Regular eye exams are important in protecting your vision and identifying health problems in the early stages. At Wolcott Optical, we offer eye exams to ensure that you can take effective care of your eyes. We recommend that you have eye exams every year, but understanding the signs can help you to determine when it is particularly important to have an eye exam. Here are a few signs that it is time for an eye exam.

You are Squinting More Often

If you find that you are squinting often to see clearly, or that this squinting isn’t improving your sight, it is likely time for an eye exam. This indicates that there are changes in your vision that may require treatment. In addition, squinting can result in discomfort and tension headaches. Frequent squinting indicates that it is time to schedule an eye exam.

Frequent Headaches

Frequent headaches are another indication that it is time for an eye exam. When you regularly experience headaches, especially with the sensation of pressure around the eyes, they may be caused by vision problems.

Your Eyes Have an Infection

Eye infections may clear up on their own, but you don’t want to take a chance when it comes to your vision. If you think you have an infection in your eyes, it is important to schedule an eye exam for the appropriate treatment and care.

Dry Eyes

Particularly dry eyes often indicate an underlying health problem with your eyes. When your eyes feel dried out, it may be important to schedule an eye exam to diagnose any underlying problems.

Difficulty Seeing at Night

Difficulty seeing at night is another indication that it is time for an eye exam. It is important that you are able to see clearly throughout the day. Difficulty seeing at night, for example, can result in unsafe driving or other problems.

Your Last Eye Exam was More than a Year Ago

If you can’t remember that last time you had an eye exam, you are overdue for one. You should ensure that you have eye exams every year. By obtaining these annual eye exams, you will be able to find problems early on, before they are allowed to have a substantial impact on your ocular health.

You are at High Risk for Eye Problems

There are some factors that may increase your chances of having problems with your eyes. If you have a family history of vision problems, it may be necessary to schedule eye exams more often. Certain health conditions, such as diabetes, will also increase the chances that you will experience ocular problems. If you wear contacts, you will want to have your eyes checked regularly to ensure they aren’t impacting the health of your eyes.

Changes in Vision

Are you unable to see clearly with your existing prescription? Then it is time to schedule an eye exam! An eye exam will help you to ensure that your prescription is effective and up to date.

If you notice these signs, it is likely time to schedule an eye exam. This can help you to minimize problems with your vision and protect the health of your eyes. Schedule an eye exam with us to ensure that you provide this protection. To learn more about the signs that you need an eye exam, contact us at Wolcott Optical today!

Your contact lenses come into close contact with your eyes. Due to this, it is essential to ensure that your contacts stay in good condition. When you take care of your contacts, you will be able to reduce the chances of infections or other problems with your eyes. There are several steps that you can take to take care of your contacts and keep them in the best possible condition. At Wolcott Optical, we are passionate about providing the necessary services to protect your ocular health. Here are a few of our tips for taking care of your contacts.

Listen to your Optometrist

It is important to follow the directions of your optometrist when it comes to taking care of your contacts. Only wear your contact lenses as prescribed by your optometrist. If your optometrist tells you to replace them daily, it will be essential to do so. You also need to ensure that you visit your optometrist on a regular basis. This will help to ensure that you are wearing the ideal contacts for your eyes. It will also enable you to identify potential injuries to your eyes in the early stages.

Never Share Contacts

This may go without saying, but it is extremely important that you only wear the contacts that have been prescribed to you by your optometrist. You should never share contacts with another person. When you do so, you will likely spread harmful particles and substantially increase your risk of getting an infection. Furthermore, someone else’s contacts won’t be designed especially for your eyes.

Replace when Necessary

Many people wear their contacts for longer than the contacts are intended. It is important to pay attention to the lifetime of your contacts and replace them whenever necessary. For example, you need to discard your contacts daily if you use the daily wear variety. It may be beneficial to take notes on your calendar regarding when you started wearing a particular set of contacts, so you will replace them as recommended.

Don’t Sleep in your Contacts

Many people choose to sleep in their contacts. Unless you are advised otherwise by your optometrist, you should avoid this. When your eyelids are closed, it is more difficult for oxygen to access your eyes. This difficulty is further compounded when you have your contact lenses in. By taking them out before you go to sleep, you can prevent oxygen deprivation from impacting your eyes.

Wash Hands Before Handling

It is extremely important to ensure that you wash your hands thoroughly, with soap, before handling your contacts. This applies to both inserting and removing your contacts. When you wash your hands prior to handling the contacts, you will be able to prevent bacteria or harmful particles from making their way onto your contacts and, eventually, into your eyes.

Use Fresh Solution

Replace your solution every time you remove your contacts. When you use older solution, it isn’t adequately disinfecting your contacts. With fresh solution, you can help to ensure that your solution is doing its task. It is also important to ensure that your contact lenses can sit in the saline solution for the recommended period of time.

Don’t Rinse with Tap Water

It is essential to avoid rinsing your contacts with tap water in any scenario. Even if they feel dry, it is important to ensure you only ever use the appropriate products. Tap water contains many various impurities. These impurities can cause contamination or damage to occur to your contacts. This can lead to significant issues with your ocular health. You also shouldn’t use saliva to wet your contacts.

Taking the steps to care for your contacts will help you to prevent infections and keep your eyes in good condition. When you work with our experts at Wolcott Optical, you can be confident that all the steps will be taken to protect your ocular health. For more information about caring for your contacts or to schedule your regular eye exam, contact us at Wolcott Optical today!

In this day and age, it is extremely common to spend a great deal of your time in front of a computer screen. This can lead to substantial problems with your vision, especially when you are frequently exposed to blue lights. The use of gaming glasses is often leveraged in order to provide protection for the health of your eyes, as well as your comfort. When you spend a great deal of your time in front of a computer, it will be important to ensure that you use the right strategies to protect your vision. In order to do so, it can be useful to understand what gaming glasses are and how they can be used.

Dangers of Digital Screens

Digital screens are so common to use. When you are constantly in front of a computer screen, it is easy for strain to impact your eyes. There are many problems with your eyes that you can experience after you have spent a great deal of time in front of a digital screen. Gaming glasses can often help with these dangers.

Signs that you Need to Protect your Eyes

It is important to be aware of the signs that screens are having an impact on your vision. Digital eye strain is commonly exhibited as irritated, tired, or dry eyes. In particularly severe cases, you may experience chronic headaches and muscle stiffness in the neck and shoulders. If this is the case, you will both want to practice computer ergonomic practices and take the appropriate steps to protect your eyes.

Digital Eye Strain

Digital eye strain is the term that is often used for the problems that occur with your vision after spending time in front of a screen. This is also often referred to as computer vision syndrome. When you notice these issues, you will want to ensure that you take the measures to provide protection for your vision and restore your overall comfort.

What do Gaming Glasses Do?

Gaming glasses are often used to counteract the conditions that cause computer vision syndrome. Usually, these gaming glasses will have anti-reflective lenses to reduce the amount of glare that reflects from the computer screen. They also tend to have various components that are designed to block blue light that can be harmful for your vision. Prescription gaming glasses can also be implemented to provide additional protection. In some cases, you will be able to implement accessories to your regular glasses in order to provide this protection.

Problems Caused by Blue Light

In order to understand the importance of blocking blue lights, it will be important to understand the issues that can be caused by this blue light. Blue light is generally what causes screen brightness, which ensures that it is incredibly prominent in your daily life. Blue light rays have been shown to interfere with sleep patterns, as well as impact the quality of your sleep. This, in turn, can cause problems with your memories and brain function. These lights can also impact the hormone levels and cause additional problems. Blue light is capable of penetrating deep into the retinas of the eyes, which can damage light-sensitive cells in the eyes, which results in long-term vision problems. In fact, this can increase the likelihood of developing cataracts or other problems.

Schedule an Eye Exam

It can be difficult to identify exactly when a problem is caused by your computer screen or another problem with your eyes. Due to this, it is essential to ensure that you schedule an eye exam to provide the best protection for your vision. These issues can even be caused by a rather small inaccuracy from an out-of-date prescription. With an eye exam, you will able to obtain an updated prescription, as well as identify an issues with the health of your vision. These eye exams will also help you to find the ideal pair of gaming glasses to meet the needs of your ocular health.

Gaming glasses are often used to help protect your vision and improve your comfort. Regular eye exams are another incredibly important component of protecting the health of your eyes. For more information about how to protect your vision, contact us at Wolcott Optical today!