Electric Steam Goggles new invention for Dry eyes?

Would you mind wearing these if your eyes were dry!!!!!

New dry eye steam goggles invented in the UK? Sound crazy..well they look like it but for millions of dry eye sufferers this is another alternative.  Some 20 per cent of people in the UK and the United States suffer from dry eye, a figure which rises to 50 per cent in those over 65 and will continue with the aging of “baby boomers.“

You might be thinking: Do I have significant dry eyes?  In some cases, eyes that are straining and staring at computers all day, dry environments found in different parts of the country, medications and hormonal changes in people contribute to this increasing problem. This is usually caused by glands in the eyelids which secrete oils. The problem occurs when these oils are too thick and waxy.  This condition may cause blurred vision and poor night vision making people think that their vision prescription may have changed or that they may now need glasses.  We always check this in our office before we change a patient’s prescription.

The cause of dry eyes is a result of the layer of water that coats the eyes evaporates too quickly, leaving them dry and inflammed and painful.  There have been many treatments over the past few years and over the counter drops may be used if the problem is not severe.  I would recommend over the counter rewetting drops like Systane, Refresh tears and Optive.  These may be used as often as needed.  Possibly drops like Visine and Murine that we Americans have grown up with may do more harm than good because of perservatives found in them that may cause eye redness.  Prescription medications like Restasis may be helpful if the over the counter drops are not enough to resolve the dry eye problem.  Tear duct plugs and rewetting drops may also be an option may help keep your own natural tears from draining.  We sometimes use bandage contact lenses if the cornea is scratched from dry eyes.  In extreme cases we prescribe an antiflammatory medication drop to reduce the pain.

A NEW TREATMENT FOR DRY EYES!

A man in the UK suffering from extreme dry eyes found that his eyes felt much better after taking a steam bath.  A new discovery has now been developed and it consists of Goggles that deliver steam directly to the eyes! This melts the waxy plugs in the lid glands that produce the oily layer of the tear film , when not produced, these glands may inhibit the eyes from secreting parts of the tear film needed to diminish the symptoms of dry eyes!

These are called  Blephasteam goggles, as they are known, and are the result of a happy coincidence.

The Blephastem goggles were developed as a result of, the British eye specialist John Fuller who was visiting his brother Tom inNew Zealand when he was persuaded to try a steam bath for his dry eyes to see if that would help. After 10 minutes, he noticed that his vision was remarkably clear and his eyes felt very comfortable. The reason his eyes felt better was the plugging up of his lid oily layer of tear glands were melted away and opened to produce tears.

Tears are formed of three layers, one of which is oily. Dr. Fuller says: ‘Like all oily substances, when heated this layer melts, creating better lubrication and better tear production.’

The patient, we will call Tom, was a design engineer,  and Dr. Fuller asked this design engineer to create the prototype for the Blephasteam goggles which were then used in clinical trials at Dorset CountyHospital, in Dorchester, England. 

That was in 2001. Soon afterwards the goggles were being jointly produced by a UK  company, Spectrum, and Laboratoires Théa in France.

They look a bit like swimming goggles but are made from medical-grade rubber. Disposable paper rings soaked in water are placed inside the goggles (which are attached to a control box) and then plugged in.  This sounds strange but it worked.

The heat makes the paper rings produce steam to melt the waxy oils in the eyes. Harry’s steam goggles looked a bit like Elton John crossed with a welder, and he felt a bit ridiculous, but at about $400 US dollars, he was determined and optimistic about getting results.

He did and fortunately this was found to be another alternative.  They can be worn inconspicuously at home and for 10-15 minutes as often as need.  So for all of you dry sufferers talk to your eye doctor about this option. Don’t worry about the look of Elton John combined with a welding pair of glasses, nobody but your friends and family will give you a hard tme about the appearance. Look at this photo and , you will see what we mean.

Dr. Warren Johnson/Dr. Burt Bodan www.TheEyewearGallery.com 

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Study: Many Contact-Lens Wearers Not Practicing Recommended Hygiene Steps!

The Dallas Morning News polled and found that: “Only two percent of contact wearers earned a good rating for their lens care, and just one patient did everything right.” The Optometry Journal and Vision Science confirmed. After analyzing “the lens care practices of 433 people,” researchers “found that 85 percent of the contact wearers believed they were following safe practices.

What are their opinions of safe practices? Most contact lens wearers assume that if their contacts don’t bother them and their vision is clear;  they don’t need to discard them or just order more.  The biggest cause of eye infections is found to be in contact lens wearers.  These infections can be sight threatening.  I always preach to people that just because you feel like you see well, that can be a false sense of security.  This assumption can be the difference in keeping or losing your vision no matter your age.  Most sight threatening problems aren’t detectable by the patient. 

In the aforementioned study, scientists dug deeper, they found that the average contact lens wearer practiced just half of the recommended hygienic steps. Many people did not clean either the contact-lens cases or the lenses properly. They also took a shower or slept while wearing contact lenses and wore them far longer than suggested.

We suggest that you not sleep in your contact lenses, wear them a maximum of 10-12 hours/day and wear your glasses at least 4-5 hours a day so your cornea can get enough oxygen.  Cleaning/disinfecting solutions vary.  Disinfectant solutions that are named for the store where they can be purchaed are usually not competent in disinfecting bacteria in soft lenses. 

See your eye doc at least once per year and have him fit your contacts, he/she will be examine your eye health and if you are in the healthiest lenses now available.  Use the recommended disinfecting solutions, never take out your contact lenses if they feel like they are sticking to your eyes to avoid corneal abrasions.   www.TheEyewearGallery.com Dr. Warren Johnson/Dr. Burt Bodan (901)-763-2020 http://eyewear-gallery.genbook.com/bookings/slot/reservation/30150274 www.yelp.com/biz/eyewear-gallery-memphis-2   www.facebook.com/EyewearGallery,  http://twitter.com/eyeweargallery

 

 

 

New Laser Technology equipment added for better patient eyecare!

Why Should You Care?

This new piece of laser equipment technology is a scanning laser test now used in our office and referenced as Ocular Coherence Tomography(OCT).  It is used in detecting the earliest stages of vision loss not associated with the clarity of glasses or contacts.   It is a very user friendly instrument for the patient that does a cross section laser scan of the eye from front to back to detect sight threatening problems like Glaucoma, Macular degeneration, floaters, etc. that a patient may show risks of when we photograph the back of their eyes in their normal eye exam.  This is also important to use on a patient if they may have a family history of eye sight threatening problems which put them at greater risk for losing their vision.  The laser instrument is also used to look for medication complications that affect visual dysfunction in health disorders such as lupus and other autoimmune disorders.  An example of such a drug would often be Plaquenil.  These drugs are from the hydroxychloroquine family which has been also been used to treat malaria. As you see, different classifications of drugs can cause slow progressive vision loss. Good health of your body or lack thereof also will affect your vision and it’s potential loss. 

www.TheEyewearGallery.com   Dr.Warren Johnson/Dr. Burt Bodan 901-763-2020   www.facebook.com/EyewearGallery,  http://twitter.com/eyeweargallery,  http://www.linkedin.com/pub/warren-johnson/12/797/b44

Hitting a Fastball in Baseball – Is Vision Involved?

 

“Hitting is Timing” was what Warren Spahn said. The Batting Stance Guy shows you just how important or unimportant stance is, depending on how you look at it. 

The vision factor kicks in the second the pitcher’s wind-up commences. The visual system of the brain takes cues from where the image of the pitchers wind-up lands on the back surface of the eye (the retina). When the image of the wind-up hits the retinas of the eyes, the brain starts calculating based on the batters observation of (1) where the pitcher’s eyes are focused, (2) the speed with which the wind-up occurs and (3) the angle of his shoulders in relation to the rest of his body.

We have all heard of binocular vision and this is where both eyes seeing together is gives us our best ability to judge one object’s distance from another. The better our binocular vision the better we can hit the baseball whether it is little league to the majors.

At the point of release of the ball from the pitchers hand, the brain takes the image of the ball and calculates where the image of the pitch might fall on the retina.  At this point, the eye locks onto the ball with the center of the retina and now is the time the pitcher’s visual brain is determining whether to strike at the ball assuming where it might come over the home plate.  The brain uses these cues to determine what plane to place the swinging bat.  The brain determines timing when hitting a baseball. 

The back of the brain where visual images are interpreted by all of us when we think we see something is the time our visual motor control system kicks in telling the batter if he should swing.

Signals are sent to the fingers, hands wrists, forearms, elbows and shoulders as well as to the feet, legs, hips and torso for movement that will align the bat along the trajectory of the ball. The goal is to have the bat end up in the same plane as the ball as the ball crosses the plate. The key to success in hitting the ball is as little head motion as possible.When the head moves, the image of the trajectory of the projectile (ball) shifts, necessitating a micro-second recalculation. A micro-second too late, and STRIKE! 

www.TheEyewearGallery.com   Dr.Warren Johnson/Dr. Burt Bodan 901-763-2020

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How can I hit that baseball?

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Eyewear Gallery wins People’s Choice Award for 2012

Thanks Germantown!

The Eyewear Gallery has won for the past 4 years the People’s Choice Award for Best Eyecare Specialty from the people of the Germantown Community. This was announced March 28, 2012 issue. We want to thank all of those who support our office and have endowed us with such a special honor. Our staff continues to receive great reviews from our patients. It is due to their diligent efforts that such award has been bestowed on our office. Thanks Germantown! Dr. Warren Johnson/ Dr. Burt Bodan/901-763-2020 www.facebook.com/EyewearGallery, http://twitter.com/eyeweargallery, http://www.linkedin.com/pub/warren-johnson/12/797/b44

Summer and Protective eyewear!

Some kids thinks its cool from sports figures to wear athletic eyewear when playing baseball, soccer, basketball and many other outdoor activities.  After the “being cool” wears off the parents sometimes have to force/nag the kids to wear what they were meant to do.  Keep this in mind, 600,000 Americans will suffer an eye injury while playing a sport this year, says the National Eye Institute.  So parents make sure you have a visual eye health exam for your kids or yourselves before getting any sports protective eyewear! These can be made into sunglasses or clear protective glasses.www.TheEyewearGallery.com   Dr. Warren Johnson/Dr. Burt Bodan www.yelp.com/biz/eyewear-gallery-memphis-2,   www.facebook.com/EyewearGallery,  http://twitter.com/eyeweargallery, 

These young cops are on their way to getting protective eyewear!

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Mission Impossible contact lens camera now a Reality!

The newest Mission Impossible movie with Tom Cruise features contact lenses that allow the user to take pictures of what he’s looking at by blinking, then wirelessly transmit them to a computer. With a new patent assigned to the University of Washington, such futuristic features are becoming a reality in the present.  Is this not unbelivable!

It is comprised of a micro-scale electronic components positioned directly on the surface of the contact lens.  This active contact lens system functions by enabling real-time information display. This is like a contact lens camera.

Potential applications considered would be used in gaming, virtual reality, and military uses. These components may measure temperature, heart rate, pressure, etc. and send the information to the lenses’ base station via radio signal to allow for real time monitoring of the user’s vitals! 

www.TheEyewearGallery.com Dr. Warren Johnson/Dr. Burt Bodan (901)-763-2020 http://eyewear-gallery.genbook.com/bookings/slot/reservation/30150274 www.yelp.com/biz/eyewear-gallery-memphis-2   www.facebook.com/EyewearGallery,  http://twitter.com/eyeweargallery,