 Writers' Community! |
|
| Home Page Two Columnists Q&A Submit an Article FAQs Contact Author Login |
Ft Collins Eye Doctor- Kisling-dry eyes,glaucoma,contact lens,nutrition,pinkyeyeDavid Kisling (1,053)     Fort Collins Eye Doctors-Dr Kisling Teens and Contact Lenses-What You Need To Know When Your Teenager Wants ContactsPosted Tuesday, November 17, 2009 (5 days 19 hours ago.) Viewed 4 times. When it comes to eyeglasses for children it is important not only to select frames that are safe but to select frames that your child will want to wear. With children sturdy eyeglasses are essential to withstand childhood play. The first sign that your child needs glasses could be school vision problems or the appearance of a lazy eye. Consult with a children's eye doctor or children's optometrist to determine your child's needs. Depending on the age of the child, glasses can be easily accepted or rebelled against. The idea is to choose wearing eyeglasses fun, colorful and something that doesn't hinder them. Little children under 5 are easy to get to wear glasses on one hand and tougher on the other. While they are not worried about the social ramifications, they tend to pull them off until they get used to them. The frames that work best for a young child are the kind that have curved frame ends to hook around the ears and a thin, light framing. If the glasses are comfortable, do not keep sliding and are light, the child will forget that they are even on. For older children, especially girls, eyeglasses can be upsetting as they may feel ostracized at school. A lot of that is changing since we were young, but it does still exist. The idea with older children and with teens eyeglasses, is to let them be part of the selection process. Let them choose something that shows their personality and to make a statement. The more they like the look of the glasses the more they will wear them. Allow them to try on different frame shapes in different colors. The more choices they have and the more they try on to see how great they look, the less push back there will be. Eye health is important, especially in children. Children's eye exams should be more frequent than a year as their eyes can change quickly. Most times they may change three to four times quickly and then settle down for a long while. If your child has astigmatism, it may either get worse or better over time. Choosing eyeglasses that your child likes is key. 
Permalink Comments (1) 20/20 Vision: What Is ItPosted Wednesday, November 04, 2009 (17 days 22 hours ago.) Viewed 11 times. We often hear the expression 20/20 vision. We all know it means perfect vision, but do we know why? The term 20/20 vision comes from a test that doctors performed on millions of people and determined what they could see from each eye at a distance of 20 feet away. Once that vision field was determined, everyone else was measured by it. 20/20 vision is perfect vision for a human who can see what the normal person can see from 20 feet away. If you can only see a chart from 20 feet away that a normal person can see from 40 feet away, then it is said that you have 20/40 vision. If you have to stand 20 feet away to see what a normal person can see from 200 feet away, then you are legally blind. This is the way vision is measured. Compared to a human, a hawk has 20/2 vision. This means the hawk can see what a normal human can see at 2 feet away while he is 20 feet away. Wow! That is impressive. There are some people who have 20/10 vision, which makes their vision better than the average human. Eye exams use eye charts to determine your vision by placing letters in a pyramid shape with the biggest letter on top and smaller letters on each row. Each row is marked with the vision acuity of the patient. When asked to reach each line, your vision is marked at the line above the last line that you cannot read. So if when reading the chart you get to line 20/60 and cannot read that line, you are then marked at 20/40 vision. This exam is universal and is given to children as young as pre-school age all the way up to the elderly. As long as you know your letters or numbers you can take the test. Children's eye exams may involve pictures versus numbers or letters. The optometrist can best asses your vision with a test like this. It is simple, yet accurate. Remember to get regular eye exams at least every two years and to take good care of your eyes in between eye exams and all through the year.
Permalink Comments (0) Contact Lenses And Solution Allergies-Eye Problems That Should be a Thing of The PastPosted Tuesday, September 15, 2009 (68 days 19 hours ago.) Viewed 137 times. Soft contact lenses can irritate your eyes in a number of different ways. Allergies to the preservatives in solutions still occur, but not as commonly as in years past. Thimerosal, (sodium ethylmercurithiosalicylate) is a preservative whose composition is about half mercury. It as commonly used in very low doses in contact lens disinfecting solutions and is an excellent preservative but causes a reasonably high number of allergic reactions. It has been used in childhood vaccines and a subject of controversy over the years as being related to autism. There are no significant studies to confirm a relationship but similar to contact lens solutions, it is being phased out, and many parents still believe it is a primary cause of autism.. Chlorhexidine is a chemical antiseptic that is very effective at killing bacteria. It was also widely used in the past in contact lens solutions but caused red eyes, vague forms of irritation, and sometimes significant eye irritation and discomfort. Like Thimerosal, it has largely been phased out. It is still widely used in the dental field to treat gum disease and as a disinfectant. Benzalkonium chloride was used in the past and is still used today is some nasal sprays, cleaning solutions, and various other hygienic products. It is a good disinfectant but at high enough levels may not only serve as an allergen but cause serious damage to the corneal tissue the contact lens rests on. The next generation of sensitive eyes contact lens solutions proved to have about the same rate of allergic reactions, just for different people. Switching often cured the problem for those allergic to former solutions but created problems for new users. Many generations of solutions have since come to pass. Today the large molecule preservatives are favored since they fail to build up in the lens matrix, exceeding the pore size of the lenses. The problem today rests in generic solutions, often colored and labeled to look like the brand solutions. Sometimes they are OK, at other times they are using these older toxic preservatives that should have been off the market a long time ago. To compound the confusion, the formulations may change in the middle of the shelf for the same generic brand, even though the box appears identical. The best bet today is to stick with a brand name solution or use one of the hydrogen peroxide based systems. The drawback to hydrogen peroxide has always been it is too easy to make a mistake and hydrogen peroxide is very uncomfortable when placed in your eye without neutralization! Ask you family optometrist for recommendations and express any cost concerns you may have. then stick with what they suggest to protect your eyesight from hidden dangers of toxic solutions.
Permalink Comments (0) Common Causes For Childrens Headaches From Eye And Vision DisordersPosted Thursday, August 27, 2009 (87 days 19 hours ago.) Viewed 324 times. Headaches come from many different sources and people often bring their child to see the eye doctor first to rule out vision problems as a cause. Usually it is not a vision related problem, but there are cases that have a direct correlation with the eyes. If headaches are related to eye problems, most of the time there will be a specific visual task the headaches seem to center around. It could be reading, computer use, video games or time in the sun. Eyeglass frames can cause pressure behind the ears and on the side of the head if not properly adjusted. Frames that are tilted can alter the effective lens prescription and result in eye strain. Nickel is a common component in many metal frames (and in parts of plastic frames). Nickel allergies are fairly common and can cause discomfort, itching and possible mild headaches. Your child's prescription may cause headaches under certain conditions. Large uncorrected amounts of farsightedness are probably the most common cause in children. With farsightedness, they may have the focusing capacity to pass the eye chart test with flying colors while not wearing prescription lenses. In doing so, they may be close to using all of their focusing reserve capacity. This would be like spending all day walking around carrying close to the maximum amount of weight you can hold. Because the focusing muscle is considered smooth muscle and does not fatigue like the striated muscles you use for your arms or legs, there is some disagreement on this point. It is really an academic point since the headaches do commonly occur, possibly due to variations in focusing and resultant clarity, constriction of the colored iris tissue, or other unknown factors. How much uncorrected farsightedness is required to cause headaches? We know higher amounts are more significant as age increases but with lower amounts it is not as clear what levels create eyestrain and headaches. Sometimes the only way to know is to fill an eyeglasses prescription and see if the headaches resolve. Focusing problems in general are very hard to diagnose with precision. Eyes may over focus, under focus, have variable focusing, and on rare occasions have focusing spasms. Some prescription medications can cause focusing problems, dry eyes and sensitivity to light increasing the likelihood of headaches. Uncorrected nearsightedness can cause a child to squint to see the blackboard and result in headaches. Usually they will be complaining about blurry vision, unlike with farsightedness. Nearsightedness has normally been corrected due to blurry vision before there are complaints about headaches. Astigmatism is a condition where the eye has two different curvatures, shaped more like half of a tennis ball squeezed on top and bottom. While astigmatism does blur vision, children frequently notice more eyestrain than blurriness. The eye is focusing for one curve then the other trying to find the clearest focus point. Moderate to high levels of astigmatism can cause headaches but usually the child has complaints that sound more like eyestrain and may be squinting to try and clear things up. Convergence insufficiency is one of the leading causes of headaches related to vision in children. When your child reads or works up close the eyes have to perform two functions. First they have to adjust the focus for the correct distance. Secondly they must turn in both eyes (converge) to point in the exact direction of what they are looking at. Most reading is done at about 14 to 16 inches away from the face in children. Kids should be able to keep their eyes pointing at an object at least until it is within 4 to 6 inches from their nose. If they can't, they lack enough reserve capacity to keep their eyes pointed at the object and they will have eyestrain and headaches. The severity of the problem is related to how well their brain functions in partially shutting down the image from one eye. If they lack this capacity the headaches can be severe with near work, resulting in headaches, eyestrain, blurred vision, and failing grades in school. Muscle imbalances are similar to convergence insufficiency. Due to eye muscles or tendons that are slightly misshaped or inserted slightly abnormally, their eyes may have a tendency to turn in, out, up, or down. Constantly struggling to keep images from doubling can cause frequent headaches if the brain is not good at shutting off one of the images. Fixation disparities are very tiny eye alignment errors that can have a similar result but can only be diagnosed with appropriate testing. Migraines are a very common cause of headaches and take many different forms. Usually there is a family history of migraines already known. Children that develop migraines at an older age often are carsick at younger ages. These headaches tend to be on one side of the head and may be associated with nausea and light sensitivity. Migraines need to be thoroughly tested and diagnosed in conjunction with your child's pediatrician and possibly a neurologist. The only association migraines have with eyes are some people have migraines triggered by small changes in their eye glass prescription, and some migraines can cause very minor damage to the eyes over time. Some children and adults are naturally very sensitive to small changes in their eyeglass or contact lens prescription. Every time there is a minor change they start having headaches, and learn quickly it is time for an appointment with the optometrist. Autistic children may have somewhat of an opposite type of problem, and clearing up vision too much may contribute to sensory overload and headaches. Rare causes of headaches around the eyes are tumors around the optic nerve or eye. Inflammation inside the eye that sometimes accompanies childhood arthritis and other autoimmune diseases can cause eye pain, headaches, and light sensitivity. Unusual light sensitivity, red eyes, headaches, abnormally small or large pupils, changes in behavior and school grades can be indicators of illicit drug usage, now common even in elementary schools. School counselors usually have a pretty good idea who is involved and it is a quick call. A sinus infection can result in headaches around the eyes and in rare cases even sight loss. Never forget lack of sleep. Fatigue, poor diet, caffeine crashes, dehydration, and stress probably cause most headaches. Preventative eye exams for children always helps rule out some easily fixed causes so don't neglect an eye check up if your child is being afflicted with headaches. Last, but not least is the friend who just got new glasses syndrome. All of a sudden your child develops blurry vision and headaches. Fortunately, an optometrist can diagnose this case pretty easy. Sometimes you may want to consider discussing in advance with your child's eye doctor a placebo pair of glasses with little or no prescription. Occasionally with a strong willed child it is easier to just let them wear a pair for six months and spend your energy on the bigger battles. Ten Reasons To Be More Concerned About Your Child's Headaches 1. Headaches that are continuing to get worse or becoming more frequent 2. Headaches that occur in the same area of the eye or head 3. Headaches that wake children up at night or are present at the beginning of the day 4. Headaches accompanied by double vision, blurred vision, or abnormal eye movements 5. Headaches that cause a child to cease their normal activities 6. Any headache that occurs after a fall, possible bump to the head, or after loss of consciousness or memory, however brief 7. Any headache that is accompanied by changes in responsiveness, sluggish thinking, slurred speech, changes in balance, different pupil sizes, severe vomiting, droopy half open eyes, altered or unusual behavior 8. Headaches that only occur when a specific person is around (possible abuse) 9. Headaches occurring in other people present (possible carbon monoxide poisoning) 10. Severe Headaches with very rapid onset, high fever, stiff neck If you have concerns about your child having mild or moderate headaches, starting with appointments with your optometrist and family doctor makes sense, proceeding to a neurological ev
Permalink Comments (1) |
Archives:
Bruce Horst (166) |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Home |
Page Two |
FAQ's |
Contact |
Terms of Service |
Article Submission Guidelines |
Questions & Answers |
Privacy |
Mission / About
Copyright © 1999-2009 SearchWarp.com, All Rights Reserved - SearchWarp.com is an IcoLogic, Inc. Company