Foods to Avoid for Healthy Eyes

The holiday season is almost over. For some, now comes the more challenging season of New Year’s resolutions. Most will choose to spend more time with family, to get outside more, or to exercise more. All of these resolutions are noble and will be worth the effort. If you haven’t chosen a new year’s resolution, consider this: eat better for your eyes. As adults, when eyesight has evened out, you may have glasses or contact lenses, or you might have great vision; either way, you can prevent vision from deteriorating or from becoming worse. Rather than telling you what to eat, we will change it up a little bit, and tell you what foods to avoid. Our eyes are full of blood vessels, so foods that are also good to avoid for heart health should also be avoided to keep your eyes healthy. Margarine and Vegetable Oils Condiments often have ingredients that have negative impacts on your body. Mayonnaise, salad dressing, or jelly, all have either a high-fat content or high sugar content. Also, foods that have margarine or vegetable oils and are man-made should be avoided. Foods that are high in polyunsaturated fats will oxidize in your body and can lead to inflammation and may even cause clogged arteries. Fried Foods Avoiding foods with vegetable oils means avoiding fried foods because that is how they are made. Canola oil, commonly used to fry foods, is a genetically modified product that can also lead to clogged arteries. Fried foods can also cause plaque to build up which can lead to high blood pressure, also a danger to your eyes....

Tips to Assist in Developing Your Child’s Eyes – Part Two

In the previous blog, we discussed tips on ways to help your child’s eyes develop properly from four months to two years old. Talking to your child as you walk around, hanging a mobile from his or her crib, giving them different objects to hold, and encouraging them to walk in order to perceive depth will help their eyes to grow strong and healthy. Taking your child to a pediatric optometrist will also ensure that any health problems are caught early. If glasses are needed, your child can grow accustomed to wearing glasses and are still able to learn everything they need to to have successful years in school. Pre-School Vision During toddler years, vision skills are strong but are still continuing to grow. Learning how to see can be challenging, but also fun with the correct tools and toys for your child to play with. At this age, children will continue to develop hand-eye and body-eye coordination and then visual motor skills necessary in order to learn how to read. There are things a parent can watch out for when a child is playing that can be related to vision problems. If you notice your toddler has difficulty with playing ball, riding a bike, or if they avoid playing with puzzles, coloring books, or other detailed and eyesight related activities; these could be signs they have a vision problem. There are also activities that can help your child continue to develop their vision. Read aloud to your child in order for them to follow along and see what you are reading. Let them play on a chalkboard, with finger...
Tips to Assist in Developing Your Child’s Eyes – Part One

Tips to Assist in Developing Your Child’s Eyes – Part One

Having a baby is a magical experience and is one of the biggest additions to your life. You can prepare as much as you’d like, but there will always be things that you are not prepared for. This doesn’t have to be as scary as it sounds; you may never be prepared for how smelly a dirty diaper can be. One thing that first-time parents should be aware of, however, is how to tell if your baby needs an eye exam and what things you can do as they grow, to ensure they are getting the best eye care possible. Read through some tips on eye care for infant vision, pre-school age, and school-age children. Schedule an appointment today at Vision Care Centre if your child has yet to have an eye exam. Infant Vision Tips A baby’s vision takes time to develop as they grow, and there are things a parent can do to assist in your baby’s precious eyes to develop healthily and strongly. When your baby is six months old, they may be sitting up on their own and will have a personality of their own. It is also time to schedule an appointment with a pediatric eye doctor. The optometrist will test for health problems in the eye, early detection of nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and the ability of the eye to move. During the first four months, your baby will begin to follow objects with his or her eyes and reach for objects as depth perception continues to increase. To assist in developing eye health, keep a nightlight in your baby’s room, rearrange the baby’s...
Why Get a Diabetic Eye Exam?

Why Get a Diabetic Eye Exam?

Diabetes is a complicated disease and affects all sorts of functions within the body.  From foot problems to damaged blood vessels to cataracts and glaucoma in the eyes. The eyes are a powerful and obviously an incredibly important organ in your body, so it is important to have regular eye exams when you have diabetes. Read on to learn more about what problems can occur in the eyes that are caused by diabetes. At Vision Care Centre in Langley, we want to give you the best eye care possible, and that includes detecting eye problems related to diabetes. Diabetic Retinopathy This eye condition affects the blood vessels in the retina, which is a light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. This is the most common eye disease that impairs vision and can cause cancer in people who have diabetes. The biggest symptom of diabetes is high blood sugar and this is known to damage tiny blood vessels located in the retina, which leads to diabetic retinopathy. Sending signals through the optic nerve to the brain, the retina detects light and converts it to these signals. With diabetic retinopathy, these blood vessels can leak fluid or hemorrhage, which causes distorted vision. This disease progresses by the blood vessels becoming more and more damaged. First losing the ability to transport blood, then new blood vessels grow, but are weak, thin, and have a high chance of leaking. Scar tissue eventually forms causing the retina to become detached which can cause permanent vision loss. People with diabetes type one and two are at risk for diabetic retinopathy, but the longer one...
Get Treatment Options for Cataracts from Our Langley Optometrist

Get Treatment Options for Cataracts from Our Langley Optometrist

Cataracts are an extremely common condition of the eye. It’s something that’s routinely diagnosed by our optometrist in Langley. According to the University of Michigan, “By age 65, over 90 perfect of people have a cataract and half of the people between the ages of 75 and 85 have lost some vision due to a cataract.” That’s almost everyone. While that might seem scary, it’s important to remember that cataracts aren’t painful. They are even often treatable. What is a Cataract? Cataracts are cloudy formation on the lens of your eye. The lens sits behind your pupil and handles focusing light and images onto your retina. What Causes Cataracts? We don’t really know what causes the lens to start to develop this cloudiness. We know that the cloudiness is caused by proteins in the lens “clumping” together as we grow older. Those clumps can get bigger and start to affect our vision. People who have diabetes, hypertension, or who are overweight or smokers are all at a higher risk of developing cataracts. You might also be at risk if your family has a history of developing cataracts. What Are the Warning Signs? The warning signs of a cataract are fairly obvious, though if they develop slowly you might not notice the issue as much. You’ll experience cloudy, blurred vision. You might also feel like the lighting in the room is dimmer than it used to be. You might see halos around lights or need brighter light to work on projects or for reading. In extreme cases, you might notice that the colors in your vision are fading. What Are...