How Our Vision Changes Over One’s Lifetime

Kids and Teenagers Age 8-17

It is important to monitor children’s eye health with annual eye exams. As their bodies are developing, vision changes can occur. Often, nearsightedness will develop during these years. Children will experience increased visual demands as their schoolwork becomes more advanced and they begin driving toward the end of this timeframe. During these years, children will participate in sporting activities that require optimal vision and sometimes eye protection. Having a comprehensive eye examination ensures that their eyes are healthy and seeing to the best they can. Common visual treatments during this stage are glasses and contact lenses.

What is Nearsightedness?

Nearsightedness, myopia, is the most common cause of vision problem in people under the age of 40. The number of people with nearsightedness continues to grow. Just a few decades ago, the number of Americans with myopia was about 25%. Today, over 40% of Americans are nearsighted. In fact, it is projected globally that 50% of the world’s population will be myopic by 2050.

Signs and Symptoms of Myopia

Children who are nearsighted often struggle to see things on the board at school or are unable to see things like a clock or television clearly. Adults, typically struggle seeing road signs or recognizing faces across a room. Individuals may squint to see these distant objects. However, these people will be able to see well for near tasks such as reading and working on a computer.

Summit Eye Center strives to provide the latest treatment options to our patients. Yesterday, Dr. Skelsey performed his first Hydrus Microstent procedures. In doing so, our patients are among the first in the Midwest to receive this innovative glaucoma treatment.

The Hydrus Microstent is the world’s first “intracanalicular scaffold” for the treatment of glaucoma. Roughly the size of an eyelash, it is made from a super-elastic, biocompatible alloy, which has been used in over 1 million implants in a variety of medical devices throughout the body.

How do I know if LASIK is an option for me?

LASIK is an excellent option for many people to improve their vision without glasses or contact lenses. The best way to determine if you qualify for LASIK is through an eye exam with your eye doctor.

Here are some general guidelines:
• You must be at least 18 years old
• You must have healthy eyes – no evidence of a condition that could affect the healing process
• You cannot be pregnant or nursing, as your hormonal levels can affect measurements

Treatment for diabetic retinopathy is dependent on what stage of disease you have, your level of vision and the doctor’s clinical decision.

For mild nonproliferative diabetic retinopathy, the treatment is good control of your blood sugar and blood pressure. Control your blood sugar by watching your diet and taking the medication prescribed by your doctor. Controlling you blood pressure helps keep the eye’s blood vessels healthy.

November’s “Summit Eye Center Spotlight” features Katja Guyton, COA. She has been a technician at Summit Eye Center for 10 years. Straight out of Germany...here are some fun facts about Katja.

Where did you go to high school? Hanau, Germany

Diabetic retinopathy results from damage to the blood vessels within the retina, the tissue that lines the back of the eye. The retina is where the light rays that enter the eye are focused. This information is transported via the optic nerve to the back of the brain where it is processed into the pictures we see. With diabetic retinopathy, the blood vessels within the retina leak fluid and bleed. This can affect a person’s ability to see clearly.

November is American Diabetes Month and Diabetic Eye Disease Month. This is a perfect time to discuss how diabetes can affect the eyes.

Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among working-age Americans. It is the result of damage to the retina, the light-sensitive tissue in the back of the eye. Early detection, proper management of your diabetes and annual dilated eye exams can protect against vision loss.

Is LASIK right for me? If you answer yes to the questions below, then LASIK is likely a good option to decrease your need for glasses and/or contact lenses.

Are you over the age of 18 with stable vision? By waiting until a patient is at least 18 years old, we minimize the chance that a person’s nearsightedness, farsightedness or astigmatism is going to continue to change. Your vision should be stable over the last 12 months at least.

You may ask yourself...why do they dilate my eyes when I see the eye doctor? Is it really necessary? We want to answer that question today.

The short answer is that by dilating the eye, it allows the doctor to get the best view possible of the back 2/3 of the eye.

October’s “Summit Eye Center Spotlight” features Penny Peterman, COA. She has been a technician at Summit Eye Center for 5 years. She is also our resident thrill seeker, as you will see while learning more about Penny.

Where did you go to high school? Hickman Mills High School in Kansas City, MO

Pink eye is a common cause of school and workplace absences. The medical name for pink eye is conjunctivitis. It gets this name because it is a result of harmful bacteria or viruses invading the thin moist membrane lining of the outer eye and eyelids, the conjunctiva.

Most pink eye will go away on its own in 1-2 weeks...See Your Eye Doctor Right Away if:

• You are in pain or have trouble seeing
• You are sensitive to light
• Your symptoms have continued for 1 week or more
• Your symptoms are getting worse
• Your eye is producing a lot of pus or mucus
• You have any other symptoms of an infection, like a fever or achiness

What is astigmatism? This is a question many have for one of the most common vision problems. At least 30% of the US population has some level of astigmatism. We will answer everything you need to know about astigmatism in this blog. Yes, it is “astigmatism” not “stigmatism” as it is commonly referred to. You don’t have “a stigmatism”...you have astigmatism.

What is Astigmatism?

Similar to nearsightedness and farsightedness, astigmatism is a refractive error. It is simply a problem with how the eye focuses light. It is not a disease or eye health problem.

Are your eyes bothering you while at work? Eyestrain is a common problem found in the workplace and with schoolwork. This is even more common with the extended screen time we all have at work and at home. We will cover common symptoms, causes and treatments in this blog.

Common symptoms of eyestrain include the following:
• Tired, uncomfortable, or burning eyes
• Watery or dry eyes
• Blurred or double vision
• Headaches 
• Increased sensitivity to light
• Sore neck, shoulders or back

Each month, we want to provide a “Summit Eye Center Spotlight” on someone from our team. This inaugural segment will feature our administrator, Anita Davis, MBA, COE. She has occupied this role since 2005. Hopefully, this allows one to gain a perspective about the people that make Summit Eye Center the practice it is.

Where did you go to high school? Ruskin High School in Kansas City, MO

Summit Eye Center continues to provide the most current treatment options to our patients with Dr. Skelsey’s first Glaukos iStent inject cases being preformed last week. In doing so, our patients are among the first in the Midwest to receive this exciting new glaucoma treatment.

The iStent inject is the smallest medical device known to be implanted in the human body. It is a heparin coated titanium stent that facilitates the outflow of fluid through the eye’s natural outflow pathway. With this procedure, two stents are placed in the eye in conjunction with traditional cataract surgery.

When you have an eye exam, the doctor will state your vision is 20/20 or 20/something. What does that mean? Is 20/20 “perfect vision”? If not, what is “perfect vision”?

Let’s take a closer look at how your vision is assessed when you have an eye exam and what the terminology the doctor uses actually means.

The doctors at Summit Eye Center are excited to be able to offer a new, innovative treatment for Dry Eye Disease, TrueTear from Allergan. This is a treatment that patients can do at home or on the go that does not involve eye drops or a medication.

TrueTear is a neurostimulation device that temporarily increases the production of your natural tears. The fact that it is your natural tears is important. The natural tear film is composed of lipids, mucins, proteins and salts that are vital to nourishment and protection of the cornea.

Dry Eye Disease is one of the most common reasons for patients to visit an eye doctor. A 2012 Gallup poll showed that over 26 million Americans suffer from Dry Eye. Another poll has found that over 45% of the population over the age of 18 in the United States regularly experience Dry Eye symptoms. Dry Eye is characterized by a breakdown in the stability of the tear film.

The tear film is critical in maintaining the health of the front surface of the eye. It is also important in providing clear vision. The cornea, which is the window into the eye, plays the largest focusing role in the eye. Wetting of the cornea by the tear film is critical to maximizing the quality of the images we see.

Summit Eye Center Welcomes New Doctor with Two Decades of Professional Experience

Dr. Kelsey Kleinsasser has joined Summit Eye Center as one of our expert optometrists and will be available to start seeing patients immediately. Dr. Kleinsasser specializes in clinical management of glaucoma, cataract, cornea, retina and refractive surgery treatments. He has taught and practiced these areas passionately to help patients and others with their eye care needs.

Dr. Kleinsasser earned his Doctor of Optometry from Illinois College of Optometry in 2000. He then completed a residency with Kansas City’s Hunkeler Eye Centers, focusing on refractive surgery and cornea treatments. Dr. Kleinsasser worked with Silverstein Eye Centers in Kansas City, MO for 16 years, as an optometrist and clinical researcher, with further emphasis on cataract and refractive surgery co-management, and eye diseases. This past year, Dr. Kleinsasser worked with ReVision Optics in Lake Forest, CA. His focus was teaching and cultivating relationships with physicians, optometrists, and their staff with regards to a new surgical technology. Dr. Kleinsasser will now serve the Kansas City area with his new role at Summit Eye Center, located in Lee’s Summit, where he will continue patient care, providing services to help individuals with their vision needs.