What is farsightedness?

Hyperopia, more commonly known as farsightedness, causes the image of a close up object that is normally projected on your retina, to be projected behind your retina causing blurred vision. When a farsighted person views at an object that is up close, both of their eyes move in toward each other trying to converge the image. The same nerves that control the muscles of your eyes also control the focusing power of the lens in your eye. The lens and the muscles surrounding your eye are designed to work together to produce good, clear vision. But when a farsighted person looks at a close up object, their eyes naturally turn in toward the nose as the eyes adjust automatically. But at the same time your brain works to try to counteract what your eyes are naturally trying to do and tries to tell your eye muscles to move your eyes outward away from your nose.

The result of this battle between your brain and your eyes can cause eye strain and double vision. Patients with farsightedness state that when they are tired, they feel a ?pulling' in their eyes when they try to read. And especially when they are over-tired, they may end up seeing double. This is the dilemma when our brain tries hard to correct double vision but when we are tired, it can't compensate enough.

Is the battle between your eyes and your brain giving you a headache?

Patients with hyperopia complain that their eyes feel strained and they experience frequent headaches with the battle between the brain and the eyes each trying to do what they think is best. Imagine you are a farsighted visitor gazing up at Mount Rushmore. You are able to see the faces on Mount Rushmore clearly and then you glance down at your watch to see what time it is. Because of being farsighted, your eyeball is slightly shorter than normal and your brain sends a message to your corneal lens to try to compensate and become steeper, pulling your eyes away from your nose. But as your eyes try to focus on your watch, the eye muscles surrounding your eyes try to pull your eyeballs in toward your nose. No wonder this battle between your brain and your eyes results in eye strain.

Why does the problem of farsightedness become worse with age?

Many young people who are far sighted can see well enough without glasses because their corneal lens can accommodate by becoming thicker to bring close objects into focus and adjust to becoming flatter to allow clear vision in far away objects. But as we grow older, our corneal lens loses it's flexibility to change shape. Interestingly, almost all newborns are farsighted at birth.

How can Laser Eye Surgery help to correct far sightedness?

The farsighted eyeball may be too short from front to back for a clear image to be projected on the retina causing blurred vision for objects that are close. The other cause of farsightedness is a cornea that is too flat. To correct farsightedness with Laser Eye Surgery, the surgeon uses a laser to make the center of the cornea steeper which allows for more light bending ability which corrects the incoming light to focus on the retina instead of behind it. As the laser reshapes the cornea, it changes the angle at which you see images and therefore strengthens your vision significantly. Laser Eye Surgery can give you amazing results and permanently change the shape of your cornea in just minutes.

Recently an article crossed my desk describing how a 45-50 year old male attorney began hearing remarks from his colleagues that he looked tired. Even though his suit was meticulous, starched collar and silk tie - he felt great but his facial appearance had begun to wane.

Consider this: A tall, shapely woman confidently dressed in form-fitting leotards and tights working out in her favorite spa. From the back view she looks like a 20 something - nothing jiggles - her waist, tummy, and thighs all in proportion. But as she turns, you see the tired, stressed out face of a definitely 40ish or older woman desperately trying to hold on to her youth.

This scenario represents the graying of the Baby Boomers; they see aging faces developing right before their eyes and they feel helpless thinking that they, too, may have to succumb to a surgical procedure to maintain the look of health and youthfulness as a career investment.

Will they need a mini-lift? Eye lid surgery? Liposuction on their chin and neck? Not so long ago, "nips and tucks" were quiet affairs and only available to celebrities and business moguls' wives; today plastic surgery is becoming mainstream as more and more financing options become available. Business execs, sales people, secretaries, practically every one over the age of 20 realize that their facial appearance speaks volumes about themselves: Furrowed brows: angry and explosive. Down Turned Mouth Corners: looks sad, maybe depressed Double Chin & Jowls: Looks old - old ideas.

Surgical procedures are risky. There is not one procedure performed under the guise of plastic surgery that is risk-free. Not only does a patient risk infection from an invasive procedure; scarring and loss of sensation are also a concern. There have been cases where people have suffered brain damage from anesthesia and some have died.

At what point is seeking improvement detrimental? With so many procedures available, one has to ask if the medical community has slipped into an "assembly line" status.

These very serious surgeries may disfigure one's face and body as witnessed in many recent television shows portraying botched procedures. Noses, breasts, chins implants, liposuction nightmares and faces that look distorted cost someone a lot of cash and emotional anguish.

Imagine, paying hard earned money for a look that you may not embrace and maybe paying more to correct something that may need to be tweaked. Once tissue has been cut and sutured, it is never the same. Susan Sarandon, in a rare moment of candor, expressed succinctly to Ellen DeGeneres, "I'm scared of plastic surgery. You're somewhere between a burn victim and a female impersonator, and then there's a kind of an Asian thing going on."

What if the procedure goes smoothly; there are no problems and the patient is satisfied with the new look? How long will this investment last? Most facial plastic surgery procedures, especially injections, will have to be repeated again and again. Imagine facing another surgery - anesthesia and more cutting can eventually disfigure a face. The average surgical procedure is $20,000. Multiple expenditures can quickly add up to staggering amounts.

More and more people are opting for non-surgical methods of facial rejuvenation; in fact, just as isometric and resistance type exercise works to reshape the body, facial exercise can significantly reverse the look of aging in every face. Here's how: As we age, muscles in the face slowly relax and as they relax your skin begins to follow the downward motion. Jowls and little pouches form on the jaw line, the eyelids begin to fold and a visible line develops in your cheeks between your nose and mouth.

Unlike the major muscles in the body, the facial muscles are small; in some areas they weave over and under each other, and they attach at only one end to a bone. This means they cannot contract without an artificial anchor - in our arms and legs, we have joints that act as anchors so that we can tense our muscles with contractions. In order to contract the facial muscles so they tone, tighten and lift they must be held or anchored. This action provides increased circulation and oxygenation. This means that contortions - movements without resistance - will not contour the face and neck. Resistance exercise lifts your face from the inside out.

Using resistance and isometric movements will reshape and lift your face. These exercises create stronger, more resilient muscles and facial skin will tighten preventing further sagging. The jowls will lift, eyes will open and look vibrant and the "apples" in your cheeks will return. With exercise, you can look younger and people will recognize you even if you haven't seen them in twenty years because you will still look like you.

Cynthia Rowland is widely recognized as an expert in all natural facial fitness with over thirty years experience in health & beauty related fields. She has appeared on The View, Fit TV, HGTV and other popular shows. This author, speaker and television personality is leading the crusade to keep men and women looking vibrantly younger through natural techniques without spending their children's inheritance.

Cynthia Rowland, Anti-aging Expert I Save Faces
http://www.Facialmagic.com

Many people go to their family doctors to get regular physical examinations. Some people take several aspects of their health for granted, specifically their eyesight. To guarantee healthy and normal vision, an annual visit to your eye doctor for your eye care exam is necessary.

Our brain receives sensory information daily from our eyes.  It is of vital importance to have an eye care exam from yearly because every time you visit your eye doctor they will evaluate any changes in your vision system and they will help you correct any difficulties that you may have with your sight. Early diagnosis of any potential problems will decrease the chance of severe damage to our sight.

Particularly in older adults, they should be aware that the probability of having vision disorders increases with age. The threat is still there even though you might not be experiencing any problem, so you should visit your eye doctor regularly for an eye care exam. An eye care exam is a painless and informative method for the assessment of your eyes. The eye doctors will test your visual acuity, which is the clarity of your vision. During the eye care exam, the doctor will check the muscles of the eyes. The routine eye examination is not painful or uncomfortable.

Eye Care Exam Doctors

The doctor who specializes in the comprehensive care of the eyes and visual system in the prevention of eye disease injury is the ophthalmologist. They are medically trained specialists who can deliver total eye care exams, primary, secondary and tertiary care services and diagnose general diseases of the eyes.

A health care professional who is trained and license to provide primary care services is the optometrist. Services included are the comprehensive eye health and vision examinations: treatment and diagnosis of the vision disorders and eye diseases; the detection of general health problems; they prescribe the glasses, contact lenses, vision therapy, low vision rehabilitation and medications.

How Often Should You Have An Eye Care Exam?

You should remember that if you are having eye difficulty, pain or visual disturbances or any other problem in the eyes, you should immediately see an eye doctor. But if you are in good health and no known ailments, no vision problems, you can have eye exam every two to four years if your age is nowhere near forty.  For people with diabetes, you need frequent eye examinations to maintain good eye health.