@EyeDrMurphy

There is a new treatment available for d

Dr Murphy — Sat, 14 Jan 2012 02:50:04 +0000

There is a new treatment available for dry eyes! As promised, Dr Murphy is staying on top of things. Call us to get more information!

Questions about polarized lenses? How do

Dr Murphy — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 14:50:04 +0000

Questions about polarized lenses? How do they work? Does polarization make a difference? Email optical@fr-ea.com if you want answers!

If you ever notice flashes of light or

Dr Murphy — Thu, 10 Nov 2011 01:20:04 +0000

If you ever notice flashes of light or ‘floaters’ in your vision, don’t delay. Seek care right away. As a reminder, our doctors are always on call to serve our established patients so call if you have any urgent concerns. http://ow.ly/7nG8i

As the Snow Falls….

Dr Murphy — Sat, 08 Oct 2011 19:04:12 +0000

Well, it seems that winter may officially have arrived here in Denver. Today is a cold, dreary, 1/3 rain, 1.3 sleet, 1/3 snow kinda day. Saturday of course, this never happens on Monday, right? As I sit in my home contemplating any activity to occupy my two children, I pick up that faint familiar smell of something…..burning….

Ah yes, the inaugural furnace fire-up. The burning of the all the dust, animal hair and debris that has collected and settled in the ducts through the summer and fall. With the burning smell comes the realization that it also feels like my eyes are burning too. As someone who suffers from dry eye, I can tell you that heat is not my friend, especially forced heat through a ducted furnace system. If you have even the mildest symptoms of dry eye, dry winter air along with forced air heat can significantly exacerbate the condition. If you have severe dry eye, this is not new to you. Here are some ideas to help improve your comfort if you are struggling.

1) Rather than having your programmable thermostat set to ‘auto’ (leaving only a small window of degrees at which neither the air conditioning nor heat is running) consider waiting until the first cold day to manually change it to ‘heat’ after being on ‘cool’ for the summer. Not only will this likely save you money in the fall when the weather fluctuates dramatically wreaking havoc on your HVAC regulation system, it will also serve as a reminder to change your filters, consider having your ducts cleaned and maybe even a furnace tune up before you set the beast in motion. Doing so will reduce the number of foreign objects in your air and increase ocular comfort.

2) Consider adding a ‘whole-house humidifier’ to your system. While these rarely can get the humidity above 35%, it still makes a valiant effort in reducing dryness. These humidifiers are mounted to your furnace and are connected to your water supply so you don’t have to worry about the hassle of constantly refilling stand alone humidifiers. However, don’t neglect the filter in your humidifier as it can harbor mold and other fun critters. Be sure to discuss routine maintenance with your HVAC service provider. Also, keep in mind that is never a good idea to install a whole-house humidifier on a furnace installed in your attic. In many states, the winter months are too cold and the attics are not well insulated so the water supply can freeze and cause serious (picture water leaking from a sagging ceiling above your bed) damage.

3) Consider supplementing your whole-house humidifier with a stand alone humidifier in the rooms you use most, often the living room and the bedroom. I am often asked why a humidifier in the bedroom is useful if your eyes are closed. Good question. Answer: Your eyes will seek moisture from not only your tears but also from the back surface of your eyelid while you sleep. The more hydrated your ocular tissues are the more moisture your eyes will have access too. Moreover, many of us do not sleep with our eyes completely shut. In these situations, the ocular surface is essentially desiccating while you sleep resulting in severe morning symptoms.

4) Consider a radiator in the room you spend the most amount of time in. Some of the symptoms that you experience in the winter months are due to movement of air across the ocular surface. Forced air heat uses a powerful fan system to blow air through your house creating a draft that is designed to keep the air temperature consistent. This draft can cause premature evaporation of your tears. With a radiator, there is no air movement.

5) Make sure you are using appropriate tear supplementation and dry eye treatment. While this entry is designed to specifically address the impact of the heating system on your eyes, the symptoms will be worse if you have neglected care and treatment for your dry eye. Not all artificial tears are the same. Not all dry eye medications are the same. NOT ALL DRY EYE IS THE SAME. There are a plethora of causes and in order for treatment to be effective, your personal dry eye cause must be identified and treated specifically.

6) Consider making adjustments to other factors that may be exacerbating your dry eye, i.e. makeup brand or contact lens brand. Consulting with your optometrist is essential when your contact lenses are not providing the comfort you desire. If you don’t tell us, how could we know? If you do tell us and we ignore you (or don’t suggest an improvement/treatment) find another eye doctor, period. Many optometrists can also offer suggestions about makeup brands that do not irritate the eye.

7) Well, this last suggestion is partially a joke but unfortunately has been a reality for some patients I have known – move to a climate there is more humid and does not require a season of heat, Louisiana and Florida come to mind. Really, if all else fails, this is a viable option.

This entry barely brushes the surface of the subject of dry eye. More has been address previously and there will undoubtedly be more in the future. In the meantime, embrace the snow, get to the mountains and enjoy the powder!

Multifocal Contact Lenses – From our Esteemed Contact Lens Technician, Ashley

Dr Murphy — Tue, 09 Aug 2011 15:02:25 +0000

If you are over 40 years old, you may have noticed your near/reading vision starting to change. It may become increasingly difficult to read without bright light or you may run into the problem where your “arms aren’t long enough!” Everyday we see many patients who have had “better than 20/15 vision” most of their lives start to struggle with their near vision. This is when our patients will buy over the counter reading glasses to use as needed. They start to use them more and more until they have a pair in every single room of their house, car, purse, and at work. Many of our patients get very frustrated with putting them on to read something and then taking them off for distance.

Now there is a solution to this: multi-focal contact lenses. Multi-focal contact lenses offer the best of both worlds, the ability to see near and far and reducing the need for reading glasses 80% of the time. Many of our patients who are successful in these lenses don’t even require distance correction. It can work equally well for those with or without a need for correction far away.

The process of fitting a multi-focal lens usually requires 1-3 visits. The first visit is your annual exam. At that time, we check your prescription and your eye health. From your prescription we can determine whether or not you would be a good candidate for multi-focal contact lenses. At that appointment we will give you some diagnostic lenses to try at home- and then this is where your work begins. Many lenses are a simultaneous image design. This means each lens has both distance and near vision portions in front of the pupil at the same time. This means your brain will select which image to use. This can take some time. You may notice some shadowing when you are reading while your brain and eyes adjust. We recommend wearing the lenses for 1-2 weeks straight to get your eyes adjusted. Then we will see you back for a contact lens progress evaluation.

The art of fitting multi-focal contact lenses is finding the most natural vision experience possible for you. To increase your chances of being successfully fit into theses contact lenses you need to go in with realistic expectations. The lenses usually do not have the same clarity as bi-focal eyeglass lenses or progressive lenses but they do give you the freedom to be able to comfortably see without the hassle of taking your readers on and off all day, wearing them half-way off your nose, or hanging around your neck.

If you have a moment, please take a second to visit the manufacturer who have spent a great deal of time and money creating these lenses for you. Some of our most successful lenses are Ciba’s Air Optix MultiFocal, Bausch & Lomb’s Pure Vision Multifocal, CooperVisions Biofinity Multifocal and Synergeyes’ Multifocal. We look forward to helping you see!

$10 is $10, Don’t be afraid to get more VALUE for your dollar

Dr Murphy — Thu, 04 Aug 2011 05:04:37 +0000

The majority of patients that we see in our Broomfield clinic have vision or medical insurance that covers their examinations. For those of you that are fortunate enough to have insurance, allow me to help you think about your healthcare dollars in a different light. Here is an example: Let’s say that your co-pay for your exam is $10. You should know that this rate is determined by the plan that you or your employer selects. The doctor does not and cannot control this amount. That being said, once you have contracted with your plan for the year, you also give up control of this amount. The advantage you have is that no matter where you go, your copay will be the same. Therefore, may I suggest that you choose to spend your healthcare dollars where you will receive the most VALUE. You don’t have to put up with poor service or a receptionist that puts you on hold for 15 minutes. You don’t have to put up with an automated phone tree. You don’t have to put up with walking through the tire section of a big box retailer before reaching your eye doctor. For the same $10, you can have convenient online scheduling, a professional office environment dedicated to eye care featuring state of the art equipment, a large selection of eyewear and contact lenses on site with a doctor that is not restricted to fitting certain lenses due to restrictions from a large corporation. You will get this premium level of care in a private practice. Furthermore, you will be doing your part to keep your health care dollars local and in your own community. You will be doing your part to support small business. You will be choosing to partner with a healthcare provider that believes a relationship with you is worth more than the bottom line. I say this because I occasionally hear that some patients believe my office will be more expensive than big-box retailers simply because we have a nice office. Not true folks. Your insurance will reimburse me the same fee as the doctor down the street with brown shag carpeting and wooden panels on the wall. I choose to invest these dollars back in you. I choose to provide a pleasant environment for myself and staff to work in and for my patients and their families to visit. If that comes at a cost to me, I am okay with that. Please consider choosing a health care provider that is not afraid to invest money in their practice. I am a self proclaimed gadget junky so I have fancier equipment than many eye doctors. Guess what friends, just because I have this does not mean that I charge you more or get more from your insurance company…we all are paid the same. Nevertheless, I believe that we need many of these technologically savvy devices to provide the highest level of care. If you would pay the same $10 to see a primary care physician with or without a stethoscope or blood pressure cuff, wouldn’t you choose the one who has the devices designed to elevate the level of care you receive? And while I will not downplay the importance of these vital instruments, I am still a firm believer that the best “tool” I have is my ears. Listening is the best diagnostic tool in my armamentarium and that comes from a health care provider that is not afraid to invest time in you. So, use your health care dollars wisely to make conscious decisions about where you want to receive your health care. You make these decisions with most of your other dollars, don’t be afraid to demand value for the dollars you spend on your eyes. This philosophy applies across all specialties of healthcare and the landscape of service in the healthcare environment is changing. Where you go and where you choose to spend your $10 will dictate the direction of this change.

Doing the work of Optometry Giving Sight

Dr Murphy — Fri, 15 Jul 2011 16:57:13 +0000

During the past year I have enjoyed the opportunity to work more closely with an amazing charity, Optometry Giving Sight. Through my affiliation with Vision Source, I was selected to participate in a mentorship training program for optometrists in Tanzania. If are a patient at my office, you have undoubtedly heard me speak passionately about this experience. Many of you have asked me to share more details/stories about this trip. This trip was coordinated in partnership with the International Centre for Eyecare Education. I have had a few articles published about my trip which I will attach soon. Most recently, Primary Care Optometry News published an article describing my interactions with the optometrist that served as my country host. Dr Mashayo was an amazing man and I have learned so much about Tanzania and Tanzanian optometry from him. He and other members of the Tanzanian Optometric Association warmly welcomed me and were truly generous hosts. If you desire to learn more about my recent excursion, please read the article here.

We are a community

Dr Murphy — Fri, 08 Jul 2011 03:03:40 +0000

I love living in a small town. Actually, Broomfield is not a small town but rather a big town/city with a small town feel. So many of my patients are like family to me. The relationships I form with each patient is an important one. We are connected. That being said, I am not so great with names. If I see you at Safeway and don’t acknowledge you by name, please don’t be offended…I do know your prescription and every medication you are taking. I probably know what your kids look like and what grades they are in. Your name…I’ll do my best. That being said, please don’t hesitate to approach me in public if there is anything I can help you with. There is no reason I can’t give you advice about your dog’s pink eye or your neighbors’ Dad’s glaucoma. That is what a community is for. That is what makes us a community. Rest assured, if I remember that you are a real estate agent I will likely ask you why my property taxes went up again! So, please, as you are here to support me in my business venture, I am here to support you and care for your eyes and the eyes of your family. I chose to both live and work in Broomfield because I value this relationship. My father was a small business owner and I remember as a kid that I hated going anywhere with him because it everything took so long…he knew everyone and always stopped to talk. Now I look upon those times fondly realizing that I have inherited this trait from him. My grandfather was a surgeon, my namesake aunt is a nurse so caring is in my blood. So, whatever your name is….thanks for letting me do my thing.

Watery Eyes Can be a Sign of Dry Eye

Dr Murphy — Thu, 25 Nov 2010 01:45:32 +0000

How can it be? If my eyes water, how can you tell me they are dry? I hear this question day after day in my clinic and believe it or not, it CAN be true. Your eye produces several types of tears. It produces your basal tear secretion which is facilitated by your blink. Everytime you blink, tear components are released from different types of glands in the eye. You will produce a different type of tear when your eyes are irritated. These are called reflex tears. Reflex tears don’t have the same nutrition as basal tears. They are produced by your body to flush out irritants (like allergans) or as a result of irritation (dryness) or trauma (scratched eye). So, if you have chronic tearing, inflammatory dry eye could be a contributing factor. In addition to dryness, eiphora (the medical term for a excess watering) could be caused by allergies or an inability of your eyes to drain tears properly. Be sure to check with your eye doctor if you have chronic watery eyes because it is not normal. Enjoy the view – EyeDrMurphy
- Mary Anne C. Murphy, O.D.

Pro’s for wearing daily disposable cont

Dr Gunderson — Wed, 23 Jun 2010 22:33:42 +0000

Pro’s for wearing daily disposable contacts: fresh, clean lens every day; no hassle or cost of cleaning/storage solutions; super easy for traveling; lower risk of infection with swimming and other activities; greater flexibility for occasional wear.