An eye exam may be the last thing on your mind in the rush to get your children ready to go back to school. But in reality, no amount of new clothes, binders, backpacks or pencils will help your child succeed in school if they have an undetected problem with their vision.

Did you know that one out of four children has vision problems? And yet only 50% of parents with children under the age of 12 have taken their children to an eye care professional.

Many children struggle needlessly with vision problems simply because they don’t know they have one. For a child in school, vision correction can make all the difference in their academic performance as well as their ability to play sports and interact with others. Eye exams ensure that children are seeing and feeling their best.

You may be wondering why eye care professionals recommend a back-to-school eye exam when many children receive a vision screening at school. There are, however, important differences between a screening and a comprehensive eye exam. Where a screening tests only for visual acuity, comprehensive exams will test for visual acuity, chronic diseases, color vision and make sure the eyes are working together properly.

A standard school vision screening mostly checks distance vision but does not check for near vision issues, meaning farsightedness is often missed. Amblyopia, or lazy eye, and eye coordination issues are also frequently missed during screenings. That means that a child may pass a vision screening because they are able to see the board, but they may not even be able to see the textbook in front of them!

​Children’s bodies are rapidly growing and changing. Their eyes are as well. Regular eye exams will ensure early detection and treatment of any problems!

​Having good eyesight is an important part of completing day to day activities. Vision is used to gather information, trigger motor responses, and estimate distances. While adults may be able to detect a changes in their vision, it is often difficult for children to identify and express.

Children are required to have annual eye exams to not only evaluate children's visual acuity (clarity of vision) but also to have developmental eye movements assessed.

Developmental eye movements include saccades, tracking/pursuits, and convergence.

Saccadic eye movements are quick movements of the eyes between two points in various directions (left and right, diagonally, up and down). These movements should be a short, quick movement between the targets, and the child should be able to do it without moving his or her head. These eye movements are important for tasks such as spatial awareness and reading.

Pursuits, or tracking, are eye movements that follow a moving object in various directions. The children's eyes should be moving together, and they should not lose the target object. If the child's eyes are jumping, or they are required to move their head to track, the child may be experiencing a visual impairment.

Convergence is defined as the inward movement of both eyes. This means that the eyes are coming together to focus on a target object. A child's eyes should move inwards together, in a smooth movement. If one or both of the child's eyes are not converging or if the convergence is delayed, the child will have difficulty focusing on objects and will have more difficulty participating in activities.

If a child is experiencing visual issues, it can have a huge impact on their performance during daily activities. 

Children with visual impairment often experience increased difficulty with academic activities - often struggling with handwriting, math, reading and attention. In addition to academic activities, children may also struggle with dressing tasks such as tying shoes and fastening buttons or zippers, which limits overall independence. 

Vision also plays an important role in motor components of activities such as hand-eye coordination, balance and manipulating small pieces, which are all skills needed to engage in daily activities.

Having your children's eyes tested annually is the only way to monitor changes in their vision and developmental eye movements. It will give us the ability to diagnose and treat (or refer for treatment to a vision therapist).

Shopping for a new pair of sunglasses is more important than you might think.

High on the list of priorities for many people is finding eyewear that's fashionable and affordable. But most forget, functionality.

The most important thing is to remember that UV protection is top priority. If you pick up your perfect pair of sunglasses and you think they're the cutest thing you've ever seen, make sure you check the label because you're kind of wasting your time by putting on pair of sunglasses on that are not UV protected.

You want to look on the label to make sure it's 99% UV protected at least, 100% is better, but a lot of sunglasses are a 99% UV protection and that covers you pretty well.

Also, don't be fooled by lens tint or color.

A lot of people will think that darker glasses protect your eyes better, but the color and the darkness, the tint, of the glasses really doesn't matter. Only the amount of UV protection matters.

Polarized eye-wear is also a good option.

Polarized lenses protect you from glare reflecting from the sun on the water surface, sand or snow. 

Not protecting your eyes could cost you in the long run. UV light has been tied to increased incidents of cancerous growths on the eyes and eyelids, as well as early cataracts.

Whether behind the wheel, in the backyard, or on the beach, remember that sun exposure always requires sunglasses at any age. Sunglasses are small protection now, to prevent bigger problems later.

We are hosting a Trunk Sale and Styling Event

Wed, May 10 10am-8pm 
Thurs May 11 10am-8pm

Enjoy refreshments and one on one styling with a Lafont stylist.

Lafont's entire collection of eyeglasses and sunglasses for men, women, teens, children and infants will be available for browsing, styling and purchase. 

 For more information call us 905-751-0169

Celebrate 30 Years with Lafont Paris in North America

Although the iconic Lafont eyewear brand honors a legacy of over 90 years, having been established in 1923 by Louis Lafont, there’s reason to celebrate stateside as the family now glows in a 30-year presence in North America.

Insight Eyeworks
​446 Hollandview Trail, Aurora

Just like your body, your eyes and vision change over time. While not everyone will experience the same symptoms, the following are common age-related vision changes:

• Need for more light. As you age, you need more light to see as well as you used to. Brighter lights in your work area or next to your reading chair will help make reading and other close-up tasks easier.
  
  
• Difficulty reading and doing close work. Printed materials can become less clear, in part because the lens in your eye becomes less flexible over time. This makes it harder for your eyes to focus on near objects than when you were younger.
  
  
• Problems with glare. When driving, you may notice additional glare from headlights at night or sun reflecting off windshields or pavement during the day. Changes in your lenses in your eyes cause light entering the eye to be scattered rather than focused precisely on the retina. This creates more glare.
  
  
• Changes in color perception. The normally clear lens located inside your eye may start to discolor. This makes it harder to see and distinguish between certain color shades.
  
  
• Reduced tear production. With age, the tear glands in your eyes will produce fewer tears. This is particularly true for women experiencing hormone changes. As a result, your eyes may feel dry and irritated. Having an adequate amount of tears is essential for keeping your eyes healthy and for maintaining clear sight.

Beginning in the early to mid-40s, many adults may start to have problems seeing clearly at close distances, especially when reading and working on the computer. This is among the most common problems adults develop between ages 41 to 60. This normal change in the eye's focusing ability, called presbyopia, will continue to progress over time.

Initially, you may need to hold reading materials farther away to see them clearly. Or you may need to remove your glasses to see better up close. Print in the newspaper or on a restaurant menu may appear blurred, especially under dim lighting.

If you already wear prescription glasses or contact lenses to see clearly in the distance, these changes in your near vision can be corrected by switching to bifocal or multifocal lenses. Fortunately, people with presbyopia now have many options to improve their vision.

For a list of common age-related vision changes click here

“From cataracts to glaucoma, diabetes can very seriously affect every part of the eye,” said Dr. Jeffrey Guthrie, optometrist and President of OAO. “Worst of all is diabetic retinopathy, which occurs when the tiny blood vessels in your retina become weak and leaky. Without treatment, diabetic retinopathy can result in permanent vision loss.”

Early detection of diabetic retinopathy is essential to successful treatment, so that people living with diabetes can avoid the serious impacts that vision loss will have on their lives. Regular comprehensive eye exams with an optometrist are necessary to detect the condition before vision loss occurs, because retinopathy’s early stages are symptomless and damage may be irreversible. In Ontario, comprehensive eye exams for people living with diabetes are covered by the Ontario Health Insurance Plan (OHIP), a fact that is not widely known.

“Like most chronic diseases, early detection and proper management of diabetes is key to reducing the risk of complications such as vision loss and blindness. That’s why it’s so important to have regular comprehensive eye exams,” says Rick Blickstead, president and CEO of the Canadian Diabetes Association. “It’s not well known in Ontario that eye exams are publicly covered for people with diabetes. We urge the public to take advantage of this benefit.”

The benefits of comprehensive eye exams also extends to early detection of diabetes.

“Comprehensive eye exams can pick up on subtle changes in the eye that can indicate issues with the patient’s overall health. Optometrists can catch even the earliest signs of diabetes, before the patient has noticed any symptoms,” said Dr. Guthrie.

Quick facts:
•    There are an estimated 1.6 million Ontarians currently living with diabetes.
•    Diabetic retinopathy is the number 1 cause of preventable blindness in working-aged Ontarians.
•    According to a 2016 report by Health Quality Ontario, more than 40 per cent of Ontarians aged 20 to 64 living with diabetes do not undergo a comprehensive eye exam within the recommended two-year period.
•    This same report shows that nearly one-third of all Ontarians living with diabetes do not undergo a comprehensive eye exam within the recommended two-year period.

Book an appointment with our on-site optometrist, 

One in three Canadians already has diabetes or prediabetes and many don’t know it, so the need for prevention is greater than ever. By taking a short online type 2 diabetes risk test at www.diabetestest.ca, people can start to take charge of their health.

Source: ​http://www.optom.on.ca
​

Dr. Kar and associates at Bayview Optometry, offer examinations for everyone, at every age, including children and infants. Eye exams are an important part of your overall health care, not just in managing or diagnosing vision problems.

Pediatric eye exams are important for early development. Infants should have their first exam around six months of age. By this time, they should be able to focus and see colours. 

Detecting abnormalities early is crutial for identify any vision problems early so it doesn’t hinder a child's development later. 

Things you can look for at home

• excessive eye rubbing
• eye crossing
• frequent blinking
• not tracking moving objects well
• not holding eye contact

Premature babies are more likely to have vision problems, so it is even more important that they be seen at this age.

What happens at their first optometry appointment

Dr Kar will first check the baby’s pupils’ response to light. Then he will test whether the baby can fixate on an object and follow it as it moves. He will then check the strength of their eyes by making sure they see within the normal range for their age. Finally, he will look inside the eyes to make sure that all the structures in the eye have developed as they should.

If any problems are found, a plan of treatment can be discussed, which may include corrective lenses. Yes, babies can wear glasses! If there aren’t any problems, children should be followed yearly for their annual eye examinations, which are covered by OHIP until the age of 19.

Our vision is necessary and care should be taken to preserve the health of our eyes. But what happens if your eyes suddenly go blurry? Does it mean that you need new glasses? Is it an emergency?

Here are a few reasons this can happen:

• Eye Fatigue: Although we are using our eyes all the time, they often don’t get variety of exercise, and can get stuck on one range of vision. After a day staring at a screen or glued to the printed word, we may find that our long sight has blurred.
• No Natural Light: Some of us get little access to natural daylight for long periods of time. The eyes have to adjust to cope with neon or artificial light.
• Stress: Stress is something that we recognize as having a detrimental effect on many aspects of our health, but it can also hurt our vision. The tiny muscles that work the eye can suffer from tension and this will affect the ability of the eye to adjust speedily to longer-range objects, giving us the impression that our long sight is worsening.
• Nutrition: A lack of nutrients such as vitamins C and E can reduce the protection offered to the eye and make problems such as cataracts more likely.
• Irritants: Being exposed to irritants will provoke the eye into watering, in the same way that the nasal passages will produce mucus. It is designed to wash pollutants out of the eye, and is necessary for their protection.

What can you do about blurred vision?

• Relax! Take some time out from staring at screens, books, magazines, the TV, and go for an energizing walk, looking up at the sky or out to the horizon. Exercise your long sight with this exercise; your eye muscles will benefit from exercise just like any other muscle in your body:
• Exercise your eyes. Take a pencil, or use your finger, and hold it approx.15 cm (six inches) from your nose. Focus on your pencil (or finger) and take a deep breath and exhale slowly. Then focus on an object about 3 m (10 feet) away. Take another deep breath and slowly exhale. You can repeat back and forth 10-15 times daily. You can also do this simple exercise several times a day to ease the eye muscle tension. 
• Eat better. There are many nutrient rich foods that can help boost your eyesight over a long period of time. Foods to eat to keep your eyes healthy
• Get an eye exam. If you haven't had an eye exam in the last 2 years and your vision suddenly goes blurry, it's best to rule out additional health issues. Please give us a call at (905) 751-0169 to book your appointment.