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My oldest boy, age 12, played in his first tackle football game a few weeks back. He played sparingly as a receiver – inserted here and there with the ball never being thrown in his direction. His team lost. Not surprisingly, he wasn’t overly excited about playing through the remainder of the season like he had been prior to the first game. His vision of how things were supposed to go didn’t quite equate to how things actually went. Keep in mind, my boy is probably the smallest (lightest and almost the shortest) boy on his team at 79 ½ lbs, but dreams of playing for the BYU football team in college.

Can you imagine wearing glasses with lenses made of crystal? Your ancestors could.

I ran my personal best this past Saturday. I ran 13.94 miles (nearly 14 miles) – half a marathon. Two weeks ago I ran my personal best to that point – 10 miles. The week before, I ran 8 miles and the week prior to that – 6 miles. That’s in addition to 2 miles I run three times each week after dropping my boy off to orchestra practice before school. I’m not training for a marathon (although that is only because I never previously considered the possibility). I truly am doing it for my overall health – both physical and mental.

While the sun provides us with many benefits and supports our life, its ultraviolet rays can be harmful and damaging to our bodies, primarily our skin and eyes. Over time, exposure to two types of UV rays can lead to macular degeneration and some kinds of cataracts, both of which affect your vision. UV-A rays can damage central vision, while UV-B rays may affect your cornea and lens.

Did you know that over 30 million people in the United States are currently diagnosed with diabetes? There is also a large portion of the population that doesn’t know that they have diabetes or prediabetes. As the number rises in our country, spreading awareness about diabetes is vital to the prevention and management of this disease. November is National Diabetes Awareness Month and we would like to take time this month to educate our community on the effect diabetes can have on your vision and ways to lower your risk for developing diabetic-related eye conditions.

It’s more common than you might think for contact lens wearers to make mistakes when it comes to caring for their eyes. While these mistakes may seem insignificant, they can have serious repercussions. One contact lens wearer tragically ended up blind after wearing her contact lenses for six months straight. The amoeba Acanthamoeba Keratitis began to eat away at her corneas, which resulted in blindness. But, do not let this rare instance deter you from using contacts––let it act as a precautionary tale.

Have you ever wondered if you or your spouse or perhaps one of your children is color blind?

The month of May is the start of spring with blooming flowers and sunny days, and many of us will start heading out for some fun in the sun in the great outdoors. Springtime is also the start of allergy season and many other potential vision hazards that may keep you from enjoying the weather. Did you know that May is also Healthy Vision Month?

Of all our senses, we probably rely on our eyesight the most for nearly everything. In everyone’s desperate attempts to prevent aging or eye degeneration, you may have come across advice from family and friends on how to keep your eyes healthy. Some of this advice may be true, but oftentimes, if you did not hear it from an optometrist, it may not be accurate. Let us dispel a few myths about vision that you may have heard!

So what can you, individually, do on a daily basis to help prevent contracting and spreading the disease yourself? There are three simple things – habits if you will – that, if implemented or changed, could go a long ways to help curb the spread of coronavirus (not to mention flu and colds).