August is Children’s Eye Health and Safety Month across the nation and at Illinois Eye Center. As summer winds down and kids get ready to go back to school, August is a great month to focus on the eye health and safety of children.

July is a great time to get outside and enjoy the sun. If you are like many people, you slather on sunscreen because you know that ultraviolet (UV) rays from the sun can damage your skin. Many people do not realize that UV rays can hurt their eyes, though, and may not know that extended exposure to UV rays is associated with eye damage. To help bring awareness to eye safety and UV rays, many eye care professionals recognize July as Optical UV Safety Awareness Month.

Laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis (LASIK) is an elective surgical procedure that can improve your vision. It works by reshaping the transparent outer layer of the eye, known as the cornea. When light enters the eye, the cornea bends the light and focuses it on the back section. Light-sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye, known as the retina, absorbs the light and sends this information to your brain. There, your brain translates these messages into the images you perceive. 

About 80 percent of what a child learns through age 12 is through their eyes, which means that poor vision can prevent children from learning as much as they can in school. In fact, about one in every four children has eye impairment significant enough to affect their ability to learn. Good vision is also important to performing well academically and on the sports field. Because good vision is so important to learning and physical activity, a comprehensive eye exam is critical to every child’s success in the classroom and on the playground.

The Fourth of July is a fun holiday, especially with fireworks. Unfortunately, fireworks can cause serious eye injuries. The good news is that eye injuries associated with fireworks can be prevented.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), eye injuries accounted for 15 percent of all injuries from fireworks between June 21, 2019 and July 21, 2019, with emergency departments treating 1,100 patients for eye injuries from fireworks in that month.

If you are like many people considering LASIK to improve your vision, you might wonder if there is a cost for a LASIK consultation. You will be glad to know that, at Illinois Eye Center, LASIK consultations are free!

Consulting with an eye surgeon is the first step in getting LASIK, and it is one of the most important. The two main goals of a consultation is to gather information that helps your eye doctor determine if you are a good candidate for the laser vision correction procedure and to provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision about undergoing LASIK.

You may know that it is important to wear sunglasses in the summer to protect your eyes, but do you know why? The answer has to do with exposure to the ultraviolet (UV) rays in sunlight.

Light radiates from the sun in waves. Like ocean waves, light waves have a measurable length, height, and duration or frequency. Scientists measure light wavelengths in nanometers (nm).  The various wavelengths of light cause the light to act in different ways. Visible light has wavelengths between 400 and 700 nm. UV light has a wavelength range of 100 to 400 nm. According to the World Health Organization (WHO), the shorter the wavelength, the more harmful the radiation.

Quick: someone has something wrong with their eye. Do you know what to do?

Eye emergencies can be very scary. You want to avoid a needless trip to the doctor but failing to treat some types of eye emergencies could cost someone their vision. Familiarize yourself with the following situations to know what to do in the event of an eye emergency.

Types of Eye Emergencies

Traumatic eye injury/accident

Accidents and eye injuries are common causes of eye emergencies. Accidents typically involve having a foreign object enter the eye, but blunt-force trauma and burns can occur, too.

Online eye exams are convenient, but are they a good replacement for a comprehensive eye exam by an ophthalmologist or optometrist? Definitely not!

The internet has made life considerably easier, as it is now possible to do everything from ordering a pizza to refilling a prescription online. The ideas of getting an eyeglass prescription or buying glasses without a trip to the eye doctor sound appealing, but before you ditch the traditional eye exam, you should know that the convenience of online exams may not outweigh the benefits of a comprehensive eye exam.

Do you ever wonder if you are a good candidate for LASIK vision correction?  Finding out is easier than ever with the LASIK Candidate Quiz from Illinois Eye Center.

LASIK vision correction procedures have helped millions of patients see more clearly, without the use of glasses or contacts. The procedure is highly effective, with 99 percent of patients achieving better than 20/40 vision and more than 90 percent achieving 20/20 or better. LASIK has a good record and complications are rare, so most people are satisfied with the results.