Hoopesvision - Salt Lake City, Utah Area

Protect Your Vision:Eye Safety for July Fireworks

By Hoopesvision on July 2, 2012

July is a great month in Utah! Celebrating both the 4th of July and the 24th of July means twice the number of barbecues, two good reasons to spend time with family and friends, and often double the opportunity to watch fireworks.

We hope this month will be filled with great memories for you and your family, and want to remind you that firework safety is an important part of making this month fun. Each Fourth of July period, fireworks are responsible for around 11,000 visits to the emergency room, and nearly 20 percent are for eye injuries.

Although most injuries result from firecrackers, bottle rockets and roman candles, many of the injuries (including eye injuries) come from smaller fare like sparklers. Because sparklers are marketed as fun for children, parents often underestimate the dangers associated with them. Sparklers can burn at well over 1000 degrees Fahrenheit, and because they are beautiful to watch, children often want to touch them, or hold them closer to their eye causing sparks or even a hot, burning sparkler to come in contact with their eye.
This time of year can be filled with exciting entertainment, and by keeping safety in mind when dealing with fireworks, you can ensure that it will be remembered for the many great memories rather than tragedy.

Important tips to remember when dealing with fireworks:

• Always view fireworks from a safe distance.
• Never have any portion of your body directly over a fireworks device when lighting the fuse. Move back to a safe distance immediately after lighting.
• Be aware of your environment and don’t use fireworks in dry areas – check local laws for restrictions on where they can be used.
• Always wear safety glasses when lighting or using fireworks.
• Read and follow all safety instructions.
• Have a working hose and first-aid kit handy should something go wrong.
• Once you are done with your fireworks, douse them with plenty of water from a bucket or hose before discarding to prevent a trash fire.
• Remember that all fireworks – even those marketed for children– can cause injury. Supervise all children around any firework use.

Posted in Eye doctors utah |

Annual Eye Exams: A Good Idea?

By Hoopesvision on February 16, 2012

Optometrist performing an eye exam

Recently, the Salt Lake Tribune published an article asking the rhetorical question of whether or not an annual doctor’s physical is worth the effort. Not to spoil the surprise for you, but the article found that, yes, a yearly checkup is well worth it, as it can lead to early detection of a wide variety of health problems.

The same holds true of annual eye exams: no matter what your age, no matter whether you’ve had LASIK, use glasses or contact lenses, or have naturally perfect vision, a yearly eye exam is definitely a great idea! There are several reasons this is true. For one, many people’s refractive error (i.e. the prescription in their glasses or contacts) can change gradually. For those people whose prescription is fluctuating, to compound those small changes by going several years between eye exams can result in headaches, eye strain and fatigue, and poor overall vision.

Another great reason to get an eye exam each year is that many chronic eye conditions, such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, and diabetic retinopathy, can develop slowly – and visual symptoms are not an early warning sign. For example, glaucoma is one of the leading causes of blindness in the world, yet doctors call it “the sneak thief of sight” because by the time it manifests itself in the form of vision loss, the damage is irreversible. Meanwhile, a simple dilated eye exam and intraocular pressure check each year – both of which are parts of the standard eye exam – can detect glaucoma so that it can be managed before it robs the patient of their sight.

At Hoopes Vision, we specialize in the surgical correction of vision and generally do not perform routine eye exams. We do, however, believe in the value of regular yearly eye exams. That’s why one of the conditions of our free lifetime See Clearly Guarantee – the first of its kind in Utah – is that the patient must continue having annual exams after surgery. We believe the best way to care for your eyes is to establish a relationship with a qualified and experienced optometrist, one who examines your eyes each year and can help maintain your ocular health and good vision. The doctors at Hoopes Vision work closely with hundreds of experienced optometrists and ophthalmologists in Utah and throughout the US. If you already have a good eye doctor, great! If you are looking for one, please feel free to contact us or visit our website, where we have a list of affiliated eye doctors in Utah and surrounding areas.

Vision is an amazing thing. Our sight defines our relationship with the world in a way that is truly unique, and yet it can be a fragile thing. Preventative care, in the form of an annual eye exam with a qualified optometrist, is an easy and inexpensive measure that is worth the effort!

Posted in Eye doctors utah |