Focus on Your Ocular Well-Being during Healthy Vision Month

May is Healthy Vision Month, and the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and the National Eye Institute (NEI) are encouraging individuals and organizations to make vision health a priority.

In an effort to prompt more Americans to consider the value of sight, the NEI released what are perhaps some jarring statistics regarding the nation’s overall ocular health:

• Some 14 million Americans are currently visually impaired due to eye diseases and disorders
• More than 4 million adults over the age of 40 have eye complications related to diabetes
• More than 2 million adults over 40 have glaucoma
• Nearly 2 million adults over 40 have age-related macular degeneration

Millions more suffer from correctable eye conditions including:

• Astigmatism (blurry vision caused by an irregular cornea shape)
• Hyperopia (farsightedness)
• Myopia (nearsightedness)
• Presbyopia (age-related loss of near vision)

According to a 2009 NEI study, the prevalence of nearsightedness alone has increased 66 percent in the past 30 years.

And while a study conducted by NEI’s National Eye Health Education Program and the Lions Club International revealed that a vast majority of participants believe loss of eyesight would have an “extreme” impact on their daily lives, more than 25 percent said their last eye exam was at least two years prior. Another 9 percent said they never had an eye exam.

The best way to detect a vision problem at the earliest and most treatable stage is with a comprehensive dilated eye exam. A dilated eye exam can reveal common, correctable refractive conditions as well as eye diseases that have few early warning signs; early detection of risk factors for these conditions can lead to early and vision-saving treatment.

To learn more about LASIK vision correction options or to find an ophthalmologist near you, please contact The LASIK Directory.

Eye on the Ball: Glasses Sparked Player to Late Career Surge

If LASIK had been around when Eddie Joost played baseball, the soft-hitting but defensively polished infielder—who died April 12 at the age of 94—might be enshrined in Cooperstown.

Joost began his professional baseball career with the Cincinnati Reds in 1936. A slick fielder, Joost split time between second base, shortstop and third base while carrying a batting average that frequently dipped below the Mendoza line and never mustering more than six home runs and 41 RBI in a season.

Although he was the everyday shortstop for the World Series-winning Reds in 1940, his defensive prowess compensated less and less for his poor performance at the plate. By 1944, Joost was out of baseball and working in a meat-packing plant.

After a brief shot with the Boston Braves in 1945, Joost spent the 1946 season toiling in the minor leagues. Then, in 1947, approaching 31 years old, Joost got a second chance.

The Philadelphia Athletics—now the Oakland A’s—were in desperate need of a shortstop and picked up Joost. His woes at the plate continued, but Joost finally acknowledged their cause: astigmatism.

At the time, there was pervasive prejudice against players wearing glasses. In 1947, only one player—St. Louis Browns third baseman Bob Dillinger—wore glasses on the field.

Knowing his window of opportunity was closing fast and tired of seeing “two balls coming at me,” as he once described his vision problem, Joost got glasses. His turnaround was eye opening.

In 1948, Joost hit .250 with 16 home runs and 55 RBI. The following year, he hit .263 with 23 home runs and 81 RBI. In his early 30s, when most players begin to decline, Joost surged.

He decreased his strikeouts from a high of 110 in 1947 to 68 in 1950, more than doubled the average number of walks from his stint with the Reds, significantly raised his on-base percentage, and became a two-time American League All-Star. From 1948 until 1952—his final full season—Joost averaged 19 home runs and 120 walks per season; he still holds the record for most walks by a shortstop with 149, set in 1949.

One can only speculate about the arc Joost’s career might have taken had he chosen to treat his vision problem sooner. Regardless, Joost attributed his late success to his eyewear. Well, the glasses and a tip from Ted Williams, who seemingly never had a problem seeing the ball.

“He told me I got out in front too much,” Joost told Baseball Digest in 2002. “He was right.”

To learn more about astigmatism and LASIK treatment options, please contact a qualified ophthalmologist near you.

There’s an App for That

It seems like no matter what area of interest or topic of discussion, the answer these days is often "there's an app for that." There is even an iPhone app that you can use to conduct your own eye test.

The app, called EyeXam was developed by two optometrists and is designed to perform a number of functions including:

• Tests for visual acuity at distance and near
  
• Test for the ability to distinguish colors
  
• An Amsler grid that helps to identify possible blind spots in your visual field
  
• A test to help find your dominant eye
  
• An astigmatism test
  

Also included with the app is an eye exercise that is designed to help you improve your ability to converge your eyes and an eye alignment test that evaluates eye posture (inward, outward or normal).

Like many apps, this one is designed to be an educational tool. The app is not intended to replace a comprehensive eye exam but can help you identify issues to be discussed with your eye doctor.

As an informational tool, the app helps bring focus to the essential nature of having regular eye exams. Whether or not you are technology to conduct a self exam, you should find an eye doctor who can evaluate your vision. To locate a doctor and learn what options are available to you, including LASIK vision correction, please contact us today.

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The Benefits of LASIK

Many Americans suffer from refractive disorders such as myopia, hyperopia, or astigmatism, forcing them to endure the inconvenience of glasses or contact lenses every day of their lives. While these vision correction methods enable people to see well enough to go about their daily lives, they are far from ideal solutions to the problem.

Glasses and contact lenses can adversely impact many areas of your life. Many people experience dry eyes from wearing contact lenses at work, especially when they spend all day in front of a computer screen. Others wearing glasses suffer from headaches due to the weight of their glasses on the bridge of their nose, making it difficult to perform work tasks.

Contacts and glasses can also impair your ability to participate in athletics or other vigorous activities. Sports such as swimming or diving create a problem for contact lens wearers, since water can easily get into your eyes and irritate your lenses. Other activities may cause sweat to get into your lenses, causing irritation in your eyes, while many athletes run the risk of breaking their glasses when wearing them while participating in sports.

LASIK surgery offers you a way to achieve excellent vision so that you can be rid of the hassles of glasses and contact lenses once and for all. Advances in LASIK technology have made the procedure very safe and effective. The majority of LASIK patients do not need corrective lenses after surgery, and they experience very few, if any, complications associated with the procedure.

If you are tired of dealing with glasses or contact lenses every day, you may want to visit your ophthalmologist to find out if you are an ideal candidate for LASIK.

You can use the links at the bottom of this page to find a qualified LASIK surgeon in your area.