Union Optical

According to the National Institutes of Health, farsightedness can have a significant impact on overall quality of life. Why? It can make it difficult to read, write, work on computers, do close work, perform routine chores, see the car speedometer, and more.

Farsightedness affects individuals differently. For instance, many people notice little impact on their vision when they’re young, but as they age, they may have headaches, eye strain, and more difficulty focusing on objects near at hand.

Lowering eye pressure is currently the only way to control glaucoma. This can be achieved via medicines, laser, or surgery. Medication typically involves eye drops and the dosage varies from one to three drops per day. Laser surgery can control eye pressure for as many as five years.

Convincing your small child to wear his or her eyeglasses can be quite the challenge. Begin by having the child wear glasses for short periods each day. Try attaching a wrap-around headband to glasses for kids who have trouble keeping up with them.

Although blinking is a bodily function that's occurs pretty unconsciously, the average number of blinks per minute can vary depending on what you're doing. For instance, you blink more when you're brushing your teeth than you do when you're playing a video game.

Do you know what causes the red-eye you see in many photos? This is caused by the direction in which the light is shone on the person. In the case of red-eye, the light is hitting the person’s choroid, which is filled with many different blood vessels.

Did you know that researchers have now confirmed the importance of diet and nutrition in regards to eye health? In fact, eye-health-encouraging nutrients like zinc, Vitamins C and E, and lutein (zeaxanthin) have been proven to reduce the risk of eye disorders like macular degeneration, cataracts, and others.

If you’ve ever had to use eye drops, you know how painful they can be, especially if your eyes are already irritated from allergies or something getting in your eye. You can actually keep them in the refrigerator, and they will sting less!

Lenses are available in a variety of materials, weights, and thicknesses. We will work with you to find the materials that are best suited for your prescription, your lifestyle, and your budget.

Did you know that the external muscles that move your eyes are 100 times more powerful than they need to be to control your eyes’ movement?

Large, leafy greens are excellent sources of vitamins for your eyes, and incorporating vegetables like kale and spinach can help your eye health with vitamins such as A, C, E, lutein, and beta carotene, according to the New York Department of Health.

Presbyopia or farsightedness refers to the eye’s inability to properly focus on objects that are in close viewing range. According to the NIH, it’s a natural, non-threatening condition that nearly 100 percent of adults develop as they age.

To perform a home check on your child’s vision, try this. If he or she is reading, turn on the close captioning for a TV show and have him or her read it. You will be told if the words are fuzzy or blurry.

Do you have nearsightedness? Some research shows that this vision condition is hereditary. The condition also seems to occur in people that suffer visual stress from working too closely to objects such as computer monitors.

I’ve always had perfect vision, but recently, I’ve had trouble reading small print. A visit to your optometrist will give you the answer, but it is common for people as they hit 35 and older to lose the ability to focus on objects up close as well as they used to. This is called presbyopia.

If you need glasses, don’t feel like an outcast. A study by the U.S. Eye Institute of more than 12,000 people concluded that about half needed some type of vision correction. About 30 percent were nearsighted, another 36 percent had some type of astigmatism and about 4 percent were farsighted.

Ian Bailey and Jan Lovie from the National Vision Research Institute of Australia are credited with developing the LogMAR chart used by optometrists today. The name LogMAR is shorthand for Logarithm of the Minimum Angle of Resolution.

Sunglasses are an important part of caring for your eyes, especially in the summer when harsh rays can damage them. If you wear prescription glasses, we have a variety of frames we can offer you to make you prescription sunglasses.

Contacts that are put in backward will immediately feel painful. Most should have a letter or number engraved on them to indicate direction.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is the number-one cause of vision loss in American seniors 60 and older. This affects an overall 10 million people in the United States, according to the National Eye Institute.

People prone to seasonal allergies are susceptible to allergic conjunctivitis. Common symptoms include swollen eyelids, excessive tearing, pink or red coloration in the whites of the eye, and sensations like itching, burning or grittiness.

If you work regularly at a computer screen, you may have problems seeing it clearly. Many screens sit out of the range of most prescription lenses. To address this, we recommend either progressive lenses or a dedicated pair of glasses for computer use.

While Vitamin A is important to your vision, we recommend not just taking a supplement but also adding foods rich in Vitamin A to your diet. Some of these foods are bright orange and yellow vegetables and milk, eggs and fish.

If you’re using home remedies for your eyes and are only seeing results temporarily, make sure you come in to see us if the symptoms persist for more than two days. It’s not normal for the eyes to feel bad for that long.

Did you know that you blink about 12 times per minute? The average blink lasts for about one-tenth of a second. Blinking helps to wash tears over our eyeballs, preventing the condition of dry-eye, and is what keeps your eyes clean and moist.

To safely clean your contact lenses, make sure that you wash them with the appropriate disinfecting solution and rinse them well. Never store your contacts in water, or top off any solution in your case.

The best way to avoid eyeglasses repairs is to always store your eyeglasses in a case. This can help protect the lenses from scratching and the frames from accidental damage from dropping or crushing.

Did you know that it’s recommended that you have a comprehensive eye exam every two years if you are over the age of 20? However, certain medical conditions necessitate more frequent visits, including diabetes or a family history of glaucoma.

There are several factors that can help determine how often you should see your optometrist. This will depend on your general health, vision health, family health history, and age.

Optometrist and ophthalmologists form the core of eye care specialists in the country. Think of optometrists as you would your primary care physician, examining and diagnosing eye problems that can be treated in an outpatient setting.