Lenscrafters Independent Doctor of Optometry – Dr Dawn Bearden and Visionary Eyecare – move out of Lenscrafters on 9/1/2011. All Patient records have been moved to Fort Lauderdale Eye Care & Eyewear 954-763-2842

Dr Dawn Bearden and Visionary Eyecare (Independent Doctor of Optometry Next to Lenscrafters) have moved out of their location next to Lenscrafters. Visionary Eyecare and Optometrist,  Dr Dawn Bearden were located next to Lenscrafters in Pembroke Pines and Sunrise (INSIDE SawgrassMills Mall) for almost 15 years but, have now relocated to East Ft Lauderdale.

Eye Doctor, Dr Bearden is still seeing patients in Broward County and now seeing her patients for eye exams  in East Ft Lauderdale at Fort Lauderdale Eye Care & Eyewear located at 1489 SE 17th St  Suite 2J in Fort Lauderdale FL 33316.  The office is on 17th St Causeway – just west of the 17th St bridge, Port Everglades and Bimini Boatyard.  We are in the Southport Shopping Plaza with Office Depot and Ross.  We are on the second floor – above Wells Fargo Bank and next to Diamante Day Spa.

All patient records and all of the high tech computerized equipment from Visionary Eyecare have been moved to this new location on 17th St in East Ft Lauderdale.

CLICK HERE for MAP 

The website for Fort Lauderdale Eye Care & Eyewear is www.FLEyecareEyewear.com and you can find them on Facebook at FLEyecareEyewear and YouTube at FLEyecareEyewear

 

The phone number for Fort Lauderdale Eye Care & Eyewear is 954-763-2842 and you can email them at FLEyecareEyewear@aol.com

Visit their BLOG at www.FLEyecareEyewearBLOG.com

We are sad to leave all of our friends at LensCrafters but, it was time to move on.  We will miss LensCrafters but, we are excited for our new venture at Fort Lauderdale Eye Care & Eyewear.  Call us if you need an appointment for an eye exam 954-763-2842

See you soon!

Visionary Eyecare Blog – A Picture is Worth A Thousand Words

A Visual Representation of the Visionary Eyecare Blog

Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words!!

And sometimes that picture is made from a thousand words…..

Here are some visual representations of the Visionary Eyecare Blog from Wordle.

It visibly shows that our blog talks about the Eye, an Optometrist, an Eye Exam, Pembroke Pines, Sunrise,  Eye Dr,  Contacts, Dr Dawn Bearden, Dr Emily McCulluh, Dr Anna-Kay Tenn, Lenscrafters, an Eye Doctor,  Vision, Eye Care, Eye Health and more….

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Just by scanning one of these images – a reader can immediately get a feel for what the Visionary Eyecare Blog is all about!!

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Tell A Friend About This Eye Care Blog…or Share Your Favorite Post!

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Click on this “Tell a Friend” Button to instantly share this Visionary Eyecare blog and/or any of your favorite posts on this blog with your friends via email, Facebook, Twitter, FriendFeed, IM or via a blog posting…

. You can also find this “Tell a Friend” button on the right side column of this blog….all the way at the bottom 😉

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Check it out now!

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A Child’s FIRST Eye Exam …… Featured Patient: Jacob

Jacob in the Eye Exam Room

Jacob is 5 years old. He came in today for his VERY FIRST eye examination.

Last year he saw his Pediatrician for a vision screening but, he was not too cooperative when it was time to read the eye chart so they really did not have any idea about the clarity of his right eye. This year he went to Kindergarten and had a vision screening. That day mom got a note back that he failed and needed to see an eye doctor.

Jake Having Fun at Visionary Eyecare

He came into Visionary Eyecare ( the Independent Doctors of Optometry Next to Pearle Vision in Davie) for his first eye exam. During his vision test we noticed that Jake could see fairly well with his left eye but, he was only able to see 20/80 (eight lines WORSE than 20/20) with his right eye. During the eye exam, Dr Bearden found that Jake has a high prescription in his right eye and was using only his left eye to see with. His right eye is a lazy eye (amblyopia) and is not able to be corrected to 20/20 – even WITH a glasses prescription.

But the good news is that a child’s visual system is not completely developed until around age 7. So he can still adapt to changes in the clarity of his vision – he is more likely to have great success with his new glasses and possible vision therapy to strengthen that vision in his right eye!

Jake Give Us the Thumbs UP!!!

So, Jake’s eyes are still growing and developing and with the proper glasses and visual therapy – hopefully, he will be able to get the vision in his right eye to be a lot better than 20/80….maybe even as good as 20/20.

The key learning for parents is to have your child’s eyes examined with a comprehensive eye examination as early as possible – by an Eye Doctor.

Jacob Gets Measured for His New Glasses

Jake Plays Star Wars

Jake Models His Frame Choice

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Jake Returns to Pick up his new glasses….just in time for Thanksgiving!!

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Video – Child’s Eye Exam as Seen Through the Eyes of a Child

Vodpod videos no longer available.

more about “Video – Child’s Eye Exam“, posted with vodpod

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 🙂

……OR……

Open your Firefox Web Browser and go to www.VisionaryEyecareBLOG.com to re-visit this blog.

If you don’t have Firefox – CLICK HERE TO GET FIREFOX.

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Video – Eye Anatomy: The Cornea…and Contact Lenses, Degenerations and Keratoconus

Your eye is like a camera.  There are 2 structures that focus light – much like the lens of a camera.  These 2 structures are the cornea and the lens.  The cornea is the clear front surface of your eye that is located in front of the colored part of your eye (called the iris).

If you are a contact lens wearer – the contact lens sits on the cornea.  Not all corneas are the same size.  Some are more curved or “steep” and others are more “flat”.  It is important to be properly fit for contact lenses by your eye doctor.  If a contact lens is not properly fit, the contact can cause serious problems for the wearer – including corneal distortion, corneal swelling, corneal ulcers, inflammation and more.

A corneal topographer is an instument that can detect any corneal distortions caused from a contact lens.  A contact lens may look and feel “fine” but, it can still be causing problems that you may be unaware of.  Many times sleeping in your contact lenses or overwearing your contacts (wearing a 2 week contact for more than 2 weeks) can cause corneal distortions.

Cornea With Keratoconus

At Visionary Eyecare in Pembroke Pines, Sunrise and Davie- we perform a corneal topography on ALL contact lens patients. During the contact lens eye exam we use the corneal topographer to monitor the health of the patient’s cornea before fitting with a new contact lens and also to monitor the corneal health year to year for established contact lens wearers.

Corneal Topography can also detect some corneal degenerations and corneal dystrophies like keratoconus.  Typically a person with keratoconus has a lot of astigmatistm, distorted vision and possibly sensitivity to light.  The cornea starts to protrude in a “cone-like” fashion.  Most of the time a specialty contact lens can help these patients see clearer and may prevent the corneal dystrophy progression.  In advanced cases, the apex of the cornea may thin so drastically from keratoconus that a corneal transplant may be necessary.

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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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Poll – What is Your Favorite Eye Color?

Here at Visionary Eyecare we are always curious to know your opinions…. we love hearing from you!!

So tell us….what is your favorite eye color??

Click on the poll box above to cast your vote…

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Visionary Eyecare Website now Translated into English, Spanish, French, Portugese, Italian, Japanese, German and more!

Language Translator at Bottom of http://www.VisionaryEyecareOnline.com

Broward County in South Florida is a a wonderful melting pot!

Visionary Eyecare has eye clinics in Davie (Next to Pearle Vision), Pembroke Pines and Sunrise (Next to Lenscrafters)…and we have a wonderful mix of patients from ALL OVER the globe.

If you or your friends are looking to view our website and learn about Visionary Eyecare but, you would like to view the website in another language….then you are now in LUCK!   Learn more about our vision exams, our contact lens exams, our eye doctors, our online eye exam appointments and more….in 12 available languages.

Go to www.VisionaryEyecareOnline.com and scroll down to the very bottom of the page and you will see the Yahoo Babel Fish picture as shown above.

Yahoo Babel Fish is a language translator.  Just select the language that you want to view the page in….. and it will be translated for you immediately.  Available languages include Spanish, French, German, Dutch, Chinese, Greek, Italian, Japanese, Korean, Portugese and Russian.

CLICK HERE TO GO TO THE

VISIONARY EYECARE WEBSITE NOW

Enjoy!!!

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Child Eye Exam Prior to Entering School – New Eye Exam Law in Illinois

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!!

CLICK HERE TO SIGN PETITION

For more information please visit:

Vision First Foundation: http://www.visionfirstfoundation.org/

Janet’s Journal BLOG: http://janetsjournalblog.com/

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Online Eye Test: Find Your Blind Spot in Each Eye!

Everyone has a BLIND SPOT in their vision of each eye.

Take this FUN test to check it out for yourself !!

Look at graphic of the cross and the circle at the top of this post.

Sit at your computer with your nose pointing in between the cross and the black circle.

Cover your LEFT eye and stare at the cross with your RIGHT eye.

Now SLOWLY move towards the computer screen while still staring at the cross with your RIGHT eye.

At somewhere around 10-14 inches from the computer screen – the black circle will disappear and the area where the black circle was…will now be all white – this is your BLIND SPOT.

If you move closer to the screen or farther away –  the circle will re-appear.  At just the right distance – the circle will disappear.

Now try the OTHER eye…but this time cover your RIGHT eye and look at the CIRCLE with your LEFT eye…..move closer and you will see that the CROSS now disappears!!

Your eye has an inner lining which is made of a sheet of nerves.  This sheet of nerves is responsible for your vision and what you see and it is called the RETINA.  There is a “hole” in the sheet where the Optic Nerve enters the eye.  This area is called the Optic Nerve Head.

Photoreceptors are cells in the retina that detect light and allow you to perceive “vision”.  On the optic nerve head there are NO photoreceptors.  Thus, there is no light or vision detected at this spot in the retina.  This is your “Blind Spot”.  Every eye has a blind spot….your blind spot in your right eye is slightly on your right and your blind spot in your left eye is slightly on your left.

Your brain automatically “fills in” the blind spot area for you…..

Now try it AGAIN with the above green and yellow graphic….but this time you will notice that when you move to just the right distance , the circle will disappear and your brain will fill in your blind spot WITH YELLOW when you are looking with your right eye (left eye covered)….and your brain will fill in your blind spot WITH GREEN when you are looking with your left eye (right eye covered)!!  Your brain automatically matches the surrounding colors when it “fills in” visual information for you.

Cool huh??

Your brain can even “fill in” missing information for you…..in the above graphic, you’ll notice that when you cover your left eye and look at the cross with your right eye – the brain will “fill in” your blind spot (the area where the circle is).  You will see that your brain fills in the line for you.  Keep looking at the cross – don’t look back at the circle – or you will will see the circle again.

Try it AGAIN with the above graphic while looking at the cross with your right eye (cover your left eye) – your brain will put a red circle where your blindspot is….it is “filling in” the “missing information” !!

Amazing.

Graphics from Serendip….check out their very informative  website at http://serendip.brynmawr.edu/bb/blindspot1.html

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YouTube Video: If You Don’t Have Any Vision Problems…Why Should You See an Eye Doctor?

You don’t have any vision problems….your vision is perfect……so why should you get your eyes examined yearly…or at all??  Do you know anyone who has really good eyesight…and feels that there is no reason to go to the eye doctor because they don’t need eyeglasses??

Well, the above YouTube video is for YOU and THEM!

A common misconception is that the only reason to see an eye doctor is to get some glasses, contacts or to get their prescription updated.  Does this sound familiar??

A comprehensive eye exam is MOSTLY about checking the HEALTH of your eyes.  A lot of eye health problems – diseases and disorders of the eyes (like glaucoma, retinal holes and tears etc) – do NOT cause any kind of symptoms (like blurred vision, headaches, pain, feelings of “pressure” in and around eyes etc…).

Just because you can see clearly, see colors correctly and don’t notice any vision problems does not necessarily mean that your eyes are healthy.

Did you know that a comprehensive eye exam can ALSO provide early detection of some SYSTEMIC problems.  All sorts of systemic problems – like Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, High Cholesterol, Brain Tumors etc….can be detected during a comprehensive eye exam. If your eye doctor suspects that you may have a systemic problem then, he or she can refer you to your primary care doctor for further evaluation and testing to determine if you have the systemic disease.

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Optical Illusion….How Many Black Dots Do You See??

Here is an interesting Optical Illusion for you!!  How many black dots do you see??  There are NONE!!

Keep staring at one of the white dots….you will see that it is white and never black…only the ones that you are not directly staring at seem to be “blinking” black or gray.  Cool huh??

It is your Retina playing tricks with you….creating an AFTER-IMAGE.

We are Now on Technorati….a Blog Search Engine – You Can Make Us One of Your FAVORITES!

Google is a general search engine ……and Technorati is a BLOG Search Engine.  You can use it to search all kinds of different and interesting blogs.

First, make sure you are signed in to Technorati (if you do not have an account with Technorati – you can get one for free!) and then type in “Visionary Eyecare” in to the Search box on the top right of the page.  It will take you to a “Results” page and you will see 4 tabs….Posts, Blogs, Photos, Videos.  Click on the “Blogs” tab and you will see our “Visionary Eyecare’s Blog: “The Eye Journal” listed.

Click on the BRIGHT PINK BUTTON that says “Fave This” and now we are one of your Favorite Blogs in your Technorati account!

OR you can “Favorite” Us in Technorati….by clicking on the button below…..or the button at the top of the column to the right (make sure you are logged in to Technorati FIRST….before you click on the button)!

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