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April 11, 2022April 8, 2022

The Eye Shoppe: a Profile

By Shan Khan

The shift to online retailing has changed the game for many in the optical industry. While some consumers may find online buying suits their needs, its clearly not the best solution for everyone. By offering superior products, comprehensive care — and most importantly, education and information —The Eye Shoppe of downtown Oshawa aims to continue to satisfy its loyal customer base “in person” for years to come.

The Eye Shoppe has been a consistent presence in the heart of Oshawa’s downtown core for more than 30 years. It features a rare but highly effective business model, with the dispensary serving as a key component of a broader practice that includes onsite ophthalmologists and optometrists to support patient care. The cross-functional team of eyecare professionals collaborates closely to ensure that each patient receives the best possible outcome — a formula that keeps clients coming back.

Keeping Quality in Mind

Visitors to The Eye Shoppe are welcomed into a spacious, light-filled showroom that emits a casual, yet professional atmosphere. The store carries eyewear from a number of mainstream brands, Reva and Costa sunglasses, and original, alternative offerings from independent producers including Etnia Barcelona, Lafont, N49 and Faniel.

Similarly, the team maintains strong relationships with a number of lens representatives and labs, which are viewed as knowledgeable, supportive partners in the business of providing patients with the best possible vision correction solutions for their work and home environments.

Streamlined Experience

While the pandemic disrupted the shop’s traditional processes, it has also created opportunities to streamline and improve operations, Wael points out. The store’s location in a standalone building provides control over capacity limits, and customers seeking new frames are required to make an appointment to ensure numbers remain safely within public health guidelines. Use of technological advancements in measuring, such as the Essilor Visioffice, allows The Eye Shoppe optometry staff to take accurate patient measurements while maintaining a safe social distance.

Wael Yassein

As the industry continues to evolve and experience inevitable disruption, Wael proudly supports the Ontario Opticians Association as a single, unified voice for the industry. By emphasizing the value of personal interactions and professional expertise, he is confident that the bricks-and-mortar optical model can continue to thrive.

To read the full article, go to Optik Magazine, March-April 2022 issue!

April 8, 2022April 8, 2022

National Vision Awards $12,500 to 2021-2022 Scholarship Program Winners

National Vision, Inc. named the winners of its seventh annual scholarship program, awarding three optometry students the program’s largest scholarships to date. Applicants were asked to share their perspectives on the importance of affordable primary eye care in an evolving health care environment.

“We received more entries this year than ever before, which clearly shows that the next generation of optometrists share in our passion for primary care optometry,” said Alex Louw, chief medical officer, National Vision.

Juan Giraldo, Alicja Biniek, Aliya Shafi

The 2021-2022 scholarship program winners include:

First Place ($7,500): Juan Giraldo, University of Waterloo, School of Optometry and Vision Science, Class of 2022
Runner-Up ($2,500): Alicja Biniek, Illinois College of Optometry, Class of 2022
Runner-Up ($2,500): Aliya Shafi, University of Waterloo, The School of Optometry and Vision Science, Class of 2022

Giraldo was the first-ever repeat winner for the program, which is open to third- and fourth-year optometry students. This year’s prompt gave students the option to submit video or written essays addressing how they would be part of the solution to a problem millions of Americans face — not being able to afford an eye exam. All three winners offered unique, informed takes on their plans for making a difference as practicing optometrists.

Click HERE for the full press release.

April 8, 2022April 8, 2022

COS Reminds Athletes Importance of Protective Eyewear this Sports Eye Safety Month

With the NHL hockey playoff season underway, April also marks Sports Eye Safety Month, and the Canadian Ophthalmological Society (COS) is reminding all athletes and sports enthusiasts to protect their vision and help avoid any serious eye injuries that could affect their season. Despite eye injuries being common, 38% of Canadians said they rarely, or never, wear protective eyewear when participating in outdoor sports, according to a 2021 survey conducted by the Canadian Ophthalmological Society.

“Over the years, I’ve seen a fair number of sports-related eye injuries from lack of protective eyewear, especially in hockey due to direct puck strikes,” says Dr. Bryce Ford, an ophthalmologist for the Calgary Flames and a Clinical Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the University of Calgary. “Accidents in sports are common, so wearing protective eyewear can help reduce injuries such as eyelid lacerations, corneal abrasions or more severe injuries such as retinal detachments which can cause complete vision loss.”

While sports injuries are common, certain sporting organizations and leagues are making strides in ensuring the safety of players. For instance, in 2013, the NHL enacted a rule that said unless a player had already played 25 games in the NHL without one, wearing a visor is mandatory. The Canadian Journal of Ophthalmology (CJO) published research in September 2020 on the effectiveness of widespread visor adoption by assessing eye injury rates during the 2010–2018 seasons. The research showed a strong decrease in the number of eye injuries and a moderate decrease in the number of missed games once the visor rule was in effect.

“The research highlights the success of visors and proves that eye protection actually works,” adds Dr. Ford. “These days, I see more eye injuries from visorless recreational hockey players, racquet sports, and other sports such as paintball.”

The Canadian Ophthalmological Society urges everyone participating in sports to wear protective eyewear appropriate for the sport or activity. Parents can also teach their children early on to help get them in the habit of wearing protective eyewear to avoid an injury or damage to their eyesight.

Click HERE for the full press release.

April 6, 2022November 13, 2025

What is Neuro-Optometric Visual Rehabilitation?

By Dr. Patrick Quaid, OD, FCOVD, PhD

Full bio: www.optiknow.ca/Dr.Quaid

One could say it is “just Binocular Vision testing” right? However, when we consider that at least 40% of the brain is primarily vision related machinery, by far our most dominant neuro-sensory system, perhaps we should dig a little deeper.

Each optic nerve has 1.22 million ganglion cells compared to, for example, an estimated 30,000 ganglion cells per vestibule. This really gets you thinking. We may be biased being eye doctors, but anatomy does not lie. It is not that hearing or other senses are unimportant, of course they are. However, these anatomical facts are important to consider when we have situations that can result in conflicting sensory input, as often occurs in brain injury (i.e., concussion) for example.

Why does vision tend to over-ride so many other sensory systems? The answer to this question has fascinated me for decades.

Why Optical Illusions Work

Vision is so dominant it can over-ride PAIN signals! Other examples of similar illusions and what they teach us are the McGurk effect (vision overrides auditory) and the Furrow illusion (peripheral high contrast lines over-ride the direction of motion we think we see of an object in the periphery). Then there is my favourite, the “rotating tunnel” effect that makes you “fall in the same direction as the movement of the tunnel and feel instant nausea” despite a floor that does not actually move – the classic fun house theme. This illusion, as an aside, proves that peripheral vision is so dominant that it overrides both vestibular function and proprioception (i.e., my feet are physically grounded and feel stable).

Vision is “nature’s master illusion” to some degree. What we perceive is often not what is physically present (think about something as simple as colour). If you put 20PD yoked prism base right or left in a pair of glasses and look at a door edge, it will LOOK curved. Guess what happens when you run your hand along the door edge? Yup, you got it. It FEELS curved. Try it if you do not believe me – quite the party trick!

The eyes, if we think about it, are also the only part of the brain that moves. The optic nerve is not like brain tissue, it is brain tissue. The more we understand about how the brain processes visual information, the more we can uncover how to treat patients who have neurosensory processing issues in these areas, however induced.

Eye Muscle or the Brain?

Whether a concussion case or pediatric developmental case, think about the following: Is convergence insufficiency (CI) an eye muscle problem or a brain issue? Simple enough question, or so it seems. In CI of course, both eyes cannot converge together simultaneously without undue strain or double vision (or suppression) to within 8cm of the bridge of our nose.

Why Neuro-Optometry Instead of Binocular Vision?

It has always confused me as to why we do not think about BV/VT in precisely the same way. If the end-organ is “anatomically normal”, with no disease or pathology present and there is still a functional visual problem, then surely it must be a “centrally” mediated vision issue?

Find out more! Click HERE to read the full article, from the March-April issue of Optik magazine.

April 6, 2022May 20, 2026

Subtle Yet Impactful!

AYA’s model “Catherine” is a delicate yet stylish option that can easily work with a high-powered suit or a weekend casual look. Warm crystal brown with blue hues or crystal smoke, take your pick. Incredible detailed raven artwork embellishes the temples and then
transitions again into soft coloured crystal tips.

Distributed by: www.claudiaalan.com