Dr. Lilaram specializes in sports vision and rehabilitative eye care. Says Dr. Lilaram “My optometric and post doctoral training have allowed me to aid the sports performance of athletes and rehabilitate the vision of both children and adults alike. It is wonderful to see the improvement in my vision therapy patients.”

With the addition of Dr. Lilaram Total Eye Care has expanded it’s available services to include;

• Sports Vision Therapy
• Treatment of learning-related disabilities such as dyslexia & ADD
• Amblyopia Treatment “Lazy Eye”
• Strabismus Therapy “Wandering Eye”
• Computer Vision Syndrome

You can read Dr. Lilaram’s entire bio on the Total Eye Care website.

In a study published online this week in the journal Pediatrics entitled “Emergency Department Visits for Medical Device-Associated Adverse Events Among Children” it was found that 23% of the medical device related emergency room visits involving  children from birth to 21 years of age were contact lens related, this is in contrast to the next closest category,  injuries due to a puncture by a hypodermic needle, which placed a distant second at 8%.   An additional noteworthy finding was that an another 6% of the ER visits  involved lacerations caused by eyeglasses.

The study did not outline how the children were using their contact lenses.  Were they caring for and cleaning them properly?  Did they discard the lenses according to the replacement interval prescribed by their doctor and what type of contact lenses were involved in the study?  The injuries incurred while wearing eyeglasses did not specify the type of activity the child was participating in when the incident occurred.

Contact lenses are medical devices and as such require a prescription from an eye doctor with professional fitting and followup. In clinical practice we have found that patients that follow the guidelines below rarely experience contact lens related complications.

• clean and disinfect contact lenses as prescribed by their doctor
• replace contact lenses as scheduled
• have a backup pair of glasses in which you can see well enough to pass a driver’s test and you are willing to be seen wearing in public (the 1980′s style ala Peggy Hill of “King of the Hill” won’t do ;-))
• seek care from an eye doctor yearly

Injuries due to eyeglass lenses and frames was also a significant source of injuries in the study. We must therefore, not forget to provide our children with protective eyewear when they participate in sports.  Sports eyewear has come a long way since the days when Kareem Abdul-Jabbar captured his trademark look.  Sports eyewear has now become fashionable and safe.

More information on contact lenses.

Photo Total Eye Care Colleyville Office

We are pleased to announce that on September 2 we will begin to see patients in our new Colleyville office located at 6114 Colleyville Boulevard.  The new office is located 1 mile north of the old office at the corner of Hardage and Colleyville Boulevard (State HWY 26).   Below is a map.  Click on the blue icon at the top of the map for an  option to get directions.

Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome is a connective tissue disorder that affects multiple systems and organs. EDS, as it is called by patients that have it, has numerous different types. The most common types of EDS are classical and hypermobile. Another, rarer type called the vascular form, is the most dangerous because it involves weakening of the blood vessels which may rupture (an aneurysm), which is often fatal.

The most common symptoms of EDS are hyper-flexible joints (people sometimes refer to this as “being double Jointed”) that are flexible beyond the normal range of movement, skin that is very stretchy, soft, bruises easily and is sometimes fragile (tears easily). EDS patients often complain of joint pain that may be mistaken for arthritis, yet the x-rays are not consistent with arthritis.

The most debilitating complication of EDS is a type of dysautonomia called Postural Orthostatic Tachycardia Syndrome or POTS. Dysautonomia is the result of our autonomic nervous system ceasing to function properly. Our autonomic nervous system regulates functions that our body does automatically such as digestion, breathing, heart rate, blood pressure etc. It is estimated that 40 to 70% of EDS patients suffer from POTS. Many patients with POTS don’t know that they have EDS and are often mis-diagnosed with fibromyalgia or chronic fatigue syndrome. It is thought that autonomic dysfunction is caused by instability of the cervical spine thus interfering with the brain stem.

The medical literature reports that the incidence of EDS is approximately 1 in 10-14,000, however doctors report seeing it clinically more frequently. It is hypothesized that once doctors are made more aware of how to diagnose EDS that the reported incidence will be more like 1 in 3-5000 people.

Once doctors become more aware of how to identify patients with EDS I believe that the incidence reported in the general public will rise markedly. I have personally identified numerous patients in our practice that have EDS and concur with the incidence of 1 in 3-5000. I, in fact, would not be surprised if it was indeed more common than 1 in 3000.

UPDATE: An updated and expanded version is now available on Amazon.com, Ehlers-Danlos Syndrome: Your Eyes and EDS.

We are pleased to announce that Dr. Alycia Green has joined Total Eye Care! With the addition of Dr. Green we have expanded our hours at our Keller office. We will now offer appointments Monday through Friday at both the Colleyville and Keller offices. Saturday visits are available, by appointment, in Colleyville.

We are very excited to welcome Dr. Green to Total Eye Care. Dr. Green is a 1999 graduate of the University of Houston College of Optometry. A complete complete press release is available.

Your baby should have her eyes examined at any age if a

problem is suspected. Until recently eye exams were recommended for all children before they entered kindergarten. However, numerous national organizations such as the American Optometric Association, American Academy of Ophthalmology and Prevent Blindness America have begun to recommend that your child receive their first eye exam at 6 months of age and then again at 3 years of age. Many forms of blindness or amblyopia (a decrease in vision) that occur in children can be prevented if caught early. Before you take your child to your eye doctor ask them if they are set up to evaluate children that are your child’s age. Not all eye doctors see young children.

I’m looking forward to the ride. I’m riding with a fellow optometrist and his team from Victoria, TX. I have been training a lot for this ride. Some of you may have seen me in spin class at LifeTime Fitness. The first day will be long, about 80 miles, but with fewer hills. The second day will be about 70 miles. As we get closer to Austin the hills get bigger and more frequent. I plan to record my experience this blog.

Technorati Tags: multiple Sclerosis, MS 150, cycling, Houston Austin