Driving Fitness - how to decide?

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  How can you feel confident that the drivers around you on the road are fit and capable of good driving?  Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

 

How can you feel confident that the drivers around you on the road are fit and capable of good driving?  Image courtesy of www.FreeDigitalPhotos.net

What should you do if you are worried about you own driving fitness or the ability of a close friend or relative to be a safe driver? We have all heard stories of people who were injured or killed by a driver who should "not have been on the road".  It seems easy to make the judgment about who should or should not be allowed to drive but it is very difficult.  The decision to allow yourself or a loved one to keep on driving can be emotional and can cause huge rifts or arguments within families.  Losing your driver's license means a loss of independence, autonomy, self-respect and may even require moving from a home to a location more accessible for public transportation.  It can cause depression and stress among everyone involved in making the decision.

Yet, despite the difficulties, assessing driving fitness is an extremely important part of keeping our communities safe and confident on the road.  According to Transport Canada, the latest statistics from 2013 indicate that over 9 million Canadians over the age of 55 were licensed drivers and in one year alone, over 12,000 fatalities or serious injuries occurred as a result of driving accidents. Visual and cognitive impairment can affect anyone at any age and needs to be addressed sensitively and with measurable results.

  Driving allows us freedom to explore with curiosity and appreciation.  Keep our roads safe by making responsible choices for you and your loved ones.  Ensure driver fitness before it's too late.

 

Driving allows us freedom to explore with curiosity and appreciation.  Keep our roads safe by making responsible choices for you and your loved ones.  Ensure driver fitness before it's too late.

Vision standards for drivers in Alberta are determined by your visual acuity (how well you see either with or without glasses) and your visual field (how much peripheral vision you have).  More information can be seen on our link here:

However, driving fitness goes well beyond vision requirements.  More importantly, the driver's cognitive fitness can greatly affect his or her ability to be a safe driver.  In Alberta, we now have the ability to have experts take the decision out of our hands and to provide an objective evaluation regarding the patient's ability to drive.  DriveABLE is a private, independent assessment agency and is not affiliated with the Government of Alberta. The assessments include evaluation by a cognitive assessment tool which is predictive of actual on-road driving ability.  The results are standardized and measured objectively which can remove the emotional aspect of the decision and give clear direction regarding the driver's ability.  The assessment results are reviewed by the physician with their patient and can be provided to Alberta Transportation.

Driving is a privilege that many of us enjoy.  Let's keep the roads and our communities safe by using sensitivity and responsibility when deciding when it is time to relinquish that privilege. 

 

 

  

 

 

Eye Care Referrals: Royal Alex Hospital

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Why do I have to go to the Royal Alex Hospital after seeing my eye doctor?

Your optometrist is qualified to handle the majority of eye care conditions that may arise during a routine eye health exam or emergency eye exam situation. In some eye conditions however, more advance eye care or medical care may be warranted. Some eye findings are simply warming sings of more serious underlying health issues that need to be addressed in order to resolve the visual symptoms you may be experiencing.

Like your family physician, your optometrists can help to coordinate the appropriate eye care required by the most appropriate health care provider. Occasionally, this may be an ophthalmologist that specializes in certain surgical procedures or specific eye diseases.

Why the Royal Alex Hospital? The Royal Alex Hospital is considered the home of ophthalmology in Edmonton and most local ophthalmologist work regular clinic shifts within the eye clinic. Typically, patients must be referred into the Royal Alex Hospital eye care unit by an optometrist, family physician or emergency room physician. These referrals are reserved for urgent eye care needs only and not routine eye health examinations.

If your eye condition is less urgent, and you are still wondering why you were referred to the Royal Alex Hospital. It’s probably because many specialized ophthalmologists have their full time clinics stationed at Royal Alex Hospital and your appointment may simply be with one of them.

FYI: If you ever have any questions or concerns about where one of our optometrist refers you to, please do not hesitate to contact the office. Your optometrist will be happy to explain the reason behind the decision and can make any necessary changes to the appointment when possible.  

 

 Book your next eye exam in Sherwood Park with an optometrist at eye-bar optometrists, opticians & eyewear specialists 

Visual Changes During Pregnancy

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Expectant mothers have often been told that their vision may change during pregnancy and that they should put off seeing their optometrist until after delivery. But nine months is a long time to go without seeing properly (and dangerous)!

In general, most women experience minimal to no visual symptoms throughout their pregnancy. Common minor vision changes include: dry eye symptoms, contact lens intolerance, difficulty focusing or reading for extended periods, or a change in one's eyeglass prescription. These prescription changes are usually the result of cornea edema (thickening) caused by normal fluid retention during pregnancy, and may reverse post pregnancy or can become permanent. Depending on the severity of your symptoms or vision changes, you may want to talk with your optometrist about treatment options or about updating your eyeglasses.  

More serious visual problems that should never be ignored include: blurred vision, halos around lights, headaches, neck pain, changes in colour perception, or distorted vision. Should you ever experience any of these symptoms, it’s important to see your optometrist as soon as possible and call your doctor. If you feel it is an emergency, then proceed directly to the hospital. These symptoms may be secondary to preeclampsia, which is a potentially serious condition caused by an elevation in blood pressure. These symptoms may also be related to a less serious medical condition called central serious chorioretinopathy, which is an inflammation of the central retina.

Special consideration should also be given to mothers with diabetes, as they require vision care throughout the duration of their pregnancy. It’s recommended that any mothers with diabetes receive a thorough dilated eye exam prior to conceiving as well as monthly to bi-monthly eye exams throughout the course of their pregnancy, depending on how well controlled her blood sugars are. These eye examinations are used to monitor visual fluctuations along with diabetic retinopathy.

Night (or early morning) Driving Tips

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Daylight hours are slowly going to get longer, but you may still find yourself driving to and from work in the dark! Most of the decisions we make while driving is based on what we see. There are a few things you can do to make driving at night (or early morning) safer. 

  • First, it's important to have your eyes checked on a regular basis to ensure you have the vision correction you need to see your absolute best while driving.
  • Lower your speed and/or following distance when road conditions are less than ideal. At night, our regular surroundings are all the same dark colour so the visual cues to help us estimate depth and distance aren't available when we need to stop quickly.
  • Glare from lights on streets and other cars can be a distraction. An anti-glare coating on your lenses is helpful to have if you're doing a lot of night driving.
  • A clean windshield is extremely important - make sure your wiper blades work properly and well, and ensure you have plenty of washer fluid on hand!
  • Ensure headlights are clean and properly aligned. You know how your windshield gets covered in dirt around the edge where your wiper blades miss? Well, that same amount of dirt is covering your headlights and blocking your headlights from keeping you as safe as they can. 

*Images spotted here and here

 

Back to School Eye Test

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There’s more to school than book bags and lunch boxes. It’s also the perfect time for your child’s eyes to be checked by an optometrist.  Just when you think your child is seeing well, there could very well be a problem. And vision problems are responsible for a staggering number of learning challenges due to the fact that 80% of classroom learning is done through the eyes.

Do you know how well your child can see? It isn’t always obvious to a child or a parent. Children assume everyone sees the world exactly as they do and rarely complain. As parents, the signs of vision problems are not easily detectable.

Here’s a big statistic:  1 in 6 children have some form of vision problems.

Good vision is vital to developing skills such as reading, copying and hand eye coordination. So before your children hits the books again this fall book them in for an eye exam with an eye-bar optometrist.

Eye exams are covered under provincial health insurance when you show your child’s health card. This means that there is no out-of-pocket cost for the eye exam.

Book your child’s eye exam.

Vision Rules!

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In order to function at your best, your vision must be operating at its best. Vision is by far the most dominant sensory sense that humans have and will often out weight inputs from other senses. It’s estimated that vision makes up 2/3 of all the activity in the brain when your eyes are open.

To ensure that your vision still rules your senses, stop by and see one of the eye doctors at eye-bar for a complete eye health examination.

Book your next eye exam in Sherwood Park with an eye-bar optometrist.

eye-bar optometry in Sherwood Park - Eye Exams, Contact Lenses, Emergency Visits & Ophthalmology Referrals

A Common Vision Problem – Nearsightedness

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Nearsightedness (myopia) is a common vision condition by which people have problems focusing on objects in the distance. Close up vision tends not to be altered however, except in cases of very high nearsighted.

Nearsighted is one of the primary reasons why people schedule an eye exam with an eye doctor. Symptoms may include difficulty driving, taking notes in the classroom or boardroom, or recognizing a friends face from afar. Nearsighted people may find themselves trying to squint their eyes in order to better focus on distant objects, which can lead to frontal and temporal headaches.

Perceptually, nearsighted people often experience greater distance blur at night or in low lighting versus during daylight or bright lighting. This sends conflicting messages and can delay booking an appointment with an eye doctor. Regardless of the lighting though, images tend to seem slightly fuzzy and lack definition.

Nearsightedness can be a progressive condition, where by the amount of correction required may slowly increase over time. Nearsighted is the result of light focusing in front of the retina. This can be the result of an increase in the overall lenght of the eye. As such, routine eye exams by an eye doctor are recommended.

Common urban myths surround nearsighted include:

Wearing eyeglasses makes your vision worse - False

Not wearing your eyeglasses helps to strengthen or improve your vision - False

People who are diagnosed as being nearsighted by an eye doctor have treatment options. Treatment options for nearsightedness include: eyeglasses, contact lenses and refractive eye surgery procedures. Your eye doctor can help you to determine which treatment option is best suited for you.

Are you nearsighted?

Book your next eye exam in Sherwood Park with an eye-bar optometrist.

eye-bar optometry in Sherwood Park - Eye Exams, Contact Lenses, Emergency Visits & Ophthalmology Referrals

Autumn in Sherwood Park

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Autumn is by far one of the most beautiful seasons in Sherwood Park. But along with the changing of the leaves, there is also a change in the height of the sun. With the sun being more along the horizon we are all more likely to be hit by the suns intensity and glare while driving.

Over the past few weeks we’ve watch drivers flip down their visors or squint their eyes to try and cope with the changing driving conditions. Not only does this create a dangerous driving situation due to the reduced visibility, but it can also be hard on your eyes.

So with the changing of the season eye-bar reminds everyone to make sure that they change and update their sunglasses. 

Stop by the store to talk with our licensed opticians about the benefits of polarized sunglasses. Besides, you're going to need them for your winter vacation!

 

eye-bar optometry in Sherwood Park - Eye Exams, Contact Lenses, Emergency Visits & Ophthalmology Referrals

Are you at Risk?

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Did you know that age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is one of the primary causes of vision loss in people over the age of 60? In fact, 1 in 4 Canadians may develop macular degeneration in their lifetime, compared to only 1 in 10 who may develop glaucoma. The reality is that most people have never even heard of macular degeneration, let alone know whether they are at risk.

Like many other eye diseases, macular degeneration is a slow painless process that tends to occur over a number of years, with very few warning signs. In fact, macular degeneration can only be diagnosed after a thorough comprehensive eye exam conducted by an eye doctor.

Macular degeneration affects the central portion of the retina, or the area of the eye responsible for fine detailed visual tasks like reading or driving. Patients often initially complain of blurred vision, or a spot in their line of sight. But the reality is that most patients experience no problems in mild and even moderate cases of macular degeneration.

Currently, there is no pill or vitamin supplement that can guarantee that you won’t develop macular degeneration and certain risk factors may be out of your control.

Risks that are out of your control

Age – AMD increase with age
Race – Caucasians are at a greater risk then African Americans
Family History – Higher risk of developing late stage AMD
Gender – Females are more likely to develop AMD then men
Eye Colour – Blue or light colour irises


However, there are still some risk factors that you do have control over, that play an equal role in the potential development of macular degeneration.

Risks that you can control

Smoking – Just quit
Heart Disease – Watch your blood pressure and cholesterol
Exercise – Regular exercise
Weight – Obesity increases your risks
Diet – Eat a diet high in green leafy vegetables and fish
Sunglasses – Sunglasses help to reduce harmful UV light exposure
Eye Exams – Book an annual eye exam with an eye doctor

 

Learn more about age-related macular degeneration by visiting the CNIB @ eyeconnect or talk to your optometrist at your next annual eye exam.

 eye-bar optometry - eye exams, contact lenses, emergency visits & ophthalmology referrals

What is Myopia or Nearsightedness?

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Myopia or nearsightedness is a common vision disorder where by patients are able to see objects up close, but are unable to focus clearly on objects in the distance. Myopia is caused because of one of two things, either a persons eye grows to long or the outside of the eye is to steep, causing images to focus in front of the retina.

Typically, patients will start to notice problems with their distance vision in their school years, but myopia can develop at any age. It may also be a sign of a more serious medical problem, such as diabetes or cataracts, especially if the onset of myopia is very sudden and dramatic.

There has been increased research in the area of myopia in recent years, as the world as seen a sudden surge in the number of people requiring distance vision correction. Studies suggest that myopia may be related to near point stress, and numerous studies show that myopia increases along with a person’s level of education. Newer studies out of China also point towards dietary factors playing a large role in the development of myopia, however these studies are far from complete. A study out of the UK at the St. Thomas Hospital also showed the genetics probably plays a large role in the develop of myopia while environmental factors may only play a small or limited role.

Initial symptoms of myopia include problems focusing on small objects far away like road signs or the channel guide on TV. People can find themselves squinting or developing frontal headaches from having to squint. Children often complain about being unable to see the board at school, while adults often complain about poor night vision or increased glare. Symptoms almost always worsen in low light level situations.

Treatment options for people affected by myopia or nearsightedness are numerous. Traditionally, eyeglasses have been the primary treatment option, however, patients also have access to contact lenses, laser vision correction, and intra-ocular lens implants. It is important to always discuss lifestyle and your work situation with your optometrist or ophthalmologist when determining your best treatment option or options. It is also recommended that patients with myopia receive regular eye health examinations by an optometrist or ophthalmologist every one to two years.

 

eye-bar optometry - eye exams, contact lenses, emergency visits & ophthalmology referrals