Abbey Eye Care

Located in Oakville, Ontario. Abbey Eye Care is a team of highly trained Optometrists providing comprehensive eye exams for the whole family. Our optical boutique offers the latest in glasses, sunglasses and contact lenses.It is our mission to provide the highest quality of eye care and eye wear to help our patients look and see their best.

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Diabetes and your eyes

Diabetes and its complications can affect not only your vision, but the delicate structures inside your eye. Diabetes can cause fluctuating blood sugar which in turn can cause fluctuating vision. However, the most serious eye problem associated with diabetes is diabetic retinopathy.

 Diabetic retinopathy occurs when there is a weakening or swelling of the tiny blood vessels in the retina of your eye, resulting in fluid leakage, the growth of new blood vessels and other changes. If left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can result in blindness.

 Early detection of diabetic retinopathy through a comprehensive eye exam is crucial, as treatment is much more likely to be successful at an early stage.

 Several factors that increase the risk of developing diabetic retinopathy include smoking, high blood pressure, drinking alcohol and pregnancy.

 See your physician regularly and follow instructions about diet, exercise and medication. See your doctor of optometry for a thorough eye examination when you are first diagnosed with diabetes, at least annually thereafter and more frequently if recommended.

 33 per cent of all Ontarians with diabetes do not get regular eye exams for diabetic retinopathy. 

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Will my child become nearsighted?

This is for everyone whose parents said, "Sitting too closeto the TV is going to ruin your eyes." In other words, pretty much all of us. Now as parents you are concerned about your children and the amount of time they spend looking at various devices that make up our digital world.

Sitting too close to the TV doesn't predict nearsightedness, according to a study that tracked the vision of thousands of children over 20 years. Nor does doing a lot of close work i.e. tablets and smart phones.

Instead, as early as age 6 a child's refractive error or prescription - best predicts the risk.

One-third of adults are nearsighted, and the problem typically develops between ages 8 and 12.

Children are not great about telling parents that they can't see the board in class, and the letter-chart screening tests used by some schools and pediatricians are less than ideal, according to Karla Zadnik, dean of the College of Optometry at Ohio State University and lead author of the a new study. It was published Thursday in JAMA Ophthalmology.

"Just measuring how well they can read the chart won't capture that key piece of information," she says.

In this analysis, the researchers looked at 13 potential risk factors for nearsightedness, or myopia.

Having nearsighted parents increases the risk for myopia, the study found, but it's not as strong a predictor as is refractive error. Doing close work or watching TV close up weren't risk factors.

Earlier work by this group found that children who spent more time outdoors were less likely to be nearsighted, but it's unclear why that would be. One theory is that being exposed to sunlight or higher vitamin D levels could make a difference. The study was funded by the National Institutes of Health.

In the study, children whose refractive error was less than +0.75 diopters (which is slightly farsighted) in first grade were most likely to become nearsighted. As a child gets older that number drops, so that by sixth grade a child with no refractive error is at risk. Myopia is defined as a refractive error of -0.75 diopters or more.

There's no way to prevent nearsightedness, but finding out if your child is at risk is an important first step.

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Dr. Jeff Goodhew was a guest on Goldhawk Fights Back, Am 740 Zoomer radio. December 9, 2014. 30 minute call in show about Senior's vision and eye health.  http://www.zoomerradio.ca/?powerpress_pinw=97443-podcast

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We began construction on our new office at the end of November. It's almost Christmas now and we've made great progress. Still aiming to be open February 3, 2015.

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Abbey Eye Care on Global News. A great story around the importance of Children's vision and early eye exams.

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Children's Vision Month Sweepstakes

Undiagnosed vision problems can affect children's ability to reach their full potential in many areas of their life. From September 23 to November 4, the Children's Vision Month Sweepstakes will give away prizes to help set children up for success at school, socially, and at play. 

Website will be live as of September 23rd, 2014. www.DOCtcontest.com

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Introducing AIR OPTIX COLORS Contact Lenses.

Alcon has just released its latest innovation in colored contact lenses, AIR OPTIX COLORS.  It has been a long time since we have seen any new products in the colored contact lens category, so this is a welcome release.

AIR OPTIX COLORS are designed to enhance dark or light eyes, with a completely natural effect and can be prescribed with or without vision correction. They feature a technology that combines 3 colors in 1 to blend naturally with the color of your eye, so you can experience a new look that can be subtle or vibrant.

Alcon has been the industry leader in colored contact lenses with its flagship product, FRESHLOOK colors. They have taken the same colored effect technology and combined it with the AIR OPTIX lens material. AIR OPTIX is the leading monthly disposable contact lens which offers excellent deposit resistance and superb breathability. This helps ensure your eyes not only look healthy but stay healthy.

The colored lenses are available in 9 colors (5 subtle and 4 vibrant).

The AIR OPTIX COLORS lenses for the first time offer comfort, beauty and health – all in one lens material.

Below are actual pictures of two of our team members wearing the AIR OPTIX COLORS lenses.

Jessica R wearing the Brilliant Blue lens on the L side

Jessica F wearing the Gemstone Green lens on the R side

We are pleased to offer this exciting new lens technology to our patients. Don't hesitate to ask anyone of our doctors or staff about this new lens from Alcon.

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UV PROTECTION AND KIDS – THE IMPORTANCE OF PROTECTING YOUNG EYES FROM THE SUN

Parents are quite good at protecting their kid’s skin from the harmful effects of UV radiation. However when it comes to the eyes, parents are often unaware that children are at higher risk of UV damage to their eyes than adult are.

With summer now upon us, many parents have a routine. Slip on a shirt, slap on a hat and slop on some sunscreen before they let their kids play outside. But all too often parents forget about sunglasses. There are many factors that make children’s eyes much more susceptible to UV damage than adults.

The young eye lets in more UV radiation

We all have a lens inside the eye, just behind the iris (coloured part) and the pupil (the opening). The lens in children’s eyes allows up to 80% of damaging UV light to hit the retina (the sensory layer at the back of the eye). It is not until we hit the age of 25 that the lens inside the eye blocks most of the UV radiation. In fact up to 50% of the UV damage to the eye occurs by the time kids reach the age of 18.

Kids have larger pupils

The pupil or the opening of the eye, is larger in kids thus allowing more UV radiation into the eye.

Kids spend more time outdoors

On average children spend more time outdoors playing than adults do.

  Few kids wear sunglasses

A recent study in Hawaii showed that only 12% of children wear sunglasses.

  What to do

Kids are creatures of habit and are used to putting on a hat and sunscreen before heading outdoors in the summer. Make wearing sunglasses part of the “deal” before they head outside.

When purchasing sunglasses look for a pair that offers good coverage of the eyes. A wrap-around style that fits snugly to the face offers the best protection. Also, make sure the lenses offer 100% UV protection or UV Block 400, both of these labels would ensure you are getting the best protection.

To sum up, kids eyes are more susceptible to UV damage. Add sunglasses to your sun protection routine as your kids head outdoors this summer.

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New Surgical procedure for Presbyopia

As we progress through our 40's it becomes more difficult for many of us to read up close. This is due to the natural aging process of the eye. The lens inside the eye becomes less flexible and losses it's ability to focus up close. We call this presbyopia. We help our patients at this stage of their lives with reading glasses or contact lenses. Both of which provide good options for near vision.

Recently, Drs. Jeff & Tina Goodhew attended a seminar hosted by TLC. TLC is North America's largest laser vision correction company. The have 6 centres in Canada.

The two centres in Canada recently began implanting a device called the Kamra inlay. The Kamra inlay pictured below (next to a contact lens for size reference) is surgically inserted into the cornea of the non-dominant eye.

This allows the eye with the inlay to not only see far away but to view close objects as well.

The inlay uses an optical effect called of depth of focus. By focusing the light through the small opening it increases the range of clear vision to encompass objects far away and up close.

The picture below is the inlay implanted into a cornea with simulated light passing through the small opening.

If you are over 40 and struggling to read, don't hesitate to talk to one of the doctors at Abbey Eye Care to see if you are a candidate for this procedure.

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OCT imaging technology available at Abbey Eye Care - think of it as an ultrasound of the retina - more detail than ever before during the #eyeexam

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Infant and Children's Vision

Drs. Tina & Jeff Goodhew spoke today to the Momstown Oakville baby basics session. Today's topic was on infant and childhood vision. Drs. Tina and Jeff talked about vision development right from birth to pre-school age. Visual developmental milestones were discussed at 1 month, 3 months, 6 months of age and beyond.  Aspects such as visual acuity (sharpness of vision), eye alignment, colour vision and depth perception were all touched on.  The goal of the session was to educate young moms on what is normal visual development and what things would be considered abnormal.  The session was well received and the questions afterwards were great!

We encourage all infants to have their eyes examined between 6 - 12 months of age, between 3 -4 years of age and every year afterwards. As a reminder, children's eye examinations are covered once per year by OHIP up to an including age 19.

Thanks to momstown Oakville for giving us the opportunity to talk about such an important topic.

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5 posts!

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Specialty Contact Lens Fitting

Yesterday we fit a patient with a scleral contact lens. Scleral contact lenses are used for patients with irregular corneas, diseased corneas or post surgical corneas. The cornea is the clear window of the eye.

A scleral lens works by vaulting or clearing the cornea completely and landing or touching down on the white part of the eye, which is called teh sclera. A nice layer of tears fills the space between the cornea and the lens producing a even optical surface.

Essentially you are taking a very rough irregular surface and making it into a perfectly smooth - curved surface. If all goes well the vision is excellent as it was in this case.

The above image shows the contact lens clearing or vaulting over the cornea.

This image shows the contact lens landing on the white part of the eye.

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Children's Eye Exams

Parents will often ask us when to bring their child in for an eye examination. The doctors at Abbey Eye Care recommend children have their first eye examination at 6 months of age, again at age 3 and every year after.

80% of learning is visual so we cannot stress the importance of brining your child in for an eye exam at an early age. Statistics show that only 15% of children have an eye exam before they start school. It is our goal at Abbey Eye Care to try and change that one child at a time.

Eye exams are covered by OHIP once per year up to and including age 19. Book your child's eye exam today!

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Children's Vision and Eye Exams

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C. Goodhew, Abbey Eye Care part time employee, took this photo of the Oakley Team Canada Olympic Series that we now have in the office. Proceeds from each sale go the Canadian Olympic Committee. Go Team Canada Go!

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Nearsightedness - protective effect of the sun

Nearsightedness or myopia occurs when objects in the distance are difficult to see. We often see children in our office for eye exams who are struggling to see the board at school. Nearsightedness or myopia occurs when the eye has grown too long from from to back.

The normal eye is to top image. The lower image shows that distance viewed objects are focused in front of the retina leaving them blurry and out of focus.

The focal point typically moves in front of the retina when the eye grows too long from front to back. It only takes .25mm to 0.5mm of extra length for a child to then require glasses for distance.

Parents will often ask us what caused the myopia or nearsightedness. The most common thought is that prolonged use of various devices such as computers, video games and handhelds are the culprits. There is however no evidence in the literature to back that up.

A joint study by the University of Sydney (Australia) and The University of Singapore discovered that time spent outdoors reduced significantly the prevalence of nearsightedness. Ethnicity was removed as a factor because the study group were 6 and 7- year old children of Chinese ethnicity living in Sydney and Singapore.

The study showed that the prevalence of this condition contrasted sharply: 3.3% among those living in Sydney versus 29.1% for those in Singapore.28 A comparison of the children’s lifestyles further revealed that the Sydney group engaged in just as much, if not more, near work than their Singapore counterparts. The biggest difference was the time spent outdoors. The children living in Sydney spent on average 14 hours per week outside versus 3 hours for those living in Singapore.

Below is a public education campaign that the government of Singapore has designed to help reduce the prevalence of Myopia.

  More studies need to be done but the protective effect of natural light in reducing the prevalence of nearsightedness seems to be a exciting new discovery.