In a study that surveyed 2,044 respondents, it was found that the ailment that frightens the majority of Americans the most is vision loss. Most individuals surveyed (87.5 percent) believed that good vision is vital to overall health, while 47.4 percent rated vision loss as the worst possible health outcome. Respondents also ranked losing their vision as equal to, or worse than, losing their hearing, memory, speech, or even a limb. And when asked about various possible consequences of vision loss, quality of life ranked as the top concern. Thankfully, vision loss is relatively rare in develope ..read more

With the holidays now in full swing, it’s not uncommon that eye doctors are seeing an increasing number of patients complaining of various eye symptoms. What patients often don’t realize is that these symptoms are frequently caused by environmental and lifestyle factors that tend to accompany the holiday season. In this piece, we’ll cover four of the most common holiday eye discomforts and how to successfully self-treat them.  Dry Eye If your eyes have been feeling particularly dry this holiday season, there’s a good chance it’s related to humidity levels in your home and workplace. In the gre ..read more

In the last couple of decades, LASIK has become an increasingly well-known form of vision correction surgery that many people who are dependent on glasses or contact lenses turn to when they want to start living with restriction-free vision. As with all revolutionary medical procedures, it was a long road to get to where LASIK is today. And the journey involved ongoing innovations of the surgery itself, as well as studies on treatment outcomes, to achieve its current levels of safety and efficacy.  To appreciate how LASIK vision correction went from an experimental surgery to the proven proced ..read more

At EyeCare 20/20, when it comes to helping patients suffering from glaucoma, there’s one solution we use that stands out from the rest: the iStent® Trabecular Micro-Bypass Stent. The iStent was the first medical device approved by the FDA for treating glaucoma and cataracts simultaneously. Used during the early stages of glaucoma, iStent is designed to alleviate the intraocular pressure (IOP) in the eye as a result of this condition.  For glaucoma sufferers, failure to keep eye pressure in-check can lead to permanent vision loss. Failing to regularly administer pressure-controlling eye drop do ..read more

Artificial intelligence (AI), deep learning and machine learning are advancing the worlds of health care and wellness like never before. In one study, for instance, it was discovered that an AI model using algorithms and deep learning diagnosed breast cancer at a higher rate than 11 pathologists. And new technology is tracking the behaviors and interactions of people on their smartphones as a means toward early detection of depression and other mental health conditions. The ophthalmology field is taking advantage of this type of advanced technology as well. From helping to verify disease diagn ..read more

We all know that doing regular exercise is one of the best ways to stay fit and strong, but did you know that it can also keep your eyes healthy and preserve your vision? Several studies have found connections between exercise and reducing the risks for a number of common eye conditions. One found that people who engage in moderate to vigorous physical exercise were 25 percent less likely to develop glaucoma than those who were largely inactive. Another study revealed that people who exercised three times a week were less likely to develop exudative age-related macular degeneration than those ..read more

If you’ve never had a comprehensive eye exam before, or if it has been a few years since your last one, you may be unsure about what to expect during your check-up. Don’t worry — your curiosity is not misplaced! After all, when it comes to a comprehensive eye exam, there are a lot of moving parts. A number of tests and procedures are used to determine your eye health. They range from simple things, like reading an eye chart to measure your visual acuity, to more complex assessments, like using a biomicroscope to examine the structures of your eye under high magnification. To give you an idea o ..read more

From alleviating dry eyes and easing digital eye strain to getting the red out of pink eye and soothing itchy eyes from allergies, over-the-counter (OTC) eye drops bring a lot of relief when it comes to short-term solutions for common eye ailments. But if you find yourself using eye drops frequently, or have relied on eye drops for relief for a prolonged period of time, this may signal more serious eye problems.  And if you’re consistently exceeding the daily use recommendations or view eye drops as a cure, rather than temporary treatment, these are signs that you’re overusing eye drops, which ..read more