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Tag: optometrist

An update on office infection control measures

Requirements of entry have changed and masking is no longer necessary. You are welcome to wear a mask.  If you have symptoms of a respiratory or gastrointestinal illness, please do not visit the office and we will be happy to reschedule your appointment.

We continue to take several measures to reduce the spread of covid-19 and other infectious illness in our office in order to keep our more vulnerable patients safe. Please contact our office if you have any questions or concerns.

Thank you for your consideration in helping our office continue to be a safe space for all!

Updated June, 2023

Update – OHIP Service Withdrawal has Paused

 

The Ontario government has now agreed to formal negotiations with Ontario optometrists to address the chronic under funding of OHIP insured eye care services. As a sign of good faith, optometrists, including all the doctors at Teeple Optometry, are now scheduling appointments for OHIP insured patients.

We are grateful for your overwhelming support for fair funding of eye care during the last few months. We appreciate your ongoing support as negotiations continue and hopefully lead to a successful resolution for everyone. We ask for your patience and understanding as we prioritize our scheduling of patients who have been waiting for eye care in the coming weeks.

The severe under funding of OHIP insured services has not yet ended. If you have not done so already, please visit saveeyecare.ca or contact your MPP and add your voice directing the government to properly fund eye care.

Glaucoma – The Silent Thief

Imagine a thief stealing a little tiny bit of your vision every day, over the course of years, starting with your peripheral vision. Normally, we don’t pay much attention to our peripheral vision and we assume that how we are seeing is normal. A slow, progressive loss of peripheral vision sensitivity is the natural course of the most common type of glaucoma, primary open angle glaucoma, a disease affecting the optic nerve and it’s neurons. It is not until significant damage has occurred to the optic nerve and there is a profound loss of peripheral vision that a person will realize there might be a problem.

It is difficult to understand the value of our ability to perceive the world using our five senses until one of the senses is defective, as those who have lost vision or hearing will attest. Many types of vision loss can be restored using glasses, therapy,  medicine or surgery. Vision loss from glaucoma cannot be reversed, only prevented in the first place. Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness in the world. It is one of the reasons eye care professionals recommend regular eye examinations.

The optic nerve contains about 1 million neurons that transmit visual information from the eye to the brain. As we age, we naturally lose a few neurons year by year. When this destruction of healthy neurons is accelerated in a specific manner, it is called glaucoma. There are several types of glaucoma but I will discuss just two, primary open angle glaucoma and acute angle closure glaucoma.

The causes of primary open angle glaucoma are not yet completely understood. We know there are several risk factors for glaucoma such as elevated eye pressure, age, family history, ethnicity (such as African-American), corneal thickness, general health conditions, previous eye disease and use of certain eye medications. Glaucoma is not diagnosed with just one test and it can present quite differently between individuals. Elevated eye pressure is not always present and some people will develop glaucoma in spite of low eye pressures. Often glaucoma is diagnosed by observing changes in the eye and eye function over time. During a routine eye examination your optometrist will use special instruments to examine the optic nerve’s structure at the back of the eye for signs of glaucoma. The optometrist will also inquire about risk factors, screen for peripheral vision problems and measure the eye’s pressure. If there are risk factors or suspicious findings, the optometrist will do follow-up testing that might include detailed peripheral vision testing, pachymetry (measuring the corneal thickness), gonioscopy (using a special lens to examine an internal eye structure called the trabecular meshwork) and optical coherence tomography (measuring the thickness of the neuron layer around the optic nerve). Sometimes initial testing neither confirms nor rules out glaucoma and testing needs to be repeated over months and sometimes years to be certain of the diagnosis.

Treatment for primary open angle glaucoma is recommended following diagnosis or with a high level of suspicion or risk of vision loss. The goal of treatment is to prevent further vision loss by lowering the eye pressure to a level where damage to the optic nerve would be minimized. Treatment can involve  prescription eye drops, laser, surgery or a combination of these. Frequent follow-up is important to ensure the treatment is effective in halting damage to the optic nerve. Glaucoma is a chronic condition that requires monitoring, usually for the rest of one’s life.

Acute angle closure glaucoma is much less common and presents very differently. There is a fluid within the eye called aqueous humour that is constantly being produced and drained. The aqueous fluid pressure  “inflates” the eye giving it a normal structure. The aqueous is continually drained through the trabecular meshwork which is located in an angle where the iris and the cornea meet near the front of the eye. If the iris is too close to the cornea, for one of a few possible reasons,  the angle may close, blocking the trabecular meshwork “drain” and the eye pressure then builds up rapidly, sometimes within just a few hours. When this happens, it causes blurred vision and intense eye pain. This is an eye emergency and requires immediate attention by your optometrist, ophthalmologist or emergency department in order to preserve vision. Your optometrist can tell you if you are a higher risk for acute angle closure glaucoma during a routine eye examination.

Don’t allow the “silent thief” to steal one of your most precious senses. At Teeple Optometry, all the optometrists are trained to diagnose and treat glaucoma. Make sure to have regular eye examinations as recommended by your optometrist.

Seasonal Allergic Conjunctivitis

Spring is a wonderful time of year with the evidence of new life everywhere; wonderful, unless you suffer from allergies. Whether it be pollen in the spring, grass mid-summer or  various weeds late summer, allergic symptoms can vary from mild and infrequent to quite severe throughout the growing season.

Allergic conjunctivitis effects the clear conjunctiva, a thin tissue covering the white of the eye and the inner eyelids.  Itching is the predominant symptom. Itching can be accompanied by watering, redness and puffiness. Allergic conjunctivitis can affect all ages and symptoms can vary in severity from one year to the next. Sometimes the nose and throat linings can be affected too.

Allergic conjunctivitis is an inappropriate “overreaction” response of our immune system to an otherwise harmless substance called an antigen. Antibodies are produced by the body  to try to defend the eye from the antigen. These in turn cause the release of chemicals which cause the itching, watering and swelling.

Allergic conjunctivitis
Allergic conjunctivitis

Symptoms can be reduced by avoiding exposure to the antigen and spending more time indoors with the windows closed, however, this is not always possible or desirable. Washing your hair before bed and laundering bed sheets frequently can reduce the antigen load that otherwise transfers and accumulates on the pillow overnight. Cold compresses will provide temporary relief . The use of eye lubrication drops such a Refresh Tears or Systane Eye Drops  can help dilute the antigen and reduce symptoms. Over the counter anti-histamine drops can be helpful for symptoms lasting just a day or two. If nasal symptoms are also present, oral antihistamine medication can be helpful as well.

If symptoms persist, make an appointment with our office to determine if you do have allergic conjunctivitis or some other eye condition or if there are other associated factors involved such as dry eye. Several effective prescription eye drops are available to help successfully manage mild to several seasonal allergic conjunctivitis and can be prescribed by your optometrist.

Spring should be a season to enjoy without the discomfort of itchy eyes!

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