Blog
The eye holds a unique place in medicine. Your eye doctor can see almost every part of your eye from an exterior view. Other than your skin, almost every other part of your body cannot be fully examined without either entering the body (with a scope) or scanning your body with an imaging device (such as a CAT scan, MRI, or ultrasound).
This gives your eye doctor the ability to find many eye problems just by looking in your eye. Even though that makes diagnosing most problems more straightforward than in other medical specialties, there are still many things you can do to get the most out of your eye exams. Here are the top 7 things you can do to get as much as possible out of your exam.
1) Bring your corrective eyewear with you. Have glasses? Bring them. Have separate pairs for distance and reading? Bring them both. Have contacts? Bring them with you and not just the lenses themselves but the lenses prescription, which is on the box they came in. What we most want to know is the brand, the base curve (BC) and the prescription. If you have both contacts and glasses bring BOTH--even if you hate them. Knowing what you like and hate, can help us prescribe something that you will love.
2) Know your family history of eye diseases. There are several eye diseases that run in families. The big ones
Sunglasses are more than just a fashion statement - they’re important protection from the hazards of UV light.
If you wear sunglasses mostly for fashion that’s great--just make sure the lenses block UVA and UVB rays.
And if you don’t wear sunglasses, it’s time to start.
Here are your top 6 reasons for wearing sunglasses:
#1--Preventing Skin Cancer
One huge way that sunglasses provide a medical benefit is in the prevention of skin cancer on your eyelids. UV light exposure from the sun is one of the strongest risk factors for the development of skin cancers.
Each year there are more new cases of skin cancer than the combined incidence of cancers of the breast, prostate, lung and colon.
About 90 percent of non-melanoma skin cancers are associated with exposure to ultraviolet (UV) radiation from the sun.
Your eyelids, especially the lower eyelids, are also susceptible to UV light and they do develop skin cancers somewhat frequently.
Many people who now regularly apply sunscreen to help protect them from UV light often don’t get that sunscreen up to the edge of their eyelids because they know the sunscreen is going to make their eyes sting and burn. Unfortunately, that leaves the eyelids unprotected. You can help fix that by wearing sunglasses that block both UVA and UVB rays.
#2--Decreasing Risk For Eye Disease
There is mounting evidence that lifetime exposure to UV light can increase your risk of cataracts and macular degeneration. It also increases your risk of getting growths on the
