Regular eye tests are as important as going to the dentist
If you’re like most expatriates living in Shanghai, you spend your time working and playing hard and your health rarely comes first. You may be in the habit of having an annual doctor and dentist’s check-up, but you neglect to ensure the health of your eyes – probably your most valued sense.
All too often, people wait until there’s something wrong with their eyes before visiting an ophthalmologist. Eye diseases such as macular degeneration and glaucoma can occur at any age, often have no warning symptoms, and can only be prevented by regular eye exams. Continue reading Regular eye tests are as important as going to the dentist>>
Regular Eye Tests Prevent Cataracts
Cataracts: the word probably makes you think of old age and surgery. It shouldn’t. Think instead of a condition that optometrists have been dealing with for decades, a condition which can occur in any age group, and which is often perfectly treatable without surgery. So forget old age and surgery for a minute; what you should be thinking is regular eye tests.
Cataracts are the third leading cause of preventable blindness in the United States, yet cataracts are also the ocular condition that is easiest for a sufferer to identify. The most common symptoms are blurred or hazy vision and increased sensitivity to glare, which you would notice most when driving at night – a task that becomes more difficult, and less safe, with cataracts. Some cataract sufferers also report that colors have lost their intensity. Cataracts usually form over a long period of time, which means that symptoms also develop gradually so it’s trickier to notice them. In fact in some cases, patients with mild cataracts don’t experience any symptoms at all. Regular eye exams are the only way to know exactly what condition your eyes are in. Continue reading Regular Eye Tests Prevent Cataracts>>
RGP Contact Lenses: Custom Made for Extended Wear
RGP contact lenses are designed for extended wear. Put an RGP lens in and you can leave it there – overnight, all week and even, is some cases, for a full month – without worrying about irritation or an increased risk of developing eye infections. They’re also custom made to fit your eye.
R.G.P. stands for Rigid Gas Permeable. RGP lenses are rigid because they are made to be reworn. They’re stiffer than the soft lenses people generally refer to when they talk about ‘contacts’, so they won’t tear easily and are excellent at correcting astigmatism, an optical defect caused by a cornea or lens that isn’t spherical. It most often leads to blurry vision – an irregularly shaped eye can’t bring a single point into sharp focus – but astigmatism also triggers headaches and, in some cases, chronic fatigue. RGP lenses are so good at correcting the condition precisely because they’re rigid. While you’re wearing them, your cornea and lens are pressed into the right shape and held there.
RGP lenses are gas permeable because your eyes need to breath. They’re narrower than ordinary contacts and made of materials that are highly oxygen permeable (RGP lenses are also called oxygen permeable lenses), so your eyes function normally while you’re wearing them. In the past, lenses intended for continuous wear increased the possibility of contracting an eye infection. Sometimes – after long periods of continuous use – they also led to acute irritation. The reason was simple: the organisms that irritate and cause infections thrive in warm, moist environments, exactly like the environment underneath a contact lens. To fight these organisms, your body would normally increase the oxygen supply to the affected area, in this case the cornea, but the lenses made this impossible. Peoples’ eyes were literally suffocating, and doctors eventually decided that no contact should be worn overnight – until RGP lenses came along. Continue reading RGP Contact Lenses: Custom Made for Extended Wear>>
A Guide to Our Clinic’s Services
At New Vision Eye Clinic, we offer a comprehensive range of eye care services. Our premises are modern and well equipped, and foreign clientele can expect service of an international standard from the team of English speaking professionals – including receptionists, nurses, optometrists and doctors – who staff our dedicated VIP clinic, created especially with Shanghai’s busy expatriates in mind. The clinic employs English speaking local as well as foreign optometrists, and English speaking Chinese ophthalmologists. Our spacious, modern facility also features an eye care store which stocks a wide range of eye glasses and all the latest varieties of contact lenses. We are well qualified to take care of all your eye care needs. Continue reading A Guide to Our Clinic’s Services>>
Value Your Vision
Another year has come and gone in this frantic city. If you’re like most people living in Shanghai, you’ve spent the last year working and playing hard and your health rarely comes first. You may be in the habit of having an annual doctor and dentist’s check-up, but you neglect to ensure the health of your eyes – probably your most valued sense.
All too often, people wait until there’s something wrong with their eyes before visiting an ophthalmologist. Eye diseases such as macular degeneration and glaucoma can occur at any age, often have no warning symptoms, and can only be prevented by regular eye exams. According to the World Health Organization, 75% of the world’s blindness is preventable. Continue reading Value Your Vision>>