Will School Make You Nearsighted?

Researchers in Germany have uncovered a possible link between spending more years in school and the prevalence and severity of nearsightedness. In the Gutenberg Health Study, they looked at 4,658 Germans ages 35-74 who had myopia (nearsightedness), which causes distant objects to appear blurry while close-up objects are clear. The study did not include participants with cataracts or anyone who had refractive surgery.

The Findings

•  53% of university graduates had myopia
• 39% of high school graduates had myopia
• 24% of participants without a high school education had myopia

The myopia became more severe with each additional year of school.

Don’t Sacrifice Education for Vision

We are not recommending that people drop out of school to possibly protect their vision. Instead, while you are pursuing your education, be aware of your environment and how it is affecting your eyesight. For example, take frequent breaks from your computer and give your eyes a rest.

Another Reason Why Recess is Important

If these findings are valid, it makes sense for students to increase their time outdoors…making recess an important part of the school day (regardless of your level of education).

Already Nearsighted? You Have Options

Of course, people can have myopia regardless of the amount of schooling – you can be born with this condition where your eye is too long or too steep, causing light rays to focus in front of your retina rather than on the surface. If you are already nearsighted, you have options to correct your vision, including LASIK vision correction in Richmond. This quick and virtually painless procedure uses a laser to microscopically reshape the cornea so light will focus on the retina (the back of the eye) and clear vision can be obtained.

To learn more about your own vision characteristics and find out if LASIK technology in Richmond may help you see with 20/20 vision, contact Lipstock LASIK and Cataract center by scheduling your free LASIK Consultation at lipstocklaser.com or by calling 804-288-1543.

Choose Sunglasses Wisely

One of the top benefits that LASIK vision correction provides is the opportunity to wear any type of sunglasses you want. Patients who achieve 20/20 vision after LASIK are usually excited to get rid of their expensive prescription sunglasses and start choosing a variety of fashionable sunglasses off-the-rack.

While most people know that it’s important to wear sunscreen with a high SPF to protect their skin from sun damage, few worry about UV protection in their sunglasses. The fact is that UV radiation can lead to serious eye problems, including cancer, cataracts, macular degeneration, painful sunburns of the cornea (photokeratitis) and damage to the eye lens and other parts of the eye. You should wear sunglasses any time you are outdoors – even in the shade, even in winter, even if you wear contact lenses that block UV rays.

At Lipstock LASIK and Cataract Center, we not only help people achieve better vision through our advanced LASIK technologies in Richmond, we also want our patients to keep their eye health a priority after LASIK. When choosing sunglasses after LASIK, it’s important to look for UV protection details on the labels and choose shades that provide 100% UVA and UVB protection. The color and darkness of the lenses has no impact on the amount of protection. Frames that wrap around and cover the sides of the eyes are also beneficial in protecting your eyes from harmful rays. 

This subject is so important that scientists in Brazil have developed and installed a free self-serve sunglass UV testing kiosk in San Carlos so people can test how well their sunglasses block UV rays. In a test of 800 users of the kiosk, 20% found their sunglasses provided inadequate protection. If you are unsure about your own sunglasses, talk to your optician, optometrist or ophthalmologist or invest in a new pair of sunglasses that meet the right requirements.

To find out if you might benefit from LASIK and have the opportunity to choose any sunglasses you want, take the free online LASIK Self-Evaluation at lipstocklaser.com. Then call Dr. Lipstock at 804-288-1543 to schedule your free LASIK Consultation.

Celebrities and LASIK

According to Ranker.com, there is a long list of famous people that have had LASIK vision correction, including:

• Brad Pitt
• Brooke Shields
• Nicole Kidman
• Reese Witherspoon
• John Goodman
• Jeremy London
• Dennis Quaid
• Lisa Ling
• Michael Bolton
• Barry Manilow
• Jessica Simpson
• Carlos Santana
• “Weird Al’ Yankovic
• And more…

At Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center,we would never recommend a person have LASIK just because a certain celebrityhas done it. This is not a decision you should enter into lightly, and you should only pursue it with a highly qualified and trained ophthalmologist. In fact, not every person is a good candidate for LASIK. Dr. Lipstock performs a comprehensive LASIK exam in Richmond to assess every potential LASIK patient’s corneal thickness, overall eye health and medical condition before giving the green light for LASIK. The process begins with a free LASIK Consultation where you can learn more about your eye anatomy and ask questions about the procedure, the LASIK technology that will be used and the surgeon’s track record of success.

If you want to pursue a life with the possibility of lens-free vision like so many celebrities have, contact Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center today to arrange your free LASIK Consultation. Call 804-288-1543 or visit lipstocklaser.com to schedule your appointment online anytime. We can’t promise you’ll end up on the big screen, but you may be able to watch your favorite celebrities without the hassles of glasses or contacts! 

What’s Living in Your Contact Lens Solution?

New research out of Liverpool has shown that a certain bacterial strain (Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain 39016) has the ability to survive in contact lens cleaning solutions for over four hours. Most other bacterial strains that were tested were killed within 10 minutes after being placed in the contact lens disinfectant solutions; this new strain is much more resilient and can cause more harm to contact wearers.

This bacterium can cause a condition called microbial keratitis, which is an ulceration and inflammation of the cornea that can lead to vision loss. Even before this research, LASIK has been reported to be up to 5 times safer for your eye health than wearing contact lenses; this may be one more motivating factor for contact lens wearers to consider LASIK vision correctionin Richmond.

If you are currently one of the 30 million Americans who wear contact lenses on a regular basis, you owe it to yourself to:

• Ensure you are using the very best contact lens disinfectant solution available
• Talk to your optometrist or ophthalmologist about contact lens safety
• Let your eyes take a break from contacts occasionally – wear your prescription eyeglasses instead
• Follow proper lens care practices for cleaning, disinfecting and storing your lenses (e.g., replacing your storage case every 3-6 months)
• Schedule regular eye exams to ensure you are being proactive with your eye health
• Schedule a LASIK Consultation in Henrico to learn about your vision correction options

Dr. Lipstock at Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center provides free LASIK Consultations to help people find out if this procedure might give them the lens-free life they desire. Imagine: no worrying about bacteria in contact lens solutions; no hassling with taking your contacts out at night and taking proper care of your contacts; no dry or irritated eyes from contact lenses.

Call 804-288-1543 or visit lipstocklaser.com to schedule your free LASIK Consultation right now. Or take the first step by completing the quick online LASIK Self-Evaluation. 

LASIK for Astigmatism

In the early days of LASIK, patients with astigmatism were often not deemed good candidates for the procedure. Today, advances in LASIK technology allow many astigmatism patients to achieve better vision through this vision correction procedure.  

What is Astigmatism?

Astigmatism is a very common refractive error caused by an irregular shape of the cornea (the clear front of the eye) or by the curvature of the lens in the eye. Astigmatism eyes will not be the typical round shape, but rather football-shaped, which causes multiple focus points to occur on the front and/or back of the retina. This causes blurry or distorted vision for both near and far objects. Astigmatism can also be found in patients who are nearsighted or farsighted.

Not all astigmatism patients are good candidates for LASIK. The only way to know for sure is by having a full eye exam in Richmond with an ophthalmologist to have your eye anatomy analyzed. Conditions like corneal thickness, corneal topography and your medical history will be reviewed. At Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center, Dr. Lipstock will only approve patients for advanced LASIK in Richmond if he feels the conditions are perfect for a good outcome. No doctor can guarantee 20/20 vision after LASIK, but by only treating patients who are good candidates the odds are improved.

If you have astigmatism and must wear glasses or contacts to improve your vision, contact Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center to schedule a free LASIK Consultation in Richmond. There is no obligation to proceed with the procedure, and it will provide insight into your own eye health and help you fully understand your vision improvement options.

Call 804-288-1543 to speak to the practice directly or visit lipstocklaser.com to schedule an appointment online any time day or night.