Eye Health FAQs

Contact lenses are a medical device that come into direct contact with the cornea on a daily basis. It is extremely important to have our eye doctors check that these medical corrective lenses are fitting properly and not causing damage to the delicate tissues that are responsible for your vision.

A contact lens exam is separate from a comprehensive eye exam. During a contact lens exam your eye doctor will take a keratometry measurement. This tells your eye doctor the curvature of your eye so they can select a contact lens with a curvature that best matches your eye.

If the len’s curvature is too steep or too flat it can cause painful, sometimes sight-threatening complications to your eye health. After checking that the lens curvature is correct, our eye doctor will make sure the lens is large enough to cover your eye so they don’t become more dry towards the end of the day or cause irritation from blinking; also, that the lens is moving enough to allow tears to flow around the lens. Tears provide the nutrients to the front surface of the eyes, and if inhibited, blood vessel growth and scarring may occur.

How you are wearing your contact lenses can also affect your eye health. Not cleaning and storing your lenses properly or “stretching out” your last pair of lenses for an extra month, or two, can have serious consequences. Save yourself the horror of googling acanthamoeba keratitis and just replace them on time.

Eyes can change shape from year to year, and sensitivities to a lens material or contact lens solution may develop over time. Our eye doctors will review the products you are using with your lenses to ensure the best comfort and eye health are achieved.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

New products are always being developed to further combat eye health related concerns while wearing contact lenses.

The most recent product is daily disposable lenses. Daily disposable contact lenses are superior for eye health over their weekly and monthly counterparts because you are putting in a fresh lens each day so the buildup of toxic materials from your tears, contact lens solutions, and whatever is growing in your 3-year old contact lens case (yes these need to be replaced also) doesn’t have a chance to cause an infection or irritation to your eyes.

If your eyes ever become red, painful, light-sensitive, or your vision suddenly becomes blurry while wearing your contact lenses make an appointment to be seen by our eye doctor right away.

Daily disposables are now available for many different prescriptions including, farsightedness, nearsightedness, astigmatism, and even presbyopia, a decrease in the focusing ability of the eye to see things up close.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

Anti-glare, or no glare, coatings are fantastic for a number of reasons.

• Mainly, anti-glare coatings greatly diminish glare and “the starburst” effect from headlights and streetlamps at night.
• Aesthetically, anti-glare coatings reduce the flash effect that appears on many lenses in photographs so you can see the person behind the glasses, for a cleaner more vibrant photo.
• Anti-glare lenses also greatly reduce eyestrain from back lit devices, such as computer screens, smart phones & tablets.
  

AcuSight’s lenses come with a bonus feature in their Recharge Anti-glare coating. This latest technology coating helps protect your eyes from the blue-light emitted by cellphones, computers, tablets, e-readers, and any other backlit device. Blue-light near the ultraviolet (or UV) end of the spectrum can lead to earlier cases of macular degeneration, cataracts, and disrupts our day-to-day sleep habits. This anti-glare coating is a crucial preventative feature that we recommend each patients use. Scratches? Forget about them, the Recharge anti-glare coating comes with built-in scratch resistance making your lenses tough and durable from daily wear and tear.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

Most people believe that all eyeglass lenses are the same and the only thing you are choosing is a new frame every year, but this is not the case. The lenses that go into the frame are the most important part; after all, that’s what allows you to see your world clearly and not every eyeglass lens is created equal.

At AcuSight we use the latest lens technology to guarantee you will be seeing your best, and that technology is digitally surfaced lenses.

Traditional lenses are all made from the same stock and cut from old-fashioned tools so a -4.00 is the same for every person and every frame. The advanced computer surfacing system allows the digital lens to be custom designed for how your prescription fits in your frame and where the lenses are positioned in front of your eyes to provide a wider field of view with less peripheral distortion over standard lenses.

For example, if you and your friend both have the same prescription, your friend would not be able to put on your glasses and wear them because they are customized for your eyes.

These advances to technology result in a more precise viewing system making your world appear in high definition. Anyone is a great candidate for digital lenses, but this becomes especially important for anyone with astigmatism or for progressive (no line bifocal) lenses.  Call our office to set up your appointment and make the switch to digital.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

It is estimated that over 30 million people suffer from dry eye. Dry eyes can be caused by a number of factors ranging from medications, like antihistamines and antidepressants, to existing medical conditions such as arthritis and menopause. In some cases, poor or reduced tear quality has no specific cause and is simply due to the natural aging process. Working on a computer all day is another major contributor to dry eye disease. Symptoms of dry eye can range from

• Excessive tearing
• Itchy sensations
• Redness, and burning
• Gritty or sandy feelings
• Blurry vision or difficulty with night vision
  

While it can seem confusing extremely watery eyes are your eyes way of telling you there may be an underlying issue. You do not have to suffer through your dry eye symptoms. Dry eye complaints can be assessed and diagnosed through special eye testing by our eye doctor.

Treatment for your dry eye symptoms range in a variety of options. Many cases can be managed successfully through the usage of artificial tears. Some people also benefit from using daily supplements specifically designed to assist your eyes. For a more relaxing treatment, patients opt for using a warmed eye mask. Alternatively, prescription products are applied to the eye, or a more advanced in-office treatment consists of pain-free punctal plugs that conserve tears.

Even more relief from dry eyes is now available with our in office therapeutic mibo thermoflo treatments. A specialized warming plate applies consistent heat to the eyelids helping to improve function and flow of tears across the surface of the eye. Call to schedule your free trial today!

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

Diabetes is a rapidly growing concern in today’s society, and a diagnosis can have a profound impact on your life. It is important to protect one of your most precious senses from becoming damaged by your elevated blood sugar levels.

A diabetic eye exam is a medical evaluation of the health of your eyes and requires additional testing and coordination with your primary care doctor. Because of this, your vision plan will not cover a diabetic eye exam, luckily however, your medical insurance will cover it.

Diabetes affects the smaller blood vessels located throughout your body. These same sized blood vessels are the ones most predominant in your eyes. During a diabetic eye exam our eye doctors will pay extra close attention to these blood vessels to make sure there is no blood or other fluid outside of them where it doesn’t belong and also to make sure no new blood vessels are growing where they shouldn’t be.

Your eye doctor may use a special instrument to look for blood vessels growing around the iris, the part of the eye that determines your eye color. Photos may also be taken of the retina to help monitor for blood vessel changes from year to year. The macula, or central detailed vision, also gets special attention to make sure there is no fluid accumulating which affects visual acuity most rapidly and severely.

Diabetes is the leading cause of visual impairment in working-aged adults because a person often has diabetes for a number of years before it is even diagnosed so damage can have already occurred. Even if you think your diabetes is well controlled, a yearly dilated eye exam by an optometrist is needed because retinopathy can occur at any time and the sooner we catch it the less chance for sight loss and permanent damage.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

Polarized lenses are, sunglass lenses that not only protect your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun (protecting against macular disease, cataracts, pinguelcua and sunburn), but also reduce the amount of glare reflecting off of shiny or wet surfaces. This offers the sharpest most unobstructed view of your world around you. A polarized filter is applied to the lenses which only allows light traveling in one direction to pass through.

Polarized sunglasses are ideal for water sports or hobbies such as boating, jet skiing, and fishing and also useful for snow sports like skiing and snowboarding. Sunglasses with ultra violet (UV) protection, should be worn year round when outdoors to protect your eyes from the harmful rays of the sun, but adding the extra polarized filter will give you the clearest vision possible.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.

Acusight offers advanced retinal and glaucoma testing. Our new, modern visual electrophysiology (VEP) and electroretinography (ERG) system helps us diagnose vision disorders earlier, as well as track disease progression and treatment efficacy. These test results will in turn help our practices work together with your primary care doctor for appropriate, co-management, and treatment planning, to better preserve your vision.

The electroretinogram (ERG) measures the function of the retina, showing results of diseases, injury, therapy or trauma. Similarly, the visual evoked potential (VEP) test measures the integrity of the complete visual pathway, from the eye to the brain, for abnormalities caused by systemic diseases and disorders. The test is completely objective, taking the stress of current testing methods away from the patient.

In our practice, we primarily use these tests to help diagnose and manage glaucoma, diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, patients taking Plaquenil, and amblyopia. However, VEP and ERG test results can benefit a much wider range of patients. Our goal is to deliver the highest quality vision care available, and VEP/ERG is a powerful tool that helps us get there.

Call our office to schedule your exam today 614-863-1433.