The NWI Times 2016 Best of the Region contest is back!
Levin Eye Care Center has been serving Northwest Indiana for over 40 years and we need your votes to win the best of the region contest. We are asking our patents to take a few minutes to vote for us in the link below! Your vote could decide who is the best of the region and will be 2016 The Times Best of the Region winner.
Go to the link below and Vote us “Best Vision Care” in the “Healthcare” section
Getting glasses when you are young can be a difficult adjustment for any child. Helping children adjust properly and love their glasses may be difficult, but it can make all the difference!
We care about your child’s comfort and want them to become a proud wearer of spectacles! Here are some tips for parents to help make that happen.
Picking Out The Right Frames Is An Important Step
Allow your child to be a part of the selection process when choosing frames. If your child picks the frames themselves, they’ll probably be more eager to wear them. Let your child try on as many colors and styles as they want–we don’t mind fashion shows in our office! Choosing frames can and should be a fun experience.
Fit is just as important as style. Being comfortable in a new pair of frames can go a long way in helping a child grow to love their glasses. Our optical staff is trained to help ensure the perfect fit for your child.
Integrate Glasses Into Your Child’s Routine
One of the hardest parts of getting glasses is remembering to put them on! This is especially true for younger children. Help your child integrate glasses into their morning routine. Over time, remembering to put on their glasses will be second nature to them.
Make It A Positive Experience
It is important to make getting and wearing glasses a positive experience. Reward them for doing well at their appointment and picking out their frames with a treat, dinner or a movie. Help them celebrate the changes glasses will bring rather than dread them!
Help Them Discover How Cool Glasses Are!
Try to find pictures of their favorite celebrities with glasses and put a picture or two in their room. Sometimes even getting a cheap pair of glasses for yourself (if you do not already wear glasses) or your child’s friend can ease the transition! Knowing other people wear glasses helps them feel confident and that they are not alone.
We Partner With Parents To Help Kids Love Their Glasses
Vision correction for your child isn’t our only concern. We want kids to be excited about their new fashion statement and for their transition to be as easy as possible. If you have any questions about how to help your child adjust to glasses, call us or come in today!
Thank you for the trust you place in us!
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
In today’s world, digital eye strain in the workplace is becoming increasingly common. However, being educated about eye strain is the first step in preventing it!
Over 70 percent of Americans who work on a computer on a daily basis suffer from digital eye strain. The good news is it’s avoidable if the proper precautions are taken.
To promote workplace eye health and safety, we’ve outlined some steps you can take to prevent and relieve digital eye strain.
Adjust Your Workspace
The optimal distance between your eyes and your computer screen is 20 to 24 inches, or about an arm’s length away. The center of your screen should be about 10 to 15 degrees below your eye level. Looking downward is often reported to be the most comfortable for the eyes as well as for the back and neck.
Use Proper Lighting
A major culprit in causing eye strain is glare. Glare on a computer screen is caused by harsh overhead lighting or light coming from windows, usually directly behind or in front of you. Position your computer screen to avoid glare and use drapes or blinds on windows if necessary.
Blink More
It seems simple enough, but we often forget to blink, especially when staring at a computer screen! Consciously make an effort to blink often while working. This will provide your eyes with much needed nutrients and moisture. If dryness persists, talk to us about lubricating eye drops!
Modify Your Computer’s Display Settings
For the greatest comfort at your computer, consider adjusting your display settings. Here are some tips on how to have an eye-friendly computer display:
Brightness: Adjust the brightness of your computer screen so it’s approximately the same as the brightness of your surrounding work station.
Text size: Your eyes strain to read small text. Enlarge text size to give your eyes a break!
Color temperature: Computers emit blue light which is associated with more eye strain than other hues, such as orange or red. Reducing the color temperature of your display lowers the amount of blue light emitted. This will reduce eye strain in the long run.
Take Breaks
Give your eyes a break from the screen by following the 20/20/20 rule. This will help to avoid and relieve digital eye strain. Every 20 minutes, look away from your computer toward something 20 feet away and focus on it for at least 20 seconds.
Come And See Us
If you are experiencing digital eye strain, come in and see us for a comprehensive eye exam. There are certain things we can do to help improve comfort and reduce strain!
Enjoy Your Work By Preventing Eyestrain
Promoting eye health and safety in the workplace is good for you and your employer! You will be more comfortable and productive if you take steps to avoid digital eye strain. So, work on and protect your eyes!
We love our patients!
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
The eye is an extremely amazing and unique organ. In fact, it is the only place in the body where a doctor can see part of the central nervous system—the optic nerve!
What Is A Dilated Eye Exam?
The pupil is the opening in the center of the eye. When your pupil is not dilated, it makes seeing all the way to the back of your eye difficult, limiting our ability to truly determine eye health. When dilated, the pupil widens and allows us to see much more than is possible in a normal eye exam, mainly the optic nerve, the retina, and the macula.
To perform a dilated eye exam, we use dilating eye drops that contain medication to enlarge the pupil. During the exam Dr. Levin can detect signs of eye conditions that could potentially lead to vision loss, helping us prevent and treat them as quickly as possible.
What Can Be Diagnosed With A Dilated Eye Exam?
A careful examination of the optic nerve is important for the diagnosis of glaucoma and other diseases. The diagnosis of retinal diseases, such as diabetic retinopathy and age-related macular degeneration (AMD), would be extremely difficult without a dilated eye exam.
Other conditions found during dilated eye exams include retinal tears or detachments and ocular tumors. These exams can even help detect health conditions that affect the whole body—including diabetes and multiple sclerosis.
Who Should Get A Dilated Eye Exam?
The National Eye Institute recommends that individuals who are 60 or older have an annual, comprehensive, dilated eye exam. Studies show that African Americans have a higher risk of glaucoma, so they are recommended to seek annual comprehensive exams beginning at age 40. In addition, children should have their first comprehensive eye examination before the age of three.
What if you are considered in good health, under 40, and wondering if your eyes need a more thorough check? You may not need a comprehensive eye exam every year, however people ages 20-30 should have one every two to three years.
Ensuring Your Health Is Our Goal
Dilated eye exams are important to our vision health because many eye conditions have no early warning signs. We simply don’t know if something’s wrong unless we look. Even if your eyes are considered healthy, get a yearly eye exam and follow your optometrist’s recommendation on how often to get a comprehensive, dilated eye exam. Remember, getting an eye exam can save your vision.
At our practice, your health is our priority. We love our patients!
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
As you reach your 60s and beyond, you need to be attentive to warning signs of age-related eye health problems that could cause vision loss. Many eye diseases have no early symptoms. They may develop painlessly and you may not be aware of changes to your vision until the condition is quite advanced. But wise lifestyle choices and regular eye exams can significantly improve your chances of maintaining good eye health even as you age.
Therefore, regular eye exams are even more important as you reach your senior years. The American Optometric Association recommends annual eye examinations for everyone over age 60. See your doctor of optometry immediately if you notice any changes in your vision.
Age-related Eye and Vision Problems
The following are some vision disorders of which you should be aware:
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is an eye disease affecting the macula, the center of the light sensitive retina at the back of the eye, causing loss of central vision. Although small, the macula is the part of the retina that allows us to see fine detail and colors. Activities like reading, driving, watching TV and recognizing faces all require good central vision provided by the macula. While macular degeneration causes changes in central vision, peripheral or side vision remains unaffected.
An anuual eye exam can help catch devastating eye diseases, like glaucoma and macular degeneration, early. Early detection increases the chances of maintaining healthy vision in senior years.
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition occurring in people with diabetes. It is the result of progressive damage to the tiny blood vessels that nourish the retina. They leak blood and other fluids that cause swelling of retinal tissue and clouding of vision. The condition usually affects both eyes. The longer a person has diabetes, the more likely they will develop diabetic retinopathy, which can cause blindness.
Retinal detachment is a tearing or separation of the retina from the underlying tissue. It can be caused by trauma to the eye or head, health problems like advanced diabetes, and inflammatory disorders of the eye. But it most often occurs spontaneously as a result of changes to the gel-like vitreous fluid that fills the back of the eye. If not treated promptly, it can cause permanent vision loss.
Cataracts are cloudy or opaque areas in the normally clear lens of the eye. Depending upon their size and location, they can interfere with normal vision. Usually cataracts develop in both eyes, but one may be worse than the other. Cataracts can cause a decrease in contrast sensitivity, a dulling of colors and increased sensitivity to glare.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases characterized by damage to the optic nerve resulting in vision loss. People with a family history of glaucoma, African Americans and older adults are at higher risk for developing the disease.
Dry eye is a condition in which there is an insufficient amount of tears or a poor quality of tears to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears are necessary for maintaining the health of the front surface of the eye and for providing clear vision. Dry eyes are a common and often chronic problem, particularly in older adults.
Rehabilitation Options
Your doctor of optometry can help plan a rehabilitation program so that you may resume an independent life within your condition’s limitations. A wide variety of rehabilitation options are available to help people with low vision live and work more effectively, efficiently, and safely. Most people can be helped with one or more low vision treatment options. The more commonly prescribed devices are:
Spectacle-mounted magnifiers — A magnifying lens is mounted in spectacles (this type of system is called a microscope) or on a special headband. This allows use of both hands to complete a close-up task, such as writing a letter.
Hand-held or spectacle-mounted telescopes — These miniature telescopes are useful for seeing longer distances, such as across the room to watch television, and can also be modified for near (reading) tasks.
Hand-held and stand magnifiers — These are convenient for short-term reading of things such as price tags, labels, and instrument dials. Both types can be equipped with lights.
Video magnification — Table-top (closed-circuit television) or head-mounted systems enlarge reading material on a video display. Some systems can be used for distance views tasks. These are portable systems, and those that can be used with a computer or monitor. Image brightness, image size, contrast, and foreground/background color and illumination can be customized.
When it comes to buying something as important as glasses or contact lenses, make sure you get them from the right source.
While there are online options available, we’re here to tell you that there are important benefits to ordering from the experts!
We Provide More Options In Style, Fit And Brands
Finding the right frames for you is important to us. That’s why we carry a variety of brands and styles that can satisfy everyone’s unique fashion sense! We know quality matters and thats why our frame collections are crafted with long-lasting materials so you get the premium product you deserve.
Looking good isn’t the only objective when picking out a pair of frames. We also make sure your frames have a completely customized fit for optimum comfort! Our expert optical staff is trained to help assist you in finding frames that fit your face perfectly. We’re happy to assist you in making any adjustments to achieve that perfect fit!
We Ensure Prescription Accuracy
Getting an accurate prescription is absolutely essential for your comfort! When fitting you for glasses, one of the important measurements that we take is the PD, or pupillary distance. This measurement helps us determine where to place the center of each lens in your frames to completely customize the optics to your eyes. Determining the correct location for the bifocal, trifocal, or multifocal lens is also very complex and is best done by a trained professional!
The Health Of Your Eyes Is Our Priority
In 2011, the American Optometric Association published a study showing the drawbacks of ordering eyeglasses online. Out of 200 glasses ordered online:
Only 154 pairs were received
44.8 percent had incorrect prescriptions or safety issues
29 percent had at least one lens fail to meet required prescription
19 percent of adult lenses and 25 percent of children’s lenses failed impact resistance testing
Similar issues have been found when buying contact lenses online. In fact, many of these purchases are made without a valid prescription, especially when buying decorative lenses. Whether your contacts are decorative or for vision correction, all contact lenses need to be properly fitted and prescribed by an eye doctor.
We Care About Our Patients
We understand the importance of finding the perfect frames to suit your unique lifestyle. The looks you choose are an expression of who you are! While it may be tempting to buy online, it’s important not to compromise safety or quality for perceived convenience. When you buy your glasses at our office, you’re guaranteed safe, high-quality products that last and backed by a one year warranty!
Our surroundings are constantly changing. Whether you’re inside reading a book or outside exploring a local farmer’s market, you deserve lenses that adjust to your environment and your lifestyle.
Transitions® lenses automatically adjust to the lighting around you, giving you optimal vision and protection. By adapting to ever-changing lighting conditions, Transitions lenses reduce eye fatigue, eye strain, and the effects of harmful UV rays.
Transitions Help You See Your Best No Matter Where You Are
Transition lenses offer the flexibility and convenience of changing from clear indoors to dark outdoors. All of our frames and lenses come with a 1 year warranty!
You Can Try Transitions Today
Click this link to see what having Transitions would be like!
If you would like to learn more about Transitions lenses give us a call! We can help you find the right lenses for your lifestyle.
Thank you for continuing to place your trust in our practice!
The content on this blog is not intended to be a substitute for professional medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment. Always seek the advice of qualified health providers with questions you may have regarding medical conditions.
Learn how Vision Therapy helps with Eye Turn and Lazy Eye
Since doing vision therapy the Cook sisters have seen large improvements in confidence, reading, math, comprehension, and writing abilities. Learn why they trust Levin Eye Care Center with their vision and how it has helped with their daughters. Their mother could see early success with Mary Rose in our vision therapy program that she enrolled her daughter Olivia in Vision Therapy too.
There is help for children having visual difficulties that cannot be managed fully with eyeglasses or contact lenses. It’s a specialty of Dr. Steven A. Levin, a National Optometrist of the Year Recipient who has treated thousands of children during his 37 years of practice.
The Levin Eye Care Center in Whiting offers a Vision Therapy program designed to identify hidden learning-related vision problems. Dr. Levin, who is also a recipient of the Indiana Optometrist of the Year award, answers a few questions about vision therapy.
Q: What is vision therapy?
It is the neurological re-education of the visual system in order to improve and enhance it. Most cases we see are children not living up to their potential academically or they’re having reading, comprehension and learning problems. There are also cases where their eyes are turning in or turning out—they can’t use both eyes together. We can align those eyes through therapy. To get a good functional vision you want to be able to use both eyes at the same time.
Q: How does a child qualify for the therapy and what are some symptoms that show a need for this treatment?
A lot of children we see come in with symptoms that include having a difficult time in school. The teachers have noticed tracking difficulties and the child is not able to focus. The child could be skipping lines when they read or omitting words or reversing letters and words. A child comes in for a full comprehension evaluation, and based on that, we go through some other testing—something we call a developmental vision evaluation. We look at the entire visual system. You have to understand that 80 percent of what we learn in the classroom comes from the visional system and 80 percent of that comes from doing close work.
What we have to do is look at this visual system and how the child is bringing information into it. We look at how it’s being received. The brain has to organize and interpret this information and then it sends it out to other areas of the brain that we use, like visual memory, hand-eye coordination, handwriting and things like that. This information modifies information coming back in again so you have a continuous loop.
Q: What are the benefits of vision therapy?
Once you reorganize the visual system, what you notice is they start doing much better academically. What we see with our children when they go with therapy is their life skills change and they develop more confidence. They’re happier and the frustration goes down. The parents are happier and so are the siblings, because now they’re getting as much attention as that child. Many times the child becomes more social. These kinds of vision problems for a child affect the entire family, and when you are able to help the child, then you’re also helping the family and things get better for everyone.
Q: Is vision therapy something children undergo at the office only?
It’s usually an office program about once or twice a week. Usually a session runs an hour and then they’re given home therapy to do, which is about four to five times a week.
Q: What else would you like to tell parents about vision therapy and children?
You want to keep an eye on their development and how they keep up academically with the rest of the class. Parents usually have a pretty good idea of what their child’s potential could be. If a teacher or a parent just has a gut feeling that there is something going on, it’s time to bring them in for an evaluation. With the demands children have academically in our society, it’s very important you give them every chance to succeed.
Q: What is it like to help children with eye care?
The most satisfying part of my practice is when a child comes up and hugs me. It keeps me going every day. There’s no better satisfaction than when you’ve changed a child’s life.
Congratulations to our newest Vision Therapy graduate Adriel! It was a pleasure to have you in our Vision Therapy program and we have noticed the positive changes in your vision and personality.We have seen you mature into a confident young man. Thank you to the Arreola family for outstanding dedication and commitment to your vision!
