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What Does It Mean to be Nearsighted?

Nearsighted is another term for myopia. Myopia is when your eyes are focused at a distance closer than 20 feet. For mild amounts of myopia it is more difficult to identify distant images, such as road signs. For moderate amounts of myopia reading a book or focusing on the computer is easy, but images past that distance are blurry. For high amounts of myopia, images must be very close to the eye to be focused. Myopia can develop at any age. It is most common for myopia to develop between the ages of 8 to 12. Increased near work (reading and computer) is the leading cause for this trend. There has been a great deal of research put into finding ways to slow down or avoid myopia development. At this time, the only treatment proven to help is time outdoors. A good goal is one hour per day outdoors and trying to limit time spent on hand held devices. Time outdoors myopia study. With myopia, images are focused in front of the retina. To focus images on the retina a concave lens is neede
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What Does It Mean to be Farsighted?

Farsighted is another term for hyperopia. This means that the uncorrected eye is focused at a distance beyond 20 feet. For small amounts of hyperopia this results in great distance vision.  As the amount of hyperopia increases, near work (computer and reading) becomes more difficult. For larger amounts of hyperopia, images have to be too far away to focus. For larger amounts of hyperopia there is no useful distance images focus at. Younger patients are able to use the ciliary muscle to focus through hyperopia to see. As the ciliary muscle flexes, it changes the shape of the lens. The change in shape allows images to be focused at closer distances. If an eye is naturally focused at 30 feet, flexing of the ciliary muscle can change the focused distance to 20 feet. If the muscle flexes harder, it can focus images at 16 inches or closer depending on the patients' age and focusing ability. For every year of life, the lens in our eye becomes larger. When the lens is larger, the cilia
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Neovascularization of the Retina and Iris

Neovascularization of the iris (NVI) is a true eye emergency. If this condition is left untreated, a patient can quickly lose all vision in the affected eye. Anytime vision is lost in one or both eyes, seek treatment as soon as possible. It is very unlikely for vision to return to normal without treatment and the sooner treatment is initiated the greater the chance of recovering some vision.  The most common causes of NVI are proliferative diabetic retinopathy and ischemic central retinal vein occlusion. NVI can result from any condition that results in severe damage to the retina and its vascular system without completely killing the retinal tissue. The severely damaged retinal tissue desires fresh nutrients and metabolites from the vascular system to allow the tissue to repair itself and continue functioning. However, the damage to the vascular system of the retina prevents sufficient blood flow to these damaged areas of the retina.  In desperation, the damaged retinal tissue relea
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What is HIPPA?

HIPAA or the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act was created to protect Americans through two parts. The first part was to protect workers insurance coverage during the lose of a job or transition between jobs. The second part works to standardize electronic medical records (EMRs). The goal was to standardize how health information is exchanged between Doctors. The second portion also established national identifiers for providers, health insurance companies and employers. The second portion of HIPAA relates most to Patients and Eye Doctors, since it covers security and privacy of patient records. Thanks to this provision, Doctors cannot release a patients health information unless the patient signs a form of concent to do so. A minor violation consists of negligence of failing to protect the privacy of a patients medical record. A major violation consists of knowingly compromising the privacy of a patients medical record for personal gain. The main concern was that a
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Why Does the Eye Doctor Need My Contact Information?

Contact information includes phone number, address and email address. This information is used to remind patients about appointments or to let patients know glasses or contacts are ready to be picked up. In certain circumstances, this information is used to set up an appointment with a specialist. Some Eye Doctors use this information to send out a newsletter or to inform patients about sales or upcoming events. Thanks to HIPPA, a patients personal and contact information must be kept private. This information cannot be sold to advertisers or companies wanting to sell products to the patient.
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Why Does the Eye Doctor Need My Personal Information?

For this entry, personal information refers to birth date, social security number, insurance information, ocular history, medical history, hobbies, work, alcohol or drug use. To file an insurance claim we need birth date, social security number and insurance information to prove the patient we saw for an exam is the same person who was on the insurance plan. Eye and medical history is required for insurance and helps the Eye Doctor anticipate any potential eye or vision problems. Medications, alcohol or drug use can also affect vision and the structure of the eye. Questions about hobbies and work help the Eye Doctor understand the distances a patient needs to focus at and any environmental factors that can strain or threaten a patients vision. Also, this information helps the Eye Doctor identify solutions to these environmental factors. Anti-relective coatings can diminish eye strain from computer use. Polarized sunglasses can ease strain from sun exposure.
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What Does an Eye Exam Cost?

Exam fees vary from office to office. Eye Doctors often have trouble establishing a set price for exams, tests and procedures. A smart way to establish fees in based on the patients in the area. Do patients in the area have insurance? What is the most common type of insurance in the area? The price of an exam is legally supposed to be the same whether or not insurance is used. Depending on patients in the area the Eye Doctor might establish exam fees to appeal more to out of pocket (non-insurance) patients or may set exam fees based on the most common type(s) of insurance in the area. Insurance based fees could relect a single company or the average of multiple plans in the area. Different types of exams or procedures can vary in price. For contact lens fitting a simple nearsighted prescription can vary in price when compared to a patient with astigmatism and/or near focusing problems. For medical problems the severity of the problem often affects pricing. A benign finding is differe
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