The Eye Doc Blog » pain

The Connection Between Light and Migraines

RAD — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 06:49:40 +0000

It seems that virtually everyone that has experienced a migraine wants to crawl into a dark room. The February 2010 issue of the journal Nature Neuroscience has published a study that explains why this phenomena may occur.

The study links a possible connection between light sensitive retinal nerve cells and nerve cells in the brain that are responsible for the perception of migraine pain. The study noted that blind patients also avoided light when suffering from a migraine, however blind patients that had lost their eye did not avoid light. The authors concluded that some of the retinal axons, included some light sensitive axons were sending signals to the hypothalamus, a part of the brain that is responsible for the perception of headache pain.

Patients and Doctors at Total Eye Care Discuss Dry Eye Syndrome

RAD — Sat, 11 Oct 2008 04:34:43 +0000

Seeing patients with complications related to dry eye syndrome are a very common occurrence at Total Eye Care. Last month we made this video about dry eye syndrome. The video discusses how silicone punctal plugs are used to treat dry eye syndrome. It ties in well with this post on the Eye Doc Blog a few months ago about what causes dry eye syndrome. Check it out and let us know what you think.

The Dangers of Not Discarding Your Contact Lenses

RAD — Fri, 11 Jul 2008 05:15:31 +0000

With the advent of disposable contact lenses, cases of Contact Lens Acute Red Eyes (C.L.A.R.E) have been greatly reduced. With the new generation of contact lens materials, known as silicone hydrogels, extended wear contact lenses have made a resurgence. The incidence of vision last as a result from contact lens wear has been greatly reduced the chances of a patient losing vision as a result of contact lens wear, thus actually making 30 day extended wear contact lenses safer than LASIK.

Here is a good video that talks about the dangers of stretching your contact lenses.

posted with vodpod

The study comparing the safety of extended wear contact lenses vs LASIK did not restrict itself to patients that complied with the wearing schedule recommended by the contact lens manufacturer and the patient’s doctor. We find that if a patient complies with the prescribed wearing schedule then the incidence of contact lens related red eyes is very low.

Almost without exception if a patient comes in to our office with a red eye they almost always have exceeded their wearing schedule. So the moral story, discard your lenses following the prescribed wearing schedule and enjoy safe contact lens wear.