To enjoy the summer sun, Westside Optometry is featuring cat eye sunglasses as the July Style of the Month.
Margaret, Maureen and Peg are modeling 3 different color combinations. To see all 5 colors and and an alternative style by Cole Haan, click here.
It is hard to escape backlit screens, computers, smartphones, video 
games and tablets. The increased use of technology can put a strain on our eyes and visual systems. Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS) includes headaches, eyestrain, blur at distance and/or near, dry eyes, irritated eyes, watery eyes and tired eyes.
For some computer users, CVS symptoms are temporary and go away once ceasing computer work. If the symptoms aren’t addressed, they can continue and may worsen upon further computer use.
Ways to alleviate eyestrain from computer use:
To learn more about relieving computer vision syndrome click here.
It is important to protect our eyes from the sun. Excessive Ultraviolet (UV) radiation can do significant damage to bodily tissues, including the eyes. Proper protection of the eyes includes a combination of reducing exposures, using caps and visors with a wide brim, in addition to ophthalmic protection (sunglasses and/or UV blocking contact lenses).
Only 6% of Americans know they need sun protection for their eyes. Fortunately, 73% of adults wear sunglasses. What about the kids? Less than 44% of children wear sunglasses. It is more important for children to wear sunglasses than adults. Here are 13 reasons why children should wear sunglasses:
damage accumulates over a lifetime causing cataracts and other eye conditions.Starting this month Westside Optometry is featuring a “Frame of the Month.” 
Our first featured frame is a blast from the past, a metal – plastic combination.
The Chesterfield frame comes in 2 colors (tortoise and black) and 2 sizes.
If you like the idea and look of the material combination, but want something rounder, check out our Kate Spade designs.
Welcome to Westside Optometry!
Your eye exam will include questions about you, how you use your eyes, your health and visual challenges. Preliminary testing includes keratometry (measure of the surface of the eye), photographs of your fundus (retina, macula, optic nerve head), and visual field testing.
Drs. Griffith and Staton will refract your eyes (find spectacle prescriptions for distance, near and possibly the intermediate range). We will thoroughly exam the health of your eyes. This includes dilating the pupils to do a complete examination of the inside of the eyes. The dilation typically lasts 3-4 hours. Most people are comfortable driving afterwards, we recommend sunglasses. Working on a computer or at near may be difficult immediately after your exam so schedule your day accordingly.
The doctors will discuss their findings and recommendations with you. This may include, treatment for dry eye, glasses, contact lenses, LASIK, safety glasses or referral for cataract consultation.
Westside Optometry is a Sports Eye Injury Prevention Center. We have added a complete collection of sports frames in all sizes, styles and colors. Nearly all sports related eye injuries are preventable.
If your child wears prescription glasses, what does she do with them before 
walking out onto the soccer field? Take them off so they don’t get broken. Now she can’t see to play her best. I bet she has a pair of cleats, shin guards… Doesn’t a pair of sports goggles sound like a good idea?
Children between 5 and 14 are at most risk for eye injuries playing baseball and softball. Basketball represents the greatest risk for eye injury for older children.
Come by to see the options.
Athletes depend on their gear to perform to their personal best. For example, if you’re a cyclist, your performance is heavily influenced by the bike maker and construction, sprocket ratios, derailleur, shifters, seat and tube, wheels, fork pedals.. Each part of the bike and the clothes you wear contribute to your safety and performance. For cyclists who wear prescription eyewear, the right outdoor eyewear is as important as the bike or cycling gear. Athletes have different visual needs for their unique sport.
Sports specific lenses are the sum of the component parts:
1. Optics – Clear vision as required for the way in which the athlete uses the lens.
2. Color – Tints and filters that boost color contrast to enhance performance in each sport’s environment.
3. Coating – Automatic back surface anti-reflective coating to eliminate the backside reflections that can hide important objects and affect split-second decisions. The AR coating also must repel dust, water, and oil for better visibility while providing longer surface durability.
4. Protection – Provides improved impact resistance, safety and absorbs 100 percent UVA and UVB radiation.
5. Finishing – ensuring a close and aesthetically appealing fit which can be enhanced by features like venting to reduce the occurrence of fogging.
Let Westside Optometry enhance your sporting experience.
Most people wouldn’t dream of mowing the lawn barefoot. But most people don’t hesitate to weed-whack without protective eyewear. Eye injuries from rocks and debris thrown by household tools like lawn mowers, chain saws and weed trimmers occur daily.
In California, OSHA regulations and enforcement of personal protective equipment have reduced the number of injuries in the workplace. Now most eye injuries happen at home.
What makes safety glasses safe?
Safety frames must pass two rigorous impact tests, which dress frames do not undergo, to be marked Z87 (the ANSI, American National Standards Institute, requirement). A special device call an Alderson Head Form, which simulates a physical human head is used.
The High Velocity Impact Test
A 1/4″ steel ball traveling at 150 feet per second is directed at different designated positions on the front and side of a frame glazed with plano lenses. No contact with the eye or head form is permitted as a result of the impact, nor shall any parts or fragment be ejected from the protector that could contact an eye of the head form.
The High Mass Impact Test
A pointed projectile weighing 17.6 ounces is dropped from a height of 51.2″ on a glazed frame. No parts or fragments shall be ejected from the protector that could contact an eye of the head form.
Prescription Safety Frames
If you need correction to see, safety frames can be made with prescription 
lenses that meet ANSI. The lenses and frame will have Z87 on them. The lenses must pass a drop ball test. (A 1″ steel ball is dropped on the lens from 50″ high.)
Please note that safety glasses and sports glasses are not interchangeable. Sport glasses do not need to pass ANSI tests and safety glasses are not appropriate for sports applications.
If you are working in the yard or the garage, put on a pair of safety glasses. Westside Optometry has different styles of ANSI approved safety glasses to make in prescription. We offer safety frames in plastic and metal materials with side shield options.
To see chart of eye hazards and the recommended protective device, click here.
Eyeglass lenses that darken and lighten depending on the light level are called photochromic. Transition is the trade name for photochromic lenses. Transition lenses offer more than clear corrected vision. Like our eyes which are constantly adapting to changes in light levels, Transition lenses have trillions of molecules that respond to changing light conditions. Our pupils dilate and constrict all day long. It doesn’t seem like much but over the course of a day it can all add up to eyestrain and fatigue. Transition lenses filter the light for you so your eyes don’t have to work as hard, allowing your eyes to stay relaxed and comfortable all day long.
Transition Vantage is a technological breakthrough where lenses are virtually clear indoors and darken and polarize outdoors. They filter even more harsh glare caused by light bouncing off everyday objects such as cars, water and the street. The polarization level adjusts to match the level of outdoor glare.
Most prescriptions can be made in Transition lenses. Ask us, next time you visit the office.
Baseball is the leading cause of eye injury in players 14 and under. Players are contending with a high-speed projectile (the ball) and swinging bats. Due to the velocity of the ball or bat, nothing can guarantee complete injury protection, but sports protective eyewear can greatly lessen the risk of serious injury.
The number of kids playing organized sports is on the rise and so is the number of sports-related injuries. What many players, parents and coaches do not realize is 
that the majority of injuries occur during practice and not during games, making it crucial that kids wear protective equipment for practices and games. More than 90% of all eye injuries can be prevented with the use of appropriate protective eyewear.
If your child plays a sport that requires a helmet or faceguard, don’t make the mistake of thinking he or she is protected from eye injuries. The eyes are still exposed to danger from sports equipment or an opponent’s fingers penetrating the openings of a facemask. Likewise, if your child wears glasses, everyday fashion eyewear is not held to the same protective standards as regulation eyewear products labeled as protective eyewear for sports use. The lens in you child’s regular eyeglasses could easily pop out and puncture or cut the eye. A frame mangled from impact could also injure the eyes and ocular region of the face.
Make the decision to add protective sport goggles to the equipment bag. Many eye injuries are caused by blunt trauma, such as from a ball, stick or elbow. A pair of sport goggles, equipped with polycarbonate lenses, can be sight savers since they help keep the eyes and the surrounding ocular region safe. At Westside Optometry we have all sizes and colors of sports goggles. We can also put prescription lenses into them.