Are you Tearing or Ripping your Soft Contacts Frequently?

Sometimes we have patients who have torn or ripped a contact once or more than once. They wonder what they did wrong. Here is some advice if this is you.

1. Avoid touching your contacts with your nails or pinching them too tight with the pads of your fingers.
2. If they are not approved to sleep in, don't. For more reasons than just tearing (see blog post about taking care of contacts), but sleeping in contacts dehydrates them, making them more brittle. When you take them out they are more likely to tear.
3. Dehydrated contacts are more likely to tear. If your eyes are dry or your contacts are dry by the end of the day you might want to try using rewetting drops throughout the day. They can be found in any pharmacy over the counter.
4. Put rewetting drops in 2-3 minutes before removing your contacts to make sure they are less rigid.

Picture from Bausch and Lomb Canada

1. Rewetting drops might be more important for our older patients who produce fewer tears and lower quality tears.
2. Always put your contacts in fresh solution every time you remove them and fill them up to the top of the lines in your case to make sure they are sufficently submerged every time.
3. Leave your contacts in the solution for 10 minutes before taking them out and rubbing them or rinsing them.
4. Always use good quality solutions such as OptiFree Pure Moist or ClearCare. The moisture particles in these solutions are small enough to fit in the pores of the contacts and stay with you throughout the day, opposed to wiping off as you blink.

If you consistantly have issues with tearing contacts and you are really good about caring for your contacts always check with your optometrist to see what your options are for replacing the torn ones, better care options for your particular lenses or trying a different type of contact lens.

Learn more about Opti-Free and taking care of contacts at: http://www.opti-free.com/

To learn more about our office visit our web-site at: www.visionsource-clarityeyecare.com

Follow us on Facebook at: www.Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

World Sight Day Challenge: It's a Bake Sale!

Celebrating the World Sight Day Challenge

We care about our patients and about protecting your vision; we are also concerned about people around the world who lack access to quality vision care. Becaus of this, our practice Clarity Eye Care will participate in teh World Sight Day Challenge during October.

The World Sight Day Challenge is a campaign coordinated by Optometry Giving Sight to raise funds for projects that provide vision care, local training and infrastructure support for people who are blind or vision impaired simply because they don't have access to an eye exam and a pair of glasses. Children are especially vulnerable. Providing vision correction to a school-age child can literally transform their entire life.

"...helping to give sight to people in need..."

Our practice will raise funds for the World Sight Day Challenge by making a donation, suggesting donations for doing adjustments during the month of October, and hosting a bake sale from October 8th to October 14th. We will have cookies, cakes, brownies, cupcakes, and bars! Anybody is welcome to stop by and help out a great cause!

Please join us in helping to give sight to people in need by scheduling your next appointment during October or just come in to make a donation.

Your donation will help support programs like the Mozambique Eye Care Project, that are trainingn local optometrists to ensure that in time, no child in that country will be limited by poor vision. Loid Semente (above) is one of the students training to become an optometrist with teh Mozambique Eyecare Project, supported by Optometry Giving Sight. Loid will be one of the first optometrists in her country.

She is passionate about optometry because of the significant impact it can have for the people of Mozambique. "Sight is empowering. For some, access to eye care is the first step towards getting an education, or providing for your family," she said.

Find out more about Optometry Giving Sight's World Sight Day Challenge at www.givingsight.org.

 

Follow us on Facebook at our progress with the Bake Sale at: www.Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

Learn more about our office on our web-site at: www.visionsource-clarityeyecare.com

Aqua Clear (Biofinity) Contacts Now in Stock!

We are happy to announce that Aqua Clear (also known as Biofinity) lenses are now in stock and ready to be purchased directly from our inventory. Aqua Clear joins our other in stock products: Aqua Clear 100 and Acuvue Oasys.

What does this mean for you?

No more waiting for your contacts to come in! If you are wearing Aqua Clear lenses and need to order more we will have them in stock and you will not have to wait for your order to come in. Stop in any time to order or call ahead to reserve boxes to pick up.

We do not carry the toric versions of these lenses in stock, but can still order them. Valid prescriptions are required for all contact orders.

Have questions? Visit our web-site: www.visionsource-clarityeyecare.com or call us at 402-932-4800.

Follow us on Facebook at: www.Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

Learn more about all Coopervision contacts at: www.Coopervision.com

Contact Care Directly from Acuvue

 

 

This infographic has great information about getting contact eye exams, different types of contact lenses, and tips for taking care of your contacts.

 

 

For more information about our office please visit: www.VisionSource-ClarityEyeCare.com

 

To follow us on Facebook please like us at: www.Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

 

To learn more about contact lens care please visit the following web-sites:

www.contactlenssafety.org

www.geteyesmart.org

www.aocle.org

www.fda.gov

 

Paraoptemetric Recognition Week

This week is paraoptemetric recognition week. You might be thinking, I know what an optometrist is, I know what an ophthalmologist is, what is a paraoptemetric? The answer is, a paraoptemetric is the person who assists you with everything else in an optometric practice.

They can have a variety of personalized duties or help run everything in the office. Their duties could be any of the following:

• Answering Phones
• Scheduling Appointments
• Prescreening Patients
• Selling Glasses
• Selling Contacts
• Fitting Glasses
• Assessing Patients Needs
• Adjusting Glasses
• Teaching New Contact Wearers to Insert and Remove Contacts
• Insurance billing and filing

Picture Courtesy of AOA

They are often the first person a patient sees and the last person a patient sees in an office. Therefore patient satisfaction is often times in their hands. Many states require paraoptemetrics to be certified, but Nebraska is not one of those states. Although, in many private offices paraoptemtrics are certified with either a CPO or ABO certification.

Have a great week and don't forget to recognize a paraoptemetric in your life!

Follow us on Facebook at: www.Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

Learn more about us on our web-site at: www.VisionSource-ClarityEyeCare.com

Learn more about paraoptemetrics and optometry at: http://www.aoa.org/

Taking Care of Glasses

Taking care of glasses is easy peasy compared to contacts. That's why we like to have younger patients start with glasses and then try contacts. This is where to start.

Putting Them On

To start, when you put them on you want to slide them right over your ears.

• Don't put them on the top of your head and pull them down
• Don't spread the hinges out to get them around your head

Taking Them Off

When you take them off use both hands. If you use one hand all the time one temple will be bowed out more than the other and they will not fit properly.

• When you take them off ALWAYS put them in a case
• ALWAYS put them lenses down in the case

When not to Wear Them

Do not wear them while you are sleeping. That's an easy one. Also, we do not recommend wearing them while you are doing dangerous activities such as playing sports, or doing construction. It is better to wear certified safety glasses while performing these activites.

How to Clean Them

Readingglaassesshopper.com

Always use some form of moisture such as a spray or premoistened wipes and an approved cloth such as a microfiber cloth or other 100% cotton fabric. Whatever fabric you choose to clean your glasses with make sure cleaning your glasses is the only thing you use it for. For example, no using the shirt you are wearing and no cleaning them with your napkin at dinner.

• It's OK to clean your microfiber cloth or 100% cotton cloth as long as you do it by hand and with a mild detergent

Keeping them in One Piece

ALWAYS put them in a case when you are not wearing them. Keep a case in your car, at work, and at home if you have to. As long as you are not hard on your glasses I would recommend bringing them in once every six months to have screws tightened/replaced, nosepads tightened/replaced, deep cleaned, and straightened out. At this time too we can see if they are in need of replacement for any reason and you are well within your warranty. If you are hard on your glasses I recommend once every two to three months.

• Treat your sunglasses like regular glasses
• NEVER set them on top of a car
• Pay special attention when on boats, once they hit the water you will never see them again!
• It's a bad idea to wear them while on roller coasters

Hopefully this helps with first time glasses wearers. Just remember to treat your new glasses with care and they will last long for you.

Follow us on Facebook at: www.Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

Learn more about us on our web-site at: www.visionsource-clarityeyecare.com

Taking Care of Soft Contacts

So 10 years ago you came in for your very first contact exam. It went great! You got fantastic contacts that felt great on your eyes and you got great vision out of them. You got the whole rundown (hopefully) from your optician and from your optometrist on how to properly take care of your lenses and what could happen if you don't. Well, we realize this conversation might have been a long time for a lot of people, and due to their responses to our questions at their exams, they have probably faltered a little to a lot from their care regimine with their contacts, so here is a brush-up.

Keeping to your Schedule

• All parts of our body except for our eyes receive oxygen through blood. Our eyes on the other-hand get their oxygen through their surfaces. That is why we need to pay close attention to how often we are replacing our contacts since contacts block their oxygen flow. Each brand of contact lens has a specific amount of time you can wear them so your eyes can breathe comfortably the entire time you have the lens. This is determined by your optometrist and should be adhered to strictly to keep your eyes comfortable.
• Sleeping in contacts likewise reduces the amount of oxygen to your eyes. Therefore it is only recommended to sleep in contacts that your doctor allows you to. Even if you do sleep in your contacts it is recommended to take them out for one night a week to give your eyes a break.
• Helpful ways to remember are to take them out the same night every week, set a reminder in your phone, or go to accuminder.com to set up a recurring text or email to remind you when you need to take them out. You can customize the Accuminder for your specific regimine. I don't delete the Accuminder e-mail until I actually take them out.

A Clean Contact is a Happy Contact!

• Always wash your hands before handling your contacts. Another tip is that if your contact case is grungy on the outside and you wash your hands before opening it and then you open it, you will get the bacteria that was on the outside of the case in your eye! So a better option is to open you case and then wash your hands, or just keep a clean case on the outside and inside.
• Every time you put your contacts from your case to your eyes rinse them off with solution. This gets any debris off your contact before it goes in your eyes. Also, rub your contacts before putting them in your case. Always rub them in a cross design and not in a circle. Rubbing in a circle is more likely to cause tearing and ripping.
• Once you have your contacts in your eyes make sure to rinse your case with either solution or tap water and leave the caps off. This way it can be free of debris and it can air dry. Your contact lens case is similar to tupperware. It's beautiful in the beginning, but after a comple of months no matter what you do you can not get it clean. This is why a new case is definitely recommended every three months. All that buildup is bacteria that can eventually get in your eye and cause an infection.

Solution is the Solution

Not all solutions are treated the same. In our office we recommend Opti-Free Pure Moist and/or Clear Care. The difference between Opti-Free Pure Moist and generic brands is all in the moisture particles. In Pure Moist the moisture particles are nice and small. This allows them to find snugly in the pores of your contacts and keep them moist longer. If the moisture particles are bigger than the pores in your contacts then they will slide off with every blink, and sooner rather than later will be gone and of not use.
Clear Care is a great solution for people who need a deeper clean for their contacts. Make sure to read the instructions on the box very carefully. It is dangerous to your eye to use clear care solution as if it were a regular solution.

Yikes!

If you are allowing your eyes getting irritated to be a reminder to change your contacts you are waiting until the damage is done before you change them instead of preventing the damage in the first place. If you follow the above rules and tips you will be much more likely to be as happy with your contacts as you could possibly be and we won't see you in our office with an infection!



Let's get back on track!

Learn more about us at our web-site: www.visionsource-clarityeyecare.com

Follow us on Facebook at: Facebook.com/ClarityEyeCareOmaha

Learn more about OptiFree at: OptiFree.com

Learn more about Clear Care at: ClearCareSolution.com