First, let’s clear up one thing about twitchy eyes or eye dystonia. It is not your eyeball that it is moving involuntarily. It’s your eyelid that is spasming. Twitchy eyelids have a fancy medical name –blepharospasm. The twitching typically occurs in the upper eyelid and it is often caused by stress, fatigue, lack of sleep, bright lights, wind, pollution, caffeine, tobacco or alcohol. In rare cases the twitching is caused by more serious conditions and even brain disorders.   Who gets twitchy eyes? Twitchy eyes, eye dystonia or blepharospasm usually appears in 40-50 year olds and gradually gets worse. Only about 2,000 people are year are diagnosed with it in the United States. Women are twice as likely to get it as men.   The bad news is there is currently no cure for twitchy eyes. The good news is … Read More

  People Without Eye Lashes Research shows that people with no lashes suffer higher than average rates of eye infection, than those who have eyelashes. This finding suggests that lashes have a protective function for the eyes. The most prevalent view is that lashes act as a net that catches airborne particles that would otherwise land in the eye, that lashes sense foreign bodies before they can harm the eye triggering a protective blink and that they shield some of the sun’s rays from entering the eye. However, Guillermo Amador, David Hu and other researchers at the Georgia Institute of Technology believe lashes don’t act as a shield themselves per se but rather change the air flow around the eyes creating a layer of protection made up of relatively still air. By reducing air flow over the cornea of our … Read More

At one time or another we’ve all had to apply eye drops – as a prescription to treat an eye related illness, to relieve dryness, to stop itchiness or to refresh tired eyes. And the truth is- most of us detest it. Putting eye drops in your eyes is like changing the oil in your car with one hand. It requires getting in an uncomfortable position, being precise, and having dexterity and patience. And if you are not careful, you get the stuff all over yourself! It is a fact that it is difficult to put eye drops into one’s own eyes. Most people experience the following problems when attempting to apply eye drops: Insufficient strength to hold the bottle in place over the eye Shaking hands Poor vision Difficulty aiming so the drop falls directly into the eyeball Inability … Read More

As we age our vision deteriorates as well.  At 40 we are likely to see signs of presbyopia. We begin to need to reading glasses to see the small print. When we turn 50, cataracts could start to form in your eyes. Between the ages of 60-70, our chances of developing diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration increase significantly. And as we approach 80, we have a 12% chance of developing glaucoma. There are many subtle changes in our vision that any number of these eye health-related issues could be contributing to. Smaller pupils – With age, the muscles that open and close our pupils weaken. Our pupils get smaller and they are less likely to react to light changes. Dry eyes – As we get older, we also lose the ability to produce tears causing tired, itchy and red … Read More

Smart gadgets are the hot trend these days. From robotic vacuum cleaners that inhale dirt and dust bunnies scattered on your floor all by themselves, to smart watches that act as phones, personal assistants and athletic trainers, to smart refrigerators that let you know when you are low on milk and eggs, to smart diaper changing tables that keep tabs on your baby’s weight, diaper changes and more. Smart gadgets are designed to make our life easier and better and we can’t seem to get enough of them these days.    Just about every object around us has been ‘smart’,  connected, automated, made to provide information or act as something other than what it is. This is true for sunglasses also. Smart sunglasses like the Smith Lowdown Focus M powered by Muse virtually get in your head. These sunglasses are … Read More

  Not only are eyes the windows to our souls, they are also the windows to our health. Scientists are working on a way to detect Alzheimer’s by looking into the eye, more precisely, into the retina. Scientists at the University of Minnesota Center for Drug Design, were able to identify Alzheimer’s on detailed color images of the retinas of mice. Before any symptoms of Alzheimer’s are apparent, such as memory loss, changes in the retina, tell the disease is present. There are noticeable changes in the way the retina reflects light, the retina is significantly thinner and beta-amyloid proteins can be detected.   According to the Alzheimer’s Association, Alzheimer’s is caused by the accumulation of amyloid plaques and tangles in the brain’s nerve cells. The plaques are difficult to perceive in brains of living individuals, which is why Alzheimer’s … Read More

What is Color Blindness? Color Blindness is a condition that diminishes our capacity to see color or differences in color. Who Does Color Blindness Affect? Color Blindness is mostly an inherited condition that is more prevalent in males than in females. According to Prevent Blindness America, approximately 8 percent of males (that is one in 12) and less than 1 percent of females (1 in 200) have color vision problems. However, color vision deficiency can also happen as a result of other diseases such as diabetes and multiple sclerosis. What are the Symptoms of Color Blindness? Difficulty distinguishing between green and red is the most common form of color vision deficiency, while trouble distinguishing between blue and yellow is a less common form. An extremely form of color blindness is one in which a person can only see shades of … Read More

By now, most of us know sunglasses are more than just fashion accessories and have made it a habit to wear sunglasses during the summer months, but many of us still don’t know we should be wearing sunglasses year-round.   UV rays don’t go away once the summer months are over.  If it is daytime, there is UV light and that light is reaching your eyes, unless you are protecting them. UV rays are present no matter the season and UV rays can cause eye sun burns, cataracts, macular degeneration, cancer of the eye and eye lid, wrinkles around the eye, and other vision and eye ailments. Read what the professionals have to say on this topic: Eye protection is important all year long, no matter the weather or time of year. “Thirty-one percent of UV light still comes through on … Read More

Golfers are a peculiar bunch. They leave nothing to chance when it comes to improving their game, including wearing the right clothes and accessories, right down (or up) to their sunglasses.  Golf is a challenging sport especially visually.  There are lighting variations to consider, short and long focal distances and different colored and contoured backgrounds, so it is no surprise the ideal golf sunglasses are such a big conversation topic among golfers. Some golfers swear by pink tinted lenses, claiming they help distinguish the contours of the putting green better. Others golfers bet on amber tinted sunglasses for better contrast. And some stay with the classic grey swearing by the clarity and dependability in all light conditions. But the question that haunts most golfers is not which lens tints are better for golfing but whether polarized or non-polarized sunglasses are … Read More

  Feeling tired, sleepy? Have dry, burning, itchy eyes? If you are tempted to rub your eyes, stop!  Read this first. You might want to reconsider. PROS of Rubbing Your Eyes There are no pros to rubbing your eyes.  Rubbing your eyes very gently (which is not rubbing but rather gently massaging) helps stimulate the lacrimal glands to secrete tears, helping lubricate eyes that are dry or itchy. A gentle eye massage can help relieve stress as well. Pressing down on the eyeball can stimulate the oculocardiac reflex which can decrease stress and slow heart rate as a consequence of applying pressure directly to the eyeball   CONS of Rubbing Your Eyes Bacteria Transfers From Your Hands To Your Eyes. Anytime we touch our eyes without washing our hands, we risk transferring that bacteria and exposing our eyes to infection. … Read More