Who makes prosthetic eyes? An ocularist is someone who fits and makes artificial, or prosthetic, eyes. Why would one need a prosthetic eye? There are cases in which the eye cannot be saved. Some of those include eye cancer and trauma/injury. A blind eye that becomes painful may also need to be removed. Prosthetic eyes are also …
Brief anatomy review before beginning: The cornea is the clear part of the front of your eye. It is made up of 5 layers (or maybe 6 given recent research that suggests another layer- “Dua’s layer”-exists between the stroma and Descemet’s membrane). The outer layer is the epithelium, the second layer is Bowman’s membrane, the third and largest …
What is myopia? Myopia is the fancy name for near-sightedness. Myopia causes vision to be blurry in the distance. It is the result of light rays focusing in front of the light-sensitive tissue that lines the back of the eye (the retina) rather than on the retina. This can happen when the power of the front of the eye …
What are meibomian glands? Meibomian glands are sebacous (oil) glands located in the upper and lower eyelids. There are more in the upper lid than the lower lid, and they are also larger in the upper lid (1). The glands sit vertically in the eyelids, and their openings are right behind the lash line. The …
What is a CRVO? A central retinal vein occlusion (CRVO) occurs when there is an obstruction of the central retinal vein, which is the main vein of the retina (the tissue that lines the back of the eye). A blood clot, or thrombus, may occur in the vein as a result of abnormalities in blood vessel size, blood …
What is Demodex? Demodex is an 8-legged, microscopic mite. Two species live on humans: Demodex folliculorum, which are found in the eyelash follicles, and Demodex brevis, which are found in the sebaceous (sweat) and meibomian (oil) glands. These mites live primarily on the face and feed on skin cells and oil in the follicles and glands. They avoid sunlight and …
As eye care professionals, we talk a lot about the proper care of contact lenses, but we probably don’t spend enough time talking about the proper care of the contact lens CASE. Sure, it doesn’t actually go ON your eyeball, but it does matter! The contact lens case can act as a reservoir for microorganisms and …
A few weeks ago, I saw a 16 year old patient that was interested in optometry as a potential career path. He asked a few questions about the field and schooling, then he asked me a question that stumped me: “When were glasses invented?” ::Crickets:: I am admittedly not a history buff, but this was …
I would venture a guess that everyone reading this blog has been affected by cancer, either personally suffering from it or having a loved one that is suffering/has suffered from it. That makes it a pretty relevant topic to discuss here. Eye cancer is rare, certainly, but it does exist. Most people don’t see the …
Ever wonder what those squiggly things are that float around in your field of vision? They may look like bugs, strands, or cobwebs, and they are especially noticeable when you’re looking at a plain, bright background (like a clear sky). When you move your eye to get a closer look, those sly boogers drift …
Fundus cupcake sprinkled with drusen February is Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) Awareness Month. AMD is one of the leading causes of irreversible vision loss among Americans over 60 (1). Let’s preface our AMD discussion with a quick anatomy review. The tissue that lines the back of the eye is called the retina. The retina has millions …
I recently went on an overseas medical mission trip, and it got me thinking. Thinking about a lot of things, but as it pertains to this blog: worldwide blindness. So this post will unpack some of the major diseases affecting vision globally. The leading causes of preventable blindness world-wide are cataracts, glaucoma, trachoma, …