Most of us have heard of pink eye and most of us know that it is contagious and easy to spread, but do you know exactly what pink eye is? Do you know how to treat it?

Conjunctivitis, or pink eye, is an irritation or inflammation of the conjunctiva, which covers the white part of the eye. It can be caused by allergies, bacteria or viral infection. It can be highly contagious and is spread by contact with eye secretions from someone who is infected. Symptoms can include redness, itching, and tearing of the eyes. It can also create discharge or crusting around the eyes.

If you find yourself with pink eye, it’s important to stop wearing your contacts. Conjunctivitis can resolve on its own, but allergy triggered pink eye can be treated with antihistamines and bacterial pink eye can be treated with antibiotic eye drops.

To learn more about pink eye contact our team. We’re here to help!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE 

Maintaining the health of our eyes is important. Routine check ups are important for evaluating their health, but it’s importnat to make sure our diet is supporting our eye health by providing the vitamins and nutrients it needs. According to WebMD, there are several foods that are best for your eyes. Here are a few of the lesser known ones:

  •  Raw Red Peppers – Per calorie, they provide the best source of vitamin C. Vitamin C is good for the blood vessels in your eye. There’s even evidence to support Vitamin C reducing the risk of getting cataracts.
  • Sunflower Seeds & Nuts – An ounce of these seeds or almonds as has half the amount of vitamin E that the USDA recommends each day.
  • Sweet Potatoes – Part of the orange colored food group, these are packed full of beta carotene.
  • Squash – Full of lutein and zeaxanthin, these are great for you. Especially because your body cannot make these nutrients on their own.

There are more foods providing health benefits to your eyes, but as always we suggest that you consult your physician before making wholesale changes to your diet. If you have any questions about your eye health, contact our team!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

With Halloween just around the corner, we felt it was important to remind everyone that wearing colored contacts or costume contacts can be dangerous for your eyes. These contacts are not FDA approved and when worn can cause corneal abrasions, eye infections or even blindness in some cases. This risk to your eye health is too great for the minor reward of making your costume look more realistic.

The risk for injury or damage is more than sixteen times greater than those who wear medically prescribed contact lenses. So, this Halloween go out and have fun, but be safe, draw the line at costume contact lenses. Happy Halloween!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

Ocugen has submitted a new drug application to the FDA and the FDA has accepted it. The exciting news is that this is a new topical formula for the treatment of dry eye. The medical team at Ocugen is excited that their drug will reach the entire population battling the disease of dry eye as many treatments on the market fall short.

There are many different causes for dry eye and often many different treatments. For minor irritations like allergies, over-the-counter eye drops may work, but if you are dealing with persistent irritation, it may be time to see a professional. We can assess the cause of your dry eye and give you a treatment plan that will work for you.

To find out more, contact our team!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

Our practice takes pride in working with you in all aspects of your eye health. Not just vision exams and vision correction, but helping to treat your eyes when you have an infection for disease.

We can treat common eye conditions like pink eye, infections and inflammations, but we can also work with you when it comes to more complex diseases like glaucoma or macular degeneration. If you require surgery, we will work closely with the best teams in the region to make sure you get the care that you need.

To find out more about the Royal Oak Eye Care difference, contact our team!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

Researchers in Los Angeles are saying that they have developed an eye that is as reliable for detecting Alzheimer’s as early as two decades before symptoms present.

The test was completed on 16 candidates, but the results matched the traditional brain test. The doctor were excited as this represents a huge breakthrough in testing due to the cost effectiveness and non-invasive test.

To read more on the study, click here.

We talk often of the importance of routine eye exams because of their ability to be a key indicator for your overall health. For more questions about diagnosing health issues with eye exams, contact our team.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

Many people may be familiar with the word “cataract” and may even know some details about them, but we want to take an opportunity to share what a cataract is and how it impacts people and what can be done to help treat.

Cataracts are when the natural lens in our eye becomes clouded and does not refract the light the way it should. So a person with cataracts vision becomes blurry, like looking through a dirty window. This can make it hard to see as well as sometimes creating double vision, being sensitive to light, and having trouble seeing at night.

People at risk for cataracts, other then those who are advanced in age, are those with family members with cataracts. Also, people with diabetes, eye injuries, or spent a lot of time in the sun with out proper eye protection are all at increased chance for contracting cataracts.

So to help treat cataracts, people can wear sunglasses that provide UV protection. They can also have annual eye exams if they are over 65 and for people under 65, they can have them every two years. If a person smokes, they should stop immediately. They should use brighter lights for reading and avoid driving at night if halos become problematic.

Surgery is the only way to treat cataracts if they are too severe. Lesser diagnosis may be treated with a change in vision correction until surgery is needed.

If you have questions about your cataracts, contact Royal Oak Eye Care and let our team help!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

image credit: National Eye Institute

If you’re a patient of Royal Oak Eye Care that means you are family. Whether it’s you, your children, your elderly parents, we’re here to help. We have worked hard to create a practice that makes you feel right at home. We want to be a help to you and your family, not a hinderance.

Our team with work closely with you and your family to accommodate your needs and address your concerns, so that you get the help you need. If you’re looking for an eye doctor that cares about you in Marion or Glade Spring, check us out. We hope you’ll be happy!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

Maintaining your eye health is a multi-part process. It includes routine eye exams and the proper eye protection, but a crucial part is eating the right foods to help maintain your eye health.

Some of the top foods, besides carrots, that you can eat are as follows:

  • Leafy greens – packed with lutein and zeaxanthin that are key anti-oxidants that are pivotal in the fight with age-related macular degeneration and cataracts.
  • Eggs – they have lutein and zeaxanthin as well, but they are packed with zinc too. which can fight macular degeneration.
  • Citrus and berries – full of vitamin C that’s great for your eyes
  • Almonds – Vitamin E resides here. Fighting macular degeneration.
  • Fatty fish – Tuna, salmon, mackerel are just some of the fish loaded with DHA, an essential fat to the eye for fighting dry eyes.

Again, these are just some of the top foods to eat in your diet to help your eyes. For more questions about your diet and its impact on your eye health, contact Royal Oak Eye Care today!

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a disease that blurs the sharp central vision you need for “straight-ahead” activities such as reading and driving. AMD affects the macula, which is the part of the eye that allows you to see fine detail.

AMD is most prevalent in older people and the main concern is that there are no physical warning signs until the blurred area is present. There is no pain associated with the disease and the causes of AMD are complex but most common are heredity and environment. At this time, AMD is considered to be incurable.

This further supports the necessity for routine eye exams for as you age so that the condition of the macula can be monitored. If you have not had a comprehensive eye exam in recent years, contact our team to set an appointment today.

CLICK HERE TO CONTACT ROYAL OAK EYE CARE

image credit: Community Eye Health on flickr