CooperVision continues to streamline their portfolio of available contact lens products by dropping older low oxygen permeable hydrogel lenses in favor of newer technology.  Beginning in April, here are the changes in product availability:

Discontinued Trials, Boxes still Available
No trials means that doctors cannot start new fits for this lens, and they cannot order replacements for lost or torn lenses.  Usually discontinuing trials is a precursor to discontinuing the lens itself as a way to pull it off the market less abruptly.

• Biomedics XC (also called UltraFlex XC)  

• Frequency 55 Toric 

Note the slightly whitish hue of the drop inside?  That's because this product isn't water or saline but an oil-based emulsion that's made to act like a restorative version of your own tear film.

We're launching a new feature on the blog today, bringing you advice on the top trends and technology in eyewear straight from the people who know it best, your optometrists!  If you are active on Instagram you'll definitely recognize our first featured OD; with over 2,000 followers, Dr. Fartash posts daily as @glamoptometrist about her favorite eyewear and eye-themed fashion.  She is a 2nd generation optometrist, born and raised in Orange County, California.  A graduate of SCCO (Southern California College of Optometry), she practices in both optical and private practice settings, as well as doing bedside exams at nursing facilities.  "What drove me to start a blog and Instagram was my passion for fashion.  Luckily, in optometry we are able to have both worlds collide."



Current Eyewear: As I am writing this I am wearing my Dolce & Gabbana horned rimmed ophthalmic glasses.  I have recently been more daring in the frames I wear and choose to live in color! So most of the newer frames I wear have lots of personality, like my pink Cartier [above] and red SEE glasses [below]. 

Dolce & Gabbana frames (left) and SEE frames (right)

Tom Ford Sunglasses

Cipro is commonly prescribed for bacterial infections of the sinus and GI tract via

Last month oral fluoroquinolones, which include the popular antibiotics Levaquin (levofloxacin) and Cipro (ciprofloxacin), made news in Canada as new legislation passed requiring a warning label about the increased risk for retinal detachment with these medications. Health Canada (the country's version of our FDA) cited a 2012 study by Dr. Mayhar Etminan that reviewed 4,383 cases of retinal detachments in British Columbia from 2000 to 2007.  The study found a 4.5 x greater risk of retinal detachment for patients taking oral fluoroquinolones.  The mean number of days before starting a prescription for a fluorquinolone to retinal detachment occurrence was 4.8 days.  The study author could only theorize how these antibiotics could be related to retinal detachment risk; previous investigation has shown oral fluoroquinolones disrupt collagen synthesis and can cause tendon weakness.  Theories arose that a similar effect on the eye's collagen tissue could potentially cause a risk for retinal detachment.

But Canada's ruling to put warning labels on these antibiotics is not without controversy.  The FDA and the American Medical Association have not come to the same conclusion that oral fluoroquinolones pose an increased risk. Several review studies have reported no correlation between the two; a 2013 study and most recently a 2016 meta-analysis showed no statistically significant association between fluoroquinolone usage and retinal detachment occurrence. 

Retinal Detachment via

What does increase the risk?
Retinal detachments are a serious medical condition, requiring prompt treatment.  Even with quick repair, vision loss can be permanent, so recognizing the signs and symptoms of a detachment is essential to saving sight.  Retinal detachments are painless, but they do cause sudden changes to vision like flashing lights, new floaters, or blacking out or shadowing of vision.  Check this article for more.

You are at an increased risk for retinal detachment, whether you are taking oral fluoroquinolones are not, if you are:

• highly myopic (near-sighted)
• had recent ocular surgery or injection of ocular medication
• had recent trauma
• are diagnosed with glaucoma, diabetes, AIDS, or malignant hypertension
• are diagnosed with a collagen tissue disorder like Marfan's Syndrome or Ehlers-Danlos
• have a family history of retinal detachment

With fashion weeks across New York, Paris, and Milan winding down this week, we've been swamped with fantastic style inspiration! This season I was especially feeling the street style eyewear captured by photographers like Phil Oh and on random Instagram accounts of the fashionable and famous.  Wondering what's in for spring?  Look no further than these street style mavens!

Round  - Thought that 70s vibe would be over this season?  Think again.  Round eyewear, tinted lenses, and lots and lots of fringe were having the streets outside fashion runways look like an extras call for Vinyl.

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via 1 and 2

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Shop the Look:

When I first switched to a Daytona Optos imaging system for retinal photography, I'm not gonna lie -- I was a little hesitant.  I had gotten so comfortable with traditional imaging systems, and I felt like the posterior pole looked sort of warped in the Optos picture.  Within just a few weeks I was completely sold, though.  The images I was seeing were totally changing the way I talked about ocular health with my patients.  We could see tiny peripheral retinal hemorrhages.  We could see peripheral drusen that might increase their risk for macular degeneration later in life, or even the risk of Alzheimer's disease.  And the filter system allows for spectacular contrast views, even auto-fluorescent imaging.

A large rhegamatogenous retinal detachment

If you are considering upgrading to Optos imaging, or have a camera and want to share your fantastic photos, you need to check out What the Fundus?, a website dedicated to fascinating images taken with Optos cameras.  The founder Dr. M created "What the Fundus?" after a discussion with fellow eye doctors at a Optos training session. "We wanted a place where we could post interesting or just cool looking pictures that have been taken in our practices.  A place free from internet trolls and malcontents where we share what we are passionate about.  Hence, whatthefundus.com was born."

Asteroid Hyalosis

One (or a few) retinal tears going on in the periphery of an asymptomatic patient.

Have images of your own you want to share?  Email Dr. M at michael@whatthefundus.com to be featured on the site!  He adds new photographs regularly, so keep checking back to see what interesting cases walk through the door.

You know that feeling -- the ache behind your eyes, the heavy feeling of your eyelids, the redness and under eye circles you see looking in the mirror, and that intense sensitivity you get when you look at bright lights or step outside of your workplace and venture outdoors.  This feeling of light sensitivity and tired eyes has a name -- digital eye strain.  For 65% of Americans digital eye strain is wreaking serious havoc on work performance, and how your eyes feel when you're not logging those long hours at your computer and cell phone screen.  The average American spends nearly 6 hours a day using mobile digital devices and almost 11 hours daily when you include time on desktop computers, laptops, and watching TV!  Our eyes struggle adapting to light after logging long hours in a digital environment for two big reasons: