Blog

Most of us will have heard of a stroke which is a condition whereby the blood supply to part of your brain is cut off. However, strokes don’t only happen in the brain – they can also occur in your eyes. In this case, the blockage impacts your retina. The retina is the part of your eye which receives light from the lens and sends signals to the brain to process it into a visual image. The retina is a layer of tissue which relies on a constant supply of blood in order to stay healthy and function well.

During surgery to remove a primary cataract, your eye’s natural aged lens, which is usually cloudy by the point of removal, is extracted from your eye. It is then replaced with a clear artificial lens to restore youthful vision. This artificial lens is inserted into the posterior lens capsule at the back of your eye. However, when the old lens is extracted, some of its epithelial cells can remain in the capsule.

Every now and then, we have multiple members of the same family come through the Optimax clinic. It’s always rewarding to know that a patient is so delighted with their results that they recommend us to friends and family. And what could possibly inspire more confidence in our treatments than hearing that Andy, an Optimax patient nearly 20 years ago, put both of his children forward for LASIK this year?

We’ve probably all heard 20/20 vision being mentioned, but do you know what it really means and why it’s called 20/20 vision? This term is what opticians will use to tell you your visual acuity – in other words, how sharp your vision is. First things first, it’s important to note that the ‘20’ refers to 20 feet. You might also have heard it referred to as 6/6 which refers to metres instead of feet. 20/20 tends to be used more in the US, while 6/6 is what we use in the UK. This is the distance from which your optician will check your vision in a sight test to see how well you can read the eye chart.

When you wake up in the morning, you probably have found some eye sleep, sand or gunk in the corners of your eyes. It goes by a few different names, but the official term for eye sleep is ‘rheum’. It’s totally normal – in fact, it’s just a combination of eye debris and tear film which hardens overnight. When you sleep, this falls into your eye’s inner corner and dries up, which is what forms the familiar crust.

November is Diabetic Eye Disease Month, so when better for us to have a look at the ways in which diabetes can affect your vision and eye health? It’s especially pertinent when we consider that the number of people in the UK with diabetes is growing at a rapid pace. Around 5 million people here are now living with diabetes and, by 2030, this number is expected to rise to 5.5 million people.

We all know that our health depends hugely on diet and the nutrients and vitamins we put into our bodies. But did you know that what you eat can also affect your eye health significantly? Certain foods can reduce your likelihood of developing particular eye conditions, while other nutrients are especially beneficial for certain areas of the eye. Generally, fruits and vegetables contain the most nutrients but fewer than 1 in 7 adults eat the recommend amount of fruit each day.

How much do you know about the structure of the human eye? If the answer is ‘not much’ then fear not, as you’re in the right place! Lots of our patients learn about the anatomy of the eye at their initial consultation with us, where we depict exactly which parts of the eye are treated during laser eye surgery, lens exchange/cataract surgery, and implantable contact lens surgery.

This is a very common question we get from our patients. Often, people visit us because they want laser eye surgery, but they don’t know that there is more than one type available. We offer two types of laser eye surgery at Optimax: LASIK and LASEK. Both of these treatments provide outstanding results but their differences mean that while some people might be unsuitable for LASIK, LASEK remains a very good option for them.

Today is World Sight Day, so we’re marking the occasion with some advice about how to keep your eyes healthy after laser treatment. Your sight is the most important sense you have so it’s crucial to do all you can to preserve it. There are a number of lifestyle changes you can make in order to boost your eye health, from eating a good diet and exercising, to avoiding UV ray exposure and practicing good contact lens hygiene.