Eye Pains You Shouldn’t Ignore: When to Seek Help Before It’s Too Late

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You want to be brave, but sometimes being brave isn’t the best thing for you, especially when it comes to your eyes. Eye discomfort can sometimes seem harmless—a minor irritation that fades after rest or eye drops. But not all eye pain is the same. In some cases, what feels like a small issue could point to something more serious. Knowing when to get help for eye pain can make the difference between a quick fix and risking your vision.

Sudden, Sharp Pain

If you experience sudden, sharp pain in one or both eyes, especially if it comes with blurred vision, light sensitivity, or redness, it’s time to call your optometrist in Riverdale, NJ. These symptoms can be signs of acute angle-closure glaucoma, a condition that causes a rapid increase in eye pressure. This is a true medical emergency and needs immediate attention to prevent vision loss.

Pain Accompanied by Redness or Swelling

Eye pain that’s paired with redness, swelling, or discharge could be caused by an infection like conjunctivitis or uveitis. These conditions can become serious if untreated, leading to complications that may affect your sight. While some types of conjunctivitis clear up on their own, others require medication. Don’t try to guess—get it checked.

Discomfort After an Injury

If you’ve scratched your eye, gotten hit in the eye, or had something foreign enter it (like debris or chemicals), and pain persists afterward, seek care right away. Corneal abrasions and chemical injuries can lead to scarring or infection. Quick treatment helps prevent long-term damage.

Aching Pain Behind the Eyes

A deep, aching sensation behind the eyes can sometimes be linked to eye strain or sinus issues—but it could also signal optic neuritis or other concerns, such as diabetic retinopathy in Riverdale, NJ. If this type of pain is accompanied by vision changes or headache, don’t ignore it. Prompt evaluation is essential.

When in Doubt, Get It Checked

It’s easy to assume eye pain is temporary, especially if your vision still seems okay. But because the eyes are delicate and symptoms can escalate quickly, it’s always better to play it safe. If the pain is sharp, persistent, or paired with other unusual symptoms, don’t wait.

Protecting your vision means listening to your body. When your eyes hurt in ways that feel out of the ordinary, trust that it’s worth getting professional care—before it becomes something more serious.

Children’s Eye Health: What Every Parent Should Know

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Good vision is essential for learning, reading, writing and participating in activities both inside the classroom and on the playground. Even with today’s advanced technology, many children have undiagnosed vision issues that can affect their academic performance and confidence. As a parent, it’s important to be on the lookout for warning signs that your child might need an eye exam in Riverdale, NJ.

The Importance of a Comprehensive Eye Exam

Your child’s school might offer vision screenings, but these aren’t enough to check for the full range of potential vision and eye health issues. Bear in mind that they have to get through several hundred children, sometime all in one day, or in the course of just two or three days. An optometrist does comprehensive eye exams that focus only on your child, looking for potential problems. These include nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism and eye coordination problems—all of which can impact reading and learning. It’s best to also visit with your child’s eye doctor, especially since younger children may not realize or be able to properly communicate that something’s amiss with their vision.

Signs Your Child May Have Vision Issues

Being aware of these signs of potential vision problems is helpful, too. They include frequent squinting, holding books too close or unusually far away, frequent complaints of headaches or difficulty concentrating. Some children may also struggle with hand-eye coordination or avoid tasks that require visual focus. Vision issues in childhood aren’t always obvious and you may have to pay attention to subtle clues. These can manifest as crankiness, unwillingness to play games, clumsiness and more.

Screen Time and Eye Health

Your optometrist in Riverdale, NJ can also provide guidance on digital screen use, which is increasingly important with the rise of online learning and device use at school and home. Managing screen time and practicing good visual habits helps protect developing eyes.

Remember, managing your child’s well-being includes their vision in addition to their physical and emotional health. If you have any doubt as to whether your child is seeing as well as they ought to, schedule your child’s eye exam now and set them up for a lifetime of clear vision.

Why You Should Never Wear Someone Else’s Prescription Eyeglasses

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Do you remember when you were a child and you tried on your parents’ glasses just for fun? It probably made your parents laugh and made for a good time. It was also probably weird to see how distorted the world was through the lenses, and might even made your eyes or your head hurt a little. But as an adult, this is something that you should never do, because there are reasons why each individual has a unique prescription for  eyeglasses in Riverdale, NJ.

Improper Vision Correction

It may be tempting to wear your spouse’s glasses to read a book or a recipe, since their prescription may be quite near to your own. But using eyeglasses that aren’t suited to your vision correction needs can easily lead to eye strain. Your eyes might attempt to compensate for the incorrect prescription, which can strain the eye muscles. 

Potential for Long-Term Damage

Look, you aren’t going to go blind just because you try on someone else’s glasses. But there is some potential to cause long-term damage if you’re just casually wearing glasses that haven’t been prescribed for you, if you do it for a long time. And if you have astigmatism, it’s especially dangerous, so you should really avoid doing it at all cost. If you find that your vision is getting worse, visit your  Riverdale, NJ optometrist for help.

Interference with Vision Development

Be sure to tell kids not to swap glasses with classmates at school, even though it might seem fun. For children and teenagers, whose eyes are still developing, wearing glasses with the wrong prescription can interfere with their visual development.

Impact on Posture and Balance

Even slight changes in prescription can affect your posture and balance, which is why you’re urged to get a new prescription anytime the old one isn’t working as it should anymore. Wearing glasses that aren’t fitted to your needs can physically cause you to alter your posture to see better, potentially leading to neck or back pain.

It’s important to remember that prescription glasses are designed for individual use based on specific criteria. If you find yourself curious about your vision or think you might need glasses, the best course of action is to schedule an  eye exam in Riverdale, NJ with your optometrist.

 

Glossary of the Anatomy of the Eye

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When your eye doctor in Riverdale, NJ discusses your eye health with you, are you sometimes confused about the terminology used? Most people are aware of the more simple terms relative to the anatomy of the eye, but the meanings still may not be perfectly clear. Since clear communication is essential between eye professional and patient in order to facilitate understanding and health, here is a basic glossary of the anatomy of the eye. Some of the meanings may be different than what you had always thought!

Cornea

The cornea is the clear, dome-shaped outer layer that covers the front of the eye.

Pupil

This is the small black opening right in the middle of your iris. It gets bigger and smaller according to how much light there is, and in relation to other stimuli.

Iris

The iris is the colored part of the eye that surrounds the pupil. It controls the size of the pupil through its ring of muscles, determining how much light reaches the retina.

Lens

Located behind the iris, the lens is a clear, flexible structure that adjusts its shape to focus light onto the retina.

Retina

The retina is a thin layer of light-sensitive cells lining at the back of the eye. It’s one of the things the eye doctor inspects when they shine a light into your eyes.

Macula

At the back of the inside of the eye, the macula is a small, central part of the retina. Optic Nerve

The optic nerve is what connects your eye to your brain.

Sclera

The sclera is the white part of the eye that you can see.

Vitreous Humor

This is the clear, gel-like substance that takes up the space between the lens and the retina, maintaining the eye’s shape and allowing light to pass through to the retina.

Conjunctiva

If you’ve ever visited your optometrist in Riverdale, NJ about pink eye, you’ve probably heard this word. This is where the trouble lies with conjunctivitis. The conjunctiva is a thin, transparent membrane covering the white part of the eye and the inside of the eyelids.

Should You Treat Glaucoma with Medications or Surgery?

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Glaucoma is an eye disorder that typically comes on slowly. This can give you and your eye doctor time to make better decisions about your overall visual health. If you have glaucoma in Riverdale, NJ, and you’re wondering about treatment options, we’ll look at what you should know about the debate between medication and surgery.

Medication vs. Surgery

Medication typically comes in the form of special eye drops, which work to reduce the fluid or increase your fluid drainage. They may target certain parts of the eye to reduce fluid production or enhance the drainage network so there’s more movement (and, ultimately, less pressure on the eye). With surgery, the ophthalmologist will create a new drainage pathway, and the results can last for up to 5 years or more.

Which One Is Right for Me?

Ultimately, this question comes down to the severity of your symptoms. Not everyone will respond to medication, which may leave surgery as your only option. Medication may be excellent for mild glaucoma, made even better by its relatively minor side effects, but it may not be effective for you.

If you choose surgery, you may experience longer lasting relief from the procedure, without the need to follow a regimented eye drop schedule. Of course, like any surgery, it comes with standard risks of infection. If you have questions in Riverdale, NJ, it helps to talk to someone who specializes in eye disorders like glaucoma.

Consult an Eye Doctor in Riverdale

There are several treatment options to learn about if you have glaucoma. For instance, eye drops can affect your body, depending on whether they reduce fluid or help drain fluid. Understanding how each treatment option works can help you make informed decisions.

A good eye doctor in Riverdale, NJ will focus on prevention whenever possible. The faster you catch and confirm glaucoma, the easier it is to halt its progression. If you want the choice between medication and surgery, rather than needing emergency surgery after your condition progresses to blurry or even obscured vision, contact Riverdale Vision Care to schedule a consultation appointment today!

Ways to Relieve Eye Strain

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We live in an age of eye strain. Our Riverdale eye doctors see it all the time. As a society, we spend long hours staring at screens for work and play. If it’s not screen time, it’s reading, driving, detail work, or undiagnosed eye conditions that cause tired, burning, dry, or watery eyes that can’t focus. Although eye strain isn’t usually a serious condition, it can make your day harder with headaches and difficulty concentrating. And sometimes, it’s a symptom of a condition we should look into at Riverdale Vision Care.

10 Tips for Eye Strain Relief

If you are already struggling with eye strain, or you know you will be participating in activities that cause eye strain, there are some tricks you can use to avoid it or lessen its impact on your day. Some of these include:

  1. Reduce your screen time. Get out and “touch grass” more often and leave mobile devices and TV off for a while.
  2. Use the 20-20-20 rule. Whether you’re driving, working with screens, reading or doing close-up work, take an eye break every 20 minutes, focusing your eyes on something 20 feet away for at least 20 seconds.
  3. Take care of your eyes as your eye doctor in Riverdale recommends, whether that means wearing your glasses or contacts correctly, using moisturizing eye drops, etc.
  4. Use a humidifier in the room where you do your eye strain-causing activity.
  5. If you still smoke, stop.
  6. Get regular exercise.
  7. Drink plenty of water to stay hydrated and eat eye-healthy foods like eggs, carrots, almonds, fish with a lot of omega-3 fatty acids, leafy greens, and colorful fruits and vegetables.
  8. When you must use screens for work or school, use a glare filter and clean your screen regularly to maintain proper contrast. Enlarge the print on your screen and adjust the brightness as well.
  9. Work in a well-lighted space, preferably with as much natural light as possible.
  10. Make a point of blinking more often as this will help your tears moisturize your eyes more frequently.

See the Eye Doctors Riverdale, NJ Trusts if Your Eye Strain Won’t Leave

Usually, following these tips will relieve your eye strain. If they don’t, there is a possibility that an underlying, undiagnosed condition exists. In this case, the eye strain may be a symptom of something more serious. So, if you’ve done all you can to relieve your eye strain and it remains unchanged or gets worse, schedule an appointment with our eye doctor in Riverdale, NJ. Here at Riverdale Vision Care, we can diagnose and treat eye conditions and help you get the eye strain relief you need to keep going.

Is Your Child Nearsighted? Ask Us About Myopia Management

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Myopia in Riverdale NJ refers to the inability to see objects at a distance clearly. Approximately 40 percent of children develop myopia, also known as nearsightedness, by age 17. When someone is nearsighted, it means that the eyes grow too long in axial length. Some people also have a curved cornea or lens of the eye that bends too much compared to the length of the eyeballs.

Myopia ranges from mild to severe, and those on the milder end of the spectrum may not need any vision correction until the condition becomes more advanced. However, Riverdale Vision Care recommends treating any degree of vision problem as quickly as possible. This is the best way to ensure that your child can keep up with schoolwork without vision problems holding them back

Myopia Causes and Symptoms

Children typically acquire myopia through a gene passed along by one or both parents. Signs of the common eye condition usually appear in early childhood and peak around age 20. Other causes of myopia include:

  • Diabetes, whether a doctor has officially diagnosed it or not
  • Focusing difficulty that results in problems with night vision
  • Frequent visual stress, such as staring at screens all day

Some children develop what we refer to as pseudo myopia, which means that they develop blurry distance vision after completing a lot of up-close work. Their vision returns to normal once they return to a more typical workload.

Please schedule an eye exam for your child right away if you notice any of these symptoms:

  • Holding a book right in front of their face when reading
  • Sitting too close to the television
  • Squinting when reading or using the computer
  • They complain of blurry distance vision

We will discuss several treatment options with you and your child should we discover myopia in Riverdale NJ.

Myopia Treatment Options

Special contact lenses that train the eyes to see objects at a distance clearly are one option to consider. Another is atropine eye drops, which typically slow the progression of myopia by at least 50 percent over two years. We are happy to discuss these and other myopia treatment options in more detail at your child’s next eye exam.

Picking the Best Eye Makeup for Sensitive Eyes

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Do you struggle with sensitivity when it comes to your eyes? If so, you may deal with everything from dry eyes to blurred vision when wearing the wrong kind of makeup. The first step when dealing with unusual eye sensitivity or dry eyes is to find an optometrist for a comprehensive eye exam in Riverdale, NJ. However, in the meantime, it can also be helpful to find the best eye makeup types to keep your eyes from feeling irritated. Take a look at the tips below.

Avoid Waterproof Mascara and Eyeliner 

Waterproof mascaras and eyeliners often contain harsh chemicals that can irritate sensitive eyes. Additionally, these products require strong makeup removers, which can further aggravate eye sensitivity. Opt for water-based or smudge-proof formulas instead, as they are gentler on the eyes and easier to remove without causing irritation.

Stick with Matte Eyeshadow Made from Organic Ingredients

Matte eyeshadows made from organic ingredients are ideal for sensitive eyes. They contain fewer synthetic or metallic additives, which can be important for reducing the risk of irritation. Look for products labeled as hypoallergenic as well, as this is a good indication that the product does not contain compounds that your eyes may be sensitive to in the ingredient lineup.

Steer Clear of Concealer and Setting Sprays with Fragrances Added 

Concealers and setting sprays often contain added fragrances, which can be irritating to sensitive eyes. While you may try to avoid getting these products in your eyes, they can seep into the eyes with tear production throughout the day. Additionally, fragrance particles can be airborne, which means they may make their way into your eyes after application. Opt for fragrance-free formulas to minimize the risk of discomfort or allergic reactions. Additionally, choose products specifically stating they are ophthalmologist-tested to ensure they are safe for use around the eyes.

Discuss the Best Eye Makeup Options with a Riverdale Optometrist 

If you are struggling with eye sensitivity, be sure to seek out the professional advice of aRiverdale optometrist. While the makeup or products you are using may be part of the problem, there could be other problems that need to be addressed. Reach out to the office of Riverdale Vision Care to schedule an appointment.

Light Sensitivity Demystified: Unveiling Myths and Facts About Photophobia

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Maybe you constantly struggle when out in the sun. Perhaps you deal with everything from blurred vision to burning eyes when in bright light. This sounds like you may have issues with photosensitivity, also known as light sensitivity, and, in extreme cases, photophobia. While getting a comprehensive eye exam in Riverdale, NJ, is a good first step, here is a closer look at photophobia.

Dispelling Common Misconceptions About Light Sensitivity

Light sensitivity is a highly misunderstood optical health issue, but it is extremely common, affecting up to 20 percent of the general population. This excessive sensitivity to light is often misperceived as something to do with only another medical condition, which is not always the case. Light sensitivity can be related to:

  • Certain medications
  • Unique ways the eyes detect light
  • Dry eyes
  • Cataracts
  • Prior LASIK surgery
  • Lighter eye colors due to less pigment-derived protection from UV rays

Understanding the Science Behind Photophobia

Photophobia occurs when the eyes become overly sensitive to light stimuli. Within the eye, however, the issue is more complex than it sounds. Photophobia can result from various mechanisms, including an imbalance in neurotransmitters regulating light perception, increased pupil constriction in response to light exposure, or heightened retina sensitivity to light. When exposed to normal light levels, these factors can lead to discomfort and pain, making it challenging for individuals with photophobia to tolerate bright environments.

Expert Insights: Practical Advice for Living with Light Sensitivity

Living with light sensitivity can be challenging, but there are practical strategies to manage this condition effectively. Here are some expert insights to help you navigate life with light sensitivity:

  • Invest in quality sunglasses with UV protection.
  • Use tinted lenses or photochromic glasses to reduce glare.
  • Opt for soft, diffused lighting and control natural light levels.
  • Take regular breaks from electronic devices and use blue light filters.
  • Stay hydrated by drinking plenty of water throughout the day.
  • Practice stress-reduction techniques like deep breathing or meditation.
  • Consult with an eye care professional for personalized treatment options.

Discuss Light Sensitivity with an Experienced Riverdale Optometrist 

If you have light sensitivity, it is always a good idea to visit an optometrist in Riverdale, NJ, for a thorough evaluation. Contact the team at Riverdale Vision Care to schedule an appointment.

The Invisible Threat: Dust Mites and Eye Irritation

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Many people are alarmed to hear that they have an overabundance of dust mites in their lashes or around their eyelids during a comprehensive eye exam in Riverdale, NJ. However, these harmless organisms are normal and usually do not cause issues—almost everyone has them! Nevertheless, getting more familiar with these microscopic organisms and how they can affect your visual health is a good idea.

Eyes Itching? Could Dust Mites Be the Culprit?

Dust mites (Demodex) are microscopic insects found in household dust, and they can inadvertently contribute to eye irritation. Normally, a few of the insects can be found on the lases and even in your eyebrows. However, when there is abundance or overpopulation, this can be to blame for issues with eye itching. Repetitive touching and scratching can sometimes lead to higher risks of infections.

Exploring the Link Between Dust Mites and Red, Watery Eyes

So, why do dust mites irritate your eyes? When airborne, their tiny fecal particles and shed skin fragments can come in contact with eyes, and this can cause an allergic reaction. But these small bugs can also live on the lashes, which can also cause your eyes to feel itchy and irritated.

Tips for Minimizing Dust Mite-Related Eye Discomfort

If you suspect that issues with Demodex are causing irritated eyes, be sure to talk to the eye doctor about solutions. Medicated wipes can be used to reduce the population and hopefully deter symptoms. You can also make some adjustments to your environment and routine to keep the population minimized, such as:

  • Changing bedding frequently
  • Laundering pillows regularly
  • Washing your eyes a few times a day
  • Discarding old makeup and makeup applicators that you use on your eyes
  • Vacuuming and using air filters to reduce dust in your household

Talk to a Riverdale Optometrist for Advice

As alarming as dust mites may sound, they are not an issue that should cause significant concern. However, if you have symptoms of excessive issues, be sure to talk to a Riverdale eye doctor for advice. Reach out to the team at Riverdale Vision Care to schedule an appointment.