Bifocal Contact Lenses + RevitalVision!

Wouldn't it be cool to be able to continue to wear your contact lenses, and ONLY your contact lenses even when you get to the age when most people are wearing cheaters over their contacts? You're driving around Cleveland, maybe having lunch at Crocker Park, and you drive AND read the menu with only your contacts? We thought you'd like that idea!

Bifocal contact lenes have come a long way  in the last couple of years. For some people a "straight out of the box" fitting is all that is necessary. However, many folks find that their vision with bifocal contact lenses is just not as sharp as it is with their bifocal glasses, or even as sharp as distance contacts and cheaters. But that means wearing glasses! What to do?

Do you remember our posts about RevitalVision? RevitalVision is the computer training program that increases our ability to process the images that our eyes focus and send to the brain. Think of RevitalVision as opening up extra lanes on the "vision highway", like taking a one lane road, increasing the speed limit, and then opening up two extra lanes! RevitalVision dramatically increases our contrast sensitivity, our ability to see sharply and crisply, and this makes it easier for us to use bifocal contacts!

This is another innovation we are working on at Skyvision Centers in Westlake. Come see us if you are a contact lens wearer who might need readers and see if you can benefit from our bifocal/RevitalVision combo!

Is It Time For You To Have LASIK?!

Did you know that more than 500,000 U.S. servicemen and women have had Laser Vision Correction? Much of the original work was done by Dr. Steven Schallhorn, a former Navy Top Gun pilot (who still holds a record at Top Gun set in the 1980's!). Dr. Schallhorn pioneered the use of Laser Vision Correction, especially LASIK, in the Navy.  Now our military pilots, soldiers, sailors...even Navy SEALs are getting LASIK  and getting fantastic results.

LASIK  and PRK, the two types of Laser Refractive Surgery, are safe and effective means to become less dependent on glasses or contact lenses. Many millions of Americans, and millions more around the world, have had LASIK done and are now glasses free! In fact, in the USAEyes Core Survey being done as part of a review of LASIK for the FDA, 98% of patients were happy with their vision and their quality of life. 98% would recommend LASIK to friends and family!

Do you wear contact lenses or glasses? Do you live in the Cleveland area? Is it time for YOU to have LASIK? Call us at Skyvision Centers in Westlake for a consultation with Dr. Darrell White our LASIK surgeon!

Azasite for Blepharitis

Blepharitis is an inflammatory disease of the eyelid margins. It is usually caused by either an over-grwoth of the naturally occurring bacteria that live on our eyelids, or from an inflammation that comes from within our bodies. Azasite is a very effective antibiotic gel drop that works very well to counteract the symptoms of Bleparitis. Here's a report on a study done on Azasite:

"Study Shows Azasite Improves Symptoms of Blepharitis



Azithromycin ophthalmic solution 1% (Azasite; Inspire Pharmaceuticals, Inc.)
provided significant improvement in signs and symptoms of blepharitis after 4
weeks of treatment compared with baseline, and persisted in a 4-week follow-up
period, according to a study in Cornea.^1


Twenty-six patients (mean age, 64.2 years) with moderate-to-severe blepharitis
received azithromycin ophthalmic solution 1% in the absence of warm compresses
or eyelid scrubs for 28 days (twice daily on days 1 and 2 and q.i.d. on days
3-28). Blepharitis signs and symptoms were evaluated at baseline (day 1), and
compared with the end of treatment (day 29), and two follow-up visits (2 and 4
weeks post-treatment). Tear collection and eyelid margin bacterial cultures
were performed at baseline and end of treatment. Tear cytokines were measured
by a multiplex immunobead assay.


Four-week azithromycin treatment demonstrated significant decreases from
baseline in investigator-rated signs of meibomian gland plugging, eyelid margin
redness, palpebral conjunctival redness, and ocular discharge (P ? .002) at day
29, which persisted 4 weeks post-treatment (P ? .006). Patient-reported
symptoms of eyelid itching, foreign-body sensation/sandiness/grittiness, ocular
dryness, ocular burning/pain, and swollen/heavy eyelids also demonstrated
significant improvement from baseline (P < 0.001 for all symptoms and time
points, except P = .037 for ocular dryness at visit four), according to the
study. Eyelid margin culture exhibited significant decreases in
coagulase-negative staphylococci and Corynebacterium xerosis bacteria. Changes
in tear cytokine concentrations were not observed. Twelve patients experienced
19 adverse events, 15 of which were ocular, and none of which were serious.

1. Haque R, Torkildsen G, Brubaker K, et. al. Multicenter open-label study
evaluating the efficacy of azithromycin ophthalmic solution 1% on the signs and
symptoms of subjects with blepharitis [published online ahead of print].
Cornea. doi: 10.1097/ICO.0b013e3181ca38a0."


The doctors at Skyvision Centers in Westlake were the first in Cleveland to utilize this breakthrough treatment for the symptoms of Blepharitis!

Treating Astigmatism with Laser Vision Correction!

We've spent a little time talking about Astigmatism, what it is, and some of the ways we can treat it. Did you see Dr. White's video on our Youtube channel, Skyvision105? Here's a LINK to his latest "At the Dr. Whiteboard", Astigmatism 101. Be sure to check back, too--we hear there are a few bloopers that are real doozies!

If you are young, too young to have a cataract for example, the most successful way to SURGICALLY correct astigmatism is with Laser Vision Correction or LVC. There are two main types of LVC, LASIK and PRK. There's lots to learn about both of them, and we'll give you a ton of information about LASIK and PRK for all kinds of vision problems. As an introduction to LVC click on this Eyemaginations LINK for animated videos that describe  how they work.

When you have astigmatism in your prescription we can correct it, and remove your blurry vision, by putting the prescription right on the surface of your eye. We put the correction on your corneal, the window to the eye. This is a permanent correction and can be done for many types of astigmatism. You can actually choose NOT TO WEAR GLASSES after LASIK for astigmatism!

Call Skyvision Centers in Westlake, Cleveland's first truly patient-centered eyecare practice, and ask how our surgeon Dr. Darrell White can treat your astigmatism with LASIK or other LVC!

How Salty Are Your Tears? Why Does That Matter?

TEAR OSMOLARITY, the measurement of the saltiness or salinity of your tears, is an important measurement of the health of your tears and your eye lubrication. As you know, tears are a complex combination of salt water, mucin, and special oil called mebum. All three of these elements or ingredients are mixed up, kind of like Italian salad dressing, and they form the tears that coat the surface of our eyes every minute of every day. As an aside, the tears that we make when we cry, or when something gets in our eyes, are almost completely salt water.

The measurement of your tear osmolarity is a rather new test. It's fully FDA approved. When your tear saltiness is high this is an indication that your tears are not normal. Now, you may not have any symptoms when this is the case, but we usually only do the Tear Osmolarity test when you tell us that your eyes are not comfortable! At Skyvision Centers we use the most modern instrument made by the TearLab corporation to do your test.

Why is this an important measurement? Well, the two most important causes of a Dry Eye, or dry eye symptoms are problems in the production of either the salt water part of your tears, or in the production of the oil or lipid part of your tears. If you have a HIGH Tear Osmolarity it is most likely that your problem stems from something wrong with the production of the salt water in your tears. Either you are not making enough, or what you are making is not working well enough. A LOW Tear Osmolarity does not mean that you don't have Dry Eye Syndrome, it simply means that some other factor is the underlying cause.

The best research available right now shows that a Tear Osmolarity of under 300 is probably normal, or at least "normal enough"! Anything over 308 is abnormal. Measurements between 300 and 308 have to have some additional information from your exam to be meaningful. We will always tell you your number!

As far as we know Skyvision Centers was the first eye center in Northeast Ohio to use Tear Osmolarity in the care of Dry Eye.