Leave it to Friday to get my most shocking patient admittance of the week.  At this point in my career, not much is surprising me anymore.  People routinely admit to grossly overwearing contact lenses.  Heck, I have even seen people put their contact lenses in their mouth right in front of me before putting them in their eyes.  I talk to my patients about any risks in their contact lens practices, but not much takes me by surprise anymore.

Color lenses are fun, but are thicker and usually less oxygen permeable than clear lenses, making them an even larger risk to your cornea!  Appropriate wear is essential to maintaining ocular health

I hate to admit that my sense of fashion is now purely dictated by what is trending on pinterest.  Pretty sure I'm not the only one out there with this new age affliction.   The latest trends on sunglasses are for loud colors  and patterns, and this year's emphasis on floral prints has not been ignored in the world of sunglasses.  For the adventurous, I give you:

All photos via pinterest

High/Low:  Dolce and Gabbana at left                                         Wet Seal at right

C'sar courtesy NC Asheboro Zoo

Remember reading my posts about cataracts where I said that having a cataract is part of being a human being?  Well, I should have said it is just a part of being alive.  Pet owners know that their cats and dogs are routinely diagnosed with cataracts as they age, and surgeries for removing cataracts are now being done on house pets and larger animals like horses with more and more regularity.  Asheboro zoo tenant C'sar is a 38 year old African Elephant who lost about 1,000 pounds over the course of a year and was showing less and less interest in daily life before veterinarians removed the cataracts that were clouding his sight back in November.  See the full article here.  When humans undergo cataract extraction, a small implant is put in place of the lens (called an IOL) to help return vision to normal after surgery.  NC State veterinarians had planned on putting a similar implant in C'sar's eye, but  were unable to do so due to damage to surrounding ocular tissue.  As a result, C'sar is about +9.00D in prescription.  In layman's terms, everything still looks REALLY blurry to him, despite having his cataract removed.  Due to this high left over prescription, zoo veterinarians are considering fitting the elephant with specialty contact lenses that would return C'sar closer to the vision of his youth.  At this point, the plans are tentative pending how C'sar appears to recover his appetite and will to thrive with just the cataract removal alone.

For millions of contact lens wearers, it is easy to forget the little piece of hydrogel you pop into your eyes every morning is really a technologically sophisticated medical device that puts you at risk for bacterial and other pathogenic infections every single day.  Contact lens technology has improved leaps and bounds since they first became main stream in the 1970s, but there are still a large number of complications from contact lens wear that arise every year.  The newest soft contact lenses on the market are made from a highly oxygen permeable material called silicone hydrogel.  When these lenses were first introduced, doctors had hoped that the higher oxygen levels would greatly reduce the rate of infections.  While there has been improvement, complications like corneal ulcers and infiltrates continue to exist.   Here's a look at what we can do to reduce the risks of contact lens wear.

Corneal Ulcer via review of ophthalmology

Large Corneal Scar following an ulcer.  Vision will never return to normal with a large scar like this. Photo from andrewgasson.co/uk

I traveled to Chicago this past weekend for the annual American Optometric Association conference, and there will be PLENTY of posts to come detailing new insights and technologies from all of the courses I took.  But let's start off easy with a fashion post inspired by this month's Elle magazine spread featuring vintage Chanel shades.  The looks are unique and fashion forward, but also ridiculously hard to wear.  The styles and the price tags below are not for the faint of heart!  Fashion wouldn't have it any other way.

Photo courtesy elle.com

The pearl bedecked shades at left are available at depuis1924.com  for a paltry $3200.





Below: Chanel logo suns circa 1990.  These vintage frames remind me of trial frames, so I had to include them for the geek factor
Left: Wanting something more flattering?  These vintage Chanel frames are more wearable, but there is no doubt about how much you spent on your sunglasses with that logo blazing across the lenses.


Below: More white Chanel frames.  Look closely and you will see a repeating miniature logo in a ring around the lens.  Priced at $950

Need a rewetting drop?  Try browsing the eye drop aisle at your local pharmacy and you will immediately find yourself overwhelmed with the number of products available.  Dry Eye Syndrome is one of the most common ocular problems of our generation.  Between endless marathons of computer use and the dryness associated with so many common systemic medications for allergies, high blood pressure, and anxiety or depression, dryness is a way of life for many Americans.  Only your doctor can tell you what kind of Dry Eye you suffer from (yes, there are different types!).  Here's a break down of the best over the counter tears for the underlying causes of your dryness.

Clogged meibomian oil glands are a very common cause of dryness!  Photo via Review of Optometry

Ectropion is very common as the eyelids naturally begin to loose elasticity and sag.

Every time I dilate a patient (or the patient declines to be dilated for that matter) I talk about the 3 things that require an immediate call to me:

Retinal tear with detachment coutesty acponline.org

A near total retinal detachment with poor potential for vision even after repair.  Photo from  retinagallery.com Do not wait until your eye looks like this inside to call your doctor!  It is always better to be safe and have a dilated examination performed if you experience the 3 signs and symptoms of a retinal detachement!