Youth Sports & Protective Eyewear

When it comes to youth sports, many parents may be concerned about injuries, but the first thing that crosses your mind may not be eye injuries. However, eye injuries can be extremely common and also dangerous to your child’s long-term vision. In fact, up to 40,000 eye injuries are reported each year.

Some sports may be more hazardous than others. For example, football is known as being an extremely physical, high-contact sport, but the risk of eye injury with basketball or tennis is also high. That’s why I recommend wearing protective eyewear when participating in any sport. This is especially important among youth, as an injury to the eye at a younger age could cause long-term vision damage.

Sports goggles are the ideal form of protection for your eyes. Often made from polycarbonate (a very impact-resistant material) and available in a variety of shapes, sizes, and styles, they’re designed specifically to protect your eye from injury during physical activity. An added bonus is that prescription goggles can enhance sports performance if you or your child has a slight vision problem.

Sports goggles are tailored to the specific activity  in which your child participates. For example, contoured goggles that fit more closely around the face are ideal for sports where you’re moving quickly and your eyes are at risk of flying debris, such as biking. There are goggles made to fit securely beneath football helmets. There are styles made for contact lens wearers as well.

Edmonton Vision Centre strives to provide best eye care service to our existing and new customers. So hurry up and book an appointment with Dr. Paul Singh (Optometrist ) today to secure the health of your precious asset.

Our Location:

Edmonton Vision Centre

4351 50 St NW

Edmonton, AB T6L 7E8 Canada‎

Tel: +1 780-440-9696 (Map)

Website: www.edmontonvisioncentre.com

You should wear sunglasses

You probably already wear sunglasses, but if you don’t you should start.  Here are some reasons you should do that:

1) If you get big obnoxious ones like me you can pretend to be an incognito celebrity.
2) You’ll protect your eyes.
3) You’ll have less trouble seeing when you’re driving directly into the sunlight.
4) They look super cool.
5) Throw on some sunglasses and lipstick and skip the rest of your makeup if you’re in a hurry
6) Sunglasses are the ultimate assistant in becoming photogenic.

I’m not gonna lie, number 6 is the main reason I wear sunglasses religiously.  When I travel I love to get tons of photos, but inevitably I don’t look super awesome in certain shots.  But if I’m wearing sunglasses I find that the way I look in the photo is immeasurably better than if I had not worn them. I took photos demonstrate this:

Scenario 1: You decide not to full tooth smile.  I guess you’re trying to be cute without being obvious.


Admittedly the first photo is not that bad, but I do look all kinds of squinty.  Not so in the sunglasses photo.
Scenario 2: Somebody caught you not smiling. You kind of look mad. Or tired.


Photo one is not cute.  Photo two is decidedly cool.
Scenario 3: Somebody caught you mid-sentence and your mouth is partially open and looking all sorts of weird.

Photo one is a disgusted teenager.  Photo two is “haha, she’s so cute, she wasn’t ready for the photo. Adorable.”

And because it’s incredibly obvious that these photos were staged I give you an actual example of sunglasses vs. no sunglasses that ACTUALLY HAPPENED!

There are some other problems going on with the first photo in terms of my posture and the fit of the sweater that are affecting the way that I look, but I think the sunglasses help a TON.

Quick note about sunglasses and their prices.  There are two schools of thought:

School One: Purchase expensive sunglasses.  You wear them everyday so they should be high quality.  You’ll be more likely to take care of them and less likely to lose them if you have invested in them.
School Two: Purchase cheap sunglasses.  For goodness sake, they are SUNGLASSES!  Why spend a ton of money on them?  If you lose them, no big deal, you’ll replace them without a thought.

While I see the points of school one, I fall decidedly into school two.  I went through a phase where I couldn’t keep a pair of sunglasses for more than a month, so I refuse to pay more than $15-$20.  That being said, I found this pair at Edmonton Vision Centre for a total of $5 over 4 years ago and I’m still wearing them.  When you find a pair that works, stick with it!

Edmonton Vision Centre strives to provide best eye care service to our existing and new customers. So hurry up and book an appointment with Dr. Paul Singh (Optometrist ) today to secure the health of your precious asset.

Our Location:

Edmonton Vision Centre

4351 50 St NW

Edmonton, AB T6L 7E8 Canada‎

Tel: +1 780-440-9696 (Map)

Website: www.edmontonvisioncentre.com

Contact Lenses and Glasses: A Match Made in Heaven?

There are a lot of articles floating around the web which try to compare contact lenses and glasses. But do they miss the point? Contact lenses and glasses have different qualities, making them well suited for different situations. But really they work great together. Even if someone prefers to wear their contacts all the time, they should still have a pair of specs handy.

One of the main strengths of buying contact lenses is that they’re great for people who play sport. When you’re running around, playing football, rugby etc., contacts do seem to have an advantage. They can provide better peripheral vision and could potentially improve performance as a result. They also have safety benefits in these situations.

That said, contact lenses shouldn’t be worn all the time. It’s good to take a break sometimes and sport your specs. Constantly wearing contact lenses can increase the risk of eye infection, so wearing your glasses a few days a week and not wearing your contacts all day long can be great for your eyes.

Mixing Things Up a Bit

At the same time as health considerations, it’s great to mix things up a bit, and sporting your glasses for a change can offer a fresh look. With popular brands of eyewear such as Ray-Ban, Oakley or Prada, and celebrities wearing glasses in public more often, glasses aren’t just a way to see clearly. They’re now much more of a fashion accessory, and wearing glasses some days and contact lenses another is a great way of mixing things up.

A Combination of Coloured Contact Lenses & Glasses

To add an extra dimension to your look and spice things up, combining coloured contact lenses with your glasses can be a great way to go.  Coloured lenses can be bought in plano (which means they won’t correct your vision), allowing you to change your eye colour and wear your glasses.

For the fashionistas out there, this technique offers endless combinations to vary your look. There are a variety of different colours available for contact lenses, from your standard blue to more distinctive colours such as amethyst. The lenses have also been designed for a range of eye colours, either to provide a subtle or dramatic change in eye colour.

So why do contact lenses and glasses work great together? Well firstly, they both work great in different situations because they have different qualities. At the same time, it’s just good to mix things up a bit for a fresh look by wearing contact lenses some days and glasses another. To add even more variation, contact lenses can be bought in a range of colours, and you can experiment with different colours while wearing glasses.

Edmonton Vision Centre strives to provide best eye care service to our existing and new customers. So hurry up and book an appointment with Dr. Paul Singh (Optometrist ) today to secure the health of your precious asset.

Our Location:

Edmonton Vision Centre

4351 50 St NW

Edmonton, AB T6L 7E8 Canada‎

Tel: +1 780-440-9696 (Map)

Website: www.edmontonvisioncentre.com

Hidden benefits of contact lenses

It is commonplace now to protect our skin with sun creams but what about protection for our eyes?

While our bodies are amazing at repairing and replacing some spoiled cells, the crystalline lens of the eye is an exception that is never replaced. Therefore gradual UV exposure over the years can lead to the early development of cataract, causing reduced vision.  Ocular UV related changes are not limited to cataract but have a role in the development of age related macular degeneration , photo keratitis, pterygium and can cause melanomas of the skin around the eye and eyelids.

Most sun damage is accrued during the early developmental years of life, perhaps only showing itself later in life. Therefore sun protection for children is vital.

So how do we protect our eyes from the harmful UV exposure? A good pair of sunglasses is a great start. These should offer protection to the level of UV 400. This means that 99-100% of harmful UVA and UVB wavelengths are blocked out. The style and fit of the spectacles can also make a difference. The larger the lens, or the more wrap around the style then the more UV light is blocked out.  Be very wary of cheap sunglasses without the UV400 protection. The dark nature of these lenses causes the pupil to get bigger behind the lens, allowing even more harmful light into the eye. Standard spectacle lenses do not offer UV protection.

A great benefit of many modern soft contact lenses and some RGP lenses is that they have a built in level of UV protection. This means the added benefit of year round UV protection as well as coverage of the whole eye.

Edmonton Vision Centre strives to provide best eye care service to our existing and new customers. So hurry up and book an appointment with Dr. Paul Singh (Optometrist ) today to secure the health of your precious asset.

Our Location:

Edmonton Vision Centre

4351 50 St NW

Edmonton, AB T6L 7E8 Canada‎

Tel: +1 780-440-9696 (Map)

Website: www.edmontonvisioncentre.com

Make up or No Make up with your Specs?

Let Your Eye Glasses Shine

Make up is a necessity in some women’s lives. There is a fine line that should not be crossed, though. In this article we will cover just what is too much make up to be had. Particularly, when there are certain “obstacles” in the way that could be affected by going overboard on the make up application during your morning routine. Eye glasses being the main thing of concern, along with prescription contact lenses. Too much make up could mean a tedious clean up of these little buggers and may irritate your eyes, requiring you to remove them (both glasses and contacts) and clean with saline solution more than once a day. Besides, who wants caked on cover up all over their new custom prescription glasses? Talk about an oily mess.

Make up, particularly eye make up, should only be applied to a point. This is what’s called a comfortable point… not to be mistaken for a comfort zone, since many people’s equivalency of a comfort zone is panda blackened eyes and no pigmentation on their face’s skin whatsoever. If you are unsure what this means, then just think “less is more,” since it usually is. At least, in the case of fashion meets practicality. Besides, just how comfortable is mascara and eyeliner flaking off and into your eye socket? That has to be a pain to remove, considering the cost in eye drops. Instead of applying a black glob to outline the eyes, why not stop at a singular line of onyx black? If it’s a thicker look you’re going for, try smudging the line in an outward and downward motion, to achieve a sensual, smoky look. This can be achieved using a Q tip, if your eyeliner stick didn’t come with a smudge able end piece.

If it’s an edgy look, stick with a singular line, but go with something a little more colorful, such as in deep blue or green. This is especially effective if you’re going for a night on the town or an evening dinner. Black may be an everyday look, but if it’s vibrant and colorful, the night life or low lighted settings could compliment it best. Just the smallest amount of eyeliner and eye shadow could give the appearance of glowing eyes, rather than shady lids. There’s a huge difference between being dark and mysterious and just being one with the shadows.

Eyewear may not be the only thing affected. It is also your eyesight in general. Too much damage to the eyes could mean a stronger prescription in the future, especially if the wear and tear happens on a regular basis. This could cause scratching of the retina, which is no walk in the park. Especially if the contact or lens is harmed in the process.

An ideal type of eye make up for those who wear eye glasses include simple black, which works best with something like hepcatworks in black and red. This geek chic eyewear with a touch Biance Classic Black Eyewear of color will have them turning heads when doubled with dark and mysterious tones to the eyes, such as black smoky eyeliner. Another type of custom prescription glasses that are easy on the eyes is the colorful BIANCE, which comes in purple, pink, brown, a number of other colors and of course, the classic black. These translucent frames will make your eyes pop when doubled with a sensuous brown or vibrant gold eye shadow and glimmer eyeliner stick.

Edmonton Vision Centre strives to provide best eye care service to our existing and new customers. So hurry up and book an appointment with Dr. Paul Singh (Optometrist ) today to secure the health of your precious asset.

Our Location:

Edmonton Vision Centre

4351 50 St NW

Edmonton, AB T6L 7E8 Canada‎

Tel: +1 780-440-9696 (Map)

Website: www.edmontonvisioncentre.com