Watch Your Step: A Slip in the Home Can Lead to Eye Injury

American Academy of Ophthalmology offers simple tips to prevent eye injuries among seniors and other household members.

SAN FRANCISCO – Most people know that loose railings, sharp edges, and slippery stairs in the home can lead to painful falls for seniors, children and other household members. But what many people don’t realize is slips and falls are one of the most common causes of eye injury in the home.

Through the EyeSmart campaign the American Academy of Ophthalmology reminds seniors and their caregivers to be especially aware of their home environment and take preventive steps to lessen their risk of eye injury.

“Falling in the bath tub or shower, or against a nightstand or a doorknob is all too common among seniors,” said Paul T. Urrea, MD, ophthalmologist in Los Angeles and a clinical correspondent for the Academy. “The injuries that the eye sustains from those types of falls can be devastating. For the sake of your loved ones, you should take the proper precautions and prevent dangerous and potentially blinding accidents in the home.”

Data from the Academy’s Eye Injury Snapshot, an annual clinical survey of eye injuries across the U.S., shows that approximately 11 percent of all eye injuries in the home are caused by slips and falls, making it one of the most common causes of eye injuries. There are 2.5 million eye injuries in the U.S. annually, about half of which happen in the home.

Consider taking these safety steps around the home to diminish the risks of injuring your eyes:

·       Make sure that  rugs and shower/bath-tub mats are slip-proof;

·       secure railings so that they are not loose;

·       cushion sharp corners and edges of furnishings and home fixtures.

Eye injuries in the home can also be caused by common household tasks or projects, such as using chemical cleaners, working with power tools or doing yard work. The Academy recommends that every household in America have at least one pair of ANSI-approved* protective eyewear to be worn when doing projects and activities at home.

In the event you do suffer an eye injury, have an ophthalmologist examine the injury as soon as possible, even if the injury seems minor at first. Eye injuries can lead to long-term eye health problems, including the development of glaucoma and cataracts.

When it came to pithy, powerful and to the point quotable quotes, Ronald Reagan stood alone. One of my favorites is this one:

"The nine most terrifying words in the English language are, "I'm from the government and I'm here to help."

As a descendent of coal mining immigrants on my father’s side and religious freedom seeking Pilgrims on my mother’s side, one could say that I have some degree of self reliance in my genetic makeup.

It used to annoy me no end to hear my father say “If you want a helping hand, look to the end of your arm.”

Now I realize that my Welsh immigrant father was trying to teach me a valuable lesson in self-reliance. As I now find myself saying the same things to my children, it’s evident that at least some of my father’s teachings fell on fertile soil.

I also learned a lot about compassion from my parents. Neither believed in the notion of free lunches, but if they found someone really down on their luck, they were the first to step in and offer a hand up, but not a handout.

Growing up in and receiving my medical training in the Detroit area, I had a wonderful opportunity to rub shoulders with and care for some wonderful historical figures. Included in that list were three of Martin Luther King’s aunts (“Martin’s aunties” was their preferred moniker) and Rosa Parks, all of whom I had the privilege of treating as patients.

Rosa Parks as I remember her

Rosa is most well known for her stand against racial segregation on public buses in Montgomery, Alabama. She refused to give up her seat for a white man and was arrested, charged with, and convicted of civil disobedience.

As time permitted, I loved visiting with these wonderful people about their experiences in the Civil Rights movement. Something they all had in common was a great love for the United States of America and for the protections afforded by the Constitution. They were all descendants of slaves and were thrilled with the progress they had seen during their lives, but feared a new type of slavery unintentionally imposed by a well-meaning government. (Consider the Gipper’s words: We’re from the government and we’re here to help).  The programs developed under President Johnson’s “Great Society” saw welfare rolls swell exponentially, and played no small part in removing fathers from inner city homes. Today, over 70% of children born in major cities are illegitimate.

While Rosa and Martin’s aunties praised the progress made, they each loathed the effects of the welfare state and spoke in very firm tones about the need to get back to accountability and individual responsibility.

As we approach a critical election, it is my hope that we can learn from the lessons of history and choose a course that will support the values that have made our nation great.

Has it been more than 1 year since your last complete eye examination?

The American Optometric Association (AOA) recommends patients between the ages of 40 – 59 have a full dilated eye examination every one to two years. Because the risk of eye disease continues to increase with advancing age, everyone over the age of 60 should have annual dilated eye examinations. More frequent examinations may be needed for patients with certain systemic disease, such as diabetes, and certain eye diseases, such as cataracts, macular degeneration, and glaucoma.

The most common eye disease, and most easily treated, among the elderly is cataracts. Cataracts are a natural clouding and thickening of the lens inside your eye. Common symptoms include, glare, double vision or poor night vision.

Glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the United States. It is commonly termed the “silent thief of sight” because you do not feel pain and you typically do not have any symptoms.

Macular Degeneration is also a leading cause of visual impairment. Two forms of macular degeneration exist, dry and wet. Common symptoms for both types of the disease are blurred vision while reading, dark or empty areas in the center of the vision and distortion of the straight lines.

Because we care about your health, we here at Innovision Eye Care Center sponsor free public eye screenings around the county.  At our approved locations, we screen for cataracts and glaucoma. You will also have a chance to meet with Sherry, our outstanding surgical counselor, to answer any questions. Please refer to your monthly Innovision Gazette and the calendar of events to see where we will be next!!

I am quite certain that all of us beyond a certain age have very vivid memories of the horror that was September 11, 2001. As we remember that awful day, a day that some describe as the day America lost its sense of invincibility, we would do well to consider why and how the attacks happened.

While it is true that there are those who say it was “an inside job” under the direction of, depending on your particular flavor of conspiracy theories, the George Bush White House, the Knesset in Israel or….(choose your favorite conspiracy “flavor”).

When quite certain of something, I am given to say “in my humble but correct opinion.” So in my humble and correct opinion, those nearly 3,000 souls who lost their lives that day were innocent of any offense to those who “strapped on” jets as weapons.

I have a friend who has flown for Northwest Airlines for many years. He recently retired from that line of work and, sadly, is facing a difficult struggle with bone cancer. Rick shared with me that he had a plane full of passengers in his jumbo jet bound set to depart Boston’s Logan Airport for Los Angeles that fateful morning of September 11, 2001. What saved Rick, along with his passengers and crew that day? He was flying an aircraft that had “Northwest” painted on it, not “American” or “United”. For the Jihadists, a symbolic attack was crucial. Their carefully crafted plan called for the use of weapons of our own making, named after the United States of America, and aimed at symbols of our open, pluralistic society (a.k.a. “the Great Satan”) such as the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and, quite likely, the White House and the U.S. Capitol.

My brother in-law, Mitt Romney, was in meetings in the Capitol that day. At the time he was the CEO of the Salt Lake Olympics and was in Washington on Winter Olympics business, including venue security during the games.

He was scheduled to travel to New York later that day and to throw out the first pitch in Yankee Stadium as the Yankees were set to square off against the Chicago White Sox. That first pitch never came as he was whisked out of the Capitol building, along with thousands of others, about the time the Pentagon was struck by American flight 77.

My friend and colleague, Dr. Norm Peterson of Laguna Hills, CA, was the proud father of a Cantor Fitzgerald employee whose office was on the 101st floor of the World Trade Center, just above the site of impact of one of the hijacked airliners. Norm, along with many of the families of those killed during these attacks, does not know to this day how or when his son died. There were no remains found.

I was still at home doing some early morning reading with two of our children when a relative called and told me to turn on the TV. That was just before the second tower was struck, eliminating all question that this tragedy was the result of an unfortunate accident.

For those who say that this attack is the fault of “American imperialism” or the decadence of our society or our relationship with Israel, I have one word to say: Hogwash!

We have been attacked by radical Islamic Jihadists who want to destroy America an our way of life. They want to establish a worldwide Caliphate, and this has been the objective of the salafist Jihadists ever since the fall of the Ottoman Empire in 1913, long before Israel became an issue.

My good friend Walid Phares* (www.walidphares.com) has written extensively on the topic. I invite you to visit his website to learn more on the topic, but don’t fall prey to the Hollywood elite (and others) who would have you believe that we just have to talk with these people apologize more convincingly for our sins that have so offended them.

*Walid is a senior fellow at the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies where he is the Director of the Future Terrorism Project. He is also the Fox News expert on terrorism and is recognized worldwide as one of the world’s leading experts on Islamic Jihad and terrorism.

In keeping with our tradition of remaining on the cutting edge of technology, we have recently invested in the brand-new Optovue RTVue-100 Ultra-high Speed, High Resolution OCT (Optical Coherence Tomography) and added to our stable of diagnostic equipment.

There are approximately 10 million blind and visually impaired people in the United States, according to the American Foundation for the Blind. Unfortunately, there are only a select few who have access to this new device that maps the eye at record speed and with remarkable accuracy.

Technology called spectral OCT, used in the Optovue RTVue-100 Ultra-high Speed, High Resolution OCT, helps to stop eye disease and treat it before damage is done.

Many of our patients are worried that their vision isn't what it used to be. With a simple visit to Innovision Eye Care, you can have a "map" made of your eye using this new technology.

"What we’re talking about here is spectral domain OCT. That's optical coherence tomography. In simple terms, this is a way of looking at the back of the eye, the retina, and the optic nerve, just using light. In addition, the optovue is capable of scanning the cornea and front portion of the eye, unlike any other device, this exam is not the simple one most people get at their eye glasses retailer, that’s why they send their patients to us.

Maps Reveal Eye Health

Within a few minutes, the scan will reveal a wealth of information about the patients’ vision by creating 3-D images of the inside of their eyes. This new spectral OCT allows me to see the tiniest of details inside the eyes of my patients and identify the specific areas that are deteriorating or damaged.

I am excited about the Optovue RTVue-100 Ultra-high Speed, High Resolution OCT, because of its potential to hold off eye disease. I know the technology will be useful in preventing blindness.

"It is difficult to treat patients with certain eye diseases where there are no symptoms, and yet they're very common. But if you detect it early, much less intense treatment is required in order to control the disease than if you catch it late, it is a very exciting tool!!

Yes…it’s really true!  And I can’t tell you how excited I am about it.  Those who know me know I am very passionate when I talk about my family…or restoring people’s vision…and let’s not forget politics, of course.

With all the excitement of the upcoming election, I’ve been in frequent communication with a very good friend of mine, Hugh Hewitt, from Townhall.com.  I find myself listening to his radio show and visiting his blog as often as possible to get the latest.  I am quickly able to visit several other blog sites I like as well.  I keep thinking to myself…”This would be a great way to keep my patients in the loop on all the latest in vision correction and vision restoration.”  Of course my next thought was, ’How on earth am I going to find time to do this?’  I still think that…but I’ve finally decided to recruit some help to teach me the basics and get this blog going.  So please, come back often and see what's new.

We send out a monthly newsletter to our patients and consistently have too many neat patient experiences to fit in there.  We want to share these success stories with everybody, and a blog seems to be a great way to do that.  A blog is one of the fastest ways I’ve found to ‘stay in the loop’ and I hope you find this blog to be the same.

The list of reasons to to get started with a blog keeps growing, so here we go.  I look forward to this. Your feedback is so valuable to us…please submit your comments!  Talk to you soon.