Adult Eye Exams

It’s not just children that should have their eyes checked. Even as an adult, if you have had 20/20 vision your whole life, there are age-related vision problems that occur with everyone. Presbyopia is just one of these vision impairments. After the age of 40, the lens of your eye begins to harden and lose its flexibility. You may not begin to notice it at first, but eventually you will have trouble reading things up close. You’ll start to notice you need to stretch your arms further and further away in order to read your cell phone or a restaurant menu.

The good news is that there is a solution to Presbyopia. Often people will start wearing bifocals. Bifocals allow someone with Presbyopia to see up close, but also to focus in the distance if they have nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.

If you don’t want to wear lenses, you can also speak with an ophthalmologist about your options. Many doctors can provide lens replacement surgery. The lens of your eye is removed and replaced by a synthetic lens that will never harden. Depending on the type of lens, you may also be able to correct your existing refractive error at the same time.

So don’t put up with bad vision any longer! Come in and see us at www.buckleyvision.com today!

Can You Be Too Old for LASIK?

The short answer to the question, “Can you be too old for LASIK?” is: No.

A person cannot be too old to have a LASIK procedure – there is no maximum age at which LASIK is no longer effective. However, the condition of your eyes may prohibit you from being a good LASIK candidate, regardless of your age.

The hard truth is that your eyes are continually changing as you grow older. There are a couple of eyesight conditions that begin to occur for most people that cannot be corrected by LASIK surgery:
·         Presbyopia, when you lose the ability to see up-close without reading glasses. This typically starts in your 40s.
·         Cataracts, when the eye lenses become more opaque. This starts slowly and can gradually become quite difficult to live with in our 60s and beyond. Cataract surgery replaces the impaired lenses with artificial ones, and refractive errors can also be corrected at the same time.

There is a small segment of society that does not experience significant changes in their vision over time. In those cases, it is possible for a person of advanced age, who has good overall health and generally healthy eyes with stable vision, to have a LASIK procedure to correct a refractive error such as nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism.

Why not find out if you can enjoy the rest of your life with 20/20 vision? You've got nothing to lose and clear sight to gain. 

The only way to truly determine if you are a candidate for LASIK is to schedule a LASIK Evaluation with a respected practice like Buckley Chang Eye Institute in Colorado Springs.Visit their website at http://www.buckleyvision.com/ or call 719-444-3000 to schedule your Free Evaluation today.

Can You Be Too Young for LASIK?

The short answer to the question, “Can you be too young for LASIK?” is: Yes.

There are reasons why you still see so many children wearing glasses today, even when LASIK is performed on more than 700,000 people each year. LASIK is a refractive surgery that treats eyesight imperfections that cause myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism. LASIK technology reshapes the cornea to allow light to focus properly on the retina. The result is clearer vision, even 20/20 or better vision, for many patients.

So why wouldn’t you want to have LASIK performed as soon as possible?

We all know that children are constantly growing and changing, and their eyes are no exception. In fact, some people have refractive instability into their early 20s. This means that their vision correction needs may be frequently fluctuating. One qualification of being a good candidate for LASIK is having stable vision, without prescription changes, for at least two years. Most children simply do not have that stability.

So what is the right age for LASIK? The Food and Drug Administration has stated the minimum LASIK age requirement is 18 years old, but there can be rare circumstances where the procedure is recommended earlier. The determination for LASIK for any age individual can only be made after a comprehensive LASIK Evaluation by a qualified doctor.

Buckley Chang Eye Institute offers Free LASIK Evaluations at their Colorado Springs office. To learn more, visit their website at http://www.buckleyvision.com/ or call 719-444-3000.

Three Mistakes you Don't Want to Make When it Comes to LASIK

LASIK Surgery is a common surgery; however it’s still a medical procedure.  Here are the three important rules to follow when considering this kind of surgery.  First, make sure that you receive a full consultation and thorough exam. Second, remember to look for the personal skill and commitment of your doctor. Third, don’t choose based on price, some of the cheaper procedures only 3% of applicants qualify for. Plus, when it comes to eye sight you want to make sure that the type of LASIK surgery used is custom for your specific eyes. For more information visit Buckley Chang Eye Institute today!

Women-More Susceptible to Vision Problems than Men

According to Prevent Blindness America, “Every year, more women than men are diagnosed with eye diseases and conditions such as cataracts, dry eye, Fuchs’ dystrophy, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy and Sjögren’s syndrome.  The “Vision Problems in the U.S.” study from Prevent Blindness America (PBA) and the National Eye Institute (NEI) shows that of the more than 3.6 million Americans age 40 and older who suffer from visual impairment, including blindness, 2.3 million are women” (Women Must Take Steps to Avoid Vision Loss, March 27, 2012).

Hereditary diseases aside, these problems are often caused by hormones, or the fluctuations in hormones like pregnancy or menopause. Sometimes they can even be triggered by birth control, which is a hormone regulating medication. Even keeping your eye makeup for too long can cause problems with your eyes.

At the Buckley Chang Eye Institute, we recommend to our female patients that they pay close attention to their eyesight while pregnant, when changing prescription pills or going on new medication, and to switch out their makeup every six months to a year. If you feel that your glasses or contacts are not helping as much as they used to, make sure to have an eye exam. Mention to your doctor any new prescription changes so that he may accurately diagnose the underlying issue.

Your eyes are how you see the world. Keep them in great health.

Putting in Contacts with Your Toes?

We don't often write about other laser vision correction practices, but this story highlights one practice doing what it knows to help others in the community, specifically Jessica Cox of Overland Park, KS.

Jessica Cox does not have any arms and currently does everything with her feet. This includes putting in her contacts every morning!

Now, through the gift of laser vision correction, Jessica will be able to take that routine out of her life. We applaud Dr. Daniel Durrie for helping this young lady and giving her one less challenge in her life.

For more on this story, click here.

For more on Jessica Cox, you can view her website here.

Why Parents Should Consider LASIK

So many of our patients that have young ones at home tell us about how happy they are that they can finally see without glasses and contacts. Their excitement usually comes from the same place – freedom to enjoy their kids without concerns of glasses and/or contacts.

It’s easy to imagine a child playing with glasses or accidentally poking a parent in the eye and a contact falls out. However, there is another underlying issue that is a huge concern when you need lenses to see: Safety.

When a child wakes up screaming in the middle of the night, do you have to stumble to find your glasses first? Do you have to blunder down the hallway half-blind because you don’t have time to put in your contacts? Or do you have to wake up your significant other to handle the issue because you simply cannot see?

It’s time to put an end to your worries. We want to help you obtain your vision goals so that you have one less thing to worry about. Come in to see us for a free, no-obligation consultation. We can discuss your concerns and talk about how we can help you achieve your vision goals. Give us a call today at 719.444.3000. You can also schedule your consultation online.