Tag: ermelo

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Rohto® Eye Drops – Japanese Excellence

We have recently been inundated by requests for over the counter eye drops and introduced an old stalwart of Japanese Eye Care to our practice. With their unique approach to everyday eye problems, they bring a blend of conventional ingredients with novel ingredients like sesame oils, menthol and castor oil. These benefits are well known to western medicine. The feedback from our patients has been phenomenal! We are delighted to give you a brief description of the products.

A brief history

For over 100 years, Rohto has been creating eye drops and developing new formulations and containers for everyone’s eye care needs. Whether you’re looking for dry eye relief, redness relief, or digital eye strain symptom relief, there’s a Rohto eye care product that’s right for you.

The very first Rohto eye drops were developed back in 1909, after the end of the Russo-Japanese War. The demand for eye drops was increasing fast, due to an outbreak of trachoma, an eye disease caused by bacterial infection. A growing class of teachers, doctors, and office workers were also demanding eye drops.

An option for every need

There is no need to suffer from dry, red and tired eyes. The ultra-cooling formula of these eye drops immediately clears and brightens while offering relief from irritation and redness. A unique blend containing menthol, its like a mint for the yes!

Gentle lubricating eye drop to immediately moisturize and soothe dry eyes. Assists in retaining moisture and improve quality of tears. The ideal companion for contact lens wearers.

ROHTO DRY AID is an advanced dry eye treatment claiming the relief of 8 symptoms of dry eye. The advanced formulation focuses on dry spots which appear on the surface of dry eyes. TEARSHIELD TECHNOLOGY protects, hydrates & restores the natural tear film of the eye. It breaks the dry eye cycle and offers relief for up to 12 hours.

Contact us to discuss which product suits your needs.

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The 17 Key Visual Skills – Parents take note!

Did you know that there are 17 essential skills for success in reading, writing, sports, and practically all of your daily activities?

Check out the list below to gain a better understanding of how each visual skill is necessary for functional vision. 

  1. Eye Movement Control is the ability to move both eyes together, to focus on an image, or path. Each eye has six muscles that work together to control eye movement and position.
  2. Binocular Coordination is the ability of the two eyes to accurately work together, at the same time, as a team. If one eye is weaker than the other, the child may develop a lazy eye.
  3. Saccades are quick, simultaneous movements of the two eyes between two or more focus points. This skill is essential for reading words and sentences across a page.
  4. Pursuits are smooth movements of the two eyes between two focus points. This skill is required for moving between paragraphs on a page. Even looking up at the teacher and then back down to the class notes.
  5. Convergence is the ability of the two eyes to work together as a team, to turn in towards the nose and focus on a book or computer screen. This skill is essential for academic success.
  6. Accommodation Flexibility is the ability of the eye to continuously change its focus between near and distant objects.  This skill is needed for simultaneously seeing the blackboard clearly and then quickly changing focus to be able to read your class notes.
  7. Accommodation Endurance is the ability of the eyes to maintain focus for reading and other close vision tasks over extended periods of time. This skill is required for homework and for using a computer or laptop for many hours.
  8. Visual Memory is the ability to remember information such as words or images that have been seen in the past. Poor short-term visual memory can cause difficulty copying notes from the board and spelling difficulties.
  9. Visual Thinking, (also known as visual/spatial learning or picture thinking), is the ability to think and analyze what you have seen. This skill is needed for comprehension and math abilities.
  10. Central Visual Acuity is the ability to see clearly and accurately. This skill is measured with the term 20/20 vision, the benchmark measure for “perfect” vision.
  11. Peripheral Vision (Side Vision) is the ability to see objects around us without having to turn our heads.
  12. Depth Perception is the ability to discern whether objects are closer or further away, in relation to one another. This skill is especially important for both academic and athletic performance.
  13. Color Perception is the ability to discriminate between colors. This skill is important for accurate interpretation of color-coded materials (such as charts and graphs).
  14. Gross Visual-Motor is the ability to move through space using your visual information to guide you. Preventing you from bumping into things. This skill is essential for playing sports.
  15. Fine Visual-Motor is the ability to engage in close-up activities with accuracy by using your visual information (i.e. reading, writing, sewing, texting, etc.)
  16. Visual Perception is the awareness of your environment and what is going on around you in your visual field (what you can see). This skill measures your total width of vision.
  17. Visual Integration is the ability to combine your vision with your other senses, to perform complex tasks (i.e. copying, reading while walking on a balance beam, threading a needle, tying shoe laces, catching or hitting a ball, etc.)

If you think you or your child may be presenting with signs of reduced visual skills, schedule an appointment for a comprehensive examination here.

Source: optometrists.org

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20 Year Anniversary

In August 2004 a very young and ambitious optometrist, myself, opened a practice in Ermelo. Not growing up in the town I knew no one and set my sights on winning over the confidence of the community one eye examination at a time. Certainly a laborious process and a bit naïve in hindsight, but as Tony DeLorger writes in his poem : ” -naivety, an innocence without being encumbered by tainting experience or learned biases that subjugate balance
and create confusion and limitations.”

Word spreads fast and soon I was overwhelmed by the support from not only Ermelo and surroundings, but patients from all over South Africa. We relocated twice to more favourable locations and settled in our current location in the centre of town in 2010. I have been blessed with wonderful staff since the start and my first two employees, Ms. Tharina Coetzer and Ms. Miranda Ntlatseng, are still part of my practice a whopping 20 years later! Congratulations to them and a HUGE THANK YOU. I am privileged to have witnessed and partake in immense changes in our profession. Long gone are the days of reading a couple of letters on an old dilapidated eye chart or peaking into eyes with a small little light only to see a tiny view of the back of the eye.

A very young and ambitious Hannes in 2004
Tharina Coetzer and Miranda Ntlatseng

We have state of the art equipment that enable us to look at cross sections of the retina allowing views of individual layers only a couple of micron thick. With all equipment having a digital foundation, patients can see everything that we see inside the eye and information can be shared with colleagues across the globe in a second. Contact lenses exist now which reshape your cornea while you sleep, allowing you to see the next day without glasses.

Multifocal lenses, that used to take two weeks to manufacture, can be manufactured in-house within an hour. Having diagnostic- and therapeutic drug privileges, our practice can diagnose and treat many eye conditions establishing us as a true primary eye care provider. These are but a few advancements in the past 20 years and we can’t begin to fathom what the next 20 years may bring.

Blessed in abundance, I would like to thank:

  • my loyal patients over the years for entrusting me with their most valuable sense, sight!
  • my exceptional staff. I am very appreciative of each employee who tirelessly devoted his/her time , at present as well as in the past, building a trusted and respected eye care practice.
  • my wife Izelde, for always entertaining my sometimes overzealous endeavours, must be exhausting at times.
  • God, for granting me the grace, wisdom and means, to run a successful practice.

Today 20 years later, older and wiser, I am still as passionate as ever about eye care and I look forward to welcoming you as part of my practice soon!

Hannes Zwarts

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