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Midwest Eye Blog

Learn more about optometrist care in our blog!

A Guide to Safer Night Driving

As winter rolls in, the days get shorter, making night driving harder to avoid. For those of us without perfect eyesight, this annual adjustment can be stressful and potentially dangerous if we neglect the specific challenges posed by driving in the dark. Fortunately, a few simple precautions can...


Kids and Undiagnosed Vision Problems

Having healthy eyesight plays a massive role in children's education and development. Experts estimate that up to 80% of all learning is visual and that more than half of childhood learning difficulties can be linked to an undiagnosed vision problem. What can parents do to ensure that their child...


How Autoimmune Diseases Impact Eyesight

Autoimmune diseases are conditions in which the immune system turns on healthy cells. Some of these diseases can have a serious and negative impact on the health and function of the eyes. For those grappling with autoimmune conditions, it's crucial to be aware of the potential effects on vision. ...


Early Vision Development: A Parent’s Guide

Did you know that using our eyes is something we have to learn how to do? That's right, not only are we not born with fully developed eyesight, but all of the visual skills we use hundreds of times a day take a lot of practice to master, just like it takes a lot of practice learning to walk and t...


Are You Ready With Your Winter Eye Gear?

The shorter days in winter are no excuse to slack off on eye protection! The sun's UV rays can do just as much damage to our eyes on a snowy slope as they can at the beach, and sometimes more. We probably don't need sunscreen thanks to all of the layers of snow gear, but our eyes are still highly...


Smoking Versus Eye Health

Smoking causes harm to every organ in the body, including the eyes. We usually think of lung cancer first when it comes to the harms of smoking, and maybe we think of oral health issues next, but even the parts of the body that don't come into direct contact with the smoke are in danger. Studies ...


The Ways Diabetes Affects Eye Health

If it isn't carefully controlled, diabetes can cause a wide variety of secondary health problems. Several of those specifically affect the eyes, to the point where diabetes is one of the leading causes of blindness worldwide. All types of diabetes come with a risk of sight-threatening conditions ...


What Causes Different Eye Colors?

The same compound that determines our skin color also creates the variety of eye colors we see. In fact, it's the very same compound that protects our skin and eyes from getting damaged by the sun (though we still need sunglasses and sunscreen to finish the job). So how can one compound (melanin)...


A Guide to Retinal Detachment Symptoms

The complexity of the human eye makes it vulnerable to a variety of problems. One of the most concerning is retinal detachment, a condition that can result in permanent vision loss without treatment. This sight-threatening problem affects one in every 300 individuals at some point in their lives....


Glasses Across History

Since at least 60 AD, people have been crafting tools to correct vision problems. There are records of Roman philosopher Seneca magnifying text with a glass globe of water. Emperor Nero needed a magnifying emerald to see gladiator fights more clearly. We don't have to resort to these kinds of rud...


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