing scratches advice on sustaining the quality of their lenses. Many wonder which is the best cleaning product to use that won’t damage their coatings. Well this is easier than you think. Use fresh water and the cleaning cloth provided with the eyewear. They should be included but If not you can always purchase one from us. And when the cloth no longer cleans the lenses up to your standards put them in the pockets of pants or jeans and throw them in the wash. However please avoid using fabric softener that day. If you feel that you must use a detergent to clean your lenses you may rely on none other than a very mild hand soap.

Occasionally I will try on people’s sunglasses and I become vexed by the lack of acuity. How does this happen? Well, it’s simply unintentional negligence. This is a horrendous epidemic and it needs to be addressed so consider me your guardian angel of lenses.

Never have EYE ever…

I’m sure you are all aware of the ever growing trend of body modification. This includes such things as tattoos, colored hair, and piercings, which by the way, I am ALL for. But did you know that body modification goes WAY beyond that? People are now even modifying their eyeballs. Yes, I said their eyeballs.

The least abrasive method I was able to find was a contact lens with jewelry attached. Dutch designer Eric Klarenbeek, 29, has developed jewelry consisting of tiny crystals or flowers that hang directly from the eye by a micro-thin medical wire attached to either prescription or blank contact lenses. In the light, this gives the appearance of tears streaming down the cheek. This fancy body modification is expected to make its debut for consumers soon in London and is expected to sell for around $325.00 each. Even though this piece of jewelry appears to be painful or dangerous, Klarenbeek said users of his prototypes so far have been “amazed” at their comfort.

 

 

Another interesting non-abrasive method for transforming your eyeballs was created by Shekhar Eye Research, the ‘La SER’ brand lenses. This is a line of lenses for those out there that cannot adorn their face with gold piercing due to culture, or beliefs. These contact lenses were designed and are worn to show others the status of your wealth. There are several designs available. Some with 18k Gold other designs holding 18 tiny, twinkling diamonds. Each custom-made set at a cost of only $15,000 a pair!

Portable eye clinic in a smartphone

Written by Catharine Paddock PhD

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A portable eye testing kit based on a smartphone that could revolutionize eye care in the world’s poorest nations is being tested in Africa by UK researchers.

The kit is a mobile app, together with clip-on hardware, that transforms a smartphone into a low-cost portable eye clinic that can be operated by a non-expert to gather detailed clinical information, diagnose cataracts, check prescriptions for vision lenses, and even check the retina for signs of disease.

Globally, there are 285 million people with impaired vision, 39 million of whom are blind, World Health Organization statistical estimates show.

Poorer countries carry the greatest burden of eye disease – 9 out of 10 blind people live in low-income countries, mostly in areas where access to ophthalmologists and eye clinics is virtually non-existent.

At present, to run a full range of eye tests, you would need state-of-the-art hospital equipment costing more than $150,000 (about £96,000 or €112,000), and 15 trained staff to operate it.

Follow Six Easy Way for Eye Health

Think for a moment about how often we use our sight every day. Our vision allows us to admire nature’s beauty around us, enjoy a good book, and appreciate the faces of our loved ones. Vision is so important in our daily life, in fact, according to the American Optometric Association’s (AOA) annual American Eye-Q® survey, 40 percent of Americans worry about losing their eyesight over their ability to walk or hear.¹ However, despite eyesight being among our most treasured of senses, we don’t often take the steps needed to maintain our eye health throughout our lives.

There are six easy ways to ensure you are routinely on the right path to maintaining good eye health and protecting your vision.

1. See your eye doctor regularly. When you are seeing well, or not having a noticeable visual impairment, it’s easy to forget about making an appointment to see your eye doctor. Eye exams are not just for people experiencing changes in their visual acuity. An eye exam is an essential way to detect even the slightest changes to your eye health and, it can also detect other systemic health issues, such as glaucoma and diabetes, before there are any symptoms. If you presently wear corrective lenses, you should prepare for your office visit by bringing your current lens prescription or eye glasses, if available. Regardless of whether you currently have a vision correction issue, you should always bring your family’s complete health history. Often, patients don’t realize the connection between a larger systemic illness within the body and eye health. Alerting your doctor to any potential issues can help guide your doctor to the right course of action during your exam.Eye care should begin at an early age, and should be part of your normal health routine throughout your lifetime. Our Recommended Eye Exam Schedule by Patient Age, offers guidance on scheduling your eye exams.

2. Protect your eyes.It’s important to protect your eyes from the environment. Most homes and offices have very dry air which can cause eye dryness and irritation. Using a humidifier to control air quality and lubricating eye drops are great options to help protect your ocular surface from irritation and dryness.The sun’s ultraviolet (UV) rays can also be harmful to your eyes. In fact, a lifetime of UV light exposure can increase your risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. Protect your eyes as you would your skin by wearing sunglasses with 100 percent AVA and AVB protection. By the time you have reached 18 years of age, you have received 80 percent of your lifetime exposure, which is why it is also critically important to take these same sunglass precautions with children. Practice eye safety by using protective eyewear while playing sports or working with hazardous materials. This will help to protect and shield your eyes.

Life Is All About Your Vision

Eyes play a vital role in our day to day lives and are perhaps the most precious gift we have. This world is visible to us because we are blessed with eyesight. Clear and bright eye sight makes this world a better place to live in. Good eyesight is very important for our daily activities like reading, watching television, internet surfing, driving etc. However, there are many people amongst us who are affected by vision defects and hence are forced to use contact lenses or glasses to have clear vision.

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