Our Office or an Emergency Room?
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It seems like we get at least one or two patients every week who present to our office after first going to the emergency room. Often their eye problem or injury occurs evenings or on a weekend but sometimes it’s during our normal business hours. (For the record, we’re open six days a week and have 24/7 coverage through our answering service.) Most emergency rooms are not properly staffed or equipped to handle many eye problems, not to mention the 2-3 hour wait most people experience. Neither are walk-in clinics and urgent care centers which certainly provide a convenient service with their expanded hours of operation.
Whether it's days, nights, weekends or holidays, if you’re having an eye problem, please call our office first. Unless it’s a severe injury requiring suturing or imaging like a CT scan or MRI, we can most likely treat you in our office. And if further medical care beyond our scope is necessary, we will make arrangements for the appropriate referral. Remember, in case of emergency, one of our doctors is always on call and available to talk to you and meet you at our office if necessary.
Brett Burns, O.D.
Camille Guzek-Latka, O.D.
David C. Momnie, O.D.
Julianne M. Rapalus, O.D.
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Before you Decide to Wear Halloween
Contact Lenses This Weekend...
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Some people get the idea in their head that decorative contact lenses would be fun to wear to a Halloween party, taking their costume up to the next level. However, non-FDA lenses have led in some cases to severe and permanent vision loss due to infections of the cornea. And even FDA approved contact lenses are medical devices that need to be properly fitted. Because corneas come in different diameters and curvatures, “one size fits all” doesn’t apply to contact lenses. Some lenses simply fit too tight on the eye, starving the eye of sufficient oxygen. Finally, don’t purchase contact lenses at your local mall Halloween store or online because these unauthorized contacts lenses are sold illegally and again may not be safe. If you insist on wearing decorative contact lenses, call our office as we can insure that you’re getting a proper fit.
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How Healthy Are You? Your Zip Code Matters.
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How Healthy Are You? Your Zip Code Matters.
An article in the recent September 17edition of Health Leaders by Christopher Cheney reported on new research showing that the prevalence of many chronic diseases is significantly lower in adults with low incomes who happen to live in more affluent communities. These included common conditions like diabetes, high blood pressure, high cholesterol and heart disease. The study couldn’t explain why some areas of the country are less healthy than others but suspect that having more of a social network, better community resources and improved lifestyle factors like diet and exercise may all contribute to this pattern.
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New Cigarette Warning Labels Proposed by the FDA
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The Food and Drug administration recently proposed new warning labels for packages of cigarettes. According to the FDA, the current labels are “virtually invisible to smokers…” and “are not leaving a memorable impression of the risks of smoking.” The two proposed warnings realistically illustrate the increased risk of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) and cataracts. Smoking is also known to worsen the effects to the eye of diabetes and dry eye. We’ve known for some time that staying smoke-free (including second hand smoke) reduces your risk of developing many health problems besides the well-known connection to lung cancer. The new warning labels should appear sometime soon in the United States
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Mattel Creates a Braille Version of UNO
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The popular card game UNO recently became more accessible to partially sighted and blind card players. The Mattel Corporation is now making the popular game available in a Braille version with raised dots in two corners of each card and on the front and back of the packaging. Furthermore, the UNO Braille website allows blind and low vision players to use voice-activated software from Amazon Alexa or Google Assistant to get access to instructions in Braille.
According to the National Braille Press, although more than 7 million adults in the United States are blind or have low vision, only 12% of them can read Braille. Unfortunately, there is more illiteracy and unemployment in the blind population. Mattel has become more sensitive to people with disabilities in. recent years and earlier this year released Barbie dolls who have disabilities. Other companies have the same goals and in a recent newsletter we reported on Lego’s Braille Bricks.
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A couple of weeks ago, a woman in her 70s called our office with pain in one eye. She had accidentally poked the eye with her mascara brush. As is always the case with patients in pain, we had her come to the office immediately. There were multiple specs of mascara embedded in her cornea and some also trapped under her upper lid. After numbing the eye, we carefully removed the foreign bodies with a special instrument. Due to the resulting cornea abrasion, we applied a bandage contact lens on the cornea and prescribed antibiotic eye drops to be used for several days until the cornea had completely healed. In the “old days,” we would have taped a large eye patch made of gauze over the eye. Bandage contact lenses allow proper corneal healing, are more cosmetically appealing and allow the patient to use the injured eye, making driving safer. The lenses are usually worn 24 to 48 hours and sometimes longer for severe injuries. As is invariably the case, her cornea had completely healed when we removed the contact lens two days later.
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Amazon has been interested in the optical market for some time and recently pulled the lever
with the introduction of Echo Frames. The wearer can make calls, set reminders, listen to
podcasts and even control various lights and the thermostat of a "smart home." Amazon describes the audio only-glasses as “an Alexa powered speaker that you put on your face.” Priced at just under $180, the glasses also
require an Android smartphone and the Alexa app. We’ll keep you informed of any developments in these digital glasses.
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Thank You for Google Reviews
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Thank you if you’ve given us a nice Google Review.
If you were happy with your experience at Chicopee Eyecare, your positive review helps us spread the word and market our practice to potentially new patients.
Click Here
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Catch up on our newsletters
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I
N CASE OF EMERGENCY
Chicopee Eyecare provides "24/7" coverage for emergency eye care for our patients.
We recommend that you do not go to the emergency room for an eye injury or acute eye problem unless it is very serious. Drs. Momnie, Guzek-Latka, Rapalus and Burns keep slots open for urgent care visits for new and established patients during normal office hours, and provide around-the clock emergency coverage for our established patients for after-hours and weekends.
Call 592-7777 before calling your PCP or visiting a hospital ER!
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Office Hours
We are available when you need us
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Our office and optical department are open during the following hours:
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Monday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Tuesday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Wednesday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Thursday 9:00 am - 6:30 pm
Friday 9:00 am - 5:30 pm
Saturday 9:00 am -12:30 pm
One of our doctors is always available for emergencies on nights, weekends and holidays. Call (413) 592-7777 and our answering service will put you in touch with an on-call optometrist.
"The people in this office are committed to providing you with the highest quality of eye care and to treating you with kindness and respect.
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©2019 Chicopee Eyecare - All Rights Reserved
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Privacy is important to us at Chicopee Eyecare and we will not share your email address with anyone. At any point, you can select the link at the bottom of every email to unsubscribe.
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