Blogs

This is the second part in a series featuring our Aesthetician, Sarah Heinrich's advice for the best skin at every age. 

Smoking and tanning are bad at every age, but if you want to prevent serious skin damage, make sure you've quit by your thirties. Lighter skin tones will show signs of aging earlier. The appearance of fine lines and wrinkles around the eye become evident and uneven.

This is the first part in a monthly series featuring our Aesthetician, Sarah Heinrich's advice for the best skin at every age.

No matter what your age, your skin can look young and beautiful. In your twenties, your face is still tight, but you may be noticing sun spots and freckles. To hide these and prevent loss of elasticity and further sun damage, Sarah recommends:

Oakley has made a statemtent with its incredible line of sunglasses and eyeglasses geared for men. Now MyOptics has brought in the line for women. Spokeswomen for the brand include such amazing women atheletes as Kerri Walsh, Grete Eliassen, Karena Dawn, and Gretchen Bleiler. Even singer/songwriter Kate Voegele wears Oakley.

Check out the full line in a trunk show this Saturday, December 3rd from 10 am to noon in our office at 1255 19th St., Ste 101

Here's some advice: if it seems too good to be true, it probably is. Of the millions of people who have undergone LASIK, you would be hard pressed to find one who only paid $499 per eye. Most offers of $499 result in a bait and switch - the ad says, $499, but you must pay extra for a high prescription, extra for the better laser, extra if you don't have excellent credit, and extra if you want post-op appointments.

It seems hard to believe that just a dozen years ago, laser eye surgery was the stuff of science fiction. These days, some 700,000 people undergo LASIK surgery annually, the American Academy of Ophthalmology says.  If you're thinking about becoming one of them, here's what you need to know.

Contact lenses are a medical device inserted directly ON the eye.  Think about that for a moment.  You are placing a FOREIGN BODY ON TOP OF YOUR EYEBALL.  Doesn't that sound just a little insane?

It's not because contact lens technology has come a long way.  But that doesn't mean that wearing contacts is without risk.  Let's talk just a few of the potential issues:

A glasses prescription is NOT a contact lens prescription.

And I'm not just saying that so you have to hand over more money to receive your contacts RX.

Truthfully, the prescription for your glasses is similar, but is not the same as your eyeglass prescription.  Let's look at what's different:

First:

Recently, our office has seen an uprise on contact lens related issues.  I'm not just talking about new wearers, but established wearers who have worn lenses for years.  We've also seen more and more patients confused about our contact lens fitting policies and our definition of contacts as medical devices.  So I think it's time for a little Contact Lens 101, or a refresher course.

First: CONTACT LENSES ARE A MEDICAL DEVICE

This is not our definition, it's the FDA's.  Here's proof.  Notice the FDA website's section on contacts is listed under the heading "Medical Device".

Second: EVEN DECORATIVE LENSES (lenses with no prescription in them) ARE MEDICAL DEVICES AND REQUIRE A PRESCRIPTION.

Again, here's proof. If that link is a little too technical-speak, please refer to this one.

Third: CONTACT LENS ISSUES ARE THE LEADING CAUSE OF EMERGENCY ROOM VISITS INVOLVING A MEDICAL DEVICE.

During a 24 month study conducted by the FDA, contact lens emergencies accounted for 23% of all medical device related visits for children birth to age 21.  That's 70,000 visits for only 100 hospitals.  Read more.

Fourth: CONTACTS ARE ABUSED BY GROWN-UPS TOO.

Two Johnson&Johnson surveys showed that nearly half of all contacts wearers do not wash their hands before removing or inserting their lenses.  A significant number did not replace their lenses as often as they should.  Most used tap water - a serious no-no!  Read more on the surveys here.

Fifth: PURCHASING CONTACT LENSES REQUIRES A VALID PRESCRIPTION.

You are required to have a prescription before you buy any lenses.  If you don't have one, could you get in trouble? No, but the person who sells you the lenses could! Read the FDA's blurb here.

So what can happen if you don't take care of your lenses? Visit our Contact Lens Risks page to find out.

Come back next week when our blog post will focus on how a contact lens prescription is determined and what insurances pay for in regards to your prescription.  For now, here's some reminders on how to care for your contact lenses/medical devices.

Another thought for contact wearers: get rid of all the hassle and have LASIK instead. Studies show LASIK may be safer than contacts.  Read more.                     Visit our LASIK page here.

In Style magazine recently announced their Best Beauty Buys of 2010, selected by Hair, Makeup, and Skin Industry Experts.  We are excited to say that we sell a few of the products chosen.   See these great picks (and SAVE 5%) below: