Proper care should be taken while using and storing contact lenses. Below are few important guidelines for taking care of your contact lenses.

• Always wash your hands with warm water and soap while handling your contact lenses. After washing your hands, you should dry them with a clean towel. It should be made sure that no soap particles or chemical remains sticking to your hands which can cause pain and vision issues in your eyes.
• You should follow doctor’s prescription for contact lenses. If specific timings to wear them have been mentioned then you should wear them accordingly.
• Always use eyecare products recommended by your doctor as different types of contact lenses require different/ special care.
• Always clear your contact lenses after every use with sterile solution.
• Never use plain water directly on contact lenses.
• Clean your contact lenses by gently rubbing them with index finger. With “no rub” solutions you can rinse contact lenses without rubbing.
• If there occur irritation or any kind of infection like burning feeling, redness or tearing; discontinue the usage of lenses and talk to your eye doctor immediately about the issue. Wearing infected/ contaminated lenses can damage your eyes.
• Never wear contact lenses used by other persons.
• Do not sleep with contact lenses; unless you have been prescribed “Extended Wear” eye lenses. If you fall asleep while wearing contact lenses, do not remove them immediately, put eye drops and wait a few minutes before removing them.
• Always put the contact lenses before applying makeup else it may get contaminated with makeup chemicals or lotions and may damage your eyes. If you are wearing eye lenses after applying makeup, thoroughly wash your hands before handling the lenses.
• Protect tip of solution bottle from getting contaminated by touching other surfaces like finger tips, contact lenses etc.

Following these tips can make sure your contact lenses stay infection free and good to use. Contaminated or damaged contact lenses can be harmful for eyes.

You may contact Killeen Eyecare Center for complete diagnosis, and treatment for different eye problems. You can also procure contact lenses.

Contact Lenses Harker Heights - Optometrist Fort Hood

Usually when a person leaves the clinic of eye specialist after an appointment, he/she suddenly remember a lot of things which were to be asked or shared/ confirmed with the doctor. But the irony is that people usually forget them on their next visit as well. Here is a solution to this common problem.  Provided in this article is a list of all the things, however minor, which one has to keep in mind while paying a visit to their eye specialist. Take a peak:

During the appointment call

Keep the following points in mind while making the call for an appointment at the clinic of the eye specialist:

• Make sure to make a mention of all your visionary problems.
• If special tests are to be conducted, do ask at the desk in the clinic during your appointment call whether you will be able to drive yourself home or not. If not, make arrangements for a driver, a cab or a taxi driver to drive you home.
• Make sure to ask over the call itself, the tentative cost of the consultation and the treatment, if any. It helps you be prepared for the amount of money you will have to shed out.

Before you go in for the treatment

Before preparing yourself for the eye treatment, make a thorough list of all the following, lest you forget any important thing:

• Keep handy a list of all the signs and symptoms of eye problems that you have been facing, for example flashes of light, difficulty seeing at night, temporary double vision, loss of vision etc.
• Any kind of eye injury due to accident or mishap, or the history of any eye operation that you have ever undergone, including all details like approximate dates, hospitals concerned etc.
• Make a mention of the drugs and precautions being undertaken.
• Your general health condition and history of health, including your allergies, chronic health problems, operations etc.

Carry along with you

Make sure to carry the following things with you for the treatment:

• Your contact lenses, or eye glasses, or both, whichever you are using.
• The prescription of your previous course of medicine, the medicine itself and any other self recommendation drugs which you are taking or have ever taken in the past.
• Also carry along with you, your medical health plan or health insurance which you are taking.

During the examination

Keep the following things in mind during the examination:

• Do not go back with any doubts in your mind. Ask anything from the doctor without hesitations.
• Ask when it would be the best time to call back for any queries.
• Find out from the doctor when further treatment is required and when you have to return for your next visit.

We at Killeen Eyecare Center provide expert eyecare solutions. We serve Killeen, Fort Hood and Harker Heights in Central Texas.

Optometrist Harker Heights - Eye Exams Fort Hood

Iris is the colored part of the eye. Its main function is to control the amount of the eye entering the eye. Iris is the circular muscles that control the size of the pupil and thus control the amount of light entering the eye.

IRITIS
Iritis is the inflammation of the iris of the eye. Since Iritis is the inflammation inside the eye, this condition can be sight threatening.

Causes of Iritis

• Iritis can be caused due to Viral or bacterial Infection
• Trauma to the eye can lead to Iritis.
• Systemic diseases like Ankylosing spondylitis and Rheumatoid Arthritis can also be a cause of Iritis.

Symptoms of Iritis

• Pain and redness in the eye
• Sensitivity to light
• Smaller pupil
• Irregular shape of Pupil
• Headache
• Blurred vision

Diagnosis of Iritis

• Complete eye examination by a qualified Eye Doctor – Slit eye exam
• When Iritis is suspected to be caused by the systemic illness, complete medical evaluation is done. This includes blood tests and X-rays

Treatment for Iritis

• Main aim of the treatment is to reduce pain and inflammation caused by Iritis.
• Cycloplegics drops or Dilating eye drops to enlarge the pupil. These reduce the discomfort in the eye.
• For Infectious causes – Antibiotic eye drops and Ointments are used.
• Topical steroids to reduce inflammation and pain
• In severe cases oral medications may be prescribed

Complication

Untreated or Chronic Iritis may lead to

• Glaucoma
• Cataracts
• Blindness

For complete Eyecare, contact Killeen Eyecare Center serving Killeen, Fort Hood and Harker Heights in Central Texas region

Eye Exams Harker Heights - Eye Doctor Killeen

Macula is small area located in the centre of the eye. It is an important structure of the retina as it is responsible for the central vision and fine details of the objects in front of the eye. It is also responsible for the color vision.

Age related macular degeneration (AMD) – the cells of the macula become damaged slowly as the age progresses.

AMD is of two types

1. Dry AMD - The cells in the macula gradually degenerates and there is gradual loss of the central vision, the early symptoms include blurred vision followed by complete loss of the central vision.
2. Wet AMD - in wet AMD the loss of vision is very fast. In this type of AMD, an abnormal blood vessel of the retina grows under macula. These blood vessels tend to break down very often that damage the macula. Macula damage in the WET AMD is faster than that in dry AMD.

Causes of AMD

Age related AMD as the name suggest, is caused by the aging process. However there are some risk factors that may increase the chances of developing AMD in some individuals. These include:

• Hypertension
• Family history of AMD
• Smoking
• Obesity

Symptoms of AMD

Dry AMD –

• Blurred vision
• Blind spot in the middle of the eye

In wet AMD distorted vision as the blood vessels the leak in the eye raising the pressure in the eye.

• People with AMD may need more light to read and write
• Diminished color vision

In advanced AMD there is complete loss of the central vision

Diagnosis for AMD

• Certain tests that may detect the AMD include
• Visual acuity test
• Dilated Eye examination

Treatment for AMD

• Laser therapy
• Low vision aids like special lenses
• Surgery

Eyecare

• If you have genetic history of macular degeneration or initial stage of macular degeneration below mention points may help you
• Increase in Vitamin intake especially Vitamin C, E, and Zinc
• Weight control
• Smoking cessation
• Controlled blood pressure

Contact Killeen Eyecare Center for diagnosis and consultation for Macular Degeneration. Killeen Eyecare Center serves Killeen, Harker Heights and Fort Hood areas in Texas.

As the name suggest, its inability to distinguish between certain colors. A person suffering with color blindness may not be able to see certain colors or distinguish between certain colors.

Causes Of Color Blindness

• Genetic Susceptibility/ Inherited Color Blindness

There are photoreceptor cells in the retina of the eye, called Cone cells. These cells send the signals about the colors of the object to the brain. Brain analyses the signals from the cone cells and depicts the color of the object. The cone cells need bright light to function and that why we are unable to see colors in dark. In color blindness, cone cells are unable to send the correct signal to the brain and thus the person is unable to detect the right color of the object.

• Acquired color blindness – very less often, certain other disease may also cause color blindness, this is called acquired color blindness.
• Aging – gradual aging of the cells of the eye may also lead to color blindness

Symptoms Of Color Blindness

• Inability or difficulty in distinguishing between colors.
• Person with color blindness is usually unable to distinguish between red and green or blue or yellow.
• Inability to distinguish between different shades of the color.
• People with severe color blindness may not be able to see certain colors at all.
• Inherited or genetic color blindness effects both the eyes and is present from the birth.
• Acquired color blindness may affect one eye or may affect one eye more than other

Treatment For Color Blindness

• There no treatment for the inherited color blindness
• Acquired color blindness can be managed by treating the underlying disease

Eyecare For Color Blindness

• Use of specially tinted eyeglasses may help to distinguish between colors
• If a person is unable to see colors at all, use of dark glasses side shields may help in better vision
• Early detection of color blindness in the children is important. Child may be having problems in school because of color blindness and may lead to low self esteem in the child. If detected early, school teacher can be informed and suggestions may be given in order to make the child learn colors in better way.

Contact Killeen Eyecare Center for Eyeglasses recommended by qualified Eye Doctor. Optometrist serving Killeen, Harker Heights and Fort Hood area in Texas, TX.

It has been observed that certain thyroid diseases can affect the eyes. The most common thyroid disease having eye manifestation is ‘Graves disease’. Graves disease is an autoimmune disease in which the thyroid hormones are produced in excess. The thyroid gland is over stimulated to produce excess of thyroid hormone. In "Graves disease" the body itself produces antibodies against the thyroid gland that over-stimulate the thyroid gland. Theses antibodies also affect the eyes.

How eyes are affected?

• The antibodies affects the orbit of the eyes. These antibodies cause over-stimulation of the cells of orbit that in turn produces certain chemical that causes damage to the eye. Swelling within the eye may cause optic nerve damage in the later stage.
• Inflammatory reaction is initiated around the eye which may lead to swelling and redness around the eye.
• The cornea of the eye may become dry due to the inflammatory changes in the eye.

Symptoms

• Pain in the eye
• Upper lid retraction
• Swelling and redness in the eye
• Dryness in the eye
• Impaired vision
• Double vision
• Widening of the space between the eyelids
• Forward protrusion of the eyeball

Treatment

• Thyroid disease is treated to ensure the optimum levels of thyroid hormone in the body
• For less severe cases where dryness is the common complain, frequent lubrication of the eyes by artificial tears.
• Non-Steroidal anti-inflammatory eye drops for inflammation and redness
• Surgery may be requires in severe cases. Most common type of surgeries performed is Orbital decompression surgery, Eye muscles surgery and Eyelid surgery

Eyecare For Graves Disease

• Smoking cessation – It has been observed that smoking can aggravate the eye manifestation of the graves disease.
• Regular treatment of thyroid disease
• Cold compresses can provide relief in pain and also provide moisture to the eye
• Protect the eye from direct sun contact by using sunglasses.

For complete eyecare contact Killeen Eyecare Center: Serving Killeen, Harker Heights and Fort Hood areas in Texas TX.

Retinopathy is the damage to the retina of the eye and diabetic retinopathy is the damage to retina caused as a complication of the diabetes. It occurs in patients who have long history of diabetes and can even cause the loss of vision in such patients.

Retina acts as a film in the camera for our eye. The image of the object is created on the retina and the image converts into the electrical signals that are passed to the brain. Patient with long history of uncontrolled diabetes have high glucose content in the blood. Accumulation of the glucose in the blood vessels of the retina damages these blood vessels. This causes decreased blood supply to the retina and thus ischemia, which, in turn, contributes to development of retinopathy.

Causes of Diabetic Retinopathy

• Diabetic retinopathy is a complication of diabetes and thus diabetes is the cause of the diabetic retinopathy.

Risk factor that may lead to retinopathy in diabetic patients includes;

• Duration of diabetes – Generally patients with long history of diabetes are more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy.
• Increased level of glucose in the diabetic patients
• Hypertension – systemic hypertension in diabetic patients increases the risk of diabetic retinopathy

Symptoms of Diabetic Retinopathy Diabetic retinopathy can be asymptomatic in the initial stages. Symptoms of diabetic retinopathy in the later stages include;

• Blurred vision
• Partial or complete loss of vision
• Hemorrhage in the retina that causes dark streaks or a red film that may block  the vision

Diagnosis

Eye examination –

• Eye specialist dilates the pupil by putting some eye drops and examines the retina of the eye. Abnormal blood vessels, fatty deposits on retina or hemorrhages can be seen in this dilated eye examination.
• Fluorescein angiography

Treatment

• Photocoagulation – It is the laser treatment wherein the leaking blood vessels of the eye are sealed or repaired.
• Vatrectomy - It is a surgery done to remove the scar tissues on the retina.

Prevention or care of eye in diabetic patients

• Control over blood glucose levels
• Regular eye examinations of patients who have diabetes .Early diagnosis help to prevent blindness or vision loss in the patients.

For complete eyecare, contact Killeen Eyecare Center. Killeen Eyecare Center serves Harker Heights, Killeen and Fort Hood area in Texas.