How to stop your glasses from fogging up!

So it turns out that wearing a mask is one of the best ways to protect yourself and others when you haven’t got a choice about social distancing and need to go out. That said, if you thought glasses fogging up in the winter was frustrating then welcome to foggy glasses from wearing a mask. Brutal.

Never fear though! There are solutions. Here are a few of our favourites.

Tried and true but a little sticky

One of the most effective ways is to tape the top of your mask to your face. Air simply cannot escape up to your glasses and so the fogging stops! Don’t use regular tape though. Surgical tape is your best option to avoid skin irritation. Still, while this works great it does require taping a mask to your face which maybe isn’t going to work for you.

Stuff it with kleenex

Sounds awkward and it is, but if you line the top of your mask with a little kleenex (or other disposable item) it also blocks air from blowing up and fogging your lenses. It’s not as effective as tape but it does the trick. Just make sure to replace it regularly. Any time a mask or anything touching it gets too wet it can start to harbour germs, which is the opposite of what we’re trying to do.

Use a commercially available anti-fog product

There are a lot of different antifog products out there. The one Dr. Ross has been using is called Cat Crap, which is a terrible name but it works great! We sell it in our office and in our online store so if you want to give it a try we can help you out!
Another great option is Foggies anti-fog towelettes which you can find on Amazon or, if you want, we can order some in for you! We don’t have them in stock at the moment but can easily order them in.

Terrible name. Great product.

Wear a medical mask and make sure it’s fitting well

A good quality medical mask that’s properly fit will help since it shouldn’t allow any air out other than through the filters that are built-in. This is a great option if you have access but as many of you have found, finding good quality medical masks right now is a huge challenge.

Slide your glasses down your nose

No one wants to look like an old school librarian but if you slide your glasses down your nose a bit it increases the space between your face and glasses and reduces the risk of fogging. Just don’t slide them so far down they fall off!

What we DON’T recommend

Soap, toothpaste, shaving cream and a myriad of other options have been roaming around the internet as people struggle to prevent fogging. While these options may work, there is a risk of damaging the coatings on the lens or even the lens itself! Use these techniques at your own risk.

An office update on COVID-19

Hi friends,

We’re still open – for now. Here’s why.

The rise of the COVID-19 virus is scary and uncertain. Currently, we know that amazing healthcare staff are working around the clock in hospitals and urgent care centres to care for the Calgarians streaming through their doors.

While Alberta’s Chief Medical Officer has not recommended that small businesses such as hours close at this time, we have discussed whether that would be advisable to promote social distancing. However, if we close, then people with eye health issues – eye infections, injuries and the like – will need to go to those very hospitals and urgent care centres to be seen, further filling spaces that are quickly becoming overwhelmed.

In fact, one of the many possible symptoms of COVID-19 is an eye infection however please keep in mind the vast majority of eye infections remain unrelated to COVID-19.

So for the time being, our clinic will stay open and available. We aim to serve you and our community, and the best way we can do that right now is by continuing to offer the best medical care we can. This is not a business decision, it is a decision about supporting the health and wellness of our community.

If you are feeling any symptoms of sickness, we ask that you give us a call before you come and let us know, so that we can properly care for you and ensure that you interact with as few people as possible. Our number is 403 474 6744.

In this time, we have drastically increased our sanitizing – while we always clean medical equipment between patients, we have added cleaning chairs, door handles and other hard surfaces between patients as well instead of our usual schedule. We’ve even added cleaning frames after people pick them up. If you try on a frame, sit in a chair, touch a countertop in our space – you can trust that it is sanitized and clean.

You will not see a lot of people in our office – you will be examined by one doctor, and connect with one or two of our front desk team members. Each of our team is staying home if they have any symptoms of being sick, so the people you will interact with will be healthy.

One of the other ways we can support you right now is via delivery of contact lenses. If you have a valid prescription for contacts from any optometrist and are quarantined or practicing social distancing, you can order contacts through our website or over the phone or email and we will ship them to you with no delivery charge.

We’re a small, independent business – and we know that the impacts of this crisis will be felt most on the ground, by contractors, small businesses and their communities. If we are going to spend money anyway, let’s spend it locally, ordering food from local restaurants, buying online from local businesses and supporting local charities, and when it is safe returning to those spaces in person. The more each of us supports local, the more likely our local economy can continue to grow.

Together, we will get through this. Be kind. Wash your hands. Stay out of large crowds. Support your neighbours.

With hope, the team at Eye Spy Optometry – Laura, Marley, Lara, Dr. Andrea Quon and Dr. Mark Ross

Burning, stinging, itchy, watery, red, sandy, gritty, irritated eyes

What’s the link between all the symptoms in the title? If you guessed dry eyes you are exactly right and if you experience dry eye it’s time to stop suffering.

“Forma warms your skin using radio waves and softens thickened oils, restoring the glands natural function”

We’ve talked here before about different types of dry eye but let’s talk about some solutions to get you feeling better. The bad news is there isn’t a cure for dry eye but don’t give up hope! The good news is there are many treatment options that improve symptoms significantly and take the sting out of dry eyes. Two of the biggest recent advances in dry eye therapy are Radio Frequency technology from Forma and Prokera.

Radio frequency, or RF, was originally used in dermatology to tighten skin. It found a new use in eye health as a treatment for dry eyes. Forma works by applying radio waves to your skin which penetrate deeply and warm the tissue, feeling much like a warm face massage! This softens the thickened oils deep in your glands and allows the doctor to express them, restoring their natural function as well as tightening skin and reducing the look of fine lines and wrinkles. Usually, after only four to six sessions symptoms are significantly reduced and in some cases fully resolved.

If your eyes feel like this, we have a problem.

Prokera is a special type of contact lens made up of an amniotic membrane. When applied to the eye, it can dramatically improve the symptoms of both types of dry eye over the course of a month by improving the health of your cornea (the front clear part of the eye) and essentially turning back the clock on the health of your corneal cells.

“Consistency is key in traditional dry eye therapies. You must do them every day!”

There are also two different medications just for dry eye, Restasis and Xiidra, that our doctors can prescribe. These medications work best for patients with aqueous dry eye and increases your tear production by decreasing inflammation. There are other medications that we use, generally, to decrease inflammation, that can also help!

You may be asking if the only options are high tech or prescription lenses or medications and the answer is no! There are things you can do at home that can help. Often what our doctors will recommend to start are solutions like hot compresses, lid wipes, preservative-free artificial tears, and omega 3 supplements. The important take-aways for home therapy are that you must do the hot compresses for at least ten minutes and the compress has to stay hot the whole time. The other important message is to be consistent. If you do home treatments sporadically, it just won’t work. You need to do this every single day.

It’s normal to wonder if you actually have something wrong, especially in the early stages. The easiest way to know is to book an appointment and let us assess your eyes but let’s be honest, sometimes doing a quiz at home is just more fun. Take our dry eye quiz and find out for yourself. We’ll still be here to help you when you’ve completed it.

As always if you would like more information you can contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

My eye doctor can detect which disease? - Syphilis

There is a lot of confusion about what optometrists really do. We are so stereotypically associated with asking people "Which is better, 1 or 2?" and correcting vision problems that people are sometimes surprised to hear that we do a lot more! To help with the confusion I decided to start this new blog series "My eye doctor can detect which disease?". Some might surprise you, some might not. In light of the recent announcement of a huge spike in this disease in Alberta, I thought I would cover syphilis.

Yes. Syphilis.

“Over the past four years, the rate of reported syphilis infections has increased ten fold!”

While syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection it can show up in the eye much like most other STIs. While some symptoms occur in more obvious areas, as your eye doctor I’m not going to be examining anything beyond your eyes.

So why talk about this disease in particular? Over the past four years, the rate of reported syphilis infections has increased ten fold! Yikes! Syphilis is also tricky to diagnose. It can present in a lot of different ways and routinely becomes latent, hiding out in your body with no symptoms whatsoever!

What is your optomtrist looking for then, when considering the possibility of syphilis? A sore, called a chancre, can sometime occur on the eyelid or the white of the eye. It’s a painless ulcer that resolves on its own but is a pretty good indication that someone might have syphilis and requires testing.

These cute little spirals are syphilis and they are not your friend

If left undiagnosed, syphilis progresses to what we call secondary syphilis. Once we get to this stage we can see signs of inflammation in the eye like uveitis or optic neuritis, painful inflammations that can cause vision loss (either temporary or permanent). Less commonly, it can present as an eye infection or more benign inflammation with the eye simply appearing red.

If it goes on way too long we can move into tertiary syphilis which can start to impact you central nervous system and cause other nasty symptoms including the atrophy (a fancy word for loss of function) of your optic nerve or pupils that don’t respond properly to light.

Nobody wants syphilis, obviously, but if you think you might have it definitely talk to your family physician or your local STI clinic and get tested. Not knowing also risks spreading the infection and we know you don’t want to do that!

The good news is that syphilis can be treated with medication but typically requires the medication be injected. So even if you can treat syphilis it's always better to just not get it in the first place. You'll save yourself from an embarrassing discussion with your partner(s) if you protect yourself.

As always if you would like more information you can contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Retinal detachment - A curtain coming down on your vision

Have you ever heard of a condition called retinal detachment?

We hope so, but if you're like most people you probably haven't. Even if you have heard of it, do you know what the symptoms are? Most people don't know but much like a heart attack, retinal detachments are considered medical emergencies and require immediate treatment to prevent permanent vision loss so let's make sure you know what to watch for!

"... a retinal detachment happens when a part of the retina pulls away from the underlying tissue. It can happen to anyone"

Let's start by understanding what a retinal detachment really is. Essentially, a retinal detachment happens when a part of the retina pulls away from the underlying tissue. Fairly quickly, that tissue dies since it is unable to get the oxygen and other nutrients it needs to survive. If left untreated it will usually spread and the entire retina will detach. Since we need our retina to see, if it fully detaches we lose the ability to see with that eye and unfortunately can't get it back. Caught early, it can be treated and stop the vision loss in its tracks

Who is at risk for a retinal detachment? Unfortunately, everyone. Some people have a higher risk, such as people with high nearsighted prescriptions or people with a family history of retinal detachment, but anyone with eyes can have their retina detach. Your retina may detach after an eye injury or accident but that's not required for a retinal detachment to occur.

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This is what a detached retina looks like when your doctor looks inside your eye. It's not something we want to see!

So how do you catch and stop a retinal detachment? Well, the main thing is to have regular, dilated eye examinations. That helps your doctor of optometry check your peripheral retina for any problems like thin areas or retinal holes. Sometimes though your retina will look perfect and you still end up with a retinal detachment! So what then?

"Retinal detachments cause flashing lights, floating spots, curtains waving in your vision or a combination of all three!"

Most retinal detachments are highly symptomatic. People experience flashing lights, floating spots, a curtain waving in their vision or a combination of all three! There are many eye disorders that have similar symptoms including things that are relatively harmless like posterior vitreous detachment and ocular migraines but because a retinal detachment is so serious (meaning you can go totally blind)  it's important to have your doctor confirm the diagnosis. Don't try to make that judgment yourself. It's not worth the risk

If you have questions about retinal detachments or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Subscription Contact Lenses - Great Choice or Bad Idea?

Contact lenses are wonderful devices. They allow us to see clearly without needing to fuss with glasses. The very first contact lenses that were invented were terrible for our eyes but people still wanted to wear them to get away from glasses! They've come a long way but contact lenses still carry a risk and people still can, and do, go blind from using them improperly.

Why am I telling you all that? To remind you the importance of a proper contact lens assessment by a contact lens fitting optician, an optometrist or an ophthalmologist.

What does that have to do with subscription contacts?

"... an improperly fitting contact lens can lead to vision loss."

Ordering your contacts from a subscription service may seem like a great idea but you must make sure that a professional is checking the fit of them on your eye. The problem, and the problem with all online orders, is they currently do not require you to provide a proper, up to date contact lens prescription (which IS different from your glasses prescription) to order a supply! That means you can order without anyone checking them on your eye! Many people assume if a contact lens doesn't fit them, they'll know. Sadly, that isn't true and an improperly fitting contact lens can lead to vision loss.

"Some Subscription contacts only provide 30-40% of the oxygen your eye needs which just isn't enough. Modern contacts allow 80-100% of the oxygen to your eye."

It's also vital to discuss your contact lens and vision needs with your doctor. We've studied a long time to understand how contacts and the eye work best! For example, did you know that the material used in the largest subscription contact lens service, methafilcon A, is a very old material that doesn't breathe well? That can cause the cornea, the front clear part of the eye, to swell. A swollen cornea has an increased risk of infection. That's no good.

Essentially the lower the Dk/t, the less oxygen that gets to the eye. The lens used by a major subscription contact lens service is made with a material, Methafilcon A, with a Dk/t of only 18. Compare that with a different material, etafilcon A, found in Acuvue 1 Day Moist with a Dk/t of 28 which doesn't sound much better but when we check the graph, the curve is so steep that a Dk/t of 28 means we jump from 30-40% of the oxygen the eye needs when we have a Dk/t of 18 all the way to 80%. Modern lenses have a Dk/t of more than 100. What that means is with a subscription lens your cornea only gets between 30-40% of the oxygen it needs. With a modern lens, you get 90-100%.

But they're so cheap, right? Maybe. Let's do the math.

"Cheaper? Think again! A common subscription contact lens service costs $528/year. A year supply of dailies from Eye Spy costs only $460/year."

In Canada, a common subscription contact lens service costs you $40/month plus $4 shipping. Over 12 months that means you've spent $528 on your daily contact lenses.
Compare that to an equivalent daily lens at our office, the Acuvue 1 day Moist. A year supply from us costs you $560. I can hear you saying, "Aha! That costs more!" and you're right! But here's the thing, Acuvue offers a $100 rebate on a year supply of contacts which brings your cost down to only $460 for a year supply. Even better, we can direct bill to your insurance provider which lowers your out of pocket expense even more.

At the end of the day, you get to choose what you think is best for your eyes and your health. You get to decide where you want to purchase your contacts and glasses and that's okay! My job, and the job of eye care professionals everywhere, is to make sure you're making an informed decision. Subscription lenses aren't cheaper, they aren't healthier and they aren't safer but they are convenient and it's a neat idea to have contacts show up on your doorstep every month.

If you have questions about subscription contacts, any contact lens, or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

What’s the difference between an optician, optometrist and ophthalmologist?

I remember once while I was still in school and someone asked me what I was studying. I said that I was studying to be an optometrist and without batting an eye they looked at me and said “Oh, what’s it like to work with teeth?” So close but so far.

There is a lot of confusion out there about what we in the industry refer to as ‘The Three O’s’, perhaps better known as opticians, optometrists and ophthalmologists. Even for people who are reasonably familiar with the optical industry people often ask me what the difference is. It absolutely can be confusing but let’s think of it in a way most of us are very famliar with.

"Opticians are sort of like technicians."

Opticians are sort of like technicians. They receive an optical prescription and fill it. They are your lens and frame experts. In Alberta they take a two year course to learn how to fit lenses properly and take all the necessary and extremely important measurements. They learn all about how to adjust frames to fit your face properly as well as what frames will work best on which face shapes. They know all about things like progressives versus bifocals, refractive index, anti glare coatings and a whole bunch of other technical things that are vital to you getting the right lens. They are an integral part of  your vision care team.

In case you weren't sure, this is what an optometrist might look like.

"You should see an optometrist regularly to pick up any problems that are happening silently, with no symptoms."

Optometrists are like your family doctor. You have  any sort of problem with your eyes and we are the people you need to come and see. It might be a problem seeing, a red gooey eye or maybe you got something in your eye that won’t come out. You come see an optometrist and we’ll fix you up. Of course just like getting a yearly physical you don’t have to have something wrong to see an optometrist. In fact you should see one regularly to pick up any problems that are happening silently, with no symptoms.
Optometrists in Canada take a minimum of a three year undergraduate degree followed by a four year course at the only English speaking Optometry school in Canada at the University of Waterloo or the only Canadian French speaking school at the University of Montreal. They are then required to write national board exams before being licensed to work in Canada.

"Seeing an ophthalmologist requires a referral..."

Ophthalmologists are eye surgeons performing complex eye surgeries. They are medical doctors who have gone on to do even more schooling to specialize in the eye. Much like other specialists like brain surgeons, heart surgeons, kidney specialists etc you require a referral to see them. It is the job of an optometrist or your family doctor to refer you if there is an eye problem beyond what we are able to treat. For example, if you had a cataract that required surgery, an optometrist would refer you to see an ophthalmologist that specialized in cataract surgeries.

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Why do we roll our eyes?

If you've ever dealt with a teenager, chances are you've been on the receiving end of a lot of eye rolling and maybe rolled your eyes right back. But why do we do it? Is it a cultural thing or does it go deeper? Let's dig into this.

Eye rolling as we know it now really only became common in the 1980s. Prior to that, in western cultures, eye rolling was more associated with lust than disgust. Even so, studies across cultures have found that most cultures have similar movements that involve looking away as a sign of disgust or arrogance.

If you have somehow never been on the receiving end of an eye roll you have somehow never met a teenager.

So, why do we do it? Psychologists have a couple ideas. One is that it's a fairly safe and non-confrontational form of aggression. Chances are your eye roll won't be noticed and even if it is you can always deny or backtrack which you can't do if you just threw a punch.

The other possible reason is even simpler. When we see something that offends or disgusts us we just have an urge to look away. 

Regardless of the underlying reason, humans have a much larger white of the eye than other animals, including other primates, and so we can communicate more easily using only our eye movements. Still, if you're going to roll your eyes and cast some serious shade, make sure the cameras aren't rolling so you can pretend it never happened if things get heated.

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

My eye doctor can detect which disease? - High blood pressure

There is a lot of confusion about what optometrists really do. We are so stereotypically associated with asking people "Which is better, 1 or 2?" and correcting vision problems that people are sometimes surprised to hear that we do a lot more! To help with the confusion I decided to start this new blog series "My eye doctor can detect which disease?". Some might surprise you, some might not. In today's blog I want to go over one that you might not expect: High blood pressure.

High blood pressure is extremely common. Approximately 20% of adults have high blood pressure with another 20% having high normal blood pressure (which puts them at higher risk of developing high blood pressure later on). Of these people another 20% are unaware that they have high blood pressure at all! This is important because as you may have heard high blood pressure is a silent killer. It has no symptoms so people are often not aware there is a problem until something serious happens like a heart attack or a stroke.

So how can your optometrist help? When we look inside of your eyes during a routine eye exam we aren't just looking for things like cataracts, macular degeneration and glaucoma. We're also looking for signs of systemic (or full body) problems like high blood pressure. The eyes are the only place in the body where we can directly look at your blood vessels without having to cut you open. This means that we can look and see exactly what is happening. In high blood pressure there a few key things that we are looking for.

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In this picture you can see the silvering of some blood vessels and also see how some blood vessels are 'nicking' or pinching the ones underneath. This is typically what I see in the average person with uncontrolled, untreated high blood pressure.

• Silvering of blood vessels - normally your blood vessels are a nice red colour but when someone has high blood pressure the blood vessel walls thicken. Over time this means that the blood vessels reflect more light and look more silver.
• Wavy blood vessels - normal blood vessels in the eye follow a nice smooth path. If blood vessels are really curvy that can be an indication of high blood pressure.
• Pressure on the blood vessels - as high blood pressure worsens the blood vessels may actually start to push down on other blood vessels restricting how much blood flows either in or out of your eye.
• Bleeds - As those blood vessels crush each other blood can back up and eventually burst the blood vessel causing bleeds in your eye. You can also end up with white areas on your retina that aren't getting enough blood. Imagine it like squeezing a hose: no water comes out one end and water starts backing up on the other side of the blockage.
• So much more - we can have things like leaking from blood vessels, swelling of the optic nerve and other signs.

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This is high blood pressure gone seriously wrong. Uncontrolled high (very high) blood pressure over long periods of time can lead to a very unhealthy retina.

As you can see, there's no shortage of things that can go wrong in the eye with uncontrolled high blood pressure. Some of the more severe problems (Bleeding, leakage, swollen optic nerve etc) are fairly rare and only occur in very extreme untreated cases of high blood pressure. What I frequently see in my clinic are some of the early signs (the silvering, wavy blood vessels or pressure on blood vessels) and that let's me have a conversation about high blood pressure with you. In some cases your family doctor may already be aware and is either monitoring or already treating the issue. Sometimes though people have no idea and are shocked that they have high blood pressure and that it was found during a routine eye exam! It's important to keep blood pressure controlled to reduce your risk of so many very severe problems and early intervention and treatment is always better than trying to recover from something like a heart attack or stroke.

If you have any concerns that you might have high blood pressure I would urge you to book an appointment with your family doctor. While optometrists can detect high blood pressure it isn't our area of expertise to treat and manage high blood pressure effectively. If we detect it in office we always will send you back to your family doctor to both confirm the diagnosis and if needed start treatment. What's most important is remembering to have regular health checks with both your family doctor and your local doctor of optometry!

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Online eye exams - the future of eye care?

Nobody likes going to the doctor. Even doctors don't like going to the doctor! It doesn't matter whether it's the dentist for a cleaning, your MD for a yearly physical or your optometrist for an annual eye exam there's a huge list of things you'd rather do (like, anything else).

Enter the internet.

Health related issues are some of the most googled topics. Websites like WebMD have been around for ages and one of the first things people do when they get sick is google their symptoms. It would obviously be better for us to go and see a professional but it's easier to try and self diagnose. Of course, easier isn't necessarily better. I think we all know someone that's typed their symptoms into an online symptom check website and been told they have cancer, dengue fever or plague when really they have a cold. An online database simply isn't a replacement for the knowledge doctors possess and their ability to know what questions to ask, what problems to look for to understand, diagnose and then treat a problem.

So what about online eye exams? To be fair, we shouldn't call them that. They're really just online refractions (the part where your doctor of optometry asks you which looks clearer, one or two) perhaps better know as sight or vision tests. There's a lot of doubt about whether this is a good idea and the whole concept is illegal already in many US states. The question you might be asking as a consumer is, why?

There are a few reasons. It's important to know that your prescription comes from a lot more than just asking "Which is clearer, choice one or two". There's actually a fair amount of science, technique and skill that goes into that portion of the exam. If we were to take your responses at face value people would often end up with prescriptions that are too strong or otherwise not appropriate. Further to that, our offices are designed to make sure that the distances are accurate, the screens and fonts are high resolution, clear and colour true. By doing your refraction at home on your computer you might end up with inaccurate results because of how things were set up.

Optometrists also assess more than just vision. In fact, vision is only about one third of the eye exam. The other two major areas we look at are how your eye muscles work together (also known as binocularity) and your eye health. You might assume that if you had a problem with your eye muscles or health it would be obvious. Sometimes you're right. Most of the time though that's not the case. When there are symptoms they are often confusing.

Eye muscle problems can present as eyestrain, headaches, blurred vision, difficulty reading and more. It would be easy to assume that those problems were caused by poor vision or even something more serious like a stroke or tumour when often it's a misalignment of the eyes that can treated. An eye test online wouldn't be able to check for this. 

Eye health is more concerning. There are many eye diseases that don't have symptoms in their earliest stages when damage is minimal and treatment is easier. Problems like glaucoma, retinal holes, macular degeneration or even eye cancer are all blinding disorders that won't affect your central vision right away and would be missed if someone is only getting a sight test. Further, optometrists are often the first doctors to diagnose problems such as high cholesterol, high blood pressure, MS, diabetes and certain brain cancers to name only a few whole body diseases that show up in the eye. Contact lenses pose a problem as well. There are many good reasons we insist on seeing our contact lens patients every year (check out the details here) but the take home message is that there are many contact lens related problems that can impact eye health and even cause vision loss that don't have severe symptoms. Your eyes are precious and irreplaceable. Risking your eye health simply isn't worth it.

Hopefully now you understand the massive difference between a sight test, especially one that's online, versus an actual eye exam from a doctor of optometry. Even if you still decide to use online sight tests I hope that this arms you with the full knowledge of what you are and are not receiving for your time and money.

As always, if you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Why do my glasses hurt?

We've been there. You've ordered new glasses and you're excited to wear them and finally see clearly again. When you put them on things look amazingly clear and wonderful and you're happy... that is until a few hours later when you have a headache and you have to take them off. What a disappointment!

So how can we avoid this? What can we do to make sure you not only see perfectly with your glasses but that they're comfortable too? There are a few steps and unsurprisingly it starts with your frame.

This is not how you should feel when you're wearing your glasses.

Picking the right frame

Frames come in all different shapes, sizes and materials. Partly this is for fashion reasons but also because people come in different shapes and sizes too! A frame that is too narrow will pinch on the sides of your head. A frame that is too wide will slide down. We also want to make sure we pick a frame with long enough arms. If the arms are too short your glasses will constantly slide down your nose. If the arms are too long we have to curl them around your ear! You may also have noticed that some frames are made of metal and have nose pads on them while other frames are made of plastic. Frames with nose pads can be adjusted to fit the bridge of your nose perfectly and also allow us to make the frame sit a little higher or lower. Plastic frames cannot be adjusted to fit your nose. Either they fit you, or they don't. That's part of why it's so important to try on frames before you buy them!

Picking the right lenses

Lens selection is very important for having comfortable glasses, especially if you have a higher prescription. You can pick a frame that fits really well and is light as air but if you get the wrong lens material it can end up still being heavy. This doesn't have to be complicated but it's something people sometimes overlook.

Having your frames adjusted

One of the best parts of getting your frame from a professional is making sure they're properly adjusted for you. A frame that is the right size and shape with the right lenses can still be uncomfortable if it's not fitting well! It might pinch behind your ears, slide down your nose, sit crooked on your face or sometimes your vision might even be blurry or distorted if the glasses aren't adjusted properly! Our opticians are experts at making sure that your frames are properly adjusted to avoid having problems.

So what do you do if you know you have the right frame with the right lens and it's been adjusted and it's still bothering you? Come on back in and have the adjustment tweaked! Sometimes what looks and feels great when we adjust them ends up pressing on a pressure point. The area behind our ears can be very sensitive and if your glasses are lightly pressing in just the wrong spot it can cause a lot of discomfort! The problem is it often takes a few hours for that to be something you notice. Obviously we try to anticipate problems like that but sometimes there's no way to know what will work until we try. The good news is that adjustments are always free at our clinic so if your glasses are bothering you stop in and let us help!

Still having issues? Things look distorted, blurred or something else isn't quite right? Come back soon for a new blog post about what to do if your vision is blurry with your new glasses.

Not sure if your glasses need adjusting? Feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744. 

Contact lens exams - why do they matter?

Contact lenses and the need for contact lens exams are confusing and also misunderstood.

I know what you're thinking. What is he talking about? Contacts aren't confusing! You stick them in your eye and they make you see.  What could be more simple?

Let's dive into this.

Contact lenses can be great if they're used properly. If they aren't fit properly or cared for in the right way they can be dangerous and cause permanent loss of vision.

Contact lenses are a medical device

First and foremost contacts are a medical device. They're classified this way because they can cause serious harm if they aren't fit or worn properly. Contact lenses are actually not allowed to be sold without a contact lens prescription nor can they be sold by just anyone. Since they are a restricted medical device only ophthalmologists, optometrists and contact lens fitting opticians are allowed to legally sell contact lenses. That means all contact lenses in costume shops and from some online vendors are not legally sold.

But can't I just order my contacts online without a contact lens prescription or fitting?

Currently you can, it's true. This is something that is under investigation and review by numerous agencies both governmental and medical. Since there can be serious harm buying contacts without an up to date contact lens prescription it is not recommend. Optometrists, ophthalmologists and contact lens fitting opticians are all held to a higher standard and cannot sell or provide contact lenses without ensuring they are safe!

Contacts need to be fit properly to be safe

Contact lenses can be too tight, too loose, too big or too small. Any of these can increase your risk of an infection. A lens that is too loose is obvious to you as the person wearing contacts because it will be uncomfortable and the vision will change every time you blink. Other problems, like being too tight, is something only your eye care professional can tell since it will feel very comfortable... until you get an infection.

Contacts need to be fit properly to be able to see

This is especially true of astigmatism correcting (or toric) and multifocal contacts. These lenses interact with the shape of your eyes and your eyelids and if they aren't sitting in the right spot your vision will be blurred. This is easily corrected by visiting your doctor of optometry for a proper fitting.

Contacts need to be tried first to make sure they're comfortable

When you have a contact lens fitting you are given trial lenses. In part this is to allow the doctor to make sure your contacts fit you properly and that you're seeing clearly, but it's also to let you feel that lens on your eye. Each contact lens is made with different materials and coatings that are supposed to make them more comfortable. Different people react differently to these materials and what is comfortable for one person may not be comfortable for another. Trialing lenses (at no charge) gives you the chance to make sure that the lens feels comfortable in your eye. A lens that fits great and your vision is perfect isn't any good if you can't wear it because it feels like sandpaper in your eye!

So what is a contact lens prescription?

A proper contact lens prescription is different from a glasses prescription. It will specify the exact lens that the doctor has trialed with you, the base curve and diameter of the lens and the power (sometimes called the prescription) needed in the contacts. The power in your contacts is often different from your glasses either because of differences in what is available in contacts (low powers of astigmatism are not available, for example) or because your prescription is altered when we move from glasses, which sit on your nose, to contacts, which sit directly on your eye. After a proper fitting and trial your doctor of optometry can provide you with a finalized copy of your contact lens prescription. Before that process is completed you actually only have trial contact lens information but not a finalized prescription.

You need to be trained on how to wear your contacts

If you're new to contacts, a contact lens exam will also involve getting you set up with a training. We show you how to put the contact lens in and take it out and make sure you can do it confidently. You might think it's easy to get a contact lens in  and out but without the proper training it can be really hard! We also make sure you know how to take care of your contacts, how to clean them and how often to replace them. This is all vital to making sure your eyes stay healthy.

Choosing the right lens can save you a lot of hassle and money too!

There are a lot of different contact lenses out there. There are monthly contacts, biweekly contacts and daily contacts. Some contacts you can sleep in and some you can't. Some let in more oxygen and some are more moist. Some lenses that sound like a bargain because they're cheap may be really old technology that could cause damage to your eyes. How do you know which one to choose? Talking with your optometrist is the best place to start. We're familiar with all the different contact lenses available and can find one that works for you based on how you want to wear them and what your budget is.

What solution to use?

One thing that isn't talked about enough is solution. Many contact lens wearers think that any old solution will work fine and that they can switch from one to solution to another without issue (just buying whatever is on sale). Your optometrist will discuss which contact lens solution is the best for the type of lenses you wear. Switching back and forth from one solution mixes up all sorts of chemicals and can make your contacts uncomfortable and really hard to wear. Using the right solution makes a big difference when it comes to comfort and cleanliness!

To sum up, it's important to have a contact lens exam to ensure good comfort and vision, proper fit to reduce the risk of infection and get advice on which lenses to use, how to use them, how to take care of them and which solution to use.

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

I should see an eye doctor for that? - Grandma had glaucoma

 

"...THEIR HEALTH HISTORY COULD BE YOUR HEALTH FUTURE."

There is a lot of confusion about what optometrists really do. We are so stereotypically associated with asking people "Which is better, 1 or 2?" and correcting vision problems that people are sometimes surprised to hear that we do a lot more! To help with the confusion I decided to start this blog series "I should see an eye doctor for that?". Some might surprise you, some might not. In today's blog we're going to talk about your why if grandma had eye problems, like glaucoma, you need to have regular eye exams.

Alright, we don't really mean JUST if grandma had eye problems. Grandma shouldn't take all the blame. If someone in your family has an eye disease it's important for you to know what it is and who has it! Why should it matter to you, a healthy person with perfect vision, that someone in your family has an eye disease? Unsurprisingly since you share at least some of their genes their health history could be your health future. 

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It's all in your genes.

Many eye diseases are genetic which means that if someone in your family had them, you could too. Much like if someone in your family has diabetes, high blood pressure or heart disease you're at a higher risk of developing those same problems if someone in your family has glaucoma, macular degeneration or a host of other diseases you too are at a higher risk.

 

"80% OF EYE DISEASE HAS NO SYMPTOMS IN ITS EARLY STAGES"

A couple important points. When I say someone in your family I mean 'blood relatives'. For example if your step mother has glaucoma or your sister-in-law has macular degeneration you don't share their risk because you don't share their genes. It's also important to point out that an increased risk does not mean certainty. Simply because your mother has diabetes or glaucoma does not mean you are doomed to have the same problems but it does mean you need to be careful and get your health, including your eye health, checked regularly.

So what has a genetic link? Almost everything unfortunately. The big three eye diseases, glaucoma, macular degeneration and cataract all have a genetic component. Diseases like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, stroke to name a few all directly impact the eye as well and often signs of those diseases will show up in the eye before they show up anywhere else!

This is one of the main reasons (though not the only one) why I recommend yearly eye exams. 80% of eye disease has no symptoms in its early stages and the only way to detect the problem and prevent it from getting worse is to have an eye doctor check the health of your eyes. Even if your vision is perfect there may be something going on that hasn't made itself obvious just yet.

As always, if you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

So if I come in for an eye exam, what are you going to do to me?

If you’ve been reading my blog you know there are a lot of reasons to come in for an eye exam even if you feel that your vision is perfect and that you don’t need glasses. You already understand that there’s the health and muscle function side of an eye exam that is just as important as how well you see. For many people who have never had an eye exam though they wonder what is involved. Anything new can be uncomfortable and if you feel like everything is fine people hesitate to come in. So let’s go over what an eye exam is all about.

When you first come for a visit we’re going to have you fill in a nice form with a lot of your personal medical information. We need this to rule in  or out certain eye problems and to know a bit more about your health. All of this information is kept strictly private and cannot be released to anyone or any group without your consent (this is true of ALL medical and personal information we obtain).

Once you’re all checked in there are some preliminary tests done by our optician. At Eye Spy Optometry we first get an estimate of how well your eyes are focusing using a machine called an auto-refractor. These results are what I use as a starting point to narrow down an exact prescription. Next, we take pictures of the back of your eye as well as scans of both your optic nerves and your maculae. The optic nerve is what sends the information back to your brain and is affected in many disorders including glaucoma. The macula is the part of your eye used for fine central detail. There are many things that could go wrong here too but one of the most common is macular degeneration. These scans give us the ability to detect changes that may be related to an eye condition much earlier than just looking inside of the eye.

Next you get to see me. I’ll review your medication and health information with you and then we jump right in. I check to see how you’re seeing with glasses if you have them, without if you don’t. I also check to see how well the eyes are working together and check pupils for signs of any neurological concerns. What comes next is the stereotypical part of the exam. I put a machine called a phoropter in front of your face and show you a variety of lenses, asking you which makes the image at the end of the room better. This is the part of the exam that causes people the most stress. Don’t worry though! My job is to help you through it and make sure we don’t come out with the wrong prescription. You can’t fail the test, I promise, because it isn’t a pass/fail sort of test! I will also have a look at the health of your eyes, inside and out, and finally I’ll check the pressure in your eyes, but not with that puff of air test!

This is a traditional phoropter (used in the 'Which is better, one or two?' test). At Eye Spy Optometry we have a more modern, digital phoropter.

The final step to your eye exam is to review everything. I’ll show you the photos and scans and explain what they mean, discuss any health concerns and review your prescription, if there is one. I’ll make any recommendations about how to help keep your eyes healthy or improve your vision that make sense based off of your results. Most importantly though, I’ll answer your questions. I do my very best to make sure everything we review together is clear but sometimes jargon slips in. Always feel comfortable asking questions and I’ll do my best to make sure it all makes sense.

If you do happen to need glasses there is ONE more thing that happens. You get to pick out frames! That’s the fun part of the exam. There are so many different colours, shapes and styles to pick from and wide range of prices to suit every budget that finding something that works for you is fun and stress free.

So book an appointment today! You know you should get everything checked out even if your vision is great. Now that you know what we do when you come to see us there’s no excuse not to give us a call at (403) 474-6744 or book online here.

As always, any questions feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google + or via our website.

Hyperopia - A frustrating lack of focus

Much like myopia (or nearsightedness), hyperopia isn't a word you hear very often. If you've heard the term if was likely in your optometrists' office and you probably have it. Your doctor of optometry might have taken the easier route though and called it by it's common, though misleading, name 'farsightedness'.

I don't know about you but when I see the word farsighted it implies that you can see far away but not up close. That simply isn't true. A farsighted person may see clearly at all distances, may have trouble at near or may have trouble seeing at all distances! To understand why we need to understand what hyperopia really is.

Hyperopia occurs when the eye is 'too weak' and light focuses behind the retina. This generally is because either the cornea (the front of the eye) is too flat OR the eye is too short (it may be a combination of both). We are all born somewhat farsighted and as we age our eyes get bigger and the farsightedness decreases. In some people the farsightedness never fully goes away. Depending on how much farsightedness there is it can cause problems like amblyopia, only cause headaches and strain while reading or even go completely unnoticed for many years. How is this possible!?

Being able to see clearly without glasses while being farsighted is all thanks to the lens inside of the eye. Its job is to flex and change shape so we can see all distances clearly without needing reading glasses. One way of thinking is that when we are reading our eyes, without the lens, would be 'too weak'. The lens changing shape gives us more focusing power so we can see. People with hyperopia have eyes that are 'too weak' at all distances, not just looking up close. The natural lens in the eye compensates for the eye being too weak both far away and up close. If they have a mild amount of farsightedness this usually doesn't cause problems but as the prescription goes up the eye and lens have a harder and harder time compensating for the uncorrected hyperopia! This can lead headaches, eyestrain or blurred vision which in children can cause amblyopia.

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Light focuses behind the retina in hyperopia

One of the very frustrating things about hyperopia is that in many people it doesn't become an issue until they are in their 40's. Hyperopia is different from presbyopia (the need for reading glasses) but the same thing that causes us to need reading glasses also causes distance vision to become blurrier in farsighted people. Remember how I mentioned that the lens in the eye compensates for the eye being too weak? Eventually, in all of us, that lens doesn't work as well as it once did. That will usually start with trouble reading but in farsighted people they also eventually have blurred distance vision as well. Going from never needing glasses to needing them to see at all distances is immensely frustrating to my farsighted patients and is sometimes difficult to adapt to.

So how do we deal with farsightedness? Glasses and contact lenses are the most common and easiest forms of treatment. Both glasses and contacts refocus the light coming into the eye allowing it to focus on the back of the eye clearly. You can also consider surgery, like LASIK or PRK though they don't work as well for hyperopia as they do myopia. I'll talk about surgical options more in another blog.

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Floaters - Those annoying spots moving around in your vision

One of the most commonly asked questions I get asked  is "What are those things I see floating around in my vision." Most people don't think my answer of 'annoying' is nearly as funny as I do and usually would like a real answer about what is happening. So let's address a problem almost everyone experiences at some point in their life, the visual phenomenon known as floaters.

First of all, what are they? To understand that you need to know a bit about the vitreous jelly, which fills most of the eye and is where floaters form. The vitreous jelly is almost entirely water but it does have a matrix of 'stuff' (collagen and hyaluronic acid to be exact) that gives it a jelly like consistency. Don't think of it as jello though, it's more like an egg white. When we're really young the vitreous is really clear and everything is pretty much perfect. Over time though the jelly starts to break down and water leaks away. The collagen and hyaluronic acid are left behind and they clump forming the black or clear jelly blobs that we see moving around in our vision. What we are seeing is really just a shadow caused by these clumps. Floaters are easiest to see when the lighting is bright and the background is a light colour (so a bright sunny day with a blue sky or a brightly lit, white computer screen).

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Floaters sort of look like this... but not really.

So, what can be done about a floater? Honestly, not much. The most effective therapy is something called a vitrectomy where they literally remove the entire jelly from your eye and replace it with a silicone oil or a saline solution. This is an extremely risky solution and I don't know a single retinal specialist that is willing to do this surgery on someone for floaters. There is a laser procedure as well that blasts the floaters.  This is a better solution than a vitrectomy but doesn't work as well. Many patients report that instead of having a few large floaters they now have a lot of small ones.

Why should we care about floaters? Often we don't. The odd floater moving around in your vision is certainly annoying but it isn't harmful. There are situations though where floaters are a huge concern:

• You get a large number of new floaters all at once,
• With those new floaters you also experience a flashing light in your peripheral (side) vision like a camera or lightning flash AND/OR
• With those new floaters you notice a curtain waving in and out of your vision.

Any of those could mean that your retina has a tear or has detached. Retinal detachments are medical emergencies and can lead to complete loss of vision in hours. Retinal tears aren't quite as urgent but usually lead to a retinal detachment so you don't really want to mess around with them either.

Really, it's best to play it safe. If you have floaters and aren't sure if they were there before or you aren't sure if they're normal floaters come in for a dilated eye exam. We'll put drops in your eyes for this type of exam (which is fully covered by Alberta Health Care) to have the best possible look at the very far outer edges of your retina to make sure there aren't any problems. If something is wrong we will get you to a retinal specialist as quickly as possible and keep your vision safe.

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

For more information check out these links:

All About Vision - Floaters

Ask a Doctor of Optometry - Floaters

Back to school - Time for an eye exam?

It's mid August. Summer is slowly leaving us and our thoughts turn to back to school (at least in part because the ads on TV and in stores are everywhere)! In the run up to going back to school parents typically think about shopping for new clothes, school supplies and worrying about schedules.

Have you thought about an eye exam for your kids?

You definitely should. One in four children has a visually related learning difficulty. I've lost count of the number of children I've seen who have been told they have a learning disability when in reality the problem was their vision. It can be hard to catch up if for the first several years of school you struggled to see and fell behind in the basics of reading, writing and math.

This is all very preventable. Make sure your child comes in for their first exam at age 6 months  and then is seen every year after. If they're older than 6 months and haven't had an eye exam yet be sure to get them checked soon! You might be thinking, 'Why? My child sees just fine and passed a vision screening at school." Well, we can't rely on vision screenings. They really should be called sight screenings since they're only checking sight (as in 20/20 or not) and not vision. Optometrists don't just check sight. We check how well the eyes work together and how sight is processed. Children don't have a solid understanding of how the world should look and children often assume what they see is what everyone else sees too. Many times vision screenings also only check sight with both eyes open. If one eye has a high prescription it will be missed and can lead to amblyopia.

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Seeing 20/20 is important but it isn't everything. Book an eye exam to make sure your child isn't suffering from an undiagnosed vision problem.

So what should you watch for? Often there are no obvious symptoms of a vision problem (especially if it's a problem with only one eye). When a child is having vision related learning problems though they may reverse words when writing or copying, confuse the same word in the same sentence, skip lines while reading or read the same line twice to name only a few possible problems.

The best way to prevent and avoid problems is to have your child's eye examined yearly. Children's eye exams are fully covered by Alberta Health Care every year (or more frequently if required). The Alberta Association of Optometrists also has the Eye See, Eye Learn program for children age 5 to receive a free pair of glasses if required!

There's no excuse! Book your child's eye exam today.

If you have any questions about this or anything else or if you want to book an eye exam feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

I should see an eye doctor for that? - Eye injuries

There is a lot of confusion about what optometrists really do. We are so stereotypically associated with asking people "Which is better, 1 or 2?" and correcting vision problems that people are sometimes surprised to hear that we do a lot more! To help with the confusion I decided to start this new blog series "I should see an eye doctor for that?". Some might surprise you, some might not. In today's blog I want to go review a situation where people assume they should go to an ER: Eye injuries

This is a topic that can be a bit tricky because optometrists deal with some eye injuries but not all of them.  A good rule of thumb is that if it's bleeding heavily or the eye is actually punctured (as in you have a nail stuck in your eye) please go to the ER. If you come to me I'll be sending you out the door to the ER as quickly as possible!

So where do doctors of optometry fit in? For pretty much everything else! I both love and hate lists but sometimes they're the best way to get an idea across. So, below find a list of some of the different eye injuries optometrists address that you might not expect!

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Eye injuries are no fun at all.
 Top left: Black eye; Top right: Metallic object in eye; Bottom left: Chemical burn; Bottom right: Scratched eye

• Chemicals in the eye - If you have gotten a chemical in your eye (household cleaner, hydrogen peroxide based contact lens solution, etc) your first stop should be your sink or shower to rinse out as much as humanly possible. Your next stop should be your optometrist. We can fully assess the damage and get you started on the right medications to get you healing and prevent an infection.
• Objects in your eye - Like I mentioned above if something has punctured your eye (like a nail) or there's extreme bleeding you need to go to the ER for emergency treatment. If you have a piece of metal, small piece of wood or even an unknown object in your eye you can come and see me and I can remove it quickly and easily.
• Scratches on your eye - If you scratch your eye somehow (paper cuts and sharp baby fingernails are common) come in and get it looked at. Usually these heal up well but we can check to make sure the damage isn't too serious, prescribe medications to prevent an infection and help with pain. Regardless of how you scratch your eye get it checked!
• Impact to the eye - Did you get punched? Did your dog jump up and give you a black eye? Did you get hit in the face with a ball? These are all good reasons to come in and have your eye looked at. Usually there's just swelling and bruising from something like this but it's important to look at your retina. An impact to the eye that is hard enough to bruise can be enough to cause a retinal detachment and permanent vision loss.

If you're ever concerned about something related to your eyes and you aren't sure if your doctor of optometry is equipped to deal with your problem it's important that you call them and ask. Even if your optometrist isn't able to deal with something he or she can often  put you in touch with the right people, such as the on call ophthalmologist, and get you seen and treated sooner.

These types of issues are covered completely by Alberta Health Care. There is generally no charge to you for this type of visit (this can be up to the doctor's discretion. At Eye Spy Optometry we never charge for this type of visit).

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.

Myopia? What's myopia?

Myopia is one of the most common eye conditions out there. I bet many of you reading this blog have myopia! So what is it? Myopia is the official, technical term for nearsightedness. Myopia affects approximately 40% of the North American population making it one of the most common vision problems. Despite that, many people don't really understand what myopia is! Let's shed some light on this important topic.

Myopia occurs when the eye is 'too strong' and light focuses too soon. This generally is because either the cornea (the front of the eye) is too steep OR the eye is too long (more commonly it's a combination of both). Most of us, including me, start becoming nearsighted in childhood and our vision gets progressively worse until early adulthood (around 25) at which point it stabilizes. In some cases myopia still gets worse even once we're in adulthood. It's important to remember that 'stable' vision really just means it isn't changing as much or as quickly. There are always some small changes year to year so the term stable is a bit misleading.

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Luckily, myopia is very easy to treat. Glasses and contact lenses are the most common and easiest forms of treatment. Both glasses and contacts refocus the light coming into the eye allowing it to focus on the back of the eye clearly. You can also consider surgery, like LASIK or PRK which I'll talk about more in another blog.

The most common question I get from people about nearsightedness is how they can prevent it from getting worse. There are a few techniques that may help reduce how quickly a person becomes nearsighted or reduce how nearsighted they become and I'll discuss them all in more detail in a future blog. Current options to control myopia include multifocal contact lenses, Ortho-K lenses, progressives/bifocal glasses and atropine drops. The two that have shown the most success have been multifocal contacts and Ortho-K lenses and are believed to work by reducing defocus in the peripheral retina (meaning the outer edge of your eye isn't as out of focus as it might be with traditional lenses).

The biggest challenge facing us with myopia is that we still do not fully understand it. Your genetics play a role in whether you end up nearsighted or not but it isn't the whole story. Some recent research has found that people who spend more time outside have lower nearsighted prescriptions than those that spend more time indoors. The jury is still out on whether this is related to lower vitamin D levels, due to things just being further away or something else we haven't thought of yet.

If you have any questions about this or anything else feel free to contact us on Twitter, Facebook, Google +, via our website or phone us at (403) 474-6744.