Join Us THIS WEEKEND – Fri, Sat and Sun – Nov 13th, 14th and 15th for our Patient Appreication Event and the Lenscrafters Customer Appreciation Event.
We will be giving raffle tickets to EVERYONE who comes in for an eye examination during the event. One lucky person who gets an eye exam with the lucky raffle ticket will win a FREE IPod!!!
If it has been more than 12 months since you have seen an Eye Doctor….then NOW is the time to get your eyes examined!! Many eye diseases – like glaucoma, retinal detachments, retinal tears, eye tumors etc - do not cause symptoms so, it is very important to get your eyes examined yearly. Come in to see an Optometrist here at Visionary Eyecare this weekend – and you may win a FREE IPod!To schedule an eye exam online – CLICK HERE !! Or call us at 954-851-9949 to schedule your eye exam at our Sunrise / Sawgrass Mills Mall location for this special event.
LensCrafters will be giving away FREE Designer Eyeglasses and FREE Designer Sunglasses all weekend. They will also be offering 60% OFF of their lenses with the purchase of a frame. And right now – they are also running a GREAT clearance event – with 50% OFF select complete pairs of frames and lenses – see store for details.
EVERYONE who comes into the Sawgrass Mills LensCrafters during the event will also be given a FREE GIFT – just for stopping by! There will also be FREE food, FREE refreshments and also FREE vision screenings during the Patient and Customer Appreication event – THIS WEEKEND – Nov 13, 14, 15 2009.
We are located INSIDE the Sawgrass Mills Mall – in between JCPenny and BrandSmart.
Around 10 million school children in America have vision conditionsthat can negatively affect learning. This can be prevented by taking kids to get their first formal eye exam with an Eye Dr in an Eye Clinic BEFORE they enter school. A child’s first eye test with an Eye Doctor should be done between ages 3 and 4. At Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines, Sunrise (Next to Lenscrafters) and Davie (Next to Pearle Vision) - our Optometrists, Dr Bearden, Dr Tenn and Dr McCulloh, begin to see children at age 4.
Allen Picture Cards
A child does NOT need to be able to verbalize or know their alphabetfor the examinerto perform a comprehensive eye examination.
There are numerous eye charts for children!!
Lea Flip Chart
Allen and Lea charts have pictures or shapes on them that youngsters can identify. The Broken wheel chartallows the child to tell the examiner which wheel on the car is “broken” . The Tumbling E chart (also known as the illiterate chart) allows a child to just POINT in the direction that the “legs of the E” are pointing in.
Allen Picture Eye Chart
Often our children can not express to us when they are having problems with their vision. They may not even realize that they are experiencing vision problems. Sometimes children will try to compensate for vision issues by closing one eye, rubbing their eyes excessively, squinting, skipping over words or loose their place when they are reading.
Kids may start having difficulty in school due to an “unknown” reason. A recent study indicated that up to 60 percent of youngsters that have been identified as “problem learners” or “learning disorder” actually suffer from an undetected visual condition.
Tumbling E Eye Chart
A vision problem is not suspected in many children because they were able to pass the school vision screening or the pediatrician vision screening. These children may still have visual issues but, they were not detected on the screening. Only a comprehensive eye exam, done by an Eye Doctor (Optometrist or Ophthalmologist) will be able to detect subtle vision problems.
Broken Wheel Eye Test
Vision issues need to be detected and corrected before age 7 to prevent lifelong problems such as lazy eye (amblyopia), eye turn (strabismus), learning disabilities and behavior problems.
Time.com (in partnership with CNN) recently reported that a prototype of a “bionic” contact lens has been created and Time has listed this as one of the Best Inventions of 2008.
Here is an excerpt from the article:
The University of Washington’s Babak Parviz has created a prototype “bionic” contact lens that creates a display over the wearer’s visual field, so images, maps, data, etc., appear to float in midair. The lens works using tiny LEDs, which are powered by solar cells, and a radio-frequency receiver.
We think this is really “kewl”.
Maybe one day during your eye exam you can ask one of the Visionary EyecareDoctors to be fitted for a contact lens that would allow you to see a map while you are driving or see an excel data sheet floating in mid air (that only you can see) during a really important presentation. Wow! Now that is definitely a huge step up from just plain old colored contact lenses or bifocal contact lenses….this is the next evolution BEYOND just seeing 20/20.
Check out the video below to see more of TIME’s Best Inventions of 2008 – including futuristic swimwear worn by Michael Phelps, DNA test kits, a very sporty and fast electric car and lots of different kinds of robots….
more about “TIME’s Best Inventions of 2008″, posted with vodpod
As reported on Twitter by Prevent Blindness America and Prevent Blindness Florida (@PBFlorida), the Florida House of Representatives adopted HR 9095, a resolution recognizing the seriousness of sports-related eye injuries in children and the importance of sports eye safety to protect the children of Florida.
Eye injuries are the leading cause of blindness in children in the United States, and 90% of these injuries can be avoided with the use of protective eyewear. Prevent Blindness America applauds the Florida House of Representatives for their commitment to children’s eye health. For more information about sports eye injuries and how you can protect your child’s sight, visit the children’s sports eye safety section of the Vision Learning Center.
Dr Dawn Bearden, Dr Anna Kay Tenn, Dr Emily McCulloh and Dr Alyx Lin at Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines and Sunrise routinely ask about children’s sports and hobbies during the medical and social history portion of the eye exam. Children under the age of 12 are routinely given a prescription for polycarbonate lenses for their eyeglasses. This polycarbonate material is more impact resistant – which is important for children due to their active lifestyle. If a child participates in any impact or ball sport – then the eye doctors at Visionary Eyecare will also recommend sports goggles for eye safety.
Sports goggles are excellent for protecting your eyes (in BOTH adults and children) while playing any type of impact or ball sport such as basketball, racquetball, soccer, baseball, softball, tennis, rugby etc. Many eye injuries can occur from a ball or racket hitting you in the face near the eye – or an impact with another player’s elbow, knee, head etc. while playing the sport.
Some serious eye health issues that can occurfrom these impacts include retinal detachment, subconjunctival hemorrhage (bright red blood spot on the white of the eye), ocular inflammation (iritis/uveitis) and even cataracts or glaucoma that can occur YEARS after the injury to the eye.
In persons under 25 years of age, ocular trauma is the number one cause of visual loss.
Dr Florian Safner, Dr Dawn Bearden, Dr Ross Goukler and Rhonda Kratz - RVP of Lenscrafters
In March, Lenscrafters held its annual “Summit” in Nashville, Tennessee for the company’s top executives and leaders. Dr Dawn Bearden not only manages 2 Independent Doctor of Optometry Offices Next to Lenscrafters (In Pembroke Pines and Sunrise) but, she also serves on the Lenscrafters Optometric Advisory Council. Dr Bearden was invited to the Summit along with other leading Eye Doctors affilitated with Lenscrafters.
Lenscrafters, who’s new brand story is “Lenscrafters Loves Your Eyes“, recognized several leaders of the company. Those who received awards had delivered above and beyond exceptional service and had a positive impact on the company, their peers, customers, patients and the public. Dr Bearden was honored with one of these few distinctive awards.
Dave Reaves, VP of Lenscrafters and Dr Dawn Bearden
Here are some excerpts from the award:
What does someone who creates a Mind Blowing Patient Experience look like to me?
For those of you who don’t know her, she is an amazing clinician, entrepreneur and a Guru when it comes to using the internet for promoting eye care.
Spend two minutes on her website and you’ll be emotionally connected to her, her practice, her patients and her cause: educating the public on the importance of preserving sight.
This individual provides a consistent and a thorough eye exam experience that keeps her patients coming back year after year. Which is great news, especially in those cases when her drive to deliver a consistent and thorough eye exam turns out to be life saving too.
Lenscrafters Summit Recognition Award
This is a story that is connected to this Doctor’s strong leadership. Not only did she provide life-saving care to her patient, she then used her website and her blog to educate her peers and the public about the importance of annual eye exams with her story about her patient, Judy.
Judy is now this doctor’s patient for life and an advocate for the importance of annual eye exams.
Judy McNabnever really felt the need for yearly eye examinations until shestarted to need glasses in her 40’s and 50’s. Like most people, she thought she did not need to see an eye doctor if she did not need to wear eyeglasses or contact lenses.
One day she came intoVisionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines for an eye exam because she lost her glasses. She was not having any problems with her eyes, no eye pain or pressure, no headaches, no vision problems….nothing. She just wanted to quickly get an eye examination so she could get a new prescription to buy a new pair of glasses at Lenscrafters.
During the eye exam at Visionary Eyecare (the Independent Doctors of Optometry next to Lenscrafters in Pembroke Pines), Judy was able to see 20/20 in the examination room, her eyes looked perfectly healthy during the dilated retinal examination and also on the digital photographs taken of the inside of Judy’s eyes. During the examination, Eye Doctor - Dr Dawn Beardenrecommended that Judy get a visual field (peripheral vision) test as a baseline – because Judy was over the age of 40 (much like a baseline mammogram is done at age 40) . This test is an advanced test that is not part of the routine eye examination and would take extra time and cost Judy extra money (unfortunately – unlike a baseline mammogram- most medical insurances and vision plans and will NOT pay for this preventative testing as a baseline). At first, Judy did not want to take the time to do the additional test butDr Bearden explained that visual field testing could uncover early and subtle eye health issues that sometimes a routine eye exam could not. Judy was convinced and did the additional visual field test… and the results came back positive – TWICE.
Dr Bearden immediately referred Judy to an ophthalmologist for a secondary evaluation. At first, Judy did not really want to see the ophthalmologist…..she kept telling Doctor Bearden that her vision was fine and she was not having any problems or symptoms….but, Dr Bearden INSISTED that she go for the secondary evaluation. Judy did see the ophthalmologist, who then referred her to Bascom Palmer in Miami to see an eye doctor that specializes in eye tumors and eye cancer.
Judy was diagnosed with a tumor in her left eye and had laser treatment to help destroy the tumor in her left eye. This was in 2005. Now in 2009 Judy still has good vision in her left eye (she is able to see 20/25 in that eye). Luckily, the tumor did not spread to anywhere else in her body and the surgeon was able to treat the tumor without having to remove Judy’s eye.
Judy shares her experience in the above and below videos. She reminds us all that YEARLY eye exams are very important to help detect eye health issues that you may be unaware of… since many eye health issues DO NOT CAUSE SYMPTOMS and can only be detected by a COMPREHENSIVE eye exam.
Erik Nunez is a South Florida resident and was a patient of Dr Dawn Bearden a few years ago in the Pembroke Pines office. When he was due for his last eye exam he just happened to be out of the country and visiting his family in Argentina. Erik had his eye examination from an eye doctor in Argentina and was never able to see out of his glasses very well.
He returned to Dr Bearden to “get fixed” and here is his video testimonial (also available on our Visionary Eyecare YouTube Channel).
Parents: Don’t depend on a school vision screening or a Pediatrician vision screening as the only method of assessing your child’s vision. While screenings do help to pick up SOME vision issues – they do not pick up ALL of them. Your child may pass a screen and still have a significant vision problem.
Vision is the MOST important sense for learning. Unfortunately, if a child has a vision problem, has passed the screening and has not had a comprehensive eye exam with an eye doctor…there could be some problems in school . Often a child in this situation is labeled with a “Learning Disorder”. Another common issue is children that have Convergence Insufficiency (which is when the eyes can see clearly but, do not work well together to see near objects for reading) – they are often labeled “ADD”.
Parents be on the lookout for these issues in your child:
Trouble Reading
Complaints of Fatigue While Reading
Tilt of the Head to See or Read
Losing Their Place While Reading
Sitting Too Close To The TV or Computer
Be aware that vision problems can not only cause problems with learning…..they can also impact a child’s social, emotional and physical development.
This video has a great recommendation:
Get your child to take a 20 second visual break for every 20 minutes they spend on the computer or watching TV. A visual break means to look away – to a far away object. This can sometimes help to combat the rapid progression of nearsightedness (mypoia) in many children.
The above video is a report of the Annual AOA (American Optometric Association) American Eye Q Survey for 2008.
It states that 81% of Americans wear contact lenses, eyeglasses or both.
Unfortunatley 26% of them have not visited their Optometrist or other eye doctor in 2 or more years.
Many eye care professionals – including each Eye Doctor at Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines, Davie and Sunrise - strongly recommend that you have a yearly eye exam because most eye and vision problems cause NO obvious signs or symptoms. Often there can be a serious eye health problem such as a retinal hole, retinal tear, glaucoma, eye cancer, tumors in or behind the eyes and many more that oftenDo NOT cause any noticeable vision blur, headaches, eye pain, eye pressure etc. Frequently these conditions easily go by unnoticedand you are unaware that there is any problem or issue without having a comprehensive eye exam done by your eye doctor.
Unfortunately, most Americans are unaware that eye examinations can detect more than just vision and eye health problems. Through comprehensive eye exams and optometrist can detect signs of diabetes, high blood pressure, brain tumors, cancer, heart and cardiovascular problems, high cholesterol, Mutliple Sclerosis (MS) and more…
We would like to wish everyone a Happy and Healthy Holiday season!!
Along with the holiday season comes the end of the year rush to get your eye exam and use your vision insurance benefits and/or your flex spending account. It gets REALLY busy the last week of the year…so don’t miss out on your opportunity to see the Eye Doctor this year…use your vision benefits today! You can use the links below to make an online appointment for your eye examination !
Well, if you were there – we’re sure you had a great time….Free Gift, Free Chair Massage, Raffle for Free IPod!!Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines created a really fun Patient Appreciation event along with Lenscrafters Customer Appreciation event….. and here are the pictures to prove it!
This is a great video (BEST VIEWED THROUGH YOUR FIREFOX WEB BROWSER) about a kid who is having his or her FIRST eye examination. When a child enters an eye clinic for the first time – there is usually some apprehension and fear (for both the child… and the parent!).
Viewing this great video with your child prior to having an eye exam can help explain some of the vision tests that the Eye Doctor and his/her support staff is doing. It will also help you and your child become more comfortable with what goes on during an eye exam. Believe it or not….an eye exam can be a lot of fun!
Visionary Eyecare provides eye exams for children at all 3 of our Broward County / Ft Lauderdale area Locations – Pembroke Pines (next to Lenscrafters), Davie (next to Pearle Vision) and Sunrise (Next to Lenscrafters and INSIDE the Sawgrass Mills Mall).
We are providers for EyeMed and this excellent video was provided by EyeMed Vision Care.
If you are having trouble viewing this video…
You can see the video on the right side of this blog under the sidebar category “Visionary Eyecare VODPOD videos” (It is called: Video – Child’s Eye Exam) ….you can find it if you look on the right side of the blog at the sidebar categories and scroll all the way down
Kudos to Illinois for leading the way in children’s vision care!!!
Illinois recently passed a law that intends for ALL children to receive a comprehensive eye examination from an Eye Doctor before entering school – so no child from Illinois will fall between the cracks of the “vision screen” system. Here in South Florida at Visionary Eyecare, we see WAY too many children that have significant visual problems that were simply NOT picked up on these school or pediatrician vision screenings. When a child has a vision problem and it is not detected and treated early enough – this can lead to a LIFETIME of vision problems.
Please click on the above picture to sign a petition to fully support this legistlation by incorporating a Vision First Exam Form. This exam form will insure that the children are receiving very thorough and comprehensive eye exams from an Eye Dr before they attend school.
We want to support Illinois every step of the way so hopefully they will support Florida on day in passing similar legislation one day for our children!!
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