Dr. Bodkin and the staff at The Vision Center at Seaside Farms would like to wish you and your family a very wonderful Holiday Season and we hope we have helped you 'see' the joy this past year!  We would like to thank everyone for your support and help in making this such a wonderful year.  We look forward to seeing each of you again next year and getting to know you better.  We will be looking into new ideas for events and promotions for the coming year, so stay tuned by subscribing to this blog , 'liking' us on , or following us on .

We will be closed on Friday, December 24th, Thursday, December 30th, and Friday, December 31st. 

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

It’s that time of year again – time to think about helping those less fortunate in our community to have a wonderful Christmas.  The Vision Center at Seaside Farms is teaming up with Toys for Tots again this year to provide toys to those families in need.  Toys for Tots is a program that has been run by the United States Marine Corps and Marine Corps Reservists since 1947.  The mission of the U. S. Marine Corps Reserve Toys for Tots Program is to collect new, unwrapped toys during October, November and December each year, and distribute those toys as Christmas gifts to needy children in the community in which the campaign is conducted.  Their goal is to deliver a message of hope to less fortunate youngsters that will assist them in becoming responsible, productive, patriotic citizens.

To help collect more toys, we are offering a $50 credit towards your eyeglasses purchase when you bring in a new, unwrapped toy to donate to Toys for Tots.  You can also donate your $50 credit to the program instead of taking it towards your purchase.  Even if you don’t need a new pair of glasses, bring in a toy, or two, to help fill our bin.

Please tell all of your friends and family members about this so we can collect as many toys as possible to help the Marines provide a joyful Christmas to even more children this Holiday Season.

November is National Diabetes Awareness Month.  Did you know that diabetes can affect your vision and even lead to vision loss?  Diabetes accounts for 8% of all cases of legal blindness and is the leading cause for new cases of blindness in adults aged 20-74.  Each year almost 24,000 people will lose their vision due to complications from diabetes.  Things are especially bad here in South Carolina where we have the 10^th highest prevalence of diabetes in the US with more than 10% of our local population suffering from diabetes and 20% of those have visual complications from their disease.  Unfortunately, less than half of those people have had an eye exam in the past year.   A comprehensive eye exam is the easiest way to detect early signs of diabetic retinopathy.

To help educate the public and provide care to more people, The Vision Center at Seaside Farms is having its annual Diabetes Awareness Day on Tuesday, November 30^th.  We will be providing free diabetic eye screenings as well as providing in office educational videos to patients.  If you are in need of a diabetic eye screening or know someone who does, please call our office to schedule your appointment.  Space is limited.

We will also be accepting donations for the American Diabetes Association to help in their efforts to fight this near epidemic disease.

These awesome Guy Harvey Special Edition Maui Jim Sunglasses will be released on November 15th, 2010.  We will be having our launch party on Tuesday, November 9th from 4-7 PM.   We will have the 12 piece collection on display and will be taking pre-orders.  Each order will receive a free gift.  There will be champagne and hors d'ouerves and we will even be holding a drawing to win a free pair!

Here is some more information about the upcoming Guy Harvey Special Edition Maui Jim Sunglasses. 

• 4 designs: Grander, Yellowfin, Sailfish, and Mahi Mahi
• Frames feature Guy Harvey art inside and out
• Maui Evolution or SuperThin glass lenses
• Polarized Plus 2 protection and color enhancement
• Full, black mirror offers subtle, low reflectivity that is cosmetically pleasing
• Prescription lenses available, including progressives
• Prescription lenses available with traditional silver or bronze bi-gradient mirror tint

We are still waiting to hear about an official release date.  Once we learn that date and we have demonstration frames available (should be shipping the first week of November), we will announce a date for our private launch party!  Stay tuned for more details.

Do you have a great costume idea for Halloween?  Are you going to be a character from Avatar? Maybe you’ll be dressing like Lady GaGa?  If so, then you will probably be looking for a pair of costume contacts.

Costume contacts can be a great way to enhance your costume and give it that final touch (think Michael Jackson in the Thriller video).  But they can also be very dangerous if bought and used improperly.  Just like clear contacts, costume contacts are considered a medical device and are regulated by the FDA.  This means that they have to be tested and approved by the FDA for safe wear.  It also means that you cannot purchase the lenses without a valid prescription.

Dr. Bodkin will be glad to work with you to find the right contacts for your costume and ensure they fit properly.  Schedule today to make sure you have plenty of time to be fit with your new lenses prior to Halloween.

As I wrote last week, overnight wear of specialty contact lenses (orthokeratology) is a successful method of vision correction for nearsightedness, farsightedness, and astigmatism.  Aside from the main benefit of not needing glasses or contact lenses throughout the day, another advantage of orthokeratology is emerging – nearsighted (myopia) control.

In children, most often their vision becomes more nearsighted due to a lengthening of the eye as they grow.  Researchers have long searched for the mechanisms that control this eye growth.  The answer may finally be here.  There are two published studies that show this elongation is slowed dramatically in patients who wear overnight orthokeratology lenses versus their peers who wear soft contact lenses or glasses.  These studies are relatively small but show very promising results and have led to three larger studies that are underway.  The largest of these studies is the Stabilizing Myopia by Accelerating Reshaping Technique (SMART) Study.  This study will involve a large sample of children and follow them over a 5 year period to assess the efficacy of orhokeratology in the control of myopia.

Feel free to contact Dr. Bodkin if you have any questions or are interested in learning more.

Do your contact lenses bother you throughout the day? Are you tired of wearing glasses? Are you unsure about LASIK? Then orthokeratology may be right for you!

Orthokeratology (Ortho-K) is the science of changing the curvature or shape of the cornea to affect how light is focused on the retina at the back of the eye.  Ortho-K achieves this change using a contact lens that is worn while you sleep.  The cornea is responsible for most of the eye's corrective power and contributes to various conditions such as nearsightedness (myopia), farsightedness (hyperopia), and the blur of astigmatism. 

Ortho-K was discovered more than 40 years ago when doctors noticed that their hard contact lens patients saw better after taking their lenses out than they did prior to putting them in.  This concept was applied to new lens designs and Ortho-K eventually received FDA approval.  Today, Ortho-K is approved for children of all ages as well as adults.

Ortho-K involves the fitting of a specialty rigid gas permeable contact lens that is worn overnight.  This retainer lens will gently change the shape of your cornea.  Upon wakening, the lens is removed and your vision will be clear throughout the day.  The retainer lens will need to be worn most nights, although some patients can achieve clear vision with less frequent wear.

The best part about Ortho-K is that it is a non-surgical, non-invasive, completely reversible vision treatment.

For a video about how Ortho-K works, please visit: http://okglobal.org/videos/index.htm

Stay tuned for future posts that will discuss the added benefits of Ortho-K.

Guy Harvey, world-renowned artist, photographer, scientist and conservationist, has teamed up with Maui Jim to create his own line of unique sunglasses, due out this fall!  Once a release date has been scheduled, we will be hosting a private launch party here at The Vision Center at Seaside Farms.  To ensure you are one of the first people to sport these first-release, limited edition sunglasses, please stop by and make a $20 deposit for each pair you would like to buy.  This will guarantee you an invite to the private launch party, at which time you can place an order.  We will have demo versions of the sunglasses at the party to allow you to see the sizes, styles and colors of each design.  We will also be holding a drawing to win a free pair of these Guy Harvey edition Maui Jim sunglasses!

 So stop by, call, or email us and reserve your spot to experience Guy’s new Maui Jim sunglass collection.  The best performing polarized sunglasses on the market look even better with Guy’s distinctive art! 

*fine print – Your $20 deposit does not guarantee delivery of sunglasses.  Full payment must be received before the order will be placed.  The deposit is non refundable, but should you decide not to purchase the Guy Harvey edition sunglasses, it can be used towards any other service or product we offer.

It’s that time of year again – Back To School.  We all know it means we need to get our children prepared for the new school year.  This includes buying school supplies, new clothes, new shoes, and an annual physical from the pediatrician.  But did you also know it is the best time for your child to have a comprehensive eye exam?  Vision problems can result in big issues at school and impede their learning process.  Correcting these issues prior to the school year can save you and your child a lot of stress and frustration. 

The most common vision issue is myopia (nearsightedness).  Myopia causes blurring of objects at a distance.  This will result in your child having difficulty seeing things on the board or projected onto a wall.

Another common problem arises when your child’s eyes do not function properly together, this is known as a binocular vision disorder.  When this is occurring, your child will have trouble tracking objects or following along lines of text in a book or on a computer. 

An inability to focus the eyes properly (accommodation) is another vision disorder that can affect a child’s performance.  The child will often have trouble keeping words (in a book or on a computer) in focus for extended periods of time and may even develop headaches from trying to strain their eyes to focus correctly.

All of these problems, and many other less common issues, can impede your child’s progress and ultimately frustrate them.  A comprehensive eye exam can detect any issues your child may be facing and a treatment option can be implemented.  Don’t wait for your child to tell you they can’t see as most children do not realize they are having a problem.  Early detection also allows for easier and better treatment of the problems found.