Jeff (in Ontario) wrote:
I was diagnosed with Diabetes 5 months ago. I have noticed my eyes doing weird things. I have been outa work for 17 months and I have no income whatsoever. How much will a trip to the optometrist cost?

ANSWER

Jeff,
In certain provinces people with diabetes are covered under provincial health care for annual eye exams.  Ontario is one of these provinces, so you would not have to pay to have an eye exam.  I would highly recommend that you do have annual eye exams now that you have been diagnosed with diabetes.

Dr. Doman

Keeley  wrote:
Hello, My daughter is one month old and I am beginning to worry that there is something wrong with her eyesight. Everywhere I read says that at one month of age she should be turning her head towards me, following objects with her eyes and smiling when we talk to her. She does not seem to do any of these things. She rolls her eyes back and moves her eyes in really weird ways. I have also noticed that she will cross her eyes for over a couple of minutes and make them shake. Is she okay? Is this normal??
Thank you in advance.

ANSWER

Keeley,
At one month it is very normal that children would not be able to control their eye muscles well.  If you are concerned you could take her to visit your Optometrist or discuss your concerns with your Physician.  Generally it is recommended that children have their first eye exam at 6 months of age.

Dr. Doman

Melanie wrote:
I recently began swimming and want to wear corrective swimming goggles. My prescription is R (-2.75) L (-1.75/-1.50/77). In my city, I have not been able to find a retailer that sells swimming goggles corrected for astigmatism, nor are there any that sell individualized lenses.
My right eye is my dominant eye and a salesperson suggested to me that I just wear goggles that correct for my right eye and forget about the astigmatism in my left. I am thinking of purchasing a pair that is -2.50 (both eyes) because they only sell them in .50 increments. My questions are: 1) Will lack of correction for astigmatism have any adverse effects on my vision in my left eye? 2) Will the stronger correction for myopia in my left eye have any adverse effects?
I tried the goggles on, and I did notice the floor looking clear but slightly distorted and I thought that since the water will be moving anyway, it might not be a problem - I just want to be able to see the clock and not crash into the bulkhead without causing vision problems later.
Thank you.

ANSWER

Melanie,
To the best of my knowledge swimming goggles are not available with astigmatism correction.  The correction you are considering buying would work fine.  To answer your questions, neither the lack of astigmatism correction or stronger correction for myopia will have any adverse effects on your vision.  If you were wearing them for hours you may develop eyestrain or headaches, but there will be no long-term problems.  Of course you will not get perfect vision out of your left eye, but as you said it will give you sufficient vision while swimming.  The vision through the goggles may seem a little funny at first because you are accustomed to having your astigmatism corrected, but this should improve with time.  Happy swimming!

Dr. Doman

Kate wrote:
Hello,
I went to an optometrist yesterday. He was not very talkative; I was asking a lot of questions as he was doing exams and just writing stuff down. He would answer me with one word answers. Then, without explaining why, he put drops in my eyes, I didn’t even have time to ask “why”. Only after he had already put them in he said it was to measure pressure. Also, I know from previous exams that I have astigmatism. To him, however, this was irrelevant as it is not in my prescription! He said my problem was focusing of the eyes, on my prescription there is a number 6 in column “prisme” and it looks like it’s a fraction, but I cannot read it. Should I get another exam? If I bring my prescription from 2 years ago and this one (as my eye sight did not change at all), will I be able to get lenses?

ANSWER

Kate,
I would recommend calling your optometrist’s office.  Optometric assistants are very knowledgeable and would be able to answer your questions about your prescription.  Astigmatism can change throughout your life and it is possible it may have improved.  You will be able to get new glasses with your new prescription.

Dr. Doman

Omar wrote:
My left eye was badly injured years ago. It was healed and vision was not affected, however i think as a result it suffered vitreous detachment.

My eye has been examined many times and i was told always it’s in good health. However i often have burning sensation in eye, it also gets red easily and the whiteness isn’t as clear as the other.

What could i do about the irritation and redness? Can some specific eye drops really help?

ANSWER

Omar,
From your symptoms it seems that you may be suffering from dry eyes.  Of course it is good to have them examined by an Optometrist to ensure that this is the cause of your symptoms.  If you are diagnosed with dry eyes the treatment is artificial tears.  These generally need to be used at least three to four times per day.  Your optometrist can recommend a good brand for you to use.  Usually dry eyes occur in both eyes, but because of your history of having an eye injury only one eye may be affected.

Dr. Doman

Timmy wrote:
Hi, i have a question regarding prescriptions for glasses and contacts. I understand you should not be using the degrees prescribed to you for glasses for buying contacts because contact lenses sits on your eyes directly as opposed to the glasses being a few inches away.
So my question is, would my eyes get worst or some sort of negative impact if I do wear contact lenses having the same degrees as my eye glasses?
the degrees for contacts should be slightly stronger or weaker? so if you wear contact lenses that are not exactly the same degree, what are the dangers of doing so? will it be merely less clear or will it make your eye sight worsen?

Thank you for your time

ANSWER

Hello Timmy,
Yes it is true that in most cases the prescription your optometrist gives you for your glasses is different than the one given for your contact  lenses.  Whether the contact lenses are stronger or weaker will depend on the prescription.  Wearing contact lenses that are the incorrect prescription (stronger or weaker) can cause symptoms of blur, headaches, dry, uncomfortable eyes and/or spasm of your focusing system.  Furthermore, if the lenses do not fit correctly, there are many other eye-health related problems that you would be at risk for.
When purchasing contact lenses from your optometrist, he/she will ensure that you have the correct strength and fit needed, and would be happy to give you a copy of that prescription for your records.

Thank you for your question. 
Dr. Donati

Robyn wrote:
I have been wearing a single contact lens in one eye for all of my adult life (I am thirty years old) and wore glasses throughout my childhood.

I recently had my eyes re-examined, and obtained a new contact lens prescription. At the same time I inquired about glasses as an option as I travel frequently and wanted to see if there was an alternative to dry eyes on long flights. My optometrist suggested that I wait to see how my eyes adapted to the new contact lens, but otherwise that it wouldn’t be a problem if I were to get glasses as an alternative.

Fast-forward to a few months later when I ordered new glasses from his office. One lens is near perfect and the other has quite a strong prescription, as expected. They arrived, and despite my best efforts to adjust to them over a two week period, they do nothing but make me nauseous and motion sick.

I’ve returned to my optometrist for suggestions, indicating that the glasses make my vision strange and give me motion sickness while wearing them, and his response was that glasses will always do this for me - I should just stick with contact lenses.

While that may be true, I’m extremely disappointed (and surprised!) that this recommendation did not come out until after I had purchased glasses based on his assurance that they would be fine as long as my eye adjusted well to my new prescription.

The office will not refund the full cost of the glasses - and are not offering other solutions, either, aside from keeping these costly glasses that are virtually unusable.

Are there rules that govern the dispensation of glasses and vision products (I live in Ontario) - and whether or not customers/patients must be satisfied with the end-product? I have generally been very happy with my optometrist and his expertise, but I can’t help but feel let down by this experience.

ANSWER

Hello Robyn,
I’m sorry to hear that you find yourself in this situation.
Not knowing your exact prescription and visual acuity, it is very difficult for me to make any other suggestions for adapting the glasses.
On the few instances that I have had a patient who is unable to adapt to a prescription (and there is nothing wrong with the glasses themselves), I have offered a refund.  This is not a standard practice, however, and there are no definite rules.  The only thing I can suggest is to return to your optometrist and again voice your concern and ask again for a refund if you feel it’s warranted.

Good luck,
Dr. Donati

Jill wrote:
I have just enrolled in school to be an optometrist and one of the first tasks I must do is figure out the scientific names for different frame types where can i find this info

ANSWER

Hello Jill,
There are several books out on the subject.  Look for any ophthalmic dispensing guide and usually the first chapter will have information on different frame materials.

Best of luck to you at school!
Dr. Donati

Justin wrote:
Hi there,

Is Irlen’s Syndrome recognized by the Canadian Association of Optometrists?  I am a teacher in Alberta and one of my students suffers from Scotopic Sensitivity.  He does work online and this requires him to read from both computer screen and from traditional textbooks.  He already has special eyeglasses to help him with his SSS.  I will be having him sit close to the window so he can get as much natural light as possible.  I am looking into how his computer can have colored filters over the screen to help him.  Do you have any other recommendations on how I can help him?

Thanks for any assistance you can provide

ANSWER

Hello Justin,
It sounds like you’re doing everything right to help this young man.  I word of caution, however, about Irlen’s Syndrome: in a study done by Dr. M. Scheiman*, it was found that 95% of patients identified as good candidates for treatment with Irlen filters had other significant undiagnosed visual anomalies.  I sincerely hope that your student has been evaluated by an optometrist to rule out other possible visual perceptual or binocular vision abnormalities.
For a name of an optometrist in your area who specializes in such evaluations, contact the college of optometry for Alberta.

* Scheiman M, Blaskey P, et al. Vision characteristics of individuals identified as Irlen Filter candidates. J Am Optom Assoc 1990;61:600-604

Dr. Donati

Colin wrote:
my eye was exposed to laser radiation. The laser was a 20mW max output at 650 nm. I did not think anything of it at the time. Lately I have been noticing some vision problems. I seem to see faint dots that cause a glossy effect. I saw an optometrist and told him my concern. He preformed his examination and later said he saw no signs of eye diseases. He wrote me a prescription for glasses and sent me on my way. Will my vision get worse or stay the same. Should I see another optometrist or a doctor?

ANSWER

Dear Colin:
I referred your question to Dr. B. R. Chou Associate Professor at the School of Optometry at the University of Waterloo. He has done much work in the area of environmental and occupational eye safety and has had some involvement in the problems of laser flashing of drivers and pilots. Here is his response.

“Colin’s information indicates he was most likely exposed to a Class 3B laser. These are continuous output lasers of less than 0.5 W output emitting at a wavelength between 315 nm and 2500 nm. Exposure is potentially hazardous if intrabeam viewing occurs as in Colin’s situation, but the duration of the exposure is the key element. Without knowing how long his eye was exposed to the laser, it’s not possible to determine whether he was at risk of an eye injury. However, the fact that the optometrist detected no changes at the retina suggests that no clinically visible damage occurred. It is possible that there is some sub-clinical effect that gives rise to the visual phenomenon he reports, but our best available detection methods likely won’t be able to find any evidence of damage. I don’t know if his vision will get worse as a result of the laser exposure, but it is most likely that there will be no permanent effect resulting from this incident.”

I hope this is helpful.
Dr. Smit