EYEDUCATION

prosthetic eyes

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 …

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recurrent corneal erosion

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 …

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demodex

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 …

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the contact lens case

  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 …

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cancer and the eye

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 …

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eye floaters

  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 …

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worldwide blindness

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, …

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