Where do you go when you’re having difficulty with eyesight? Depending on the extent of the problem, your answer may vary. There are several different types of eye doctors and eye specialists you could see, including an ophthalmologist, optometrist, and optician.

What Is an Optometrist?

Optometrists are eye doctors of optometry (OD). Optometrists and ophthalmologists sometimes work in the same office and treat patients together.

The services optometrists provide include:

Vision services such as eye exams and treatment of conditions such as amblyopia and strabismus
Diagnosing eye conditions such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and conjunctivitis
Prescribing medications for certain eye conditions (in some states)
Eye disease and injury prevention services
Prescribing and fitting glasses and contact lenses

What Is an Optician?

Opticians are eye health care professionals who work with ophthalmologists and optometrists to provide vision services. Choose a qualified eye doctor — one that has the right training and experience, can give proper diagnosis and treatment, is informative, promotes the best possible results, and shows genuine care for the health of his or her patients.

What Should I Consider When Choosing an Eye Doctor?

When choosing an eye doctor to care for your eyes and sight, consider the person’s qualifications, experience, services offered, and patient satisfaction.

Qualifications for an Eye Doctor

Having a solid set of credentials is an encouraging sign of a good eye doctor or optician. An eye doctor who participates in and is current with the latest research and education in the field is more knowledgeable about the latest techniques in diagnosing and treating eye disease and visual problems.

Services Offered by an Eye Doctor

Choosing an eye doctor who is able to provide a wide range of services is beneficial, but you also should select your eye doctor by what services you need.

Patient Satisfaction

There is a cliché about “word of mouth” recommendations: They travel farther and faster than any form of paid advertising. Talk to your family, friends, and coworkers to learn about the eye doctors they like best. After you visit the eye doctor, determine if you were satisfied and comfortable with him or her. For example, did the eye doctor see you in a timely manner? Was the exam thorough? Did the eye doctor address all of your concerns and follow up with any possible complications or questions you had? Will you return? Will you recommend the eye doctor to others?

This information is provided courtesy of WebMD. Used by permission.
http://www.webmd.com/eye-health/choosing-eye-doctor

If you work in front of the computer for long stretches, you may start to feel eye fatigue, blurred vision, and a possible headache.

Here are some simple eye relaxtion exercies anyone can do to help relax your eyes and reduce eye fatigue.

You should repeat the relaxation exercises every 20 or 30 minutes. Remember to get up from the computer and stretch your legs and take a few deep breaths.
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Palming

1. Sit comfortably on a chair. Rub your hands together until they feel warm.

2. Close your eyes and cover them lightly with your cupped palms. Avoid applying pressure directly on your eyes. Lightly place your palms over your eyes so that your nose remain uncovered and your eyes are behind the hollow of the palms.

3. Make sure no light enters your eyes. Don’t leave gaps between your fingers or between the edge of your palms and your nose.

4.Imagine deep blackness and allow yourself to see the blackness.

5. Contine for 3 to 5 minutes.

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Looking at Distant Objects

Our eyes are relax when we gaze at distant objects.

When you are working at your computer, follow the 20-20-20 rule: Every 20 minutes, gaze at least 20 feet into the distance for at least 20 seconds.

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Face and Eye Massage

This eye relaxation exercise can help relieve tension in the face and eye muscles.

Gently massage your forehead and the ridges along the top and bottom of your eyes with your finger tips.

“The inspiration for Shaun Paterson’s designer sunglasses line came in the spring of his first year at Stanford Business School, in 2006. Paterson and 14 others traveled to Kenya and Uganda with international loans from the microfinance nonprofit Kiva. In Africa, Paterson discovered a desire to help people solve their problems.

His goal is to make Shaun’s Shades just as illuminating for the customers as a pair’s purchase is for the patients. Paterson drew from his Euro background and new Bay Area home to create an East-meets-West style with tapered earpieces and the aviator and Wayfarer shapes.”

Click here to read the whole story behind Shaun’s Shades.

And stop by Sonoma Eyeworks® today to try on a pair.

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This exclusive collection can be found at Sonoma Eyeworks in Santa Rosa, California.

Some tips on protecting the eyes from short and long term exposure to the
sun include:

• Sunglasses should provide 90-100 percent protection for both ultraviolet A (UVA) and ultraviolet B (UVB) rays. The price of sunglasses is not a measure of their level of protection, but instead may reflect better durability of frames, higher quality lenses or better fashion.
• Sunglasses should cover the entire eye area, including the eyelids, and should wrap around to the temples. Full coverage such as this prevents damaging rays from entering from the side and may also reduce the drying effects of the wind.
• Wearing a wide-brimmed hat along with sunglasses will also block rays from the sun. Fifty percent of sunlight comes from directly overhead and may slip past sunglasses.
• The color of the lenses does affect the level of protection. Choosing a solid color such as gray, green, or brown is the best for general wear.
• Anti-reflective coatings and polarizing filters help to cut glare.
• Contact lenses with UV protection are important, but do not fully protect the entire eye. Contact lens wearers should also wear sunglasses.
• Children’s eyes need to be protected, since they are more prone to sun damage because their natural lenses are crystal clear.
• Never look directly at the sun as this can directly damage the retina.
• Intra-ocular lens implants after cataract surgery often include an ultraviolet filter. Nevertheless, sunglasses will protect the parts of the eye not protected by the implants.

Signs and Symptoms of Presbyopia
When people first develop presbyopia, they find they need to hold reading material farther away. When they perform other near work, such as sewing, handwriting or computer work they may experience headaches, eyestrain or feel fatigued.

The Cause of Presbyopia
Presbyopia is caused by birthdays (the aging process). This is different from nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, which are a related to the shape of the eye and caused by genetics, disease or trauma. Presbyopia is caused by the gradual loss of flexibility in the natural lens inside your eye. With less elasticity, the eye has a harder time focusing up close.

The Treatments for Presbyopia
Eyeglasses, contact lenses and refractive surgery are all available treatments for presbyopia. Computer glasses, reading glasses or all-in-one (progressive) glasses can be specially designed for your unique situation or working condition.

There are pros and cons of each treatment because the human lens continues to change as you grow older (and wiser), your presbyopic prescription will increase over time. Your doctor will discuss all your options with you and come up with the best possible treatment plan.

To schedule an appointment, please contact Sonoma Eyeworks Optometry at 707-578-4200.

What are contact lenses?
Contact lenses are thin, plastic, prescription-engineered discs that are placed directly on the eye. Contact lenses are held firmly and comfortably in place by the natural layer of tears that lies between the lenses and the surface of the eye.

What type of contacts are available?
There are numerous choices available and your optometrist will discuss all your options after a thorough eye examination. There are two basic categories of contact lenses: Rigid and soft. Rigid contact lenses (gas permeable) allow oxygen to pass through the lens to the cornea. They are ideal for patients with large amounts of astigmatism. Soft contact lenses are flexible and tend to be more comfortable than rigid lenses.

Are there contacts to treat Presbyopia?
In addition to treating near-sighted, far-sighted and astigmatism, presbyopia can be treated with either rigid or soft contact lenses. There are bifocal contact lenses that offer both distance and close range capabilities and monovision lenses. Monovision is a highly successful technique that involves fitting different lenses for each eye. The lens in the dominant eye (determined by your optometrist) is prescribed for distant vision while the non dominant eye is fitted with a lens for close vision.

Contact lenses offer an alternative to glasses and are suited for people with active lifestyles. They offer similar corrections as glasses but with more comfort and greater peripheral vision.

To schedule an appointment, please contact Sonoma Eyeworks Optometry at 707-578-4200.

Many of us spend a lot of time at a computer monitor and experience irritating and uncomfortable eye strain regularly. Here are some tips on how you can ease the strain:

20/20/20 rule every 20 minutes glance away from your monitor at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds. This will relax your eye muscles.

Blink more frequently. Your eyes need the natural lubrication that blinking provides (normal blinking is every 5 seconds).

Computer users often blink less than normal resulting in dry, itchy or irritated eyes. Artificial tears (re-wetting eye drops) can be used to lubricate your eyes, preservative free is the best option.

Adjust your workstation. Position your monitor 18–30 inches from your eyes with the top of the screen at eye level where you can look slightly down at your work. Eliminate reflected glare on your screen from surrounding lights. Sitting parallel to a window, closing blinds, an antiglare monitor screen and antiglare coating on your glasses all reduced unwanted reflective glare.

Use special eyewear. If you spend the majority of your time at a computer, glasses or contact lenses designed for you to focus correctly on your computer screen can help. These special glasses or contact lenses are designed to accommodate your unique viewing distance and angles at your computer.

Relax. If possible, lean back, relax and close your eyes for a few moments.

To schedule an appointment, please contact Sonoma Eyeworks Optometry at 707-578-4200.