Optometry is a profession focused on vision and eye care. Optometrists are primary eye care practitioners who specialized in the examination, diagnosis, management, and prevention of visual disorders.

Early detection is critical for most eye-related diseases, so even for people that appear otherwise healthy; we recommend an annual eye examination.

For school-aged children, the American Optometric Association recommends an eye exam every two years if no vision correction is needed. Children who need eyeglasses or contact lenses should be examined annually.

Yes. School vision screenings are designed to detect gross vision problems. But kids can pass a screening at school and still have vision problems that can affect their learning and school performance. A comprehensive eye exam by an optometrist can detect vision problems a school screening may miss. Also, a comprehensive eye exam includes an evaluation of your child’s eye health, which is not part of a school vision screening.

Eyestrain occurs when your eyes get tired from intense use. Many of us today have jobs that require us to focus on a computer screen for long periods of time. This can cause eye strain.

Although eyestrain can be annoying, it usually isn’t serious and goes away once you rest your eyes. In some cases, signs and symptoms of eyestrain can indicate an underlying eye condition that needs treatment.

Sometimes it is just as simple as training yourself to look away from the computer screen into the distance periodically. Another solution is to talk to your doctor about a prescription for computer glasses. Computer glasses will make the images on the screen appear larger so the eyes don’t have to work as hard. Another solution is to add anti-glare protection to your eyeglass lenses since glare is also a cause of eyestrain.

Just as our physical strength decreases with age, our eyes also exhibit an age-related decline in performance – particularly as we reach our 60s and beyond.

Some age-related eye changes, such as presbyopia, are perfectly normal and don’t signify any sort of disease process. While cataracts can be considered an age-related disease, they are extremely common among seniors and can be readily corrected with cataract surgery.

Some of us, however, will experience more serious age-related eye diseases that have greater potential for affecting our quality of life as we grow older. These conditions include glaucoma, macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy.

After you pass the milestone age of 40, you’ll notice it’s more difficult to focus on objects up close. This normal loss of focusing ability is called presbyopia and is due to the hardening of the lens inside your eye.

​​​​​​​For a time, you can compensate for this decline in focusing ability by just holding reading material farther away from your eyes.

An ocular condition in which the macula (the part of your eyes that allows you to see 20/20) is degenerating. The results are distorted central vision, reduction in vision, and eventual loss of vision. One of the main causes of ARMD is exposure to UV light.

Glaucoma is not a singular eye disease but is instead a term for several eye conditions that can damage your optic nerve. The optic nerve is the nerve that supplies visual information to your brain from your eyes. Glaucoma is usually (but not always) the result of abnormally high pressure inside the eye. Over time, the increased pressure can erode the optic nerve tissue, which may lead to vision loss or even blindness. If caught early, you may be able to prevent additional vision loss.

Diabetic retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults. It is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina. If you have diabetic retinopathy, at first you may not notice changes to your vision. But over time, diabetic retinopathy can get worse and cause vision loss.

An ocular condition in which the eyes feel very dry and scratchy, and there may be a burning sensation. Patients may notice blurring of vision for brief periods, and blinking the eyes helps clear up the vision because blinking resurfaces the tear film over the eyes. Some patients may also have excess tears flowing out of the eyes at times because the eyes are so dry that they send a reflex signal to the brain to produce more tears, but the dryness is not alleviated.

Although there is no cure for this chronic condition, there are ways to manage the condition so that symptoms may be relieved. The first is the usage of artificial tears throughout the day. The second is punctal plugs to plug up part of the eyes’ tear drainage system so that more of the tears will remain on the eyes to keep them moist for a longer period of time. The third is to prescribe a specially designed medicated eye drop that can help stimulate the tear gland to produce more tears. Do I need a separate eye exam for contact lenses?

The brain likes to see clearer images, so it will prefer to see with the correction on. Once symptoms such as eyestrain or headaches are unavoidable, correction should be worn. The correction need will not disappear with avoidance of wearing glasses or contact lenses.

Before being fit with contact lenses, a comprehensive eye exam is performed. In this exam, your eye doctor determines your prescription for corrective lenses (just a glasses prescription at this point) and checks for any eye health problems or other issues that may interfere with successful contact lens wear.

​​​​​​​If all looks good during your eye exam, the next step is a contact lens consultation and fitting.

Yes! Bifocal or multifocal contact lenses offer distance and near vision, as well as points in between. Although tricky to prescribe and a bit tricky to get used to, these lenses work really well for the majority of people in most of your daily activities.

Massachusetts General Law states that contact lens prescriptions expire after one year. In order to renew your contact lens prescription every year, a contact lens evaluation is required in addition to your eye exam.

The length of delivery time ranges due to the following factors: – The prescription – The type of lenses and coatings (antireflective, mirrors, etc.) that are ordered. The simple answer is one hour to one week.

N 42 ° 11.572″ W 71° 19.449″ Elevation: 172 Feet