HDL (“good cholesterol”) is important for heart health, but its relationship with age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is surprising. Both very low and very high HDL levels have been associated with an increased risk of AMD in some studies, suggesting that the healthiest range for the retina may lie somewhere in the middle rather than at…

One of the smallest muscles in your body is the superior tarsal (Müller’s) muscle, a tiny strip of smooth muscle in the upper eyelid that helps keep the eyelid lifted. Unlike the main eyelid-lifting muscle, Müller’s muscle is controlled entirely by the sympathetic nervous system—the same “fight or flight” system that responds to stress and…

Mild differences in vision between the two eyes are very common, and the brain usually blends the images so seamlessly that you never notice. The difference becomes starker when one eye is covered. In fact, many people don’t discover they have a “better eye” until they cover one eye at a time during an eye…

Just as most people have a dominant hand, nearly everyone has a dominant eye. Eye dominance usually goes unnoticed in everyday life, but it becomes especially important when planning certain “monovision” treatments with contact lenses or cataract surgery. In these treatments, one eye is intentionally focused for distance and the other for near vision. Surprisingly,…

I often hear patients say that their vision is worse after a long day, even though their eye exam is normal. In many cases, the culprit isn’t permanent eye damage but issues with the tear film. The tear film on the surface of the eyeball is an essential part of the focusing apparatus of the…

When your eyes move, the image on your retinas shifts dramatically, yet the world does not appear to jump or blur. When a camera shifts quickly, the image does blur/jump. So what’s the difference? For the eye, the brain briefly suppresses visual awareness during these rapid eye movements, allowing us to experience a smooth and…

While ophthalmologists have been talking about using different visualization methods for surgery for years, past attempts haven’t been that great. We use microscopes to operate, so we have historically always leaned into the oculars of a microscope to see what we are doing for surgery. There have been headsets and big TVs that have been…

Obstructive sleep apnea is a disorder that affects people during their sleep, causing them to have intermittent periods during which they do not breathe properly. These intermittent breathing issues during sleep lead to drops in oxygen levels. Drops in oxygen have been linked to several eye diseases, including some diseases of the optic nerve. Since…

On almost every patient that I see, I start my exam by instilling yellow drops in their eyes. Many patients wonder what purpose they serve. The yellow color comes from fluorescein, a dye that allows me to look at the tears in the eye. Normally, the tear film is clear, so it is harder to…

“My eyes aren’t good anymore because I’m getting old.” I hear this all the time, but I don’t really think that it is true. There’s always a specific issue decreasing the vision that, while it may be more common at older ages, is not something that affects everyone. There are certainly very elderly folks who…