Blur due to Irregular Cornea
Refractive surgery, corneal transplants, infections and corneal syndromes like Keratoconus are among the many potential causes for irregular corneas. An irregular cornea results in symptoms of blur and distortion that glasses and most contact lenses are unable to correct. Visual symptoms from an irregular cornea are constant, but often worsen in dim light when the pupil is more dilated.
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The radiation you receive from the sun is known to cause multiple adverse eye conditions including:
Save Money! If you have insurance that allows you to get new frames, why not make your old glasses into sunglasses?
Get an Eye Exam! The eye doctors at Iowa EyeCare are ready to serve all of your vision care needs. We are confident that Iowa EyeCare can provide you with the best sunglasses in Iowa. Contact us today: Iowa EyeCare has locations in Marion, Robins, and Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
Dr. Dennis Francis
It’s a fact of life that your vision changes as you get older. Knowing what to expect and when to seek professional care is important to your visual well-being. Wise lifestyle choices and routine eye examinations can significantly improve your chances for maintaining good eye health as you age. Developing a healthy lifestyle that includes a proper diet, plenty of exercise, cessation of smoking, cessation of drug use or alcohol, drinking water, getting routine visual and general medical care are all important to your eyes later in life.
Macular Degeneration, Cataracts, Diabetes, and Glaucoma are principal causes of blindness in Iowa and in the United States. Tremendous progress has been made recently in both the diagnosis and treatment of these common diseases. Iowa EyeCare has the best tools in the Cedar Rapids area to combat these conditions. Early intervention can make a difference in your outcome.
Dry Eye is among the most common eye conditions of the aging eye. Burning, watering, irritating eyes, can cause discomfort and reduce your quality of life. Iowa EyeCare specializes in finding the right treatment option for the type of dry eye that you have.
Iowa EyeCare always welcomes new patients, both young and old. Make an appointment to get started now.
The Aging Eye
Dr. David Christensen
The Iris
The colored part of the eye is actually a combination of two muscles collectively called the iris. The iris functions as a dynamic aperture, allowing only a limited amount of light into the eye. In dim light the dilator pupillae muscle contracts and the sphincter pupillae muscle relaxes, opening the aperture allowing more light to enter the eye. In bright light, the opposite is true; the dilator pupillae muscle relaxes and the sphincter pupillae muscle contracts, closing the aperture allowing less light to enter the eye.
Iris color is a result of pigmentation. Pigment acts to block light from entering the eye. The most common colors are brown, blue and green. Eye color is genetic and is the result of influences from both mother and father, but is not a simple blend of color from both parents. The genetic influences of eye color are not fully understood.
You may not know that eye color can change over time and may a result from several different factors. Many young children are born with light-colored eyes that gradually become darker during the first few years of their life. Other eye color changes may be the result of eye disease. For example, pigmentary glaucoma, Fuch’s heterochromic iridocyclitis, and Horner’s syndrome can all result in changes to eye color. Furthermore, some medications can alter eye color. Prostaglandin glaucoma medications have been known to modify eye color over time. Furthermore, the brilliant colors of youthful eyes can fade and dull over time. If your eye color changes suddenly, please seek care immediately. The eye doctors at Iowa EyeCare always welcome new patients.
Contact lenses now give you a choice in your own eye color. Colored contact lenses are a medical device and require a prescription from an eye doctor. Never purchase lenses from friends or from a beauty shop. The damage from contact lens abuse can cause permanent vision loss. If you are interested in colored contact lenses contact Iowa EyeCare in Marion, Robins, or Cedar Rapids, Iowa, today!
Genetics and Eye Color
Dr. Dennis Francis
I often hear patients say they have (or think they have) a lazy eye. The term “lazy eye” is actually synonymous with the medical term “amblyopia”. Amblyopia occurs when one eye fails to provide adequate vision and the brain begins to collect visual information from only the better eye. The poorer seeing eye subsequently fails to develop normally. If left untreated, amblyopia results in a best-corrected vision of worse than 20/20 and reduced binocular vision.
Amblyopia is most often a consequence of unequal glasses prescription between the two eyes or from monocular strabismus (one eye turning in or out). It is very difficult to re-train the brain once it decides not to use the amblyopic eye. Amblyopia is one of the most common causes of vision loss in children because it often arises without symptoms. Routine eye examinations play a key role in preventing vision loss from amblyopia.
The American Optometric Association and the eye doctors at Iowa EyeCare agree that even if no eye or vision problems are apparent, at about age 6 months, you should take your baby to your doctor of optometry for his or her first thorough eye examination. We can offer helpful suggestions to prevent amblyopia and, if necessary, begin treatment for any eye-related problems.
By Dr. Ryan W. Nelson
Hunting pheasant in Iowa can be challenging. For those who have been hunting them for years, you know it’s getting tougher. Here are some vision tips from an eye doctor that may help you harvest more roosters this year.
1. Yellow and amber tinted lenses can help you identify roosters from hens.
The colors of a rooster pheasant are easier to see when viewing them through a yellow or amber tinted lens. This becomes even more important in dim light, or on overcast days. If you have never looked though a quality pair of tinted lenses, now is the time to give it a try.
2. Single vision lenses will help you maintain a clear shooting target.
Spectacle lenses built specifically for hunting are a must for today’s avid hunter. Progressive addition bifocals are great for day-to-day wearing, but often have areas in the periphery of the lens that do not provide sharp vision. Do yourself a favor and select a pair of single-vision distance lenses with a large eye-size.
LASIK surgery may also be the perfect solution. LASIK may reduce your dependency on glasses while hunting all together.
Click here for the best LASIK in Iowa
3. Central vision is best for acuity and identification, peripheral vision is best for detecting movement.
Allow me to get technical for just a minute. The human visual system can actually be thought of as two systems working together. The “Whereis the bird” system (called magno) and the “What type of bird” system (called parvo). The magno system alerts us to a visual event and the parvo system identifies the event. The magno system does not carry information such as color and detail, so that it reaches the brain quickly. The cells that trigger the magno system are located in the periphery of the eye, those parvo cells responsible for detail are located in the macula (the area lined up with the center of the pupil).
Regular eye exams help detect the diseases that attack these two systems. Glaucomaaffects the magno system and macular degeneration affects the parvo system. Both glaucoma and macular degeneration can cause blindness if left untreated. If glaucoma and macular degeneration are caught early, before they start causing problems, you have a much greater chance of hunting pheasant in your golden years.
4. Stay away from billed caps that limit your visual field.
Finding more birds can be as simple as removing your hat …or finding one without a brim. You already know that your peripheral vision tells you “Where is the bird”. The human visual field extends 165 degrees horizontally and 135 degrees vertically. Compare that with a pheasant who might have more than 270 degrees horizontally and 170 vertically. A hat with a brim only further limits your range of vision.
5. Shoot with both eyes open.
Not only is shooting with both eyes open safer, but it opens up your peripheral vision so that you can identify your next shot quickly. Spend extra time at the shooting range practicing your aim with both eyes open.
To learn more schedule an eye exam in Cedar Rapids, Marion, or Robins, Iowa.
Dr. Richard Noyes
The importance of routine examinations cannot be under stated. The light-sensitive retina (located on the back, inside surface of the eye) should be examined at least annually, even for those with perfect vision. The following is a real-life example of why a retinal exam is so important.
Melanoma of the Eye
An Optomap® retinal exam was performed. The image of the right eye is shown here and has a dark oval lesion: melanoma. This patient was sent to the University of Iowa to see an ophthalmic oncologist (an eye-cancer doctor) and the eye was removed 3 days later.
Cancer of the eye is deadly. The early diagnosis made by Dr. Noyes saved this woman’s life. Fortunately, she doing fine and was fit with a prosthetic eye.
Don’t wait to schedule your next eye exam. We have locations in Cedar Rapids, Marion and Robins, Iowa.
The Eye Exam
I am often told by patients that their last eye exam was a screening performed at school, at work, or at the Iowa department of motor vehicles. It is important for us all to understand why a vision screening is not a replacement for a comprehensive vision examination.
The eye is like a window that can show your eye doctor what is going on inside the rest of the body. It is the only place where blood vessels and nerves can be viewed directly. Many whole-body conditions including diabetes, high blood pressure and even some types of cancer can sometimes be found within the eye. Every day, eye doctors save lives by diagnosing and monitoring diseases that may otherwise have no signs or symptoms.
At a minimum, assessment of visual acuity, eye muscles, visual field, pupil reaction, binocularity, glasses prescription, eye pressure and both the front surface and the inside of the eye should be included in a comprehensive examination. The eye doctors at Iowa EyeCare recommend that, regardless of age, you have a complete eye and vision examination at least every year. In some cases of ocular disease or general ailment, more frequent visits may be necessary.
Remember that not all vision exams are created equal. Make sure that you and your family are receiving the very best medical care by scheduling an examination with us today in Cedar Rapids, Marion, or Robins, Iowa.
Dr. Cruise
Visit us on our website www.iowaeyecare.com
By Dr. Ryan W. Nelson
Quality of vision is most often measured using Snellen acuity. The Snellen system uses standard letter sizes at a fixed distance of 20 feet to quantify an individual’s ability to see. For example, if you have 20/20 vision, at 20 feet you can see what the normal eye can also see at 20 feet. Confusing? You bet it is. Here is another example. If your vision is poorer, say 20/40, then the normal eye can see at 40 feet what you can only see at 20 feet.
Some individuals are able to achieve better than 20/20 vision. A visual acuity of 20/15 means that you can stand back at 20 feet and read the same sized letter that a normal person has to move 5 feet closer to see. Impressed? Did you know that the human eye has been measured to a resolution of 20/7!
Most Snellen charts use various letters, but tumbling “E” and picture optotypes can help optometrists test the vision of young children more easily. Snellen acuity is not the only way to test vision either. In fact, there are many methods; some even measure other aspects of vision, such as contrast sensitivity.
To test your eyes, schedule an appointment at our office today.
Iowa Eye Care Eye Chart
