The Future Looks Bright

The past two years have been a blur, albeit at times a very slow moving blur. See what I did there?

One thing that I’ve learned during this pandemic is that we need to do whatever it takes to take care of ourselves and our loved ones.

Sometimes change is uncomfortable and difficult but in the long run, change can be extremely liberating and exciting especially if it comes with greater stability and a better plan for the future.

It is with this in mind that I announce our move to a new location just one block away at 4193 24th Street. Our new space is bigger, brighter and well ventilated. We’ve spent the last year working with the same architectural firm that designed our current space to create a warm, visually appealing, functional and creative new office in the old Noe Valley Cyclery spot. Our contractor is busy putting the finishing touches on the new build and we will be opening on February 22, 2022.

The windows are quite large and we hope to create some new displays to show them off.

We still have the same great team to care for you and hope to see you soon!

The 20/20/20 Rule

Back when I was in optometry school, a LONG time ago, we were taught the 30/30 rule.  Computers were fairly new at the time and “screen time” and it’s effect upon our visual systems was just beginning to be researched.  We had computer “labs” in college and graduate school, where you would sign up for an hour to write a report.  The internet didn’t even exist yet!  An hour at the computer felt like an eternity.

We learned in our behavioral vision classes that patients should take a break every 30 minutes and look into the distance for 30 seconds in order to avoid eyestrain and headaches.  Needless to say, fast forward 30 years and while our recommendations about breaks haven’t changed too much, we have more “tricks” in our bag to help with digital eye strain. 

But first, what are the symptoms of digital eyestrain?

·         Headaches

·         Blurred vision

·         Aching or burning eyes

·         Dry eyes

·         Neck and shoulder pain

These symptoms may be caused by:

·         Poor lighting

·         Glare on a digital screen

·         Improper viewing distances

·         Poor seating posture

·       Uncorrected vision problems

·         A combination of these factors

With the current work from home and distance learning world we are living in, many more hours are spent continuously in front of a screen and I’ve fielded a much higher number of complaints of eyestrain, headaches and general discomfort when using devices or computers. This can be especially tough on younger eyes as they are much less used to so much screen time and also less able to articulate their symptoms.

The 20/20/20 rule tells us to take a break every 20 minutes and look into the distance at an object 20 feet away for 20 seconds in order to alleviate digital eyestrain.  I would add that an extra 20 minute break every two hours to get up, move and hydrate would be extremely beneficial.  Actually, a 60 minute break would be better but your places of employment and your children’s teachers might not be as excited about so many breaks!

New lens designs exist that provide relaxed vision for the digital age along with lens coatings that block out the shorter wavelengths of light emitted from screens that can cause eyestrain.  These blue light filters can be ordered as part of your prescription lenses. We also carry high optical quality reading glasses with blue light filters. 

If you are experiencing symptoms of digital eyestrain, it may be time to schedule an evaluation. I’m also happy to answer any questions you might have by email, text or phone. In the meantime, remember the 20/20/20 rule! 

Fog be gone.

Hi friends!  If you are like me, you can’t believe it’s been over 2 months of shelter in place now.  Masks have become the newest accessory and people are having tons of fun with designs.  We all have our favorites, be it our local sports teams, Disney designs, fruits, vegetables, bacon, smiley faces, you name it, there’s a mask for everyone.  

But, for those of us who wear glasses or sunglasses, the FOGGING is frustrating!  I came across a cool solution (literally!) when researching how to keep the oculars on my slit lamp from fogging up.  The recommendation was to use a few drops of vegetable glycerine with water to clean the lenses to prevent fogging.  Naturally, my curiosity was piqued!  I measured a GLUG, (kind of like when you are cooking and pouring an unknown quantity of olive oil into the pan), anyhow, a GLUG, (maybe not a real word, sorry) of glycerine into a container of water and mixed it up with a Q-tip and proceeded to clean my oculars, all of my eye glasses and LO and Behold, NO FOGGING!!!!  The true test was cleaning Kathy’s glasses and she concurred with wide eyed wonder. Insert smile.

So, I leave you with this little tip and hope that you have fog less, mask wearing days ahead. Stay safe and healthy!  

Moving Forward

It seems a fitting time for a first blog post. This pandemic has given me plenty of time to reflect. These 25 years have flown by, most of all fulfilling and wonderful, but not without the prerequisite hardships and tribulations, this latest one being quite a doozy.

There has been so much loss of life, so much hardship and sadness as Covid-19 has swept across our country and our world. We’ve had the chance to witness true heroes as health care workers and essential workers on the front line continue to do what is necessary to care for patients and for all of us.

I’ve had the opportunity to experience so much generosity and seen the true caring nature of my immediate community as so many of you have left caring messages and reached out with gestures and requests to help both financially and emotionally. Thank you. From the bottom of my heart.

As we move forward slowly but surely and cautiously, our goals will remain the same. To deliver the very best care to our patient base in a caring environment.