Eyes on summer

With summer around the corner a North Shore optometrist and local mom, Terri Hines, has some tips and insight into new treatments for kids.

Innovation

Research and innovation are impacting several aspects of View Optometry’s Teri Hines’ practice. Two particular aspects are on the top of her mind: sun protection and early nearsightedness intervention for children. Optometrists Jessica Cullis and Teri Hines“I've been doing a lot more of something called myopia management, which is like a kid-focused thing,” she said. “It's essentially preventing kids from becoming highly near-sighted, which means stopping prescriptions from getting really high.“It's a new field within optometry. There are different types of specialty contact lenses and specialty lenses and pharmaceuticals that can help with it. It's still kind of in the research phase, but for the most part, we know what works and it's especially for those parents that themselves are highly myopic and then we can prevent their kids from becoming that way.”The early interventions are estimated to reduce myopia by up to 50% which can be the difference between standard corrective lenses and specialty lenses, said Tines.  

Sunsafe

Summer brings an abundance of adventures and sport opportunities and just like we take preventative care for our skin, feet and other body parts, Hines encourages thinking about our eyes. “I compare it to shoes a lot. You have different types of shoes for different activities. You're not going to wear one pair of shoes. It is the same for glasses,” said Hines. “Choosing the right glasses will feel better, stay on a little bit better.”When selecting sunglasses she recommends something that is 100% UV protectant or has the UV400 sticker and ideally has polarized lenses.“It cuts glare so you can see into the water,” she explained. ‘It can be a comfort thing to stop glare bouncing off the road when you are driving.”She also likes products like Maui Jim that enhance colours and contrast which improve comfort in bright environments and enhance vision. For children, she recommends making sunglasses a part of a child’s life early. “Start young,” said Hines. “They kind of get used to it. Just like if you're putting a hat on them, right? At first, they're probably taking it off constantly, but then if you're persistent it becomes part of their routine.”There are plenty of different options to help young children keep their sunglasses on. Today’s new models have soft flexible arms or straps which make them less likely to break and more comfortable. Hats can also be an option to reduce sun exposure but they do not stop any of the light bouncing off surfaces and water. When it comes to the most affordable options, especially for kids, Hines warns dollar store options may be tempting but you can't ensure the quality of sun protection. “You never really know what you are getting,” said Hines. “You do need to make sure that it's 100% UV protected, which sometimes I find those dollar store ones don't have that. We have a machine at the office that would test it. So if you ever want to know, we can put it in our machine during your appointment and test.” 

Fun and games

North Vancouver presents its own challenges for eye health. The active lifestyle brings plenty of injuries into Hines’ practice, mountain biking in particular. The resurgence of racquet sports brings in ball, racquet and elbow-to-eye injuries. These along with any contact that results in a black eye should be checked.“The most common one that I've seen is just a branch hitting the eye, which hurts a lot,” she said. “There are so many nerve endings in our corneas and it's extremely painful if that happens. Now, if you were to come in, we'd give you a bandage contact lens and some medications so the cornea heals very quickly in about three days.“The sooner the better, especially with optometry,” said Hines. “It's actually, generally speaking, easy to get into – much quicker than a GP or an ER. Plus we have all the proper equipment to look and see what is actually going on as opposed to just throwing some drops at it.”When she is not hanging with her two young children at home in Lynn Valley, Hines practices at View Optometry in Lower Lonsdale.

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