The Princess and the Laser

Once upon a time, there was a young and very imaginative blonde-haired girl who couldn’t see the white board at school. So her parents took her to the eye doctor and she got glasses to help her nearsightedness. When she wore her glasses, she pretended she was beautiful Princess Ivy who had x-ray vision. Sometimes she pretended her dog was a fire-breathing dragon, sent by the evil Queen Matilda to steal her spectacles.

As she got older, she realized that she had become pretty athletic after fighting all of those dragons. She joined the basketball team, the swim team and went skiing every chance she got. With all of these activities, she began to realize the adoration for her glasses was waning. They didn’t really give her x-ray vision, they slid down her nose in the heat and were impossible to wear during certain sports. Her contact lenses weren’t much better. Her eyes got irritated and the contacts often got lost. She guessed she could fill an entire castle with all of her lost contacts!

Finally, in her mid-twenties, she had had enough. She had LASIK laser vision correction (all of the grown-up princesses were doing it) and now she calls her ophthalmologist her Knight in Shining Armor. Her athletic ability is through the roof and her beautiful, uncovered eyes make her the Fairest of them All.

She found true love with her new vision. And so she lived happily ever after.

The End

We’ve spun this little yarn in honor of “Tell a Fairy Tale Day”. Even though it’s fictional, you might find a little bit of yourself in Princess Ivy. If you’re tired of wearing glasses, your Vision Knight in Shining Armor might just be waiting for you at Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center. We provide LASIK vision correction using advanced techniques worthy of a King…or Queen. Call 804-288-1543 or visit lipstocklaser.com to schedule your free LASIK Consultation or to take a free online LASIK Self-Evaluation.

Save Your Vision Month

March is Save Your Vision Month. Sponsored by the American Optometric Association, this observance is to remind Americans about the importance of having regular eye exams to help preserve and maintain their eye health. The following is a general eye exam schedule for people with normal eye health and good overall health:

• Infants: Pediatrician screening at 6 months
• Preschool children: Pediatrician screenings from age 3 to 6
• School-age children: Regular vision screenings at school
• Adults: Every 2 years
• Adults over 60: Annually

If your child’s pediatrician or school suspects a vision problem, or if you have a history of eye disease or eye problems in your family, a full eye exam by an optometrist or ophthalmologist will be recommended. Children and adults who wear glasses or contacts should have an eye exam every year.

Even if you’ve had LASIK vision correction in Richmond and no longer need glasses or contacts, it’s important to maintain contact with your eye doctor in Richmond to preserve your eye health. You probably know that regular eye exams can identify common eye diseases, even those that have no outward symptoms, such as diabetic retinopathy. Even if you are not experiencing any vision changes, certain conditions like glaucoma or cataracts can be “silently” stealing your vision – even if you’ve had Ricmond LASIK. Early detection will help protect and preserve your vision.

Eye exams not only protect your eyes…they can also protect your overall health! By looking at the blood vessels in the eyes, your eye doctor can also identify chronic systemic diseases, such as diabetes, high cholesterol and high blood pressure.

March is definitely the month to focus on your eye health; it’s also National Eye Donor Month (to promote cornea transplant awareness) and Workplace Eye Wellness Month (to promote reducing eye injuries while on the job).

Richmond eye exams are typically quick and painless, so there’s no excuse to put this health maintenance appointment on the back-burner. Schedule your eye exam today! Call Dr. Lipstock at Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center to schedule an eye exam in Richmond. 

Things You Can't Do With Glasses

Life After LASIK

Some people wonder what life might be like after they have LASIK. Of course, no two people’s eyes are exactly the same, so no two LASIK procedures will produce the exact same results. However, at their follow-up appointments, many patients express that they…

L – Love their new vision so much that they share their success with family members, friends and even strangers on social media and online review sites

A – Appreciate life without the aggravations and costs of broken glasses, lost contact lenses and expensive replacements and cleaning solutions

S – Show off their beautiful/handsome eyes

I – Impress their friends with their ability to see every menu, clock, street sign and more

K – Kayak, swim and play sports lens-free

No doctor can guarantee 20/20 vision after LASIK, but many patients do achieve this level of vision (or even better) after LASIK! Likewise, no doctor can guarantee that you’ll never have to wear glasses again. 

There are simply no “guarantees” in medicine. But Dr. Lipstock at Lipstock LASIK & Cataract Center has achieved some amazing results with LASIK procedures, and his patients are walking testimonials to his success.

If you’d like to find out what your life might be after LASIK, contact us today at lipstocklaser.com or 804-288-1543 to schedule a free, no obligation LASIK Consultation.

Another Reason to Get Your Kids Outside

Getting your kids to play outside may not only help prevent obesity…it may also be beneficial for their eye health.  According to two studies done in Taiwan and Denmark, spending more time outdoors may help minimize or prevent nearsightedness (myopia) in children. The full research was published in the May issue of Ophthalmology, the journal of the American Academy of Ophthalmology.

Genetics are often responsible for the development of myopia in children, but these studies have shown that the environment may also play a factor. According to Medical News Today, nearsightedness has increased in the United States by more than 65% since 1970, and researchers are studying why this condition is increasing so rapidly in the U.S. as well as in other countries.

The Taiwan study compared students who were required to spend 80 minutes of recess outdoors per day versus students who were not. Those who were required to play outdoors had fewer instances of myopia. In the Danish study, students’ axial eye length was tested for students in seven different groups with varying access to daylight hours. (When the axial eye length becomes longer, myopia worsens.) The children who experienced less daylight had larger axial eye growth than those exposed to more daylight.

Nearsightedness is one condition that can be corrected by LASIK eye surgery in adults. At Lipstock LASIK and Cataract Center, we would rather help patients prevent nearsightedness, if possible, but we are also focused on helping adult patients correct their vision problems through LASIK.

If you are nearsighted and would like to see if LASIK could correct your vision, contact Lipstock LASIK and Cataract Center today at 804-288-1543 or lipstocklaser.com to schedule a free LASIK Consultation in Richmond.  

Differences Between Optometrists and Ophthalmologists

Many people think all eye doctors the same. They use the terms Optometrist and Ophthalmologist interchangeably. The truth is that these are two very different types of eye care professionals.

Optometrists

Optometrists have earned a Doctor of Optometry Degree (OD). Optometrists have completed a four-year Bachelor’s Degree, plus four years of post-graduate professional training in optometry school. Their main focus is to provide primary eye care, including vision checks, eye disease diagnosis and overall eye health review. They prescribe corrective lenses to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, and they can prescribe some medications. Optometrists often work closely with ophthalmologists to provide pre- and post-op care for eye surgery patients.

Ophthalmologists

Ophthalmologists are Medical Doctors (MDs) or Doctors of Osteopathic Medicine (DOs) who have achieved a Bachelor’s Degree, four years of medical school encompassing care for the whole body, internships, at least three years of hospital-based residency and additional years of training in eye disease treatment and eye surgery. Ophthalmologists diagnose and treat eye diseases, perform eye surgery, perform eye exams and write prescriptions for medications or corrective lenses.

Certain eye conditions, such as glaucoma, cataracts or macular degeneration, are managed and corrected by ophthalmologists. Eye surgeries such as LASIK or Cataract Surgery and Intraocular Lens (IOL) implants should only be done by an eye surgeon who is highly experienced and using the latest technologies.

Frequent eye exams, even if you aren’t experiencing any vision problems, can provide early detection – and treatment – of developing issues.

Visit the website of ophthalmologist Dr. Lipstock at Lipstock LASIK and Cataract Center to schedule a Vision Consultation. Visit lipstocklaser.com or call 804-288-1543 today.

Scared of LASIK? Get the Facts!

If you’ve been living for years with nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism, constantly annoyed with contact lenses and glasses, you’ve undoubtedly heard about how LASIK can improve your vision. You may have even gone so far as having a LASIK consultation to find out that you are, indeed, a good candidate for the procedure. So why haven’t you taken the plunge and had LASIK eye surgery?

Maybe it’s the cost of the procedure (although there are excellent financing options available). But maybe you are apprehensive – scared, even – about having someone perform a procedure on your eyes. It is understandable to have anxiety about LASIK, but consider this: According to the Eye Surgery Education Council, “LASIK vision correction has the highest patient satisfaction rate of any elective surgery: 95.4%, according to a 10-year survey of scientific studies from around the world. And new advances in technology now deliver better outcomes than ever. The majority of patients enjoy 20/20 vision or better after laser vision correction. Nearly all patients achieve 20/40 or better, which is fully functional and good enough to drive legally in most states without corrective lenses.”

Other studies have shown that there are more than 700,000 LASIK procedures performed in the United States every year. Satisfied patients express feelings of amazement because they can see with clarity, first thing in the morning; play sports, swim and travel without worrying about glasses or contacts; and have clear peripheral vision.

LASIK is not something to jump into; you should take time to fully research the LASIK surgeons in your area to determine who offers the best technologies and has the best track record of success. Notice we didn’t mention finding the best price. Advances in LASIK technology have bumped up the cost of LASIK slightly, but the overall results are superior and, according to most who’ve had it, well worth the money.
You should also be fully aware of the potential complications of LASIK, which can include:

·         Dry eye syndrome

·         Possible need for glasses or contact lenses after surgery

·         Potentially debilitating vision problems like glare, starbursts, halos or double vision

·         Vision loss

If you want to find out all the facts about LASIK, contact Dr. Lipstock at Lipstock LASIK and Cataract Center to schedule a free LASIK consultation at lipstocklaser.com or call 804-288-1543. You can also take a free online LASIK Self-Evaluation on this website.