Category Archives for Adult Eyes & Vision

When eye drops aren’t enough – looking for relief from dry, gritty eyes?

Looking for dry, gritty eye relief, without more eye drops?

Do you experience…

  • stinging or burning eyes?
  • a sandy or gritty feeling as if something is in the eye?
  • episodes of excess tears?
  • pain and redness of the eye?
  • episodes of blurred vision?
  • heavy eyelids?
  • uncomfortable contact lenses?
  • decreased tolerance of reading, working on the computer, or any activity that requires sustained visual attention?
  • eye fatigue?

What is dry eye?

Dry eye is a condition when the eye does not produce tears properly, or when the tears are not of the correct consistency and evaporate too quickly.

Dry eye can adversely affect a person’s quality of life, due to discomfort, tearing or an inability to do things due to making symptoms worse (eg contact lens wear).

Dry eye can make it more difficult to perform some activities, such as using a computer or reading for an extended period of time, and it can make it difficult to cope in dry environments, such as the air inside an airplane.

New Treatments for Dry Eye

The first step in treating Dry eye is a thorough consultation to try and identify the correct cause. In the past, day to day relief came in the form of eye drops. These frequently help symptoms, but as soon as you stop using them, the symptoms return. Now, new treatments such as “Blephasteam” are giving longer lasting relief, without the need for additional eye drops.

How can BlephasteamTM help? read more

Vision, Balance, Vertigo and Dizziness

I had the opportunity to head to Portland, Oregon USA recently to attend a meeting on the multidisciplinary care of patients with dizziness.  It was a long way to travel in a short space of time, and so I was taking a gamble on the quality of the meeting.  This has been an interest of mine for a long time for both personal and professional reasons as I have been involved in the visual rehabilitation of patients for many years.  It turns out that the trip turned out to be a success, the meeting was excellent.

Multidisciplinary Approach – Working Together

We heard from audiometrists, physiotherapists and optometrists who work to together to help people suffering from dizziness and vertigo symptoms.  Often they are working with people who have suffered some sort injury like whiplash or a brain injury that has left them with balance difficulties, vertigo and dizziness symptoms.  For some people these symptoms can be quite debilitating resulting in a greatly reduced quality of life from injuries that can sometimes initially seem quite mild.

Fortunately there is a growing interest in rehabilitation.  Due to the complex integration of information from the inner ear, body movement/posture and vision, there often needs to be a collaborative approach to assisting these patients.

What is the Role of the Optometrist, and How Does Vision Fit In? read more

What are the alternatives to reading glasses?

shutterstock_27257383Finding out you need reading glasses comes as quite a shock to many people, particular for those who have spent their entire lives with great sight.  It is an unfortunate sign that we are no longer as young as we once were, and there are a whole lot of myths that go hand in hand with needing reading glasses once you are in your 40’s.

Naturally, people look for alternatives to the frustrations that glasses bring. Some look for the magic bullet that will bring back youthful vision.  Well, eye exercises might improve visual efficiency when you have eye teaming problems, but don’t reverse eye aging, and unfortunately laser eye surgery is only a short term “fix” for the problem, with the effect only lasting about 2 years before vision changes again.  There are two non-surgical alternatives to glasses.

1. Orthokeratology – “Ortho-what!?” you may ask.  Orthokeratology or Ortho-K is an advanced corneal lens that reshapes your eyes while you sleep, enabling you to achieve clear sight during the day usually without need for further correction from glasses or contact lenses.  Ortho-K has been around for some time now to correct myopia or short-sightedness, and recent advancements in technology means that low degrees of longsight can be corrected too.

What are the advantages of Ortho-K over other forms of correction?

  • Freedom from glasses
  • No eye dryness
  • Reversible and adjustable as your prescription changes
  • Non-surgical

Not all degrees of longsight can be corrected and it does depend on your individual eye shape.

2.  Contact Lenses – There are a wide range of lenses available to use as a part-time or full-time alternative to reading glasses.  Some people decide that they might only want them for special occasions, others want to wear them as a day to day alternative to glasses.

How do I know if I am suitable?

We conduct an assessment of your vision, prescription, eye health, and most importantly a detailed digital measurement of your eye shape to determine your suitability for Ortho-K and/or contacts.  After determining your suitability, we discuss the pro’s, cons’s and safety with you.

At Harmony Vision , we have many years of experience both fitting and wearing Ortho K lenses and other contact lens options.  To discuss further call our office on 07 5520 5900.

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