An Optometrist

or doctor of optometry is a health professional who is trained to examine, diagnose, treat, and prevent diseases and disorders of the eyes and visual system. Allow our doctors at Discovery Optometry to be your first choice when it comes to taking good care of your eyes because we specialize in managing every aspect of your eye health. Good vision depends on good eye health and overall health.

Regular eye examinations by Discovery Optometry can ensure that we detect signs of eye disease in its earliest stage. Eye examinations can also provide a picture of your overall health, even detecting early warning signs of diabetes, high blood pressure and tumors.

Our commitment to our patients is to provide the most thorough and complete eye care in a friendly environment, including:

• Comprehensive evaluations of your ocular health and visual system using the latest technology available.
• Urgent medical eye care and referrals.
• Expertise and service with vision solutions for your everyday needs.

What to expect at your eye exam

• You’ll be asked about your medical history and any vision problems you might be experiencing.
• Your vision will then be tested to see if you need glasses or contact lenses to improve your vision.
• Your optometrist will measure your eye pressure.
• Using several lights to evaluate the front of the eye and inside of each eye, the doctor will check the overall health of your eyes.
• Finally, the results of your exam will be discussed with you.

How often you will need to schedule your appointments varies based on your individual needs.

Why Are Eye Exams Important?

Regardless of your age or physical health, an annual comprehensive eye exam will help to detect any eye problems at their early stages when they’re most treatable.

During a comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor will determine your prescription for eyeglasses or contact lenses, but will also check your eyes for common eye diseases, assess how your eyes work together as a team and evaluate your eyes as an indicator of your overall health.

Who should get their eyes examined?

Eye examinations are an important part of health maintenance for everyone. Adults should have their eyes tested to keep their prescriptions current and to check for early signs of eye disease. For children, eye exams can play an important role in normal development and learning.

Vision is closely linked to the learning process. Children who have trouble seeing or interpreting what they see will often have trouble with their schoolwork. Many times, children will not complain of vision problems simply because they don’t know what “normal” vision looks like. If your child performs poorly at school or exhibits a reading or learning problem, be sure to schedule an eye examination to rule out an underlying visual cause.

At Discovery Optometry in Vernon, BC

we believe that prescription glasses should not only be functional, but stylish and attractive as well. The right pair of designer glasses will enhance your style and compliment your features.

Choose your prescription glasses from the best designers – Silhouette, Ray Ban, Oakley and more. Our friendly and knowledgeable staff look forward to helping you find the perfect designer eyeglasses.

Time for New Eyeglasses Frames?

When considering new designer eyewear, you must choose a style that appeals to you. Do you like full frame, half frame or four point (no rim)? Do like plastic or metal? Do you have metal allergies? If so, titanium eyeglass frames would be the right choice because they’re nickel free. Whatever custom glasses you choose, make sure they’re something you love and will enjoy wearing.

Your Face Shape has a Lot to do with Choosing the Right Frame

The style of frames you choose should look aesthetically pleasing and compliment your features and your face shape. At Discovery Optometry, we are your vision care specialists. From your initial eye exam to the final fitting of your custom glasses, our eye care professionals are dedicated to your total eye health.

1.Choose from our selection of frames, by our many exciting lines of designer frames like Ray-Ban and Oakley. You can even use your existing frame!

2. Depending on your needs, choose from Single Vision, Bi-Focal, Progressive or Safety Lenses. We also offer high performance Digital Free Form Progressive lenses.

3. Choose from our extensive options including Anti-reflective coatings, High-Index Lenses, Transition effects, Polarized sunglasses and more. Choose the combination that’s right for your needs!

Life is amazing

It is even more amazing when you can see it clearly. If you need to restock your contact lenses or think your current prescription may not be the right strength, Discovery Optometry is here for you.

We offer a wide selection of contact lenses at our Vernon optometrist office, including disposable soft contact, bifocal/multifocal, toric, and coloured lenses. Whether you wear daily, weekly or monthly disposables, check out our selection of lenses that fit your needs.

A good contact lens fit starts with a thorough eye exam to ensure the most up-to-date prescription and rule out any pre-existing conditions that could interfere with contact lens wear.

Our eye doctors will determine the best fitting lens based on your lifestyle needs and the shape and health of your eye. In most cases, you’ll have the opportunity to try lenses on the same day as your exam. You can even go home with a few samples before making a final decision.

We follow up the initial fitting and then make any necessary changes in fit or materials to get you the best possible fit. The staff at Discovery Optometry teach all our patients proper contact lens care and also possible consequences if proper care is not taken. Then we continue with long-term follow-up to monitor the condition of the lenses and to ensure that proper hygiene is being maintained.

What is an Optomap Image?

Getting an Optomap image is fast, painless and comfortable. Nothing touches your eye at any time. It is suitable for the whole family. To have the exam, you simply look into the device one eye at a time (like looking through a keyhole) and you will see a comfortable flash of light to let you know the image of your retina has been taken.

Under normal circumstances, dilation drops might not be necessary, but Discovery Optometry will decide if your pupils need to be dilated depending on your conditions. The capture takes less than a second. Images are available immediately for review. You can see your own retina. You see exactly what Discovery Optometry sees – even in a 3D animation.

The Optomap ultra-widefield retinal image is a unique technology that captures more than 80% of your retina in one panoramic image while traditional imaging methods typically only show 15% of your retina at one time.

Benefits of an Optomap

The benefits of having an Optomap ultra-widefield retinal image taken are:

• Optomap facilitates early protection from vision impairment or blindness
• Early detection of life-threatening diseases like cancer, stroke, and cardiovascular disease

The unique Optomap ultra-widefield view helps your eye care practitioner detect early signs of retinal disease more effectively and efficiently than with traditional eye exams

Early detection means successful treatments can be administered and reduces the risk to your sight and health.

About dry eye

At Discovery Optometry in Vernon BC , we know managing dry eye involves a multi-faceted approach. We acknowledge the impact that environment, diet and lifestyle, systemic health and medications have on dry eye, and we manage these variables accordingly. We also prescribe “smarter” ocular surface lubricants: drops that are minimally (or non-) preserved and contain minerals, electrolytes and muco-adhesive agents for improved retention and ocular surface health.

Perhaps most importantly we recognize the role inflammation plays in dry eye. Certainly, the increasing use of omega-3 supplementation, doxycycline, corticosteroids and cyclosporine underscores the importance of controlling inflammation in dry eye. Add in adjunctive (though no less important) therapies such as punctal occlusion and eyelid hygiene, and it is apparent that we have a great deal to offer dry eye patients. Indeed, the future of dry eye management looks even brighter. With androgen supplementation, mucin stimulants and lacrimal secretagogues in development, we are quite possibly entering an era of curative treatment for certain types of dry eye.

Why do eyes become dry?

There are two main reasons why eyes become dry:

Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye

Aqueous Deficient Dry Eye occurs when the production of tears by the lacrimal gland is not adequate, or when changes to the tear producing glands produce lower quality tears. A deficit in tear production may be the result of other underlying medical conditions such as rheumatoid arthritis, lupus, or Sjogren’s Syndrome. Aqueous Deficiency Dry Eye can also be indicative of a temporary or permanent damage to the lacrimal glands caused by trauma, local or central nerve damage or from chemotherapy and radiation treatments.

Evaporative Dry Eye

Most patients suffer from Evaporative Dry Eye – a condition where the tears produced are of poor quality and evaporate too quickly due to a lipid or mucous deficiency of the tear film. Your Optometrist will examine your eye using a slit lamp in order to see blocked/inflamed gland openings and/or frothy tears characteristic of evaporative dry eye. The consistency and quality of your tears will also be assessed.

What Is Glaucoma?

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases causing optic nerve damage. The optic nerve carries images from the retina, which is the specialized light sensing tissue, to the brain so we can see. In glaucoma, eye pressure plays a role in damaging the delicate nerve fibers of the optic nerve. When a significant number of nerve fibers are damaged, blind spots develop in the field of vision. Once nerve damage and visual loss occur, it is permanent.

Most people don’t notice these blind areas until much of the optic nerve damage has already occurred. If the entire nerve is destroyed, blindness results. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in the world, especially in older people. Early detection and treatment by your optometrist are the keys to preventing optic nerve damage and vision loss from glaucoma.

What are the Warning Signs

Unfortunately, most cases of glaucoma do not occur with readily noticeable symptoms that warn of the irreversible optic nerve damage being done. However, the presence of the following warning signs, indicates that you need a thorough examination by Discovery Optometry:

• Unusual trouble adjusting to dark rooms
• Difficulty focusing on near or distant objects
• Squinting or blinking due to unusual sensitivity to light or glare
• Change in color of iris
• Red-rimmed, encrusted or swollen lids
• Recurrent pain in or around eyes
• Double vision
• Dark spot at the center of viewing
• Lines and edges appear distorted or wavy
• Excess tearing or “watery eyes”
• Dry eyes with itching or burning; and
• Seeing spots, ghost-like images

The following may be indications of potentially serious problems that might require emergency medical attention:

• Sudden loss of vision in one eye
• Sudden hazy or blurred vision
• Flashes of light or black spots
• Halos or rainbows around light

The symptoms listed above may not necessarily mean that you have glaucoma. However, if you experience one or more of these symptoms, contact Discovery Optometry for a complete exam.
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