General Vision Health Topics. Mostly we talk about myopia here, which we don’t consider to be an illness. While on that subject we do often end up crossing over into related issues that you may encounter, while working to reduce your myopia.
Everything from dry eyes, to the dangers of certain antibiotics, to risks of retinal detachment and glaucoma and lattice degeneration, you’ll find all the vision health related topics in this category.
Free, 100% Effective Natural Myopia Control
If you are a parent with a newly myopic child, you have very likely heard of things like Ortho-K, or perhaps explored atropine drops to slow myopia progression. There is even now support for close-up specific focal planes, a premise previous decried and vilified by much of the mainstream.These are signs of our time, where the mainstream is starting to look at myopia control.I love it!But not because I'd advocate Ortho-K (I wouldn't), or putting poison drops in your eyes. [...]
A Brief History of Myopia Correction
Written by DespinaContributing OptometristMyopia correction goes way, way back. The concept of myopia has been known for over 2000 years and was first described by none other than the ancient Greeks.It was a lot later, though, around 1000 AD, that our anscesters noticed that a curved piece of glass could magnify and clarify things, and this was credited to the scientist and mathematician Alhazen, who first described the many properties of light. First corrections were for presbyopia and long-sight. Myopia [...]
Should You Try Plus Lenses?
I have mixed opinions about the use of plus lenses. My recent forum reply to a plus related comment sums up my position fairly well:I’m not a huge proponent of plus in general. For kids and prevention, yes. For professionals who need insane distance vision, yes. For those who need a lot of stimulus to make progress, yes. Generally, for the large majority of myopes, with the standard lifestyle (lots of close-up at work, not much outdoor time, a lot of [...]
Fixing Astigmatism: Should You Do Laser, Or Go Natural?
From Ophthalmology Times:Lake Villa, IL—Use of a proprietary femtosecond laser system (LENSAR Laser System, LENSAR) is making astigmatism correction easy, efficient, and more accurate, according to Mitchell A. Jackson, MDA software upgrade introduced in 2015 (Streamline) enables wireless transmission of preoperative topography data and an infrared image of the undilated eye to the laser. Intraoperatively, iris registration automatically adjusts for cyclorotation, eliminating the need to mark the cornea.Arcuate incision planning using the nomogram the surgeon programmed into the laser is [...]
Torturing Kids: You Might Not Want To Read This One
People sometimes suggest that I'm too hard on mainstream optometry. Hopefully lately the tone has been a little less definitive on that front. I'm trying to be more inclusive of potentially open minded optometrists! Progress, right? And as I point out, my strong bias comes from being exposed to hundreds and thousands (really!) of stories about individual's experiences with myopia. When you just have your own, perhaps not traumatizing experience, the things I say sometimes may sound harsh. Hey [...]
Ignorance is Bliss
Written By DespinaContributing OptometristI've always said this, that ignorance is bliss, and the older and wiser I get, the more I believe it to be true.Since my monumental first reduction in myopia, I have excitedly been telling anyone who cares to listen, in the form of friends, relatives and acquaintances. Their reactions have helped me group these people (and people in general) into 3 main groups:Super-interested - These people show a genuine interest, ask for details and are keen to try [...]