I want to take this opportunity to thank all our readers for your continued support. Our family of bloggers try to make each post interesting and educational and hope you have enjoyed this year’s selections. We are proud to have bloggers from all professions including our employees, VSP eye doctors, as well as professional athletes. Just in case you missed it, here are the top three most viewed posts of 2010.

3. Do you see floaters? (By: VSP Provider Joel Kestenbaum O.D.)

2. Burning, itching & watery eyes? You may have Computer Vision Syndrome (By: VSP Provider Joel Kestenbaum O.D.)

And the number one post of 2010 is . . . <Drum roll please>

1. Seeing China through my eyes (By: 2010 Rookie of the Year Tyreke Evans)

If you have a question/request for 2011, please submit them in the comments below and we will make sure to add them to our list for the new year. We hope you have a safe and happy new years!

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.

Joel Kestenbaum O.D. is a VSP provider in Long Island, NY.

We welcome back Dr. Kestenbaum with a post on allergies and how you can help ease the itchy, watery eyes that come with them.

Every year, I stock up on over-the-counter allergy eye drops and pre-write prescriptions for allergy medications in anticipation of the droves of patients reporting to me with eye allergy symptoms.  These symptoms include itchy, red and watery eyes, a gritty feeling and reduced contact lens tolerance.  These symptoms are caused by airborne allergens including pollen, mold, dust and pet dander.

The best way to treat allergies is to avoid the allergens that cause them.  But, given the reality that life brings, we all know that this is nearly impossible.  So we have to find alternative methods to treat the symptoms that allergies bring.

Sunglasses help to prevent pollen from blowing into your eyes especially on windy days.  Staying indoors on bad allergy days is a choice for some.  For others, contact lenses usually become difficult to wear during allergy season.  But certain types of contact lenses approved by the FDA for people with allergies can also help to reduce symptoms.

photo via hubpages

If possible, one way to reduce allergy related eye symptoms is to wear disposable contact lenses that are replaced daily.  Since 1990, I have been recommending daily disposables and truly believe that this is the healthiest contact lenses type to wear.  Think about it.  You always have a fresh lens, you never put a less than perfectly clean lens in your eyes, you don’t have to clean them, you cannot be sensitive to cleaning solutions, and they are very convenient.

Here in New York, around mid to late March, I start prescribing allergy eye medications in an attempt to reduce patient symptoms of seasonal allergic conjunctivitis.  These prescription medications include Pataday, Patanol, Elestat, and Optivar.  These are usually used daily but some doctors recommend them for as-needed symptomatic relief.  Consult your doctor for the proper way to use these medications.

In addition to prescription medications that are stronger, I sometimes recommend over-the-counter allergy eye drops to provide temporary relief of allergic conjunctivitis symptoms.  Use for extended periods of time may make redness in the eye worse; therefore these drops should be used with caution and with your doctors recommendation.

Fortunately for most people, seasonal allergies usually last only about 6 weeks. Whether you use sunglasses, OTC eye drops, prescription medications, One-Day Contact Lenses or move to the North Pole, preventing symptoms is the true goal.

ENJOY SPRING.

Dr. Joel Kestenbaum
www.optixeyecare.com

Joel Kestenbaum O.D. is a VSP provider in Long Island, NY.

In today’s guest blog post from Dr. Joel Kestenbaum of Optix Eyecare in Long Island, NY, he discusses protective eyewear and winter sports …

The 2010 Winter Olympics are upon us.  Lets take a look at the common attributes most Winter Olympians have:

• Athletic ability
• Drive and determination
• Support of family and friends
• Excellent vision

If you look at all the skiers, snowboarders, speed skaters, lugers and bobsledders, they are all wearing some sort of protective eyewear.  How do they know which lenses to wear?  What if it is cloudy, sunny, snowing, sleeting, raining, foggy, nighttime, or early morning?

Think Safety First

You can be certain that the lenses in an athlete’s goggles are made of polycarbonate.  For fast-moving winter sports, this material is much more impact-resistant than glass or conventional plastic. The frame also needs to be lightweight and flexible reducing the likelihood of the lens breaking or popping out in a bad fall.  Prescription lenses can be made for inserts that sit behind the shield of the goggle or some goggles are actually made to wear over a regular pair of eyeglasses.

Think Visual Efficiency Next

Black, gray, or smoke lenses

Best for bright conditions – they dim the bright sunlight to ease the strain on your eyes. Depending on the intensity of the tint, these lenses do darken your vision but gray does not alter color.  These lenses are best for wide-open areas, especially on sunny days.  One should not ski or snowboard in trees or trails with dark lenses.

Amber Lenses
Amber is a color in between a light brown and a dark yellow lens.  Amber blocks blue light, greatly increases contrast.  This color is a good choice for seeing moguls out on the slopes.  Amber is best for under cloudy skies or on dimly lit trails but is not recommended for sunny days.

Brown or Bronze Lenses
I love brown lenses.  They are a good “all around” lens color choice.  Brown improves contrast, clarity, and depth perception.  Brown filters out blue light waves thereby enhancing shades of green in trees, bushes, and grass.  Brown is best for daytime skiing and snowboarding in good weather.

Vermilion, Red or Rose Lenses
Red lenses, usually referred to as “rose” or “vermilion,” will increase contrast and brighten cloudy, dreary days. It is important to remember that this color lens distorts real world colors.  This fact is probably not important on the slopes.  These lenses are not suitable for bright, sunny days.

Yellow Lenses
Yellow works best in foggy, hazy conditions. Yellow increases clarity even in dense fog.

Best for: Skiing or snowboarding in the early morning fog.  Yellow is not for bright, sunny days.

Clear Lenses
Clear lenses do not alter your vision and work great in dark conditions when you still need to protect your eyes from wind, debris, and harmful UV rays. They are best suited for dark conditions, such as night skiing and snowboarding.

Polarized Lenses

Polarized lenses block reflected glare off the horizontal plane and are great when it’s bright out. But they may not be ideal near the end of the day when long shadows appear in the snow, because they are usually made with a darker tint than most sun lenses.  Polarized lenses are not suitable if you ski moguls or for nighttime use.

Anti-Fog

Look for anti-fogging features, UV protection and scratch resistance.  Some goggles have double lenses that discourage condensation from forming when the warm air of your breath makes contact with the cold lens.

And most importantly, athletes need excellent quality vision.  Whether you prefer eyeglasses or contact lenses, make sure your optometrist takes his or her time determining your best visual correction.

Stay safe on the slopes and enjoy the 2010 Winter Olympics!

Dr. Joel Kestenbaum

www.optixeyecare.com

Joel Kestenbaum O.D. is a VSP provider in Long Island, NY.

VSP provider Joel Kestenbaum, O.D. from Long Island N.Y.  provides an overview of dry eye syndrome

Tears bathe our eyes to keep them nourished and usually do not leak down the cheek.  Why is that?  On the other hand, why do tears sometimes flow in such abundance that we must wipe them away?

Various glands in and around the eyelid produce the tears.  Microscopic glands produce the tears that are composed of water, oil, mucous and an abundance of nutrients.  If one of the components of the tears is not produced in the exact amounts, the tears become either too wet or too dry.

A common complaint in my office, especially as people age, is that tears run down the cheek.  Usually excess tear production occurs because the microscopic glands in the lid that produce the normal water part of the tears are not producing enough.  In response, the one large gland, the lacrimal gland, that normally secretes a lot of tears when we cry produces too much water so we drip.  This is classic dry eye syndrome.  Are you confused yet?

Among the many signs of dry eye include the eyes feeling scratchy, itchy, gritty, burny, looking red or pink, light sensitivity, vision complaints.

Dry eye treatment mostly consists of using artificial tears or tear substitutes.  There is also an FDA approved prescription eye drop, Restasis, which can help the tiny glands in the eyelid to increase its tear production.  Your eye doctor can make diagnosis of dry eye and offer treatment as needed.  Keep your eyes healthy.  Have your eyes examined regularly.

Dr. Joel Kestenbaum
www.optixeyecare.com

Photo from virtualmedicalcenter.com