Your Guide to Choosing the Perfect Sunglasses 

Sunglasses not only make you look confident and sexy, but they also protect your eyes from the sun’s harmful UV rays. If you spend a lot of time outdoors on sunny days, you need sunglasses. Wearing them religiously can help you avoid some of the common signs of aging on your eyes, including the formation of cataracts. Your vision care specialist can help you choose sunglasses in Champaign, IL, that flatter and complement your facial structure. These tips may help.

Outline Your Face in the Mirror to Find Its Shape

A lipstick is all you need to find the shape of your face. Simply stand before a mirror and use the lipstick to draw its outline. When you step back, you’ll have a clear idea of how your face is shaped. Then, you can purchase sunglasses to complement it. Your vision care associate can help you find the right frame for your face, but you can make the process easier by understanding your facial structure.

Choose a Flattering Color for Your Sunglasses

You’ll want sunglasses that go well with your complexion and hair color, so follow these simple rules of thumb:

  • Warm, light-colored or dark-colored skin needs earth tones.
  • Cool, light-colored or dark-colored skin looks better in striking shades of blue or gray.
  • Medium skin usually goes well with a wider range of colors and hues, so if you have olive-tone skin, you may have more colors from which to choose.

It’s important to understand whether your skin has warm or cool undertones. Your vision associate can help you decide.

Champaign Eye Professionals, in Champaign, IL, is always happy to help you choose the best frame and color for your prescription or non-prescription sunglasses. Speak with one of our friendly representatives today to schedule an appointment.

Prevention and Treatment of Dry Eyes

Dry eye is an irritating condition that happens when your natural tears are no longer able to keep your eyes suitably moist. As a result, eyes feel dry, itchy, and inflamed. Dry eye is often associated with normal aging, which makes it a very common condition. Your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, may recommend a prescription or non-prescription eye drops to help with lubrication. Keeping regular appointments for eye exams can help prevent chronic dry eye.

What Causes Dry Eye?

Normal aging can contribute to dry eyes, but other factors may also cause this condition, including autoimmune diseases, allergies, changes in your body’s hormones, and inflamed glands in your eyelids. You may also be more prone to dry eyes if you’re female, deficient in Vitamin A, or have worn contact lenses in the past. Your eye doctor can diagnose the source of your dry eyes and provide treatment to help ease your discomfort.

What Are the Symptoms of Dry Eyes?

The symptoms of dry eyes include:

  • Burning or itchy eyes
  • Strings of mucus in the eyes
  • Sensitivity to light
  • Feeling as though there’s something in your eye
  • Blurred vision

Don’t ignore the symptoms of dry eye because they may not go away on their own. In fact, without treatment, your condition may worsen.

What Happens If I Don’t Seek Treatment for Dry Eyes?

It’s important to seek treatment for dry eyes because this condition could be a sign of something more serious. Having an eye exam could help with early detection of chronic conditions such as lupus or thyroid disease. Also, if left untreated, dry eyes can worsen and cause permanent damage to your vision. Dry eyes also put you at greater risk of eye infection.

If you’re struggling with dry eyes in Champaign, IL, Champaign Eye Professionals can help diagnose and treat your condition. Call today to schedule an appointment with one of our friendly vision specialists.

The Impact of Normal Aging on Your Vision

Aging affects your eyes just as it does the rest of your body, and your risks of developing chronic eye conditions go up as you get older. Diseases such as macular degeneration and glaucoma become more common. This makes regular visits to your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, even more important, so you can benefit from early detection, diagnosis, and treatment. Two of the more common eye conditions caused by aging include presbyopia and the formation of cataracts.

Presbyopia May Develop as You Age

As people age, the flexible lens inside the eye tends to stiffen up and become less pliable. Because it’s the flexibility that allows you to change focus to see objects more clearly, changes in vision usually result. We call this presbyopia, and it’s very common among older people. Presbyopia may begin around age 40 and progress as a person ages. As a result, you may need more light to see clearly, or you may need prescription eyeglasses, such as bifocals, to help your eyes change focus. If you notice problems with eye strain, tired eyes, or your ability to focus on items close up, you may be noticing signs of presbyopia.

Cataracts Are a Common Side Effect of Aging

Cataracts happen when the lens inside the eye becomes foggy, another common eye condition related to normal aging. While not everyone develops cataracts as they get older, some health conditions put you more at risk. These include diabetes, exposure to radiation, and previous eye injury. If you smoke or drink heavily, you’re also at greater risk. Treatment for cataracts in Champaign, IL, usually involves eye surgery to replace the foggy lens with a synthetic lens.

Champaign Eye Professionals in Illinois can help with common eye conditions related to normal aging. Call today to schedule a consultation.

Optometrist giving an eye exam

What Can You Learn From Your Annual Eye Exam? 

Annual eye exams are more than just opportunities to renew your eyeglasses prescription. Through regular visits to your vision specialist, you can benefit from early intervention of more serious conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, glaucoma, or cataracts. Often, it’s your eye doctor in Champaign, IL, who’s able to first spot signs of chronic conditions such as diabetes through routine eye exams and diagnostic testing. Your yearly exam could lead to early detection of many serious medical conditions.

Diabetes

Diabetes can cause diabetic retinopathy, during which blood vessels leak into the retina and affect your vision. If left undetected and untreated, this condition can lead to total vision loss. If you check in with your eye doctor regularly, this can help with early detection and treatment.

If you’ve recently received a diagnosis of diabetes, it’s important to follow-up with your vision specialist right away.

Lyme Disease

If left undetected, Lyme disease can affect your eyes. In its later stages, it may compromise several areas of the eye, including the uvea, which is the middle layer of the eye; the cornea, which is part of the outer eye; the iris, which is the circle of color that surrounds the pupil; and the choroid, or the blood vessels within the eye. This may cause your eyes to feel sensitive to light. You may also experience floaters and problems with double vision.

High Blood Pressure

Uncontrolled high blood pressure can cause damage similar to diabetes. Retinopathy may occur, You may also experience fluid buildup beneath the retina, as well as nerve damage. It’s important to manage chronic conditions such as diabetes and hypertension to protect your vision.

Schedule your annual eye exam in Champaign, IL, today by calling Champaign Eye Professionals.