Specs Around Town is more than just an optical boutique. Owner, Julie Kubsch, ABOC has worked in the Ophthalmology and Optometry industry for over 24 years. She has been a dispensing optician since 1981 and has her Associate Degree in Ophthalmic Dispensing. Julie and her staff bring a special kind of care and style in helping their clients choose the best eyewear for their lifestyle and vision needs.

Eye health is the result of a working partnership between you and your eye healthcare provider. Ophthalmologists, optometrists, and opticians work collectively and with the patient to ensure good eye health and life-long vision.

You should visit your optometrist or ophthalmologist for an eye exam at least once a year.
The staff at Specs Around Town Optical Boutique offer these helpful eyecare articles for your benefit.

Proper Lens Cleaning | Crash Test | Experience Crizal Essilor | Water World
For Kids | For Baby Boomers | Computer Vision Syndrome

Crizal® No-Glare Lenses: Live Life in the Clear™ Crizal No-Glare lenses are the market leader of No-Glare (Anti-Reflective) ophthalmic lenses. Crizal lenses are worn and trusted by over 150 million people all over the world. Crizal lenses are unlike any other pair because you can: See Better Crizal lenses mean safer, more comfortable nighttime driving by reducing glare from headlights, taillights and street lights Look Better Crizal lenses are clean, clear, and glare-free so they're virtually invisible to those around you. People see you instead of your glasses Feel Better Crizal lenses mean fewer headaches and less eye fatigue caused by reflections from computer screens and daytime lights Crizal No-Glare lenses provide you with clearer vision by reducing: Glare Scratches Smudge Dust Water

Experience the Crizal difference! Take a virtual tour of Paris looking through Crizal lenses: Visit CrizalUSA

Proper Lens Cleaning

By Karlen McLean, A.B.O.C., N.C.L.C.

Few people properly clean lenses, resulting in scratched products that require remakes. Despite advances in top and hard coats plastic and even glass lenses can still get scratched. Scratches make seeing stressful and tiring, affect impact resistance, and weaken lenses.

EVERYDAY HAZARDS

While most everyday products won't do immediate damage to lenses, independent testing shows significant damage after a year of regular use is simulated.

• Clothing. Clothing and dirt particles in clothing can leave fine scratches on lenses.
• Dish soap. A few mild dish soaps won't harm spectacle lenses, but extra-strength dish soaps can slowly disintegrate lens coatings.
• Glass cleaners. Highly corrosive glass cleaners are not made for non-glass material.
• Tissue/paper products. Dry paper products can grind dust and paper fibers into lenses, resulting in scratches. Even with water, paper can't remove oils, most sprays (like hair spray), or fingerprints.
• Rubbing alcohol. While often used to remove ink marks needed for cutting lenses and marking PALs, long-term use of rubbing alcohol can damage lens coatings.

Crash Test: SR-91 Saves Her Face
A Kaenon Testimonial . . .

Nancy Lee Andrews of Nashville is not only a rock and roll photographer, but now a die-hard Kaenon fan.
Here is her story:
"I was recently in an accident and was wearing my Kaenon sunglasses. I fell and smashed my face, but luckily my Kaenons shielded my eye and the bones surrounding it. The lens took the brunt of the pavement—but the only damage to the sunglasses was deep abrasions to the lens. The frames are perfect—I wish my lip and face were as lucky! My mouth, lips and cheek suffered badly but the rubber nose rests scraped across the bridge of my nose without cutting through the skin. The doctor said the gash on my nose could have been a laceration and/or a broken nose but due to the Air Bag™ nose guards on my Variants they slid across the skin leaving only a bruise.The doctor commended the structure of my Kaenon Polarized Sunglasses. I was amazed that the lens had deep scrapes and the structure of the sunglasses remained in perfect shape."

Children's Eyes

Does Your Child Need An Eye Exam

It's back to school time and along with books and supplies, have you thought about a comprehensive eye exam? Consider this...
80% of what a child learns during the first 12 years is obtained through vision.
1 in 4 children has an undiagnosed vision problem
For the ten warning signs that may indicate your child has vision difficulties, click here.

For Baby Boomers

You are the generation that rocked the world. You are the Baby Boomers - and you carry more social and consumer power than any other generation in America. You brought the world rock and roll, Woodstock, the sexual revolution and civil rights for all.

You've seen a president assassinated, the Beatles come to America, the Vietnam war and the birth of Microsoft.But you can't see the menu without holding it halfway across the table.

It's called presbyopia, and it's the natural, gradual loss of the eye's elasticity and the ability to focus on objects close up. It happens to most people as they reach the age of 40 or 50.

Varilux® progressive lenses are the most technologically advanced solution for presbyopia, offering the closest thing to natural vision.

Varilux progressive lenses give you:

•  A clear field of vision, allowing you to take notes while viewing a presentation
•  Immediate visual correction, allowing you to switch seamlessly from computer work to other activities, or read a magazine and watch TV at the same time
•   True peripheral vision, which allows you to participate in sports and see cars entering from side streets while driving
•  Ease of wear - which means you'll feel natural wearing Varilux and stop switching glasses forever.

Eyewear Solutions for Computer Vision Syndrome (CVS)

Last year 10 million computer users sought eye care for computer related complaints - eyestrain and fatigue; headaches; burning, red and dry eyes; blurring of the screen; distance blur after working on the computer; and intermittent double vision. Studies show that 50-90% of computer users have visual symptoms.

At Specs Around Town we will discuss computer eyewear solutions with you. Occupational multifocals, computer lenses, progressive additions lenses, anti-reflective coating, lens tinting, lightweight lens materials and proper frame selection and fitting can help you obtain significant relief from CVS symptoms.

Here are a few simple suggestions for relieving CVS.

• Maintain good posture
• Place monitor 20-28 inches from the eyes and position it so you are looking down slightly
• Use an adjustable holder placed close to the monitor for reference materials
• Blink frequently or use over-the-counter artificial tears to moisten eyes
• Give eyes a break by frequently looking away from the monitor for a few seconds
• Keep glare on the screen at a minimum by turning the monitor away from the window, avoiding strong overhead lighting or using an anti-glare scree

Access® Computer Lenses

Access, a lens designed especially for computer and office use, is a progressive with no distance zone--just wide intermediate and near zones positioned for either viewing the screen or the desk. With wide, clear vision out to ten feet, Access is perfect for helping to ensure comfortable vision while working in an office.

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