Your vision insurance benefits expire on December 31, 2011. If they are not used by the end of the year you forfeit them. So as it has been said, “Use it or Lose It”! Many patients confuse vision insurance with medical health insurance. The fact is, the two are not the same. Vision insurance covers a “once a year” eye examination, an eye health screening and benefits for contact lenses or eyeglasses.
Medical Health Insurance recognizes that your eye is a “body member” like any other part of your body, subject to disease from various medical conditions. A few of the many conditions are diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. Medical Insurance plans like Blue Cross Blue Shield, Medicare, Aetna, United Healthcare and Cigna, to name a few, cover medical eye care and treatment by an optometric physician like Dr. Consor for conditions like dry eyes, eye allergy and eye conditions related to diabetes, high blood pressure and cancer. Numerous diseases of the body can damage the inside of the eye. Did you know that diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness? Many medical plans include a preventive annual diabetic eye wellness examination for FREE.
If your medical insurance deductibles have been met or you haven’t used your vision care plan benefits, this is a good time of the year to visit the Eye Doctor.
Use any remaining account dollars in your Health Savings or Flexible Spending accounts. HSA and Flex Plans can be used for eye exams, prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses and medical eye care.
Worldwide, Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the United States. Glaucoma is an eye disorder in which the optic nerve suffers damage, permanently impacting vision in the affected eye(s) and progressing to complete blindness if untreated. It is often called a “silent thief” because it can steal your vision over a long period without you even knowing it. By the time you notice symptoms, the disease is usually in an advanced stage. Open-angle glaucoma accounts for 90% of glaucoma cases in the United States. It is painless and does not have acute attacks. The only signs are gradually progressive visual field loss, and optic nerve changes.1
Our office embraces the new GDX technology for the early detection of glaucoma. The GDX nerve fiber layer scanning technology in less than 90 seconds painlessly scans the optic fibers that degenerate in glaucoma. This screening allows Dr. Consor to see the pattern and thickness of nerve fibers in the back of the eye and compare them again normal results. Thinner than normal fibers indicate glaucoma may be present long before any vision is lost. This means the doctor will have more time to treat the disease which is always a good thing!
Contact our office to determine if you are at risk of developing glaucoma. We have a list of patient demographics for which we suggest the screening. This screening is conducted during our comprehensive eye health exam for a VERY minimal charge.
During those few hours a week that I am not in the office, I enjoy several hobbies, the most recent being photography. (The pictures at the bottom of this post are two that I took at the Dallas Arboretum.) One of the very first purchases I made after buying a camera (actually it was a gift from my wife) was a polarizing filter. Next to my camera and lenses, this is my most important and significant piece of equipment in my bag. It makes an enormous difference when shooting landscapes, sky, and water scenes, among others.
Just like the filter on my camera, polarized lenses filter out glare in your sunglasses. “But I don’t notice glare?”, you may say. Really? Have you ever been driving on a day when there is a lot of moisture in the air and the sky is grey? Even though the sky is completely cloudy , you still feel the need to squint. You aren’t being affected by bright light, but by the glare! As the light travels through the air it hits the water molecules in the air and fractures, producing copious amounts of glare. A pair of polarized lenses will minimize this and make driving MUCH more comfortable!
But we see far fewer rainy days than we do sunny days around Dallas. Moisture isn’t the only thing that produces glare. How about concrete? I doubt you commute to work through a grass field, and even if you do, I suspect it isn’t on foot. You are going to be subjected to glare from street signs, cars, windshields, buildings and many other reflective surfaces. A flash of light can seriously affect your vision for five or ten seconds. At sixty or, let’s face it Dallas drivers, eighty-five miles per hour, you are covering a lot of ground with impaired vision. That is a lot of time for something to happen with serious consequences.
Polarized lenses are also great for sports. They will cut the glare for skiing, improve contrast for reading contours while playing golf, and help you see through the surface of the water while fishing. Here is a great site that shows different colors of lenses. Click on each one for a demo of the lens and a list of which activities each color is useful for. The most common two colors are gray and brown. Once you venture outside of those colors, availability will be significantly limited.
The photos below shows the same scene. I took the first picture of a Koi pond fed by a stream. After I checked the picture I realized I had forgotten to attach my polarized filter. I screwed it on and took another shot. Notice how the picture on the left is harsh, and you can barely tell there are fish in the photo? The photo on the right was taken with the polarized lens which greatly reduced the glare from the surface of the water.
Have you tried polarized lenses? What has your experience been? Leave a comment and let us hear from you. We will also answer your questions if you leave one in the comments.
Many people who use computers for long stretches of time complain about symptoms like dry eyes, blurry vision and eye strain. While it might not be feasible to cut down on computer use, there are a number of ways to maintain good eye care and health while you are at work. First, regular eye exams are a must and it is important to tell your doctor how much computer work you do each day. We have special computer lens prescriptions to help you on the computer. When using your computer, make sure that you stop for breaks at regular intervals. It’s a good idea to look away from the screen preferably out the window to relax your eyes for one minute every 10 minutes.
One problem many computer users face is a problem they probably are not even aware of; that is the fact that they do not blink often enough. When staring continuously at your monitor, you will blink far less than normal causing dry and red eyes. When working at your computer, make a conscious effort to blink as much as possible. In fact, closing your eyes for a few seconds can really help as well. Using artificial tears and applying them to keep your eyes moist is also helpful as is installing a humidifier in your work area.
The way you sit at your computer also plays an important role in the health of your eyes. Make sure the monitor is about 20 inches away from your eyes. The top of the monitor should be tilted a little below your eye level this encourages blinking and reduces back and neck strain. Also make sure that you keep your monitor free of dust and fingerprints, as these can greatly reduce clarity.
…if you decide to put on colored lenses as part of your costume that weren’t prescribed for you by a licensed eye doctor.
Contact lenses are a medical device, similar to prescription medications, that need to be professionally fitted to your eyes, and there are laws to prescribing them. Wearing lenses that were not prescribed for you can result in damage to your corneas (the windows of your eyes) and diseases like corneal ulcers, that can result in scarring and permanent loss of vision.
Despite these laws, there are vendors who still sell them on the streets, in stores and on the internet. This is a timely topic, considering the time of the year, and the fact that I was at a educational seminar in another city and noticed a sign in the window of the store promoting the sale of tinted contact lenses for Halloween. I went into the store pretending I wanted to buy some, and was offered an array of colors to try on at a very affordable price.
I want to caution you as an eye care specialist to avoid any temptation to wear contact lenses that were not prescribed for you. On that note, even trying on clear lenses that belong to a friend can be potentially harmful.
Below I have reposted an investigative news story about such lenses in which Dr. Consor was interviewd by WB33 news.
Several weeks ago, a friend of my wife spent ALL NIGHT in the emergency room with her fourteen year old son. He had spent the evening riding four-wheelers with friends when one became stuck in the mud. In an attempt to free the vehicle they connected one end of a chain to the ATV and the other end to a truck. If you haven’t seen it coming yet, the chain broke, and under intense strain, flew back striking the young man in the eye causing a blowout fracture.
He spent the next six hours in surgery trying to save the eye. This didn’t include any attempts to repair the three fractured bones around his eye. Not long after the surgery it became apparent the eye would have to be removed and fitted with a prosthetic eye. (Okay, the cat picture at this link is just weird!)
Eyes are different than most other parts of the body. Unlike an arm, a foot, or even your heart, the eyes cannot be replaced with a functional substitute. The first step in protecting your eyes is to actively minimize the potential for an eye injury. In the case mentioned above, removing yourself from harm’s way is most important. I have been in that same situation before and always tried to get behind a tree, structure, or another vehicle. That chain was under enormous tension and can be lethal if it breaks and hits you just right.
Most of us find ourselves in this position very rarely, but we encounter other situations dangerous to our eyes with regularity. At least once a week I am out mowing the yard, weed eating, or trimming some trees around the house. Earlier this summer I was looking down while mowing and a low hanging limb hit me directly in the eye. Luckily for me, I was wearing safety glasses! They aren’t prescription and I got them for about $10 at Home Depot; much less than a visit to the ER! It is easy to think “it won’t happen to me…what are the odds?”. Actually, the odds are probably much lower than you think, and who wants to play the loss-of-vision lottery anyway?
Another frequent danger for the eyes is sports activities. It’s easy to get an elbow or finger in the eye why playing many sports. Or how about a baseball to the face? We encourage our patients to invest in a good pair of sports eyewear, such as Rec Specs, for these activities. We fit many patients with sports glasses that incorporate Transitions lenses so that children may play sports indoors or outdoors or for our patients that enjoy riding motorcycles both during the day and at night. Combined with an anti-reflective coating, these lenses can even improve performance through clearer vision and decreased reaction times.
Have you ever had an injury that could have been prevented with a pair of protective eyewear? Leave a comment, we’d love to hear from you!
Now we can take clearer, sharper, more defined pictures of the back of your eyes with our new Nidek Digital Retinal Camera. With this digital technology we can now image the optic nerve, blood vessels, macula and surrounding retinal detail with a more vivid digital picture.
We have networked most of your vision examination data and special tests enabling us to send this information directly to the exam room to be reviewed in front of you on widescreen monitors. Imagine seeing the inside of your eye in true digital color. The Nidek camera has an Image Wizard program allowing us to enlarge areas of suspected pathology, view them in stereo 3-D and measure them with extreme accuracy. Dr. Consor is an Adjunct Professor at the University of Houston, Eye Institute and can export your photos to various universities and retinal specialists for immediate consultation.
WOW VISION – With our new Opthonics laser driven refractor and abberometer we can determine your glasses prescription in seconds. “Which is better? One or two?” is becoming a thing of the past.
Eye Doctor Dallas, Dallas Eye Wear, Eye Glasses Dallas, Cataract Doctor Dallas, Laser Vision Correction & Eye Surgery by Dr. Bob Consor of Eye Doctor's Office & Eye Gallery in Highland Park area of Dallas Texas
Several weeks ago, a friend of my wife spent ALL NIGHT in the emergency room with her fourteen year old son. He had spent the evening riding four-wheelers with friends when one became stuck in the mud. In an attempt to free the vehicle they connected one end of a chain to the ATV and the other end to a truck. If you haven’t seen it coming yet, the chain broke, and under intense strain, flew back striking the young man in the eye causing a 
Another frequent danger for the eyes is sports activities. It’s easy to get an elbow or finger in the eye why playing many sports. Or how about a baseball to the face? We encourage our patients to invest in a good pair of 
Now we can take clearer, sharper, more defined pictures of the back of your eyes with our new Nidek Digital Retinal Camera. With this digital technology we can now image the optic nerve, blood vessels, macula and surrounding retinal detail with a more vivid digital picture.