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Drs. Gibson, Gibson & Moore

Lubbock Eye Doctors, Your Local Optometrists

Contact Lenses

By Contacts

As optometrists, we have to make decisions on which contact lenses are right for each individual patient. This is one of the many reasons why optometrist fight to keep money hungry online websites from being allowed to change contact lens brands because it might not be right for the patient’s eyes. Whether a patient is brand new to contacts or currently wears, how the contact lens interacts with the patient’s eye needs to be examined.

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Lubbock Eye Doctors, Your Local Optometrists

How to Find the Perfect Pair of Sunglasses

By Sunglasses No Comments

Summer is supposed to be a time for fun in the sun, so don’t let your sunglasses hold you back. Most people are naturally concerned with their skin during the summer, but your eyes are equally important. There are many preventative measures to keep your eyes healthy, but the most protection you can get for your eyes is sunglasses. Here’s your guide to the perfect pair of sunglasses.

Polarization

When looking for a pair of sunglasses, check if the pair you are looking at is polarized. Polarized sunglasses have an extra layer of protection that blocks glare and reflections that non-polarized sunglasses don’t. Polarization helps reduce damage to your eyes by minimizing the amount of UV light that gets to your eyes from reflections and glares. Polarized sunglasses are a must if you consider a day at the pool, lake, or even in the mountains.

Fit

Your summer sunglasses aren’t only a health factor and a fashion statement. Your sunglasses should sit comfortably on your face. The width of the frame of the sunglasses should match the width of your face. For normal-sized sunglasses, someone looking eye to eye with you should be able to see your eyebrows. Additionally, the sunglasses should rest comfortably behind your ears. Make sure to try them on before you purchase them because there is nothing worse than uncomfortable sunglasses.

Quality

There are many different brands of sunglasses out there, so it is important to find a high-quality pair that will last a long time. Most quality sunglasses will be polarized, so be sure to check any markings on the sunglasses. Additionally, most lenses are either glass or plastic. While plastic options are typically more affordable, glass lenses will usually last longer and be more resistant to the elements while giving clearer vision.

Transitions

If you’re fed up with contact lenses or switching two sets of glasses every time you walk outside, then transition lenses may be a vision solution for you. These would be your regular glasses but would transition into sunglasses in bright direct sunlight.

lubbock contact lens exams

Cataract Surgery – What You Should Know

By Cataract Surgery No Comments

Cataract surgery is often talked about in passing but what are cataracts and what goes into the surgery?

“A cataract is a clouding of the eye’s natural lens, which lies behind the iris and the pupil”. Think of when you wear glasses, and they fog up with steam. Cataracts are like that but you can’t just wipe it away. The causes of cataracts are often genetic or due to aging, injury, or past conditions of the tissue within your eye lens.

How do cataracts form?

The lens of your eye sits behind your iris, the colored part of your eye. That lens allows light to pass into your eye which then produces sharp images on your retinas, much like a camera’s film. As you get older or as past surgeries or injuries start to take their tole, your eye becomes less flexible and less transparent. This causes your lenses’ tissue to break down and slowly clump together, which gives you the clouding areas within your lens. As time goes on, and the cataract grows, the clouding becomes denser and increases in size.

There are several types of cataracts that can occur. Some are born with cataracts but often aren’t affected because they are removed shortly after detection. Another, nuclear cataract, causes your lens to turn a yellowish or even brown color that makes it hard to distinguish shades of color, as well as gives you cloudy vision. Cortical cataracts give you streaks on the outer edge of your lens cortex and make it hard for light to pass through your lens. Another type is posterior subscapular cataracts, which interfere with reading, reduces your vision in bright lights, and can cause glares at night.

So, what can Drs. Gibson, Gibson and Moore do to solve these cataract problems?

With surgery, ophthalmologists can remove your natural lens and replace it with a clear, artificial one. During the surgery, your eye will be numbed with drops or an injection. Patients are kept awake for the surgery but will not see what the doctor is doing to their eye. Making small, tiny incisions along the edge of your cornea, the surgeon will break up your lens and slowly remove it. After they have removed the old lens, they will insert the artificial lens into your eye. Typically, these incisions are self-sealing and you will not need stitches. A simple eye patch is placed over your eye and you are given drops to place into your eyes following the surgery.

Cataract surgery is a very simple and minimally invasive procedure that lasts less than an hour. The surgery is very safe and side effects are extremely rare.
If you suffer from blurred or cloudy vision, cataracts may be the issue. Contact us today to schedule an appointment to determine if cataracts are affecting you!

Eye Glasses Lubbock

What Style Glasses Should I Choose?

By Eyeglasses No Comments

What Style Glasses Should I Choose?

Choosing the right frame to fit your face is often a tedious task. You don’t want to grab the first pair of frames you see (Get it?) and you want to have the frames be an extension of who you are. Our professionally trained opticians are here to help you every step of the way to ensure your glasses get you where you need to go and turn a few heads in the process.

Here are a few tips for choosing the right frames for your shaped face:

  1. To get the most out of your glasses, in term of style and look, try to mirror the frames with your best features. For instance, a nice pair of turtle shell frames, for dark eyes, will really make the eyes stand out.
  2. You want to contrast the shape of the frame with the shape of your face. Contrasting is an excellent way to make things pop and stand out.
  3. Make sure the frames fit the size of your face. Tom Cruise put Ray Ban on the map with his famous Risky Business scene, so many people wear the Clubmaster look because that is what is popular, despite them not fitting to their face.
  4. Everybody is unique! Don’t go with what’s popular. Stand out, be bold, find your style, and own it!
    We want to help you see your best and look your best. Come in today and see what we can do for you!

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Contact lense exam lubbock

Crash Course on Contact Hygiene

By Contacts No Comments

Contacts have all of the benefits of glasses without the annoying maintenance of wearing, cleaning and fixing them. While contacts are much easier to take care of, it is important to remember to clean them and change them as instructed by your doctor. If you forget about these simple contact hygiene tips, then you risk damaging your eyes. Here is how you can keep your contacts in the best shape for your eyes.

Replace Your Contacts

Most contacts prescribed by optometrists are either daily, weekly or monthly lenses. This means that after the time period has passed, you need to throw the lenses out and put in a fresh pair. If you keep wearing the contacts past the replacement date, then your chance of an eye infection increases. An old pair of contacts increases your risk for developing a bacterial infection.

Take Your Contacts Out at Night

Keeping your contacts in overnight will dry out the contacts and your eyes. The dryness comes from the lack of tear exchange which provides a perfect scenario for bacteria to grow on your contacts and eye. Not only this, the dried out contact can also scratch and rub the inside of your eyelid which can cause major discomfort. Do yourself a favor and spend the extra 10 seconds to take out your contacts before you hit the hay.

Clean Them in Solution

Cleaning your contacts in contact solution, such as Opti-Free, is important when cleaning your contacts. These solutions are designed, filtered and made to clean contacts that you put in your eyes every day. Tap water, on the other hand, is not. Tap water, our daily drinking water, has bacteria that are not visible to the human eye and can contaminate our contacts and eye health.

Take Out Contacts When Swimming

Simply put, you should either take out your contacts or put on goggles before entering the pool. Like tap water, many different kinds of bacteria and chemicals are found in pools, especially public ones. Not only do you risk an infection, but you can also lose a valuable lens if your friend or someone else splashes you.

Conclusion

Contacts are a great way to correct your vision. But if not taken care of properly, you can subject yourself to eye infections and ocular damage. Always wash your contacts with contact lens solution and never swim in your contacts. Both tap water and pool water can cause nasty infections that will cause you a big headache and maybe even a lasting impact. Also, don’t forget to take them out and replace them when necessary in order to protect your eye from scratches and infections. Your eyes are one of the most important organs in the body, so make sure you are following these tips to keep your eyes nice and healthy!

Do you need to order contacts or a schedule an eye exam in Lubbock?  Schedule an appointment with Drs. Gibson, Gibson & Moore today!