Archive for June, 2010
Posted on June 29th, 2010 by Lisa P.
Independence Day, Fourth of July, is right around the corner and that means picnics, BBQ’s, outdoor activities and most importantly, fireworks! We want to make sure you see them bright and clear so we encourage you to wear sunglasses throughout the day. Lets face it, shades look cool, but did you know they are essential to eye health?
VSP doctor
Stephen Cohen from Scottsdale, Arizona says ”there’s increasing evidence that
ultraviolet rays in sunlight can significantly increase your risk of developing
cataracts and
macular degeneration. Because both conditions can threaten healthy vision, I recommend wearing sunglasses on sunny days year-round. Plus, you’ll experience better night vision when you wear sunglasses on sunny days.”
This is a plus for the fireworks show!
Here are some tips to picking out the right shades to protect your eyes.
Tommy Bahama Aviator
- Labels: Make sure they carry a consumer-protection label stating they’re 99-100% UV-absorbent, or provide UV absorption up to 400 nanometers (nm).
- Go big or wrap it: Bigger frames and lenses, and also wrap-around styles, give you more UV protection because they block peripheral rays. Also, this is the trend this season!
- Go polar: Polarized lenses block out sunlight glare bouncing off windshields, pavement, and other smooth surfaces.
- Consider color: Gray lenses are best. Why? They don’t change colors. Green and brown lenses are good too.
Often times, store-bought fireworks can emit smoke. Here are some tips for smokey-eyes:
- Rinse your eyes with clean water regularly; at least once a day or more often if they burn or itch.
- Try not to rub your eyes, since you might transfer dust and ash from your hands or face to your eyes that could scratch or irritate them. Wash your hands regularly, especially if you wear contact lenses.
- Use lubricating eye drops or artificial tears to keep your eyes refreshed and help get rid of dust and particles that can irritate eyes.
We hope you have a fun and safe Fourth of July this year!
File under: eye health, Eye Safety, fashion, Frames & Lenses | Tagged: cataracts, eye health, fireworks, Fourth of July, Independence Day, july 4, macular degeneration, smoke eyes, smokey eyes, Stephen Cohen, sunglasses, ultraviolet rays, UV protection, UV Rays, VSP, VSP Vision Care
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Posted on June 28th, 2010 by Lisa P.
Send an Independence Day greeting to all your friends with VSP’s Happy Fourth of July Eye Chart!
File under: Fun | Tagged: eye chart, eyechart, facebook, facebook app, facebook applications, Fourth of July, fun facebook apps, games for kids, holiday fun, Independence Day, July 4th, VSP Facebook
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Posted on June 28th, 2010 by Lisa P.
Looking for everything eyecare and eyewear? Look no further than The Center on vsp.com, where you’ll find out about:
Eyecare
Learn how to keep your eyes healthy for a lifetime. Read articles and watch videos on a wide-range of topics, like cataracts, diabetes, and dry eye. You can also stop by the Kids’ Zone to test your Eye-Q and play a few tricks on your eyes!
Eyewear
Visit the Eyewear Gallery and browse through designer frames like Fendi, Coach, Nike, Joseph Abboud, and Tommy Bahama.
Lenses & Technology
Discover cutting-edge advances in eyecare technology to help your overall eye health including lens options, retinal imaging, and laser surgery.
Visit The Center today!
File under: eye health, fashion, Frames & Lenses, Technology | Tagged: eye health, fashion, Frames, glasses, lenses, style, sunglasses, Technology, The Center, vision health, VSP, VSP Vision Care, vsp.com, wellness
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Posted on June 25th, 2010 by Lisa P.
VSP wants you to turn heads with your eyewear so we’re giving away a FREE pair! Visit VSP Vision Care’s facebook page and click on the Contests tab to submit your entry. There is no cost to enter, just submit a photo of yourself wearing your current frames/sunglasses and vote, everyday! Whoever has the most votes by July 13 will get to choose from this season’s trendiest frames from brands like Calvin Klein, Coach, Diane von Furstenberg, FENDI, Jil Sander, Karl Lagerfeld, Michael Kors, Tommy Bahama, and Nike. Any one of these can be yours!
Coach Sunwear
Nike
Tommy Bahama
VOTING: With over 120 entries, there is a lot to choose from! Whether you’re voting for yourself or for someone else, vote for your favorite today! Everyone can vote once a day so invite all your friends through Facebook to participate! The last day to enter is July 13th. Good luck, everyone!
File under: Contests, fashion, Frames & Lenses | Tagged: Calvin Klein, Coach, Contests, Diane von Furstenberg, fashion, Fendi, Frames, Free, giveaway, glasses, Jil Sander, Karl Lagerfeld, lenses, Michael Kors, Nike, sunglasses, Tommy Bahama, trendy frames, VSP, VSP Vision Care
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Posted on June 24th, 2010 by Lisa P.
Dr. Michelle Calder Cardwell
Guest Blog: Dr. Michelle Calder Carwell, an optometrist in Northville, from her Visionista Blog.
If you’ve had Lasik surgery and want to upgrade to a new pair of sunglasses this summer, we’ve got a great tip that could save you over $100 on your new shades. Thanks to a little known benefit from VSP, VSP vision insurance members who have undergone Lasik vision correction surgery can use their bi-yearly eyeglass benefit toward a pair of non-prescription sunglasses. Yes, we said that right: If you’ve had Lasik and you have VSP, you can get your non-prescription sunglasses completely or partially paid for.
Normally, the frame benefit can only be applied to prescription sunglasses (for non-Lasik patients.) But if you’ve had Lasik surgery, VSP wants you to still protect your eyes from damaging UV rays and is willing to let you apply your usual frame benefit toward a pair of fantastic suns.
Depending on your particular VSP plan, this benefit can save you up to $150 dollars on non-prescription sunglasses, at a savings of up to 50% off the retail price (or better, depending on brand and model.)
Available Only Through VSP Optometrists. Find a VSP doctor near you!
There are two important things to keep in mind around this Lasik sunglass benefit from VSP:
- To use the benefit, you will have to visit a participating, authorized, independent VSP optometrist. Because it requires an VSP insurance pre-authorization from an optometrist.
- You will also want to consider whether you may need to use the frame benefit in the next 24 months for reading glasses, versus sunglasses. This is more of a concern among patients and clients who are over 40 years of age and may need reading glasses in the near future, despite their Lasik.
To determine your exact sunglass benefit, please contact VSP’s member services at 800-877-7195, imember@vsp.com. With just a couple pieces of information, they can pre-authorize you in minutes over the phone so you’ll know exactly what you qualify for.
File under: Frames & Lenses | Tagged: Dr. Michelle Calder Carwell, eyeglasses, Lasik, sunglasses, urban optiques, vision benefits, vision correction surgery, Visionista Blog, VSP, VSP Benefits, VSP optometrist
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Posted on June 23rd, 2010 by Jill N
The VSP Eye on Diabetes campaign is preparing to head to Topeka, Kansas in July – the second stop of our five state campaign.
Check out this video to learn more about the campaign and hear from VSP doctors who are participating in both the charitable outreach as well as the continuing education courses being provided.
And don’t forget to check out the VSP EyeFiles, featuring Bill Nye the Science Guy! In the second video of the series debunking eye health myths, Bill and Dr. Roger Phelps dive deeper into the facts surrounding comprehensive eye exams and if eye doctors can detect signs of serious diseases like diabetes.
File under: diabetes, VSP in the Community | Tagged: diabetes, VSP Vision Care
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Posted on June 23rd, 2010 by Melissa W.
Getting a new pair of glasses can be a great and affordable way to update your own image and style. Personal makeovers can be challenging though, and those same challenges apply to businesses such as eyecare practices who may be thinking of updating their business. To help with this challenge, the VSP Global Spark program was launched recently, offering eye doctors makeover tips and tools to enhance the experience they provide to their patients while also helping to grow their business.
Follow the first VSP Global Spark makeover story, featured in a series of webisodes at www.vspglobal.com/spark. The first webisode features Drs. Gary Yamada, Jill Yamada and Matthew Nishio, VSP providers and owners of a private practice located in Sacramento, California, which was updated in just 72 hours! New webisodes will be posted every few weeks, so be sure to check back often to see their practice’s full transformation. You can also check out the program’s trailer below:
File under: fashion, Frames & Lenses, Fun, Private Practice Doctors | Tagged: eyewear, makeover, VSP Global, VSP Global Spark
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Posted on June 23rd, 2010 by Lisa P.
Joel Kestenbaum O.D. is a VSP provider in Long Island, NY.
Guest blogger Dr. Joel Kestenbaum returns with a post about amblyopia, a.k.a. lazy eye and the importance of early detection.
Lazy eye or amblyopia is reduced vision resulting from vision deprivation to one eye. Reasons include large differences in vision between the two eyes or misalignment of the two eyes resulting in one eye being stronger than the other.
If not corrected at an early age, the lesser-seeing eye may have permanent vision loss. The brain will usually start to suppress the image of the poorer eye possibly resulting in useless vision.
As an aside, statistics show that 80% of a child’s learning comes through the eyes. Early detection and early correction are imperative to a child’s binocular eyesight. I see many young patients whose parents never realized that having an eye exam before age five can affect the child’s lifetime education. And what is even worse, most pediatricians think that reading the eye chart in their office is an eye exam. What they also don’t realize is that 20/20 does not mean 20/perfect. As a result, the doctor’s that see the most children inadvertently do an injustice to their young patients.
Here is one example: Many kids can see 20/20 but if they are “farsighted” or hyperopic, their eyes work hard to focus on distance objects and work harder to focus on close objects. It’s like the automatic zoom lens on a camera. When the eyes point to an object, it is natural for the brain to signal the eyes to focus. The problem is that a child’s eyes have a large amount of focusing power. The other problem is that the harder a farsighted child has to focus, the more likely that the child will develop a crossed eye, possibly resulting in a lazy eye.
So what do we do about it? First of all we need to educate the educators and the primary medical providers to screen children and to understand that an eye doctor should examine eyes just as a dentist should examine the mouth. We need to catch lazy eye early. Treatment for lazy eye includes eyeglasses, patching therapy, eye drops, surgery, and/or eye exercises. If not treated, the amblyopic eye may never achieve good vision and may in fact develop functional blindness.
So the bottom line is early detection, early intervention and education. See you in the next blog.
File under: eye health, healthcare | Tagged: amblyopia, crossed eyes, Dr. Joel Kestenbaum, eye patch, eye problems, eye surgery, lazy eye
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Posted on June 22nd, 2010 by Liz B.
In Episode 3 of the VSP EyeFiles series, Bill Nye debunks the eye myth about wearing glasses with an out-of-date prescription. Can they really hurt your eyes? Find out Bill’s conclusion and join him as he visits Dr. Phelps for an eye exam and picks out a new pair of glasses! Are you in need of a new look? Enter VSP’s Eyewear Makeover contest today!
File under: Top Posts | Tagged: Bill Nye, eye health, eye insurance, eye problems, eye sight, eye test, eye vision, eyeglasses, eyewear, glasses, mens glasses, prescription glasses, The Science Guy, Top Posts, vision benefits, vision problem, wearing lenses
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Posted on June 21st, 2010 by Lisa P.
Team Type 2 officially finished Race Across America (RAAM) in 7 days, 15 hours, and 8 minutes. They began their 3,005-mile journey in Oceanside, California June 12 and crossed the finish line in Annapolis, Maryland June 20, in hopes to inspire others living with diabetes, to achieve their dreams.
All the riders in Team Type 2 participating in RAAM have type 2 diabetes. Team Type 2 rider Rob Coburn said “It’s one thing to control your blood sugar during a day at the office and a daily workout. But it’s really different when it’s 27 degrees at 9,000 feet above sea level three days into a race. It’s hard to explain…I thought the riding would be harder, but the logistics were so much a part of the success.” Team Type 2 is living proof to all patients with diabetes that their disease can be controlled through healthy eating, regular exercise and appropriate medication.
VSP Vision Care is proud to be the exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider for Team Type 1 and Team Type 2.
About Team Type 1 and VSP Vision Care
Team Type 1 is a group of athletes living with diabetes. The team includes professional race teams, a triathlon team and a development team. Team Type 1 strives to instill hope and inspiration for people around the world affected by diabetes. VSP® Vision Care is proud to be their exclusive eyecare and eyewear provider.
File under: diabetes, RAAM, Team Type 1 | Tagged: biking, cycling, diabetes, procyling, RAAM, race across america, rob coburn, Team Type 2, Type 2 Diabetes, VSP, VSP Vision Care
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