Should You Be Worried About Seeing Dark Spots or “Floaters” in Your Vision? Dr. Michelle Answers the Question in this Month’s VSP EnVision Newsletter “Ask the Eye Doc” Feature.

What does it mean if you are experiencing dark spots or “floaters” in your vision?

That was the question posed in this month’s “Ask The Eye Doctor” column in the VSP EnVision Newsletter:

Q:  What Are Those Dark Spots I’m Seeing in My Eyes?

While “floaters” are actually quite common, you’ll want to read Dr. Michelle’s entire explanation in the VSP EnVision Newsletter to understand why spots or floaters develop, the current treatments available for them, and when a visual disturbance warrants a trip to the optometrist.

You can view the complete response here.

Grab the Kids and Join Urban Optiques Sunday September 26 at the DIA for a day of Education and Fun at the 15th Annual Metro Parent Education Expo. It’s FREE!

Looking for something fun, educational and best of all — FREE — to do with the family and kids on Sunday afternoon?

How about joining Urban Optiques and more than sixty of the area’s top educational leaders at the Detroit Institute of Arts for the 15th Annual Metro Parent “Education Expo?”

The event, which runs from 10 am to 4 pm on Sunday, September 26,  not only provides you with free access to dozens of interactive exhibits,  but also let’s you DISCOVER the best opportunities for your children’s academic success from metro Detroit’s educational leaders! Even better, you can EXPLORE the exciting galleries at the Detroit Institute of Arts all for FREE.

The Urban Optiques Team will be on hand at booth #23 during the Metro Parent Education Expo with a cool, interactive display on optical illusions that is guaranteed to not only amaze, but also educate kids, moms and dads on how optical illusions work, and what they can tell us about our vision.

We’ll also be performing free vision screenings for the whole family, since studies show that vision problems are one of the leading reasons for poor academic performance among children and teens.

Finally, we’ll also be giving away lots of  fun door prizes for attendees who enter our special drawing.

For more information and to pre-register for this always-well-attended event, visit Metro Parent Magazine online.

Hope to see all of you there!

A New Study Says Contact Lenses Account for More Pediatric Injuries Than Any Other Medical Device.  Find Out How To Help Your Kids Benefit from Contact Lenses without the Injury Risks.

In late July, the American Academy of Pediatrics released a report that found over a two year period, emergency rooms treated more than 33,000 injuries due to contact lenses — making the eye the most frequently injured body part among children due to medical device complications.

When we saw the report and the headlines, we weren’t entirely surprised.  Children are one of the fastest growing segments of new contact lens wearers, representing more than 10% of the total population of contact lens wearers.  The growing popularity of contacts among children makes sense: Today’s new breed of soft contact lenses are more comfortable than ever and contacts are often an attractive alternative to glasses, especially for active children, ‘tweens and teens.

On the other hand, as the report from The American Academy of Pediatric’s demonstrates, contact lenses and children can also be a recipe for injury, and possibly permanent eye damage or vision loss, if parents aren’t monitoring and supervising the wear, care and replacement of lenses in their children.

According to the data, the most-frequently reported injury diagnoses due to contact lenses were corneal contusions/abrasions, conjunctivitis and hemorrhage.  The study also showed that most contact lens complications were the result of non-compliance with the  recommended wear and care regimens, as well as replacement schedules.

Misuse of contact lenses in both adults and children can lead to problems such as eye pain, bacterial infections, corneal ulcers, and even permanent vision loss or blindness.

Are Contacts and Kids a Good Mix?

Why so many problems?

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One in Four School-Age Children Have Some Form of Vision Problems: The First Test Your Kids Take This Year Should Be Their Eye Exam.

We’re less than a month away from the beginning of the school year for most children, and while that means shopping for school supplies and back-to-school clothes (as well as maybe fitting in one last family vacation), one area that you’ll want to make sure you don’t neglect is your child’s vision.

Healthy vision and the ability to effectively learn go hand-in-hand.  If fact, when a child is experiencing difficulty in school, exhibits signs of a learning disorder or suddenly (or sometimes gradually) experiences a decline in grades, the first stop should be the eye doctor.

Since 80 percent of a child’s learning is visual, a child’s ability to clearly see the blackboard and the words on a page is critical.  Prevent Blindness America, the nation’s oldest volunteer eye health and safety organization, has declared August as Children’s Eye Health and Safety Awareness month in an effort to encourage parents to learn about ways they can help protect their child’s vision.

One in four school-age children and one in 20 pre-schoolers have some form of a vision problem. Sometimes the signs are immediately apparent, for example squinting, eyes crossing, holding objects near the face or sitting closer to the television than normal.  In other instances, the problems may be less recognizable and require a thorough pediatric eye exam or at least a vision screening to identify.

The Importance of Early Detection of Eye Disorders & Vision Problems

Early detection and prompt treatment of ocular disorders in children is important to avoid lifelong visual impairment. It also can improve performance in school and reduce behavioral and learning problems.

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A Recent Rash of Lens Remakes on External Prescriptions Underscores the “Art” portion of Vision Correction.  Learn The Steps We Are Taking to Ensure Your Outside Prescription Is Accurate.

Lens remakes are the bane of any optometrist’s existence.

Not only are they costly for both the practice and the labs, but they also create frustration with patients and clients who may have to endure one or more lens remakes before they are actually able to see clearly.

No one wants them and every optician and optometrist works hard up-front to avoid them.

However, they do happen every now and then.

Why?

Well, unfortunately, sometimes a lab will make a mistake and get the script wrong.

Sometimes what a patient thought was “clear vision” during the exam isn’t so “clear” when they actually put the finished glasses on.

Other times, we just need to “tweak” a prescription and lens a few times, especially for new progressive wearers or people with complex vision correction needs like prism.

In very rare instances, a person’s vision may literally change between the refraction and the delivery of the finished frame and lenses.

Our Philosophy: We Work Until We Get Your Lenses Right. Period.

In all of these cases, we continue to work with the patient until we get the finished product right, and often we do this at considerable extra cost to Urban Optiques – both in additional lab rework fees and the staff’s time.  It’s just part of the process of providing good vision care and an accepted cost of business for us (even though we want to minimize it.)

The good news is that when we actually perform the eye exam and refraction at Urban Optiques, we have an extremely low remake rate. There are few specific reasons for this, which I’ll touch on a bit later.

But first, let me tell you about a recent “mystery” at Urban Optiques around remakes.

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