3 Holiday Gifts to Give Your Spouse That Just Keep On Giving

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Botox Injections With the holidays in full swing, if you haven’t yet started your holiday shopping, you need to jump on it so that you can get everyone in your life something that they will love and remember. As one of the hardest people to shop for, make sure that you get your spouse something they will thank you for and not hold over your head during your next big argument. Luckily, Dr. Jeffrey Maehara’s office has several unique gifts that you can give to your spouse that they will praise you for.

1. Botox Injections
Whether you are gifting this to your husband or your wife, Botox is sure to be a gift that they will love, and that will keep on giving for a few months afterward. As an injectable that is injected into the muscles in your forehead and around your eyes, Botox temporarily paralyzes the muscles which cause them to relax and your wrinkles to soften.

2. Juvederm
Mostly popular among women, Juvederm is a filler that is used to fill in not only the fine lines and wrinkles around the mouth but will fill in your lips as well. The great thing about Juvederm is that it will last your spouse up until next Christmas so you can ensure they enjoy your present all year long.

3. LASIK Eye Surgery
Is your spouse always complaining of their inability to see things correctly? Are they always misplacing their glasses and getting frustrated? Help better their life for good with the gift of LASIK. By reshaping the inner cornea of your eye, LASIK eye surgery will give your spouse the ability to see things without having to wear glasses or contacts again.

Give your spouse one of these three gifts this holiday season. To learn more about these services and other services that we offer, contact Jeffrey Maehara today!

How to Get Dust Out of Your Baby’s Eye

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Dust Out of Your Baby’s EyeWhen you’re a new parent, it can be intimidating to know exactly how to take care of your child when they are sick, irritated, or overall uncomfortable. And when it comes to things like getting something out of their eye, it can be hard to know exactly what to do in order to get your baby feeling better and back to their normal giggly self once again. Read on to learn more.

Warm Compress
The easiest way that you can help to soothe your little one when they are fussy because they have something in their eye while simultaneously getting the dust out of their actual eye is to apply a warm, damp compress over their eye. When doing this, make sure that the water isn’t too warm because you don’t want to scald them— simply test the water on your forearm before hand. Once deemed the correct temperature, take the warm compress and lay it over your baby’s affected eye. The warmth and the water will help your child’s eye to water naturally which will help push out the dirt or eyelash trapped in their eye. Leave the compress on their eye for a minute or two at a time or for as long as they will hold still.

Flush It
If your child is inconsolable because they have something in their eye and you are feeling frantic about getting it out, avoid using your fingers because this could actually scratch their cornea. Instead, take a medicine dropper and fill it with lukewarm water— again testing it on your forearm before using it— then try to hold their eye open and squirt the water into their eye. Although your child will likely fuss and scream, the water and pressure of water will help to extract the dirt from their eye.

When your child is crying and inconsolable due to things such as having something in their eye, you want to do everything you can to make them feel better again. However, when you’re feeling frantic, you might not know exactly how to correctly remove the dirt from their eyes. To learn more about vision care, contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara’s office today!

2 Ways to Younger Looking Eyes

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eye careUnfortunately, as much as we hope and pray for a magic pill or spell that will make us never age, doctors are still working on it. As one of the biggest signs of aging, your vision will start to decline and you will likely start to need a pair of reading glasses to read the labels at the grocery store. Additionally, the lines around your eyes will start to deepen and you may start to understand the true meaning of crows feet. However, Dr. Jeffrey Maehara specializes in several treatment options that can help you to take care of your vision and the wrinkles around your eyes with Lasik and Botox. Read on to learn more.

Lasik
Put those reading glasses down and get prepared to be able to read those labels and that book in front of you once again with Lasik eye surgery. What is Lasik eye surgery exactly? Lasik eye surgery is a surgery used to help correct your vision and bring it back to 20/20. During this procedure, the doctor will work to reshape your cornea with a small laser which help to get your vision back to perfect— or close to it anyway. By numbing your eye beforehand, you won’t feel a thing during the entire procedure and if you are feeling anxious about being awake during it, you may be able to get a prescription for an anti-anxiety medication to help calm your nerves. Once the surgery is over, you will be required to wear protective sunglasses over your eyes to help shield them from the sun’s rays.

Botox
As the most popular way to temporarily get rid of those nasty crows feet that are lingering around your eyes, Botox is a non-invasive injectable. Lasting around 3-6 months on average, Botox works by temporarily paralyzing the muscles around your eyes and causing them to soften which in turn relaxes them and leaves you with the appearance of no fine lines and wrinkles.

With the dual combination of both Lasik eye surgery and Botox, you can help to not only drastically improve your vision but get a younger looking you as well. To learn more about both of these procedures or to schedule a consultation, contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara’s office today!

Can Zika Affect Your Eyesight?

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eye healthThere are two things that are taking over the news as of late: the presidential election and Zika Virus. And although the prospect of both things may be a bit frightening, Zika Virus boasts to be a bit more so because doctors are still learning new things about it everyday. And with recent research available, there is evidence that Zika can even affect your eyesight. Read on to learn more.

Red Eyes
One of the symptoms of Zika virus is that of red eyes, which can also be a bit swollen and itchy. Oftentimes mistaken for common seasonal allergies, however, red eyes are a symptom of Zika that can easily be overlooked. If you notice that your red eyes simply aren’t improving with sleep, over-the-counter eye drops, or an antihistamine, then visit your primary care physician right away or contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara to have any other eye conditions ruled out.

Uveitis
There are some studies and articles that are calming that Zika can also cause an eye disease called Uveitis. As a disease that causes your eyes to become inflamed, uveitis can affect one or both eyes at once. Symptoms of uveitis include redness, blurred vision, and even eye pain that can occur from simply blinking. If left untreated, uveitis can result in blindness. However, if caught early on, there are several treatment options to treat uveitis, so if you exhibit any of the above symptoms, schedule an appointment with Dr. Jeffrey Maehara right away.

Much like with anything that is still being studied, it can be hard to know just how detrimental the impacts of Zika virus truly are. One things we do know for certain is that if you are pregnant or trying to become pregnant, it’s important that you avoid regions of the country and the globe that are experiencing outbreaks. Additionally, if you do happen to be travelling out of the country to areas that have been infected, make sure to wear a bug spray that contains DEET.

To learn more about eye conditions that may be influenced by Zika virus, contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara today!

3 Tips to Get Your Child to Take Care of Their Glasses

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optical servicesTaking care of glasses as an adult can sometimes be a bit iffy, however, getting your child to take care of their glasses is a whole other process. As your child gets used to not only getting into the habit of wearing their glasses everyday, your child also needs to get into the habit of taking care of their eyeglasses everyday. From placing them in their proper case to taking precautions before taking sports, this article will discuss a few of the ways you can teach your child to care for their glasses.

Place Them in the Proper Case
Kids can fall asleep at the weirdest times in the weirdest positions, especially after a long day either in the car or at school. However, now that your child has glasses, it’s important to teach your child how to take care of their glasses before they go to bed every night. Specifically, make sure that your child puts their glasses in their proper case before bed, and if they fall asleep with their glasses on, either wake them up to take them off or gently take them off yourself— this will ensure that they don’t roll onto their glasses.

Don’t Let Them Play With Them
Kids are notorious for touching just about everything they see— making a trip to the store feel virtually impossible at times. And although your child will likely want to take their glasses on and off and play with them, they will more than likely become damaged if they do continue to do so. Make sure to emphasize to your child the importance of not playing with their glasses.

Take Precautions Before Sports
One of the most common ways that your child can break their glasses is by playing sports, specifically contact sports. Specifically, if your child plays sports like basketball, football, soccer, or baseball, make sure that your child either wears some sort of protective eyewear over their glasses, that they don’t play in their glasses at all, or that they wear contact lenses during sports.

To learn more about how your child should care for their new eyeglasses, contact D. Jeffrey Maehara’s office today!

How to Properly Take Care of Your Contact Lenses

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contact lensesContact lenses aren’t also somewhat expensive but they can also cause eye infections if you don’t properly take care of them. From washing your hands to using the right contact solution, it’s important to know the do’s and don’ts of taking care of your contact lenses. Read on to learn more.

Always Clean Your Hands

No matter what time of day or night it is, one of the most important precautions you can take when dealing with your contact lenses is to wash your hands before you touch them. Although they might not be clearly visible, things like oil and dirt can build-up on your fingers, get on your contacts, and ultimately lead to some sort of eye infection. When cleaning your hands, make sure to use soap and warm water— hand sanitizers won’t necessarily do the trick.

Soak Your Lenses

Another important step to take is to soak your lenses overnight in a clean solution when you take them out. Simply pour the old solution down the drain, rinse out the contact lens container with warm water, refill the container with contact solution, and place your lenses in the solution overnight. This will not only help to ensure that they get clean but that they don’t dry out either.

Rub Your Lenses

As another way to properly clean your contact lenses, it’s advisable to rub your lenses with your forefinger and a small amount of solution (and with clean hands, of course). By rubbing your contact lenses with a solution, you are helping to get off any sort of dirt or particles that may have adhered to your lenses while they were soaking overnight.

Replace Often

Daily contact lenses have taken the industry by storm because they eliminate the need to clean your lenses and they also eliminate the spread of eye infections. However, if you are like most people and still use regular contact lenses then you should know the importance of replacing them every few weeks— or sooner if you lead a very active lifestyle. By replacing your contacts, you can eliminate the spread of germs that may cause an infection or other sort of eye problem.

Taking care of your contact lenses is a great way to maintain good vision health. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara.

 

 

Cataracts? Discover more about Multifocal Lens Implants!

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CataractsCataracts affect millions of people in the United States alone, and this condition accounts for the largest number of eye surgeries performed each year. One of the primary aspects of cataract surgery is the successful replacement of the clouded lens with an artificial intraocular lens, or IOL. Historically, patients treated with cataract surgery have received a monofocual IOL, which facilitates distance vision. What this means is that there continues to be a reliance on reading glasses.

Cataract surgery often works through one of two common approaches:

  • The lens in each eye is replaced with a monofocal IOL for distance, and reading glasses are worn for near vision.
  • The lens in one eye is replaced with a monofocal IOL for distance, and the other lens is replaced with a monofocal IOL for near vision.

Many patients who have cataracts removed find that one or the other of these approaches meets their needs. However, there are additional options thanks to innovation in the area of IOL technology. In some cases, patients are best served with the placement of a multifocal IOL.

What is a multifocal IOL?

Like your natural lens, the multifocal IOL is intended to focus at both near and far distance. However, the mechanism is slightly different. The healthy natural lens actually moves to accommodate multiple points of vision. As we age, the lens becomes more rigid, which is why many of us notice we need glasses later in life. The multifocal lens does not move with the eye, but has multiple points on which light is reflected in order to allow for better clarity.  Because the way a multifocal lens works is different than the natural ocular structure, there is an adjustment period during which the brain learns how to react to this new way of seeing.

Precision Technology in your Eyes

Multifocal lenses are calculated precisely using mathematical formulas to reach the most appropriate power. Certain conditions, such as high astigmatism or even previous LASIK surgery, can pose a challenge to this process. Slight inaccuracies can typically be managed with the help of eyeglasses as needed, such as for reading.

The eyes are complex structures, and we understand how to reach the best outcomes for each of our patients. To learn more about cataracts and IOLs, or to discuss your treatment options, give us a call.

How to Lower Your Chances of Macular Degeneration

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macular degenerationAs you age, your body is more prone to things like eye diseases. As one of the most common types of eye diseases, macular degeneration causes progressive loss of vision. By breaking down the light-sensitive tissue in the macula, macular degeneration can cause vision loss that cannot be restored.

One of the biggest factors of macular degeneration is having a genetic history and being of Caucasian descent, are not things you can change. However, there are other factors that can greatly contibute to and increase your chances of getting macular degeneration as well. Read on to learn more.

Smoking

Smoking isn’t good for any part of your body— your eyesight include. In fact, smoking can as much as double your risk of developing macular degeneration. If you are a frequent smoker, now is the time to stop. If you need help quitting, ask your healthcare provider for advice on support groups and nicotine products like gum or patches.

Obesity

Obesity isn’t just bad for your heart’s health, but it can also lead to the development of macular degeneration. Because obesity can cause an increased amount of inflammation throughout your body, it can lead to inflammation in your eyes as well— resulting in macular degeneration. If you are struggling with your weight, ask your healthcare provider about ways in which you can cut down your caloric intake and increase your exercise routine.

Exposure to Sunlight

Although the sun is a great source to get vitamin D, it can also lead to health problems like skin cancer and even eye problems like macular degeneration. Every time you go outside— even in the winter— make sure that you are wearing sunglasses that offer both UVA and UVB protection.

As you can see, there are many contributors to macular degeneration. In order to protect your eyes, make sure that you quit smoking, watch your weight, and wear sunglasses when outside. To learn more about how you can best protect your eyes, contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara today!

 

 

Allergy Season: How to Get Rid of Dry, Itchy Eyes

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eye care tipsWith spring in full bloom, so are allergy causing things like dander and pollen. If you suffer from seasonal allergies and are noticing that your eyes are suddenly extremely dry and itchy, try these following tips to help you to get back to feeling like your normal self once again. Read on to learn more.

  1. Eye Drops

Either by getting prescription eye drops from Dr. Jeffrey Maehara, or by simply purchasing allergy strength over-the-counter eye drops, you can help to give your eyes that instant relief from both dryness and itching. Typically containing an antihistamine, allergy strength eye drops work to coat your eyes while stopping any sort of itching or inflammation. Simply apply the eyedrops to your eyes as directed a few times a day.

  1. Skip the Contacts

Contact lenses are one of the greatest inventions for glasses wearers since, well, glasses. However, when your eyes are itchy and inflamed due to allergies, it might be time to give your eyes a break from your contacts and wear your regular glasses for a few days. Although contacts are designed to be perfectly safe for your eyes, if things like dander and pollen get trapped in between your eye and the lens, it can further exacerbate your allergy symptoms and leave you feeling nothing shy of uncomfortable.

  1. Rinse Out Your Eyes

Another great way to get rid of eye allergies is to rinse out your eyes with cold water a few times a day— especially in the morning. Simply clean your hands with warm water and soap, and then cup a small amount of cold water into your hands and then splash your eyes with the cold water. This will help to get any allergens out of your eyes and will also help to make you feel better.

Suffering from seasonal allergies can make your eyes feel beyond uncomfortable. However, by using eye drops, taking a break from wearing your contact lenses, and rinsing your eyes out with cold water, you can help to feel like your normal allergy-free self once again! To learn more contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara today!

 

 

Shield Your Eyes from Cataracts With 3 Easy Steps

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eye healthCataracts is an eye disease that affects over half of Americans over the age of 65. Causing cloudy and blurred vision, cataracts can leave you feeling hopeless and unlike yourself. If your family has a history of cataracts or you’re just worried about what old age will bring you, try these following tips to help keep your eyesight running as smoothly as possible.

  1. Eat Right

You’ve likely heard it your whole entire life: carrots help to protect your eyesight and prevent against things like going blind. And although you might have shrugged that concept off as a child, diet does in fact play a large role in your vision health and care. When looking for a diet to help enhance your eyesight, look for foods that are rich in antioxidants like beta-carotene, selenium, Vitamin C, and Vitamin E— all of which may help to prevent against the development of cataracts.

  1. Schedule Exams with Your Eye Doctor

You won’t really be able to know if your eyes are in good health and condition unless you visit your eye doctor. Scheduling yearly appointments with your eye doctor will help your doctor to evaluate your eyes for the premature development of cataracts so that you never have to feel blindsided— literally.

  1. Protect Your Eyes from the Sun

Although the real culprit of cataracts is old age, shading your eyes from the sun is one of the best ways to ensure that your eyes stay as healthy as possible. When going outside during the day— even in the heart of winter— be sure to wear sunglasses that offer both UVA and UVB protection. Because the sun can cause permanent eye damage or can even burn your eyes, it’s important to constantly shield them when you are outside.

The best way to determine whether or not you have cataracts is through an eye exam from Jeffrey Maehara. However, by eating right and shielding your eyes from the sun’s harsh rays, you can help to offer your eyes the protection needed to prevent any further damage and hopefully to help protect against cataracts in the future. To learn more or to schedule an appointment, contact Dr. Jeffrey Maehara’s office today!