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Give Us A Call Today!
(520) 293-6740

Who is a good candidate for PRK?

PRK stands for photorefractive keratectomy. It is a refractive laser surgical procedure for reshaping your cornea, altering how light passes through your eye. It focuses the light on the retina which is the light-sensitive tissue.

PRK helps to treat mild Hyperopia (farsightedness), mild to moderate Myopia (nearsightedness), and astigmatism. Optometrists recommend it as an alternative to corrective lenses. However, not everyone is a good candidate for PRK. Your eye surgeon or ophthalmologist in Tucson will use the following criteria to determine if you are a good candidate for PRK.

1. Your Corneal Thickness: You are a better candidate for PRK surgery if you have a thin cornea. Eye surgeons recommend a Laser-Assisted In-Situ Keratomileusis (LASIK surgery) for people with thick corneas.

2. Recent Eye Infections or Injuries: A good candidate for PRK surgery should be free from eye infections or injuries at least one year before the surgery.

3. Your Visual Prescription: PRK is more suitable for individuals who have myopia, also known as nearsightedness. Furthermore, your visual prescription for the year before the surgery must be stable.

4. Other Medical Conditions: A good candidate for PRK surgery is free of medical conditions like:

  • Diabetes,
  • Autoimmune diseases,
  • Immunodeficiency, and
  • Arthritis.
  • Collagen vascular disease
  • Keratoconus
  • Glaucoma

5. Your Age: You must be over 18 years old to be eligible for a PRK surgery.

6. Are You Pregnant or Nursing? Pregnant and nursing mothers should avoid getting PRK surgery.

7. Your Hobbies: You should discuss your hobbies with your ophthalmologists at Fishkind Bakewell Maltzman & Hunter Eye Care and Surgery Center in Tucson. Your eyes are prone to trauma after a PRK surgery if you engage in high-intensity activities or high contact sports like martial arts.

Are You a Good Candidate for PRK Surgery?

Your ophthalmologist at Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, & Hunter Eye Care and Surgery Center in Tucson will ultimately decide whether you are an ideal candidate for PRK surgery. They will use the above criteria and your individual needs to advise you appropriately. Call us today at (520)293-6740, option 4 or click here to discuss your qualification for PRK surgery and other eye care services.

What To Expect During a Contact Lens Fitting

If you are getting contact lenses for the first time, you may be a bit concerned about the whole process. This is natural. We at Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, Hunter and Associates Eye Care & Surgery Center in Tucson completely understand. We have been providing the best in eye care to patients of all ages in Tucson and environs for over 30 years.

Contact Lenses

Contact lenses are thin plastic lenses that fit over the clear front part of your eye, known as the cornea. For folks with vision problems, contact lenses offer one of the best tools available to see better. They can correct a host of eye problems including near- and farsightedness as well as astigmatism. Almost invisible to others, they enable you to conduct your daily affairs without traditional eyeglasses.

Contact lenses are made by mixing a special type of plastic with water. The water makes the contact softer and enables oxygen to pass from the ambient air back and forth to the eye.

What Happens at a Contact Lens Fitting

The principal goal of your contact lens fitting is simple to find and provide the most appropriate lenses for your particular vision requirements. There is a wide variety of types, colors styles, and sizes of contacts to choose from. When you come in, we will find the type and brand that’s the most comfortable for you and provides the best vision correction. Our eyes come in different sizes and have different widths between each eye.

We Can Help

Your eye health and vision are extremely important. At Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, Hunter and Associates Eye Care & Surgery Center in Tucson, we are grateful that you put your trust in us. We look forward to providing you with the very best eye care in a relaxed, comfortable manner. You can also reach us on our Contact Us page on our website.

Choosing The Right Glasses

When you are shopping for eyeglasses, you may find that they look great on the display but not when you try them on. This could be because they are the wrong style for your face shape. Your face shape will play a role in whether or not certain styles of glasses will look great on you.

Choosing Eyeglasses for Your Face Shape

Oval: If you have an oval face shape, the recommended frames include aviator, browline, rectangle, and square. You want to avoid oversized frames and pick frames that are as wide as the widest part of the face in order to balance proportions.

Round: For a round face shape, try round, aviator, square, and rectangular options. You can also try a clear bridge in order to help widen your eyes.

Square: For square faces, you want to avoid small or rectangular frames and instead choose browline, round, aviator, and cat-eye glasses.

Diamond: A diamond face shape looks best with round, oval, browline, or cat-eye glasses.

Pear: With a pear-shaped face, aviator and browline frames look best and you want to avoid round, square, and oval.

Heart: With a heart-shaped face, choose a rectangle, aviator, geometric, oval, and round frames. Avoid oval, browline, and square frames.

Choosing Eyeglasses for Your Hair Color, Skin Tone, and Eye Color

Once you get the right frames that look best for your eyeglasses you will need to choose the right ones to complement the coloration of your eyes, face, and hair.

Skin tones are categorized as cool or warm. Frames that are camel, gold, copper, orange, off white, coral, warm blue, or blond tortoise look best for warm coloring. For cool coloring, choose frames that are black, silver, rose-brown, pink, jade, and darker tortoise. Eye color is usually a secondary element in determining your coloring. Hair color can also be considered cool or warm. Warm hair colors include golden blond, brownish-black, and brown gold. Cool hair colors are platinum, blue-black, auburn, and ash brown.

Contact Our Eye Doctors In Tucson Today!

You can get an expert opinion for eyeglasses by visiting our eye doctors in Tucson at Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, & Hunter. Contact us via email (http://eyestucson.com/appointment ) or by calling us at 520-293-6740.

Choosing the Right Prescription Sunglasses: Protect Your Eyes from the Sun

By now, we all know the importance of protecting our skin from harmful UV rays. We slather the sunblock on and wear a hat to minimize our chances of getting skin cancer, but what about protecting our eyes? When we leave our eyes unprotected from the sun’s UV rays, we increase our risk for vision problems. The great news is our opticians at Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, Hunter & Associates Eye Care & Surgery Center in Tucson and Oro Valley can help minimize this risk by fitting you with UV protective sunglasses.

Choosing the Right Sunglasses for Your Lifestyle

With the right sunglasses, you can still make a fashion statement and protect your eyesight. Follow these tips to find the protective eyewear that fits your lifestyle:

Lifestyle: If you are active or go outside regularly, talk to your ophthalmologist about how prescription sunglasses can both optimize your visual performance and protect your eyes.

Larger frames: Wrap-around or larger framed glasses help protect your eyes from all angles.

Polarized optical lenses: If you enjoy spending time near sand, water, or snow, polarized lenses can filter out glare and help you see with clarity.

Photochromic lenses:  These lenses shift from clear to dark automatically when exposed to UV rays.

Additionally, ask your eye doctor for assistance to ensure the lenses you choose offer 100% UVA and UVB protection.

It’s Never Too Early or Too Late

Most people don’t start thinking about UV protective glasses until they are older. However, studies indicate we receive 75-80% of our UV exposure before the age of 18. So, the earlier we protect our eyes, the better.

Contact Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, & Hunter Eye Care Today

From eye exams to eyewear fittings, Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, Hunter & Associates Eye Care & Surgery Center has you covered. Our opticians can help you choose the perfect eyewear and protective lenses for your personal style and face shape. Call 520-293-6740 or visit us online to schedule your next appointment.

Hard to Fit Contacts

Contact lenses can be a great alternative to glasses, but they may not always be the best choice. If you do not currently have an optometrist and are seeking an eye doctor in Tucson, then come visit us at Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltman, Hunter & Associates.

Reasons for Hard to Fit Contacts

There are many reasons that one may struggle to find contacts that are right for them. Some of the main reasons for hard to fit contacts are:

  • Astigmatism — Astigmatism occurs when your cornea, the transparent front cover of your eye, is irregularly shaped. This irregular shape can cause blurred vision and may make it hard to fit certain contacts on your eye.
  • Dry eyes — Dry eyes can occur for many reasons, such as wind, dry air, age (especially in people over the age of 50), gender (dry eyes are more common for women), or wearing contact lenses.
  • Giant Papillary Conjunctivitis (GPC) — GPC causes your normally-smooth eyelid to become red, swollen, and irritated. Though GPC can happen to anyone at any time, it is most likely to occur with someone who wears soft contact lenses.
  • Keratoconus — Keratoconus occurs when your cornea “thins and gradually bulges outward into a cone shape.” This may cause blurred vision and sensitivity to light.
  • Presbyopia — Presbyopia occurs “when your eyes gradually lose the ability to see things clearly up close” due to aging.

Solutions for Hard to Fit Contacts

If you have one of the conditions above, you can likely still wear contact lenses. It is important to talk to an optometrist about your personal needs, so that they can create the best solution for you. This can mean changing the type of lenses you wear or even using medicated eye drops.

Visit Us Today

If you are looking for an eye doctor in Tucson, then you came to the right place. One of our optometrists will fit you for the best contact lenses for your eyes. Call us today at (520) 293-6740 or fill out our online form to make an appointment.

6 Signs You May Have Cataracts

There are several reasons why you could be having difficulty seeing. Some of the causes are common, such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism. These conditions can be treated simply with glasses or contact lenses. Other conditions can cause vision loss that requires further treatment.  Cataracts are one of these conditions. Cataracts occur when your natural lens hardens and becomes cloudy.

Symptoms of Cataracts

Cataracts cause several symptoms. Since many of these symptoms mimic those of other conditions of the eye, it is important that you see your ophthalmologist every year. The symptoms of cataracts may include:

The Best Cloudy Vision

Cloudy vision is the most common symptom of cataracts. Many people who suffer from this condition say that they feel as though they are looking out a dirty or foggy window.

#2 Difficulty Seeing at Night

Cataracts can make it difficult to see at night. This is especially true when you are driving.  You may experience glare around headlights that worsens as the cataract progresses.

#3 Sensitivity to Light

Cataracts can cause light sensitivity. If you find that you are relying on your sunglasses more often when it is sunny, it could be due to cataracts.

#4 Relying On Bright Lights While Reading

Cataracts can make reading difficult unless the light in the room is very bright.

#5 Seeing Halos Around Lights

Cataracts cause you to see halos around lights. If you are looking at a light and there are bright rings around it, cataracts could be the reason.

#6 Frequent Changes in Prescriptions

Cataracts can cause vision loss. This often results in the frequent need to change your eyeglass prescription.

Cataract Treatment 

If your eye doctor finds that you are suffering from cataracts, the condition can be treated with surgery. During the procedure, the cloudy, natural lens would be removed and replaced with an artificial lens to allow you to see clearly.

Schedule an Appointment with our Tucson Eye Surgeons

If you suspect that you have cataracts, the doctors at Fishkind, Bakewell, Maltzman, Hunter & Associates Eye Care and Surgery Care in Tucson are able to help.  They will examine your eyes with a dilated exam and determine the best course of treatment.  There are many options available for the type of implantable lenses and they will fully discuss those with you.  Come and “see” the difference you can experience!     Please call the office at 520-293-6740 or visit us at www.eyestucson.com.