Alien Invasion and Computer Glasses

I’m not sure as to the correlation but, somehow, my dreams this morning went from alien invasion to prescribing computer glasses. I was tossing and turning early this AM and dreaming wildly. I recall sitting in a bar ( a place I rarely, rarely, sit) and, much to the dismay of the bartender, ordered a water. While sitting there and noticing floating particles (similar to those found in lemonade) in my water, I looked out the large window and saw space suit clad men running from alien-like men who were shooting laser guns at them. I wasn’t terrified, however, so we can’t classify this as a nightmare, but, when I was younger, nobody told me that, at forty-five years old, I would still be having dreams about invading aliens. I just didn’t see that coming.

Anyway, the dream continued as I left my bar seat and joined the panicking population of humans in their flee from invading laser-bearing aliens. I remember being cornered behind a tree with an incoming attacker, my doom a certainty, when I changed dreams.

I flashed to my office examination room, there was my father, Dr. Sy, and he was telling me how to properly prescribe computer glasses. (This is just as hard to believe as aliens invading earth-just kidding Dad) Anyway, lets talk about computer glasses for a moment.

Computer glasses are prescribed so as to perfectly focus your eyes at the exact distance of your computer screen.  This is most important when dealing with patients over the age of 40.  Many patients wear no-line bifocals (progressives) or simple bifocals, or single vision reading glasses.  Many issues arise when wearing these “non-computer” prescriptions.  Basically, the lenses are typically focussed for a normal reading distance of 16″-18″.  The computer screen is typically 22″-24″ and thus not in perfect focus.  The result is the patient must move closer to the monitor for better clarity, or raise their chin in an exaggerated fashion to utilize the bifocals.  All in  all, the patient is forced to sit in an awkward manner, causing strain, fatigue, and ”too close to the screenitis.”

Progressives (no-line bifocals ) do focus at the correct distance through proper head alignment, however, the head must be held at a very specific orientation for long periods of time.  This can result in head and shoulder pain, as well as eye strain and fatigue.

Computer glasses also have special “anti-glare” coatings and tints which soothe the eyes while “locked in” on that screen for hours at a time.  The proper computer prescription is fantastic to those who sit in front of the screen all day long.  They can move their head all around and always see clearly, their eyes don’t need to use muscles to focus, glare is reduced and the screen is soothing to view.  The most frequent comment made by those who switched to computer glasses is that they can now use their computer for hours on end and feel great at the end of the day.  Before, they experienced fatigue, headaches, and mostly, eyestrain.  They needed multiple breaks, their eyes “burned” and they couldn’t wait to get off the computer.

So, reflecting back on this blog, we’ve discussed two things that can ruin your whole day: an alien invasion and eyestrain in front of the computer.  At least one can be prevented for sure.

Thanks for Reading

Dr. David Rosenblum

Eyesite Optometry

Cerritos and Newport Coast   WWW.Eyesiteweb.com

Bye Bye Air Puff

Do you know how many times patients complain to me about that darn air puff in the eye performed as part of their preliminary testing in my office? If you’ve had an eye exam in the last 15 years, chances are great that you know what I’m referring to. You place your chin on that little white resting stage, look into this strange machine, then, while trying to keep your eye open as instructed, PUFFFF, you get a small blast of air in the eye. You think “WOW. That was weird. It didn’t hurt, but, it wasn’t exactly fun.” Then, the technician gives the word that you get to do it again in the other eye. (For the record, the second eye is always a little tougher to get a reading on as the patient’s anticipation of the puff makes them a little more anxious) In other words, they now know that the puff is coming and start to slightly freak out while trying to keep their eyes open.

I have to be a doctor for a moment and explain why we do the puff. The machine is a highly sophisticated instrument called a Non-Contact Tonometer. “Tonometry” is the act of measuring eye pressure, or, IOP (Intra ocular pressure). IOP is, basically, necessary pressure inside the eye which keeps the eyeball inflated properly. Fluid is constantly being created inside the eye and subsequently draining as well which maintains a constant pressure. If the pressure builds abnormally, damage can occur to the nerves inside the eye and result in loss of vision. This is called glaucoma. Measuring this pressure during an eye exam is an effective way to diagnose glaucoma. Now I’m not going to get into a discussion about IOP or the various types of glaucoma or any other medical details for the sake of this blog.

Eyesite Newport Coast has a brand new piece of technology called the Diaton. The Diaton is a small, handheld device, used to measure the IOP as discussed above. The technician takes the patient’s measurement by touching the tip of the Diaton to the patient’s upper eyelid. The process is repeated three times and the device displays the average of all three readings. A digital reading is displayed immediately on the instrument and the measurement is recorded. It’s that simple.  Did you follow that-no puff in the eye.  I knew you’d want to hear that again.  Cerritos patients, well, sorry for now, you still get that lovely little spot of wind in the eye.  We will be looking into getting the Diaton at our Cerritos location soon.

The Diaton has been working great and patients have certainly not missed their old favorite “air puff.”  I am impressed with its accuracy, ease of use, and, let’s be honest, patient’s are thrilled to skip getting that puff in the eye.

Awesome Results With New Contacts

A couple of weeks ago I unveiled the secret of how one may become a billionaire. Quite simply, “reverse the process of eye aging, and eliminate the need for reading glasses.” You know what I’m referring to: people over forty pushing reading material to arm’s length just to see clearly (often done with a menu or medicine label).

Even after laser eye surgery, the problem arises and reading glasses, or “cheaters,” are needed for near viewing. One of the remedies of this “presbyopia,” the condition at hand, is a revolutionary new type of contact lens known as the “multifocal.” Now, we’ve had multifocals for many years, however, over the last couple of years some new brands have been released and the results have been quite exciting.

I have been working daily with many of these new brands as the demand has become greater and other reasons as well; one of them being that the condition of Presbyopia affects people exactly my age. Yes, I’m finally there.

I’ve worked with my father for almost twenty years now and have always been the “young guy,” or, “that young doctor.” So, all of a sudden, the problem has become quite personal.  Also, most of my friends have reached the same milestone, (or, stone in their shoe) as well.

The great news is that these new contact lenses enable most people to see clearly at both distance as well as near.  In other words, contact lenses are now providing wonderful freedom to see at at all distances for those of us over forty.  Life is good.

Groupon Patients Having Great Experience

Hello again. I know, I know, where’ve I been! It’s been ten days since we ran our Groupon promotion and if you want to know my whereabouts I can tell you–I’ve been in the exam room! That’s right, full steam, patient after patient, lunch,???……..yeah right, no time for that now. As a matter of fact, I have to run this minute so as not to keep a patient waiting. I’ll be back to finish this entry in 30 minutes.

OK, back now and let me finish. The Groupon thing was certaily a hit for all parties. Both of our offices have been inundated with patients and they seem overwhelmingly happy. Our deal was truley a great one and the patients are responding quite well. I may joke about the work load, but, because we see patients by appointment only, we have been able to manage without running behind schedule.

It has come to my attention that some of the Groupon patients were concerned about the “style” of the Eyeon Titanium frames before they were able to see them in the office.  If you have been unable to come evaluate the Eyeons, let me put your mind at ease.  They’re  of great quality and equally stylish.  We have several models to choose from, several colors, and, they look great.  We also give the option of selecting from another designer and taking off $100.

I can honestly say that (to my knowledge) everyone has been very satisfied.  Wait….I forgot……I did get a negtive review from one such Groupon purchaser.  I can’t remember exactly the problem but I can say it was one of those ridiculous issues that consisted of us not catering to his needs after changing his order for glasses numerous times, then cancelling, then reinstating, then changing the color of the frame, then asking us why we didn’t have cookies for him in the office….  I got him cookies, ’cause that’s how we roll at Eyesite.  He still gave us a negative review.

All in all, the Groupon experience continues to bring in a vast amount of many interesting and great patients.  Plenty of patients get only what’s covered under the deal; and walk out with great glasses and a great eye exam.  Many others have upgraded to thinner lenses or no-line bifocals (progressives) and also others have changed their Groupon frame to a cool, hip designer frame like Oliver Peoples or Chanel. 

Thanks so much to you all for coming in and thanks again for reading.

 

Dr. David Rosenblum

Eyesite Optometry, Cerritos and Newport Coast

www.eyesiteweb.com

 

Groupon Patients Welcome

It’s midnight and we just went live on Groupon. Eyesite Optometry is officially part of the internet shopping community. 

This Groupon adventure has certainly been exciting, although very stressful as well. It’s the unknown that’s stressing me out. You see, I think it’s great that possibly hundreds of new patients will be passing through our doors. This means, however, that we have to provide awesome customer service for hundreds of new patients-and I mean awesome. That’s the challenge.  I know we can do it-we have for 16 years-but, never for so many so suddenly. 

We have increased staff, further trained the staff, held meetings, prepared our merchandise, readied our lab, and eaten our Wheaties. So…….here we go!

The Groupon people say we could get maybe a thousand people buying the “deal.” Wow! The power of the internet is certainly declaring itself right on my doorstep.

Yikes!! No sales yet and it’s been twenty minutes.  OK, I’ll get a grip.  I told myself I was not going to do this.  I agreed with my manager, Suzette, that I was not going to watch the Groupon website starting at midnight.  Afterall, who’s buying eye exams and glasses at 12:30 in the morning!  (I don’t know……….maybe…….. somebody)  Don’t people buy all that garbage on infomercials at all hours of the night? 

I was watching some other Groupon deal for skydiving today and at 8:00 AM there were only about 25 sold.  I was thinking, “well, looks like not everybody is jumping to buy tickets for skydiving,” (no pun intended).  But, “Holy Leapers!,” by late afternoon, there was almost 700 sold!  I wonder if the skydiving folks were freaking out at 12:30 AM like me……..baffled why nobody wants to jump out of their planes already.

Now 38 minutes and still no takers.  What’s up people?! The deal is unreal!  OK, time for me to try to sleep. 

This isn’t healthy. 

I can’t stay up all night trying to figure this out.

But, what if I wake up and still no buyers?  I will most definitely lose it.

OMG!!!!!! Somebody bought one.  Thank the Heavens.  It’s official.  We’re on the board.  We’re 52 minutes in and SCORE, we’re on our way!! 

Now………I can sleep. (yeah right). 

Well, I am getting very tired.  Hey, someone just bought another one.  One in Cerritos, now one in Newport.  OK, with that, I’m going to sleep.  After all, I’ve got a gazillion eye exams to perform over the next several weeks. 

Sure is a good thing I love what I do-looks like I’m going to be doing a lot of it.

Thanks for reading.

Dr. David Rosenblum

Eyesite Optometry, Cerritos and Newport Coast

www.Eyesiteweb.com

So You Want To Be a Billionaire

So You Want To Be a Billionaire……You know how the song goes. Well, I know how it can be done. The only thing you have to do is reverse the normal vision aging process known as Presbyopia. What is Presbyopia? Presbyopia is the normal process we all will experience in our forties. Basically, we lose the ability to accommodate, or focus, our eyes to see things clearly at a near distance such as reading. We’ve all witnessed (or experienced it ourselves) as someone attempts to read a menu in a darkened resaurant. They move their menu near the candle or, if no table light is present, try to catch better lighting by manuevering the menu in different orientations. How about that person frantically looking for their reading glasses to sign a check or document. Then there’s the librarian proudly dangling her readers from a chain around her neck. These people probably had no vision issues until they turned forty.

Psychologically, turning forty is a milestone in itself. Then add the inability to read small print and reality sets in. Unfortunately, our body is not the same after forty-at least not our eyes. I probably give the “your eyes are changing” explanation several times everyday to my patients. The big issue I have had lately is that presbyopia is now upon ME! It’s one thing to explain on a daily basis to my patients what’s happening to their vision; it’s another to experience it myself.

The best part of my personal process is the fact that it happened to my wife, Tiffany, first. Oh yes, as our kids thrust their school material in front of her face to show off a good grade, she promptly pushes it away at arm’s length to be able to more clearly see it. When this happens I just can’t help myself and must make a joke or two. She loves it–uhh,  last time I made a little comment I think I got jabbed in the ribs.

Anyway, the process of presbyopia affects us all.  The good news is we do have multiple ways of combating the problem.  Glasses are probably the most common way, and least appealing, to those struggling with the issue.  Fortunately, we now have great contact lenses, and even some surgical treatments that allow our patients to leave their “readers,” or “cheaters,” (as they are sometimes referred to) at home.  Unfortunately, these new systems are not perfect and do require some adaptation and compromises.

So, if you want to be a billionaire, find out how to reverse the process of presbyopia, and you will be able to hang out with Oprah and the Queen.

My next entry will discuss the ways we can combat presbyopia and improve the quality of life for those lucky enough to be over forty.

Thanks for reading.

Dr. David Rosenblum,  Eyesite Optometry, Newport Coast and Cerritos, Ca

www.eyesiteweb.com

Another Perfect CRT Patient

Yesterday, in our new Newport location, I had the pleasure of telling another patient that her result was absolutely perfect. This 12 year old girl now comfortably sleeps in her contact lenses, removes them in the morning, and sees beautifully all day.

Her clear vision comes from of a revolutionary type of contact lens. This contact lens, or process, rather, is referred to as CRT, or orthokeratology, or, “corneal reshaping.” The process is 100% reversible, causes no damage to the eyes, and is completely painless and drug free.

As the patient sleeps, the contact lenses gently reshape the front of the eye known as the cornea. The reshaped cornea focusses light perfectly and the result is clear, sharp vision without the need of glasses or contact lens wear. In other words, the patient wears contacts at night only, then sees clearly all day.

The advantages are obvious. Most patients tend to be athletes who can’t be restricted by glasses and dont wish to wear contacts during sports. I also use CRT with swimmers and surfers as they cannot wear contacts in the water but must see well to perform.

The contacts are quite comfotable, and the patient can see well while wearing them as well. Another advantage of CRT is that it is absolutely reversible. Once the corneas have been reshaped (often after only a couple of night’s wear) the clear vision only lasts a couple of days as the eyes will regress back to their original shape on their own quite easily.

Therefore, a patient will see very clearly all day with a maintenance contact lens worn every evening during sleep. If they choose to discontinue the process, they simply stop wearing the contacts and in a couple of days, their vision is back where they started.

I often fit teenagers with CRT as well because it does tend to reduce the progression of nearsightedness as they grow and mature through their teens. Through the teen years, myopic, or nearsighted, teens often undergo a doubling or worse of their nearsighted prescription. Rigid Gas Permeable contacts, and CRT lenses, will often limit this progression and more stabilize the prescription over the years.

At Eyesite, I have been working with orthokeratology for many years and have seen so many successful cases. The biggest referral source I have is from these patients as they are definitely the most pleased and excited about their great vision. Not everyone is a candidate for such lenses, however, as only nearsighted and astigmatism patients will be successful.

I hope everyone has a great Easter and Passover and, thanks for reading.

Dr. David Rosenblum
Eyesite Optometry
Cerritos and Newport Coast locations.

Cerritos………..(562) 860-4475
Newport Coast..(949) 640-4733