Video – Description of Cataracts. What Are Cataracts?

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The above video is from EyeMaginations and gives a great description of what Cataracts are:

Cataracts are a normal and common part of the aging process but, they do not have to interfere with your lifestyle.   A cataract is a cloudiness of the crystalline lens inside of your eye.  As your lens gets cloudier, your vision will gradually become more blurred.

The human eye may best be compared to a camera.  When you take a picture, the lens in the front of the camera allows light through and then focuses that light on the film in the back of the camera.  When the light hits the film, a picture is taken.  The eye works in much the same way.

In  youth, the crystalline lens of your eye is clear and allows light to pass through.   Light is focused by your cornea and your crystalline lens onto a thin layer of nerve tissue in the back of your eye called – the retina.   Your retina works like the film in a camera.  When the focused light hits the retina – a “picture” is taken and sent to your brain.

While a dirty camera lens blurs a picture, any significant cataract or cloudiness  in your crystalline lens will blur the images that you see.

When a cataract becomes significant – your vision can become quite blurry.  It is suggested if your vision drops below 20/40 or so….then it is common to be told to see an eye surgeon to have cataract surgery.

This surgery involves taking out the cloudy crystalline lens (cataract) and replacing it with a clear implant.  Often your surgeon can even do a calculation that can place your current eyeglass prescription into the lens implant.  The result after the cataract surgery can be much clearer vision and often there is no need for glasses after the surgery!

For more information – see your local Optometrist or  Dr Dawn Bearden or Dr Anna-Kay Tenn in Pembroke Pines 954-430-3808 or Sunrise 954-851-9949 for your yearly eye exam and they will be happy to discuss cataracts and cataract surgery options with you!

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Video Testimonial: Starlene Carter Talks About How A Routine Eye Exam Pupillary Dilation Saved Her Vision

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Starlene Carter came into Visionary Eyecare (Next to Lenscrafters) in Pembroke Pines in January 2001.  She was in the area and decided to stop in to schedule an eye examination for herself the following week.   She was not intending to get an eye exam that day – her plans were to spend that day shopping!

Our Office Manager, Carol Marsh, was there that day and convinced Starlene to go ahead and get her eye exam that same day since the office was not busy and the Doctor (Dr Dawn Bearden) would be able to see her right away.  Starlene agreed but, was insistent that she would NOT have her pupils dilated that day.  Her shopping was waiting and she did not want to “mess up her day” with that “dilation thing”.  Carol told her that the Doctor would talk to her during the exam about the importance of dilation.  Still Starlene would just not be convinced….

When Starlene met Dr Bearden for the first time – Dr Bearden began to explain and stress the importance of pupillary dilation.  Dr Bearden  explained that this was Starlene’s  first eye exam in our Visionary Eyecare office, there could be a multitude of eye diseases or problems that Starlene may be unaware of (because most eye problems do NOT cause any symptoms like blurry vision, headache, eye pain etc) and that Dr Bearden may NOT be able to detect these issues if Starlene did not allow the Doctor to dilate her pupils.  Dr Bearden also explained that Florida laws requires your Optometrist to dilate your pupils on the initial eye exam when you have an eye exam with a new Optometrist.  Reluctantly…..VERY reluctantly….Starlene finally agreed.

This simple decision absolutely saved Starlene’s vision.

During the eye exam, all seemed very normal.  Starlene had no family history of eye disease, she was able to see 20/20 in each eye with her new glasses prescription, she had NO eye pain, NO headaches, NO discomfort, her eye pressures were normal, her blood pressure was normal, good color vision etc.  But, when Dr Dawn Bearden dilated Starlene’s pupils – she saw 2 very LARGE retinal tears (retinal detachments) in Starlene’s right eye that posed a HUGE threat to Starlene’s vision in her right eye.  These tears could have eventually caused blindness in her eye had they not been detected during the dilation and then properly treated.

Immediately,  Dr Bearden called Dr Jay Levy – who is a local ophthalmologist who specializes in surgery of the retina.  Dr Bearden sent Starlene to see Dr Levy – who did surgery on Starlene’s right eye to repair the retinal tears in her right eye.

Starlene is now a loyal patient of Dr Dawn Bearden’s. She is still able to see 20/20 in each eye and has had no further problems from the retinal tears that were surgically repaired by Dr Levy.  Each and every year during her routine eye exam with Dr Bearden, you can find Starlene out in the waiting room telling her story to ALL of the other patients in the office.  She does a GREAT job in educating people and everyone that she comes in contact with about the importance of yearly eye examinations and the VITAL importance of pupillary dilation.

It saved Starlene’s vision…..and it can do the same for you and for the people in your life who come in for their annual eye exam!

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Local Miami Gorilla Undergoes Cataract Surgery

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more about “Miami Gorilla Undergoes Cataract Surgery“, posted with vodpod

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Josephine is a 42 year old, 160 pound gorilla that lives in Miami at the MetroZoo.  She had severe cataracts that made her vision so blurry – they only allowed her to see shadows.  The cataracts were impairing her vision to the point where her quality of life was becoming severely diminished.

Recently, Josephine underwent cataract surgery – which is a very common surgery for humans (especially here  in South Florida) but, is extremely rare in gorillas (it has only been performed a handful of times).  The surgery was very risky due to Josephine’s advanced age of 42 (gorillas usually live to around age 50) and the necessity to administer general anesthesia.

Josephine had top ranking human and veterinary Eye Doctors attending to her pre-op and her surgery.   They were able to remove her cloudy lenses (cataracts) inside of her eyes and replace the old lenses with new, clear synthetic ones to hopefully restore the clarity of her vision once again.

Human Eye Doctor,  Dr Frank Spektor, described her cataracts as “hard as baseballs” once they were removed from Joespine’s eyes.  He also described the procedure as “Exhilarating….and exhausting.”

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Get Email or Text Message Reminders To Remind You When to Change Your Disposable Contacts and When To Have Your Yearly Eye Exam

Visit http://www.Acuminder.com to Sign Up!

Do you need help remembering when to discard your disposable contact lenses or when to see your eye doctor for your yearly eye exam?  Well you can go to www.AcuMinder.com and register for this FREE service to get reminders sent to you via Email, text message or a computer desktop widget to help you remember.  They even have a new Facebook application that will help you remember!

Getting an annual eye exam is very important in maintaining the health of your eyes as well as keeping your vision as clear and crisp as possible.  Also it is vital to discard your contact lenses every 2 weeks or when your doctor recommends the lenses to be discarded.

Here is a snippet from the www.Acuminder.com website:

A clip from the http://www.Acuminder.com website

Often contact lenses can feel “fine” and many patients come in and tell Dr Dawn Bearden or the other Visionary Eyecare Doctors that they don’t throw away their contacts until their vision gets blurry and/or their contact lenses start to bother them.  This can be very dangerous.

Contact lenses act like little sponges that can soak up bacteria, fungus, viral particles, mucus, debris, smoke and other environmental agents.  Even if you clean your contacts every night – these agents do build up on your contact lenses each and every day.  Cleaning them nightly often does not get rid of 100% of these irritants.  These irritants build up – day in and day out….so its important to discard the lenses and put in a new pair – even if your eyes feel “fine”.

When contact lenses are not discarded on schedule – patients can come in with distortions on the front of their eye (on their cornea)  or develop allergies to the contacts.  Most of the time, patients are not yet aware that these issues are even happening until its too late.  Some of these issues can lead to lifelong problems with wearing contacts.

Ask Dr Bearden, Dr Tenn or Dr McCulloh in our Pembroke Pines or Sunrise (Sawgrass Mall) office for a free Acuminder.com information card.  We will fill it in with your most recent exam date, the brand of contacts that you are currently using, your correct discard schedule, your eye doctor’s name and telephone number.  You will need this information when you register at www.Acuminder.com

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Diabetes and Eye Damage, Stroke, Heart Attack, Kidney Damage, Impotence and More…

Problems In The Body Caused By Diabetes

According to a study published in  “Diabetes Care”  – almost 13 percent of all adults aged 20 or older have Diabetes and 40 percent of these people have NOT been diagnosed with either diabetes or pre-diabetes.

Non-Hispanic Blacks and Mexican Americans had TWICE the rate of  Diabetes than Non-Hispanic Whites.

So this demonstrates that you may have diabetes and you may not even know it – often there are no symptoms until the diabetic disease had progressed.

Yearly Eye Examinations with your eye doctor (Optometrist or Ophthalmologist) can often help detect early diabetic signs – even when you are not yet having any symptoms. When an eye doctor examines the inside of your eyes during a dilated retinal exam or through the use of retinal photography he or she can see signs of diabetes which include bleeding and swelling of the retina (the nerve layer that lines the inside of your eyes).

Bleeding And Leaking In Diabetic Eye Disease

Common signs of diabetes include increase in hunger, thirst and an increase in urination frequency. If your blood sugar is very high – you can even see a sudden increase in blurry vision.

Diabetes can damage the eyes and cause a permanent decrease in vision… and also increase the risk for stroke, heart attack, kidney damage, impotence and numbness in your fingers and toes.

If you are over 20 and have not had a physical recently – now may be a good time to call your Primary Care Doctor and schedule one…especially if you have been very hungry, thirsty or going to the bathroom a lot!

If  it has been more than 12 months since your last visit to your Eye Doctor – pick up the phone and schedule an appointment….for yourself….. and your family members!

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Online Eye Test for Dry Eye

CLICK HERE TO TAKE THE DRY EYE TEST

Do you think that you may have Dry Eye??

Ask yourself the following questions:

• Do you have a lot of burning in your eyes?
• Do you have a lot of tearing in your eyes?
• Do you experience a lot of itching in your eyes?
• Do your eyes feel like there is something in them – like an eyelash or hair – even when there is not?
• Do your eyes feel sandy or gritty?
• Does your vision intermittently blur and when you blink it clears up?
• Do you do a lot of work at a computer?
• Do you do a lot of reading?
  
• Do you do a lot of work outdoors?
  

If you answered YES to any of the questions above – then you may have Dry Eye.

Click on the “DRY EYE TEST” at the top of this post to help to determine if you do have dry eye.

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If you DO have dry eye or answered YES to any of the questions in the above list – schedule an appointment to see your eye doctor. Your eye doctor can help determine what treatment, if any, is best for you.

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Common treatments can include using artificial tears in your eyes frequently throughout the day, fish oil capsules or eye vitamins or capsules to be taken orally, punctal plugs to be inserted or a prescription for a medication like Restasis that can help you produce more tears.

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Bifocal and Multifocal Contact Lenses Available from Your Visionary Eyecare Eye Doctor in Pembroke Pines and Sunrise Locations!

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Many people over the age of 40 start to notice eye strain and/or blurry vision at near distances – especially for small print. This is called presbyopia.

People who are over 40 with presbyopia need to wear some type of vision correction to read comfortably for small print held at a reading distance. If you are over the age of 40 – you are probably wearing reading glasses, progressive glasses or bifocal glasses. If you don’t wear these corrections now – chances are that you will soon need this type of correction to help you read comfortably at near.

But did you know that if you don’t want to depend on reading glasses or bifocal glasses – there IS another option available for you?? You could wear multifocal or bifocal contacts that would allow you to see far away and close up at the same time.

Each Eye Doctor at Visionary Eyecare (in  Pembroke Pines and Sunrise) is highly skilled at fitting bifocal and multifocal contact lenses for you. There are many different brands of bifocal contact lenses so the doctor will customize your contact lens fitting with the precise bifocal or multifocal contact lens for you during your contact lens eye exam. Not everyone is a candidate to wear bifocal contact lenses so, the Optometrist will tell you if you are able to wear bifocal contact lenses and which lens would be the best fit for you.

If you are not a candidate for multifocal or bifocal contact lenes – there may be other options available to allow you to see distance and near at the same time. The doctor may be able to fit you with “monovision” contacts. “Monovision” is usually fit for people who have too much astigmatistm and are unable to wear the bifocal contact lenses. Monovision is when the doctor fits your dominant eye with a contact lens to see distance and your other eye with a contact lens that allows you to see near. Your brain usually adapts to this over time and you are able to see far away and close up without the use of glasses.

Every Visionary Eyecare Optometrist is skilled at fitting all of the above contact lenses but, not every eye doctor is comfortable fitting bifocal, multifocal or monovision contact lenses. So, if you are thinking of getting these types of contacts – check to see if your eye doctor is comfortable performing these types of custom contact lens fittings and evaluations.

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Video – What is Astigmatism? A Video Description of Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a refractive error –  meaning that the light that is coming into the eye is not focused perfectly on the “film” in back of the eye (called the retina – which is a layer of nerve tissue).  The retina is much like a movie screen or the film in your camera – the image must be focused PERFECTLY on the retina for the eye to see clearly.  If the image is focused in front of the retina or behind the retina – much like a movie screen or camera film – the image will be blurry.  This unfocused image is sent by the retina to the brain – where it is perceived as blurry, cloudy or distorted vision.

Astigmatism is a refractive error caused when the front surface of the eye (the cornea) or the lens (which is located inside the eye behind the colored part of the eye – called the iris) is irregularly shaped and oblong – much like a football.  This irregular shape causes the light to be focused on 2 seperate points – either in front of or behind the retina.  This causes distortion of the vision and blur at all distances.  So objects at a distance and also nearby are blurry and/or distorted.  The higher the degree of astigmatism – the more distortion and blur you will have.

Several methods can focus the light perfectly on the retina for you.  Glasses, contact lenses (called astigmatic or toric contacts) or laser vision correction are aids that are available to help focus the light and images on the retina – which will get you to see clearly again!

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Video – What Is Astigmatism? What Causes Astigmatism?

Video - What Causes Astigmatism?

Click the video above to learn what is the cause of Astigmatism. It is most commonly caused when the shape of front surface of your eye (called the cornea) is not perfectly round (like a baseball)  but, it is more oblong shaped (like a football).  When this oblong shape is located on the cornea then it is called “Corneal Astigmatism”.  Less often, the lens inside your eye (located right behind the colored part of your eye called the iris) can also be oblong shaped.  This is called “Lenticular Astigmatism”.

Most commonly, people are born with this oblong shape to their eyes and often it can become a bit worse as time goes on.  More rarely – astigmatism can be induced by a trauma to the eye.

Astigmatism causes a blur and distortion to your vision – for both distance and near objects.  The higher the amount of astigmatism – the worse the blur and distortion will be. Astigmatism can be corrected with a variety of options – glasses, contact lenses (called toric or astigmatic contacts) and laser vision surgery.

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Visionary Eyecare – Maps of 3 Locations in Broward County

We have 3 Locations in Broward County to Serve You:

Pembroke Pines (Next to Lenscrafters)

954-430-3808

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILED MAP

Click HERE to Make an appointment ONLINE for Pembroke Pines Location

Sunrise (Next to Lenscrafters)

954-851-9949

(INSIDE the Sawgrass Mall – in between JCPenny and Brandsmart)

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILED MAP

Click HERE to Make an appointment ONLINE for Sunrise Location

Davie (Next to Pearle)

954-434-9045

CLICK HERE FOR DETAILED MAP

Click HERE to Make an appointment ONLINE for Davie Location

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Online Eye Test For Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a visual condition caused when some surfaces of the eye are oval shaped….like a football or an egg.  These surfaces in the eye that are oval shaped can be the cornea (the front of the eye) or the lens (inside the eye). Most often astigmatism is caused by the cornea being oblong or oval shaped.

This oblong shape causes the light rays that enter the eye to be distorted and not focus properly on the retina in the back of the eye.  If you have uncorrected astigmatism, you can have various symptoms such as blurry vision, eyestrain, tired eyes, headaches or fatigue.

Here are several links to websites that have online testing for astigmatism. Check them out!!

CLICK HERE for ONLINE ASTIGMATISM TEST #1

CLICK HERE for ONLINE ASTIGMATISM TEST #2

CLICK HERE for ONLINE ASTIGMATISM TEST #3

CLICK HERE for ONLINE ASTIGMATISM TEST #4

Astigmatism can be quickly and easily corrected with eyeglasses, contact lenses (called astigmatic or toric contacts) or Laser Surgery (called Lasik).

If you feel that you may have astigmatism and you need correction OR if has been more than 12 months since you have seen an eye doctor…..its time for you to schedule an eye exam!

Astigmatism Diagram courtesy of:

Click on the WebMD Logo above

to check out more information on Eye Health!

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Sudden Vision Blur …… The Unbeatable Event and A Patient’s Funny Story

New Patient – Tracy

First time patient,  Tracy, came into our Pembroke Pines office (next to Lenscrafters) yesterday.  She was very upset…telling us that she woke up and her vision was fine but, then the vision in her right eye got suddenly VERY blurry….and she could barely see anything !! This happened right after she put in her colored contact lenses.  She almost went to the emergency room but,  just at that very moment she happened to look down at the newespaper in front of her…… and saw an advertisement for Lenscrafters UNBEATABLE EVENT that is going on right now. Right then she decided to come in to our office (the Indepependent Doctor of Optometry next to Lenscrafters) to see an Eye Doctor instead of going to the ER.

Ralph, the optometric technician, had Tracy take out her colored contact lenses and then did all of the pre-testing on her.  He was concerned because the vision in Tracy’s right eye was EXTREMELY blurry.  Dr Bearden also became very concerned after she spoke with Ralph about Tracy (before she went in to see Tracy).

Sudden vision loss and/or blur is often associated with VERY serious visual health problems – like retinal detachment, angle closure glaucoma or other neurological eye problems.

After Dr Bearden saw Tracy – something did not seem quite right.  Tracy was not displaying any symptoms or vision loss associated with a retinal detachment or any other SERIOUS eye problem – she was just VERY blurry in her right eye – for seemingly no reason.  Dr Bearden looked at Tracy’s right eye under magnification with the slit lamp….and saw….a clear contact lens on Tracy’s right eye!?!?!  This was after Tracy had already “taken out” her colored contacts….

Dr Bearden told Tracy “There is a clear contact lens on your right eye”…..Tracy did NOT wear CLEAR contacts – she wore COLORED contacts.  So this was VERY strange.  Where on EARTH did a clear contact lens come from?!?!?!

Suddenly Tracy exclaimed “Oh my GOD….that must be my HUSBAND’s contact lens!!! He must have put it in my case with my colored contacts by accident!!”.  Her husband’s clear contact lens must have been stuck to Tracy’s colored contact lens when she put in her contacts that morning – and then remained on her eye when she took out her colored contacts in our office.  Tracy had unknowingly been wearing her husband’s contact lens in her right eye – with her own colored contact lens on top of it!!  Tracy’s husbands contact lens presription is about 5x STRONGER than Tracy’s – so this was the cause of her mysterious sudden vision blur.  Mystery solved!

Dr Bearden and Tracy were both laughing at the incident and they were also both relieved that this was not a serious vision problem….

Tracy was due for her annual contact lens eye examination anyway, so she just had her routine contact lens eye exam while she was in our office and her trip was not wasted!!

This is a funny story but, Tracy did the RIGHT thing – she came in to see an Eye Doctor when her vision became suddenly blurry.  Anytime there is a  SUDDEN loss of vision or SUDDEN vision blur – always seek care IMMEDIATELY from your eye doctor!!

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Online Eye Test: Find Out If You Need an Eye Exam

CLICK HERE

to take the

FREE

ONLINE EYE TEST

This QUICK test will determine if YOU need to have

an Eye Exam!!

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Children’s School Problems May Be Caused by Undetected Vision Problems

Click on the above “Fuzzi” banner to see a Video for you

and your child to view together…

Often children can not express to adults that they may be having problems with their vision. They may not even realize that their vision is blurry or “Fuzzy”.  They may be falling behind or having trouble in school…for an “unknown” reason.  That “unknown” reason may be due to possible vision problems – even if they are able to PASS the Vision Screening at school or at the Pediatrician’s office.

Click on the “Fuzzi is having trouble at School” banner above and you can watch the video with your child.   It may open up a discussion between you and your child about his or her vision.  If your child can identify with the problems that “Fuzzi” is having at school – then its time for your child to have a comprehensive eye examination.

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ONLINE Appointments for Your Eye Exam….right HERE from our BLOG!

Is your vision getting a little bit blurry?? Do you need new eyeglasses or contact lenses??  Do you have a red eye??  Do you want to talk to an Eye Dr (Optometrist) about Laser Eye Surgery??  Well, you don’t need to CALL our eye clinic to make an appointment….

Did you know that you can make an Appointment Online for an Eye Exam, Eye Health Check and Vision Testing….right HERE from our Blog – 24 hours per day / 7 days per week??  Well you can!

Just check out the column on the right under “ONLINE Appointments At Visionary Eyecare” and click on the office where you would like to schedule your appointment OR click below on the office where you would like to schedule your appointment.   Its THAT easy!

Pembroke Pines Office (Next to Lenscrafters)   Located at 9910 Pines Blvd in Pembroke Pines (The Southeast Corner of Palm and Pines)

Sunrise/Sawgrass Mall Office (Next to Lenscrafters)   Located inside the Sawgrass Mall – in between JCPenny and Brandsmart