Carol Hecker Nason, OD, Optometrist

10/03/2024

Just the facts: Twitching lids, blue light, changing prescriptions and MORE....below is a Table of Contents of Q/As. Need more explanation, let me know!!

00:00 Intro
02:10 Who Is Dr. Joseph Allen?
03:19 Is Our Eye Health Improving?
04:29 How The Environment Impacts Your Eyesight
05:36 Why We Don't Value Our Eyesight Until It's Too Late
06:49 Surprising Conditions Dr. Allen Finds During Eye Exams
11:05 Does Everyone's Eyesight Deteriorate Over Time?
12:35 Why The World's Eyesight Is Getting Worse
16:56 How Much Screen Time & Reading Is Safe For Your Eyes?
20:24 The Role Of Vitamin D In Eye Health
21:15 Can Short-Sightedness Be Reversed?
24:32 Do Eye Exercises Actually Work?
25:24 Can Your Parents' Eyesight Predict Yours?
30:45 Can We Really Do Eye Transplants?
32:36 How To Make Better Choices For Eye Health
35:36 Best Phone Features To Protect Your Eyes
40:30 Causes Of Eye Bags & Dark Circles
46:44 Do Cucumbers Really Help With Eye Bags?
49:06 Eye Bag Treatments That Actually Work
49:44 Can Red Light Therapy Improve Your Eyes?
54:44 Best Ways To Cure Dry Eyes
57:39 Can Red Light Therapy Help With Myopia?
59:16 Is It Safe To Stare At The Sun?
01:01:27 What Is Sun Gazing And Should You Try It?
01:02:40 Is Blue Light From Devices Damaging Your Eyes?
01:04:10 What’s The Best Diet For Eye Health?
01:07:27 Do Carrots Really Improve Your Vision?
01:09:00 Is Omega 3 Beneficial For Your Eyes?
01:14:22 What Is Dry Eye And How To Treat It?
01:16:04 The Best Superfoods For Eye Health
01:16:49 Does Sugar Harm Your Vision?
01:17:37 Why Diabetics Suffer More With Eye Problems
01:19:55 What Is Happening When Your Eye Twitches?
01:21:49 What Is Glaucoma And Is It Preventable?
01:24:06 What Are Eye Floaters?
01:27:03 Can Pineapple Cure Floaters?
01:30:17 What To Do If You Get Something In Your Eye?
01:31:41 How Often Should You Get Your Eyes Tested?
01:32:16 The Most Important Thing We Didn't Talk About
01:33:49 The Last Guest Question

Dr Joseph Allen is an optometrist and leading expert in eye health. He is the creator of the ‘Doctor Eye Health’ YouTube channel and host of the podcast, ‘Ey...

08/22/2024

NEW TSA Rule: Even though the small travel size Clear Care Contact Lens Cleaning Solution is 3 ounces, it is NO LONGER allowed in your carry on baggage due to it's Hydrogen Peroxide base.

You can either pack your Clear Care Solution into your checked luggage, use a different cleaning/storage solution for that week, or the easiest solution is to go into dailies for your trip. Nearly all of my monthly contact lens wearers have a second prescription for dailies just for when they travel (or professional swimming, diving, or certain yard/salon tasks involving chemicals).

https://www.amazon.com/Generic-Hydrogen-Peroxide-Triple-Cleaning/dp/B0D3THWM7C/ref=sr_1_6?

Generic Clear Care 3% Hydrogen Peroxide Triple Action Cleaning Triple Action 2x16oz + 3oz Travel Size, Blue

05/28/2024

Blue Ghost Fireflies (which are actually green/yellow) are out and are the pregame show to our more familiar fireflies! If you're lucky enough to be in a location where they party, enjoy!!

05/07/2024

I'm not an alarmist by any stretch of the imagination, but I do like to post facts. The virus has mutated this year such that it is easily transmitted to dairy cows. While many cows have been infected, there have been only two cases of dairy cows transmitting it to humans. More are expected. Still too new to know exactly how it spreads and just like with covid, the researchers are using the latest data to extrapolate. The current idea is it is contracted by drinking infected raw cow's milk - but obviously (as with covid) that notion may change as more data becomes available. Not deadly to humans so far, but any cats that have contracted the virus (probably by consuming raw milk) have been severely affected and most have died. If bird flu is in your area, please protect your cats.

The first known case of a human contracting H5N1 from a mammal was recently reported in Texas, where a dairy

11/03/2022

It's vision related, okay?!!

09/28/2022

Hmmm.... He's not wrong! 🤔

09/14/2022

There, but for the grace of God....

This disease probably doesn't apply to you, but go travel anyway!!! It's good for your eyes!!

Edith Lemay and Sebastien Pelletier want their children to enjoy their vision while they still have it.

09/13/2022

With an N=3, I realize my personal 23-year-long ongoing experiment is limited, but it falls perfectly in line with recent research and opinion. Mike and I were ahead of the game back in the 1990s...

Three kids, three different vision outcomes. For reference, Mike and I are anatomically very nearsighted at about -6.00 and -5.00 respectively. If DNA was purely what ruled your child's vision outcome, our children should all obviously be very nearsighted. But they are not.

We put our kids into "over the counter" reader/magnifiers at +1.50 level for all near activities once they could read, do puzzles, draw, etc. Once they were used to them, they received optical quality glasses. (I am not advocating for OTC readers for children in this statement, they are very poor quality and break easily - not a great combo for children!)

In "outcome order" rather than birth order: Offspring A wore their glasses religiously through elementary-college age for all near point tasks and hugely enjoys outdoor activities such that they carve out time for it on the regular. Agreeing with the article, this child has never needed glasses for their 20/15 distance vision.

Offspring B wore their glasses "usually" but not once they were in HS or college, enjoyed outdoor sports on occasion and became slightly myopic/nearsighted at about -1.50. They only wore the above -1.50 when needed for driving/movies creating an "effective" +1.50 at near, and agreeing with the article, no further myopia developed and they are a -1.25ish to this day.

Offspring C never wore their +1.50s after the novelty wore off early on and is also not very outdoorsy. Agreeing with the article, they are fairly nearsighted at a similar level to their parents, -5.00.

I realize an N=3 is very low, but our premature and unprofessional experiment of simply using +1.50s seemed to help. I'm semi-retired so won't be building a Myopia Management practice, but because nearsightedness is increasing (from 25% of the population to now almost 50% over the course of just 25 years - a different sort of pandemic!), it is likely to only increase further and I have mentioned the usage of +1.50s for years to all parents whose children don't yet need glasses; and myopia management to all the parents whose children do.

With the increased usage of technology (13+ hours/day on average) and climate change, keeping us indoors more, myopia management will become as prevalent as braces!!

Once you make sure there are no vision or ocular health issues via a complete eye exam with your optometrist, please consider having your children utilize +1.50 Over the Counter Near Vision Only glasses for all near tasks AND TAKE THEM FOR LONG WALKS/HIKING 1-2 TIMES PER WEEK!!!

Great/important article!! Please spam me with your comments and questions. And as always, Dr. Carol says....

STAY FOCUSED!!

Why do so many kids need glasses now?

12/22/2021

12/11/2021

This patient really prepares for their annual exam!! Please note the shirt and accessories!!

Cred: Katy Aoyagi, OD

11/21/2021

Seriously though....

11/11/2021