Q&A with Dr. Hite
Dr. Hite Answers Your Eyecare Questions
CAN WEARING SOMEONE ELSE’S GLASSES HURT YOUR EYES
Wearing another person’s spectacles will not damage or worsen your eyes or vision. However, as your eyes work to focus through the incorrect prescription you can cause strain, fatigue, and headaches.
AT WHAT AGE DO YOU RECOMMEND CHILDREN START WITH CONTACT LENSES?
Contact lenses can be started at any age! For patients under 12 years old, we recommend a single use contact lens. These are contact lenses the patient will wear a single time and throw away. This eliminates all the concerns of proper lens care and hygiene. Once a patient reaches 12 years of age, we can move towards a lens with a less frequent replacement schedule as they are able to care for and wear their lenses properly.
WHEN I WEAR MY CONTACTS, MY EYES ARE USUALLY DRY AND UNCOMFORTABLE BY THE END OF A LONG WORKDAY. WHAT HELPS WITH THIS PROBLEM?
Dryness is a challenging issue, especially here in Colorado where the air is so dry. Many times it is not the selected contact lens brand or material, but factors within our environment or our own eyes tear chemistry. Environmental conditions can be improved by redirecting fans or heaters away from your face, use a humidifier in the home if possible, and make sure to take periodic breaks from extended computer use. If our tear chemistry is abnormal due to inflammation of the eye lids, lowered tear production, or other systemic health issues, we may need to address these medically to keep you comfortable.
I HAVE AN INFANT, A TODDLER, AND A TEENAGER. SHOULD MY KIDS BE WEARING SUNGLASSES?
UV exposure increased our risk of early cataract progression, macular degeneration, and other eye issues. Most of these issues relate to the total exposure to UV light over your lifetime. Protecting our eyes from UV exposure is just as important in children as it is in adults.
WHAT ARE THE BEST WAYS TO WEAR CONTACT LENSES IF I HAVE A HISTORY OF ALLERGIES AND ALLERGIC CONJUNCTIVITIS?
Contact lenses will aggravate whatever irritation is already present. It may be necessary to proactively treat allergies to ensure comfortable contact lens wear. We can create a treatment plan ahead of your allergy season to help preempt the symptoms from becoming a problem. In addition, changing contact lens modality to a single use contact lens can provide help, since no allergens will build up over time as is seen on a monthly lens.
WHAT DOES IT MEAN TO BE COLOR BLIND?
There are two main types of color blindness: Red/Green and Blue/Yellow. Patients who are colorblind have trouble distinguishing these two shades of color from one another. For example, a patient with Red/Green colorblindness when looking at a Christmas decoration of red and green would have trouble telling the difference between the two. Color blindness is a permanent condition and can affect career choices for young adults. There are specialty contact lenses that can be used to help differentiate the colors to help with certain professions.
WHAT IS ORTHO-K?
Ortho – Keratology is a non-surgical way to reshape the surface of the cornea. A specialty contact lens is worn overnight and removed in the morning. While sleeping, this lens reshapes your cornea to provide you with the optimal correction. The cornea retains this new shape after you remove the lens and throughout the day, leaving you without the need of spectacle or contact lenses.
WHAT SIGNS MAY EXIST THAT MY CHILD NEEDS AN EYE EXAM?
Many signs can indicate vision problems. Squinting at distance objects, sitting closer than is needed to materials, headaches when using eyes, head tilts, and changes in reading interest may indicate a problem.
MY CHILD IS TOO YOUNG TO DO NORMAL TESTING, HOW DO YOU DISCOVER THEIR PRESCRIPTION?
Children are unable to respond to the normal questions of “Which lens is better.” We use specialty lighting systems to look at the “red reflex” of the eye. Using that reflex and manipulating it’s reaction to different power lenses allows us to arrive at a spectacle prescription.
WHAT WILL HAPPEN DURING MY CHILD’S PEDIATRIC EXAM?
Children are unable to respond to the normal questions of “Which lens is better.” We will perform small activities to gauge how the eyes work together. If possible we will try and find the best visual acuity of the child, by letters if possible but we have shapes and other methods to measure best vision. Dilation drops are important to both check the internal health structures of the eye as well as help us arrive at the most correct spectacle prescription.
DURING A PEDIATRIC EYE EXAM, WHAT ISSUES/PROBLEMS DO YOU LOOK FOR?
Health wise we search for common problems that the child can have from birth. Certain types of cataracts, glaucoma, and other issues can be present from birth. We look at the child’s “Binocular Vision” (how the eyes function together as a team). Spectacle prescription is determined and will be prescribed if help is needed for proper visual development.
DOES YOUR OFFICE TREAT ANY EYE RELATED PROBLEMS THAT CHILDREN MAY HAVE?
Any health concern related to the eye and the surrounding area can be taken care of in our office. Red eyes, allergies, blurred vision etc can all be medically related problems, and we can treat them in our office.
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