In the celebrity world who has lost their sight to Glaucoma? Which rockstar is sporting a 'bionic eye'? What is a retinal detachment; and which celebrities have had eye related injuries on the set of movies?

Every day we are bombarded with gossip about celebrities in magazines, but here at Gerry & Johnson Optometrists we are only interested in celebrities with eye problems and how they have strived to deal with such issues. Stevie Wonder, who has been blind since shortly after birth, is an American singer-songwriter and activist as famous for his music as he is about his lack of vision. Wonder’s blindness is a result of his premature birth - the blood vessels at the back of his eyes had not properly developed, causing his retinas to detach. The medical term for this condition is retinopathy of prematurity, or ROP, and while it may have been exacerbated by the oxygen pumped into his incubator, this was not the primary cause of his blindness. 

Another interesting celebrity case is lead singer of British Rock band Radiohead, Thom Yorke. Thom spoke up about his condition in an interview,

“When I was born my left eye was completely paralysed. My eyelid was permanently shut and they thought it would be like that for the rest of my life. Then some specialist bloke realised he could graft a muscle in, like a bionic eye. So I had 5 major operations between the age of nought to 6. They messed up the last one and I went half blind. I can kind of see, I can judge when I hit something but that’s about it.”

Ray Charles' story is quite inspirational as his blindness never stopped him from learning to ride a bike, play cards, use stairs or even fly an airplane. Ray Charles  merely used other senses; he judged distance by sound, and learned to sharpen his memory. He lost his sight at the age of five not long after witnessing his brother’s drowning. However medical experts agree that glaucoma was the culprit, not trauma. According to Glaucoma Australia, glaucoma is the ’Sneak thief of sight’ and is the leading cause of irreversible blindness worldwide. Glaucoma is part of a group of eye diseases in which the optic nerve at the back of the eye is slowly destroyed. In most people this damage is due to an increased pressure inside the eye - a result of blockage of the circulation of aqueous, or its drainage. In other patients the damage may be caused by poor blood supply to the vital optic nerve fibres, a weakness in the structure of the nerve, and/or a problem in the health of the nerve fibres themselves.

After a mishap on-set, Shia LaBeouf was quoted discussing the gruesome eye injury he received while filming the Transformers sequel. LaBeouf impaled his face on a spike, leading to heavy bleeding, but there was fortunately no permanent damage. LaBeouf isn’t the only celebrity who’s received an eye injury on-set – in 2006, Teri Hatcher was injured while filming Desperate Housewives after a light bulb exploded. As a result of the explosion, Hatcher had glass shards lodged in her eye and a scratched cornea, but recovered shortly thereafter.

Other injured celebrities on-set include Halle Berry, who got smoke grenade shards in her eye filming Die Another Day, and Daniel Craig, who suffered from a bruised eye filming Casino Royale. Finally, some celebrities have received attention for undergoing laser eye surgery – Tom Cruise, Nicole Kidman and Tiger Woods, to name a few. As this procedure becomes more and more commonplace, there will no doubt be increasing numbers of celebrities seeking treatment to correct their visual problems once and for all.

Gerry & Johnson Optometrists definitely don't like to focus on negative eye issues, as we strive to give everyone the vision to achieve their best! However, we do like to educate our patients about how the eye works and what issues may arise. If you ever have any questions about your eyes, no matter how menial we are happy to give you advice and answer your questions. Our optometrists Kate, Courtenay and Marissa are always happy to answer technical questions and our optical dispensers Katie, Anna, Leah and Elle will be happy to answer questions about contact lenses, optical lenses, specialised sunglasses and other vision correction options. We look forward to hearing from you :) 

Animals’ eyes are so different to ours, some animals can look behind their heads and others are colour blind; but we all have something in common…. We all need good vision!

Did you Know?

• The largest eyeball on the planet is 18 inches wide, about the size of a large watermelon and it belongs to The Giant Squid.
• An ostrich's eye is bigger than its brain.
• A chameleon's eyes can look in different directions - at the same time.
• Dogs can’t tell the difference between the colours red and green.
• Dolphins sleep with one eye open.
• Many hamsters blink only one eye at a time.
• An ant has only two eyes. But each eye contains lots of smaller eyes. This is called a ‘compound eye’.
• The shark cornea has been used in eye surgery, since its cornea is similar to a human cornea.
• The night vision of a cat is amazing! In order to see they require only one-sixth as much light as a human. They cannot, however, see in total darkness. When enough light is not available, they use their whiskers to feel their way around.
• Cats’ eyes offer them almost 285 degrees of sight in three dimensions. This is ideal vision for hunting.
• Cats do see in color, and can distinguish yellow, blue, and green hues. Their eyes are best, however, at detecting movement, and shades of gray.
• Crocodiles are color-blind.
• Crocodiles are blind in the water but have very keen sight in the air.
• Owls are the only bird that can see the colour blue!

Love at First Sight Means 8.2 Seconds of Eye Contact

SAY IT WITH YOUR EYES THIS VALENTINE’S DAY

It is said that our eyes are the "windows to our soul" outwardly conveying our feelings without words or movement. Love at first sight is the instantaneous attraction that is felt during the first visual contact with a person...or 8.2 seconds of eye contact. Studies have shown that love at first sight is possible, taking just milliseconds for the brain to react after locking eyes on the one

New York psychologist, Professor Arthur Arun, has been studying the dynamics of what happens when people fall in love. He has shown that the simple act of staring into each other's eyes has a powerful impact. He asked two complete strangers to reveal to each other intimate details about their lives. This carried on for an hour and a half. The two strangers were then made to stare into each other’s eyes without talking for four minutes. Afterwards many of his couples confessed to feeling deeply attracted to their opposite number and two of his subjects even married afterwards. 

Interesting fact, when we are interested in what we are looking at our pupils dilate. In medieval Italy, women put belladonna into their eyes to make them look bigger. In fact, bella donna means 'beautiful lady'. However, this is not recommended, as belladonna is a kind of poison! 

Falling in love at first sight is probably the most romantic thing that can happen to you, so it would make sense to take good care of your eyes. At Gerry & Johnson Optometrists we first and foremost recommend that you have regular eye tests to maintain healthy eyes and vision, but there are also some general tips to promote brighter eyes to help them sparkle for your special someone.

• Plenty of sleep – this can help reduce unsightly bags or dark circles

• Cucumber slices placed over closed eyes for 10-15 minutes help to reduce puffiness

• Carrot Juice – contains a great deal of beta carotenes which are powerful antioxidants that can encourage brighter more beautiful eyes

• Eye drops such as TheraTears is specialised lubricating drops that will relieve dry eyes, keeping them looking white and bright.

This Valentines Day, enjoy your loved ones and remember the important role your eyes played or plays in your love life. Treat them well and I am sure they will reward you! 

Conveniently order your contact lenses via www.gjo.com.au

We are excited to introduce you to our one-step online contact lens ordering! With the click on the icon on our home page, you can fill in your details and we will contact you when your lenses arrive. We take care of all of the details for you, and guarantee 100% order accuracy and next day delivery*.
You can still call us to order your lenses, or use our SMS reminder system if you prefer. Our one-step online ordering now offers you an easy way to ensure you never run out of contact lenses, at any time of day.

*if collected in our practice and ordered before 12pm, for most contact lenses

Ultraviolet radiation and your eyes

Despite 60 per cent of Australian adults being concerned about UV damage to their eyes , nearly half of them fail to always wear sunglasses or UV protective lenses on sunny days. Accumulated UV exposure to your ryes can lead to cataracts, macular degeneration (a leading cause of blindness), cancer and pterygium (a fleshy growth on the cornea). Even short bursts of unprotected UV exposure can lead to eye pain, irritation and sensitivity to light. The key to protection from harmful UV light is to start young and make it part of your child's routine. 

All exposure to UV radiation, regardless of how short, adds up in the longer term.  

Protecting your eyes from UV damage

Stay out of the sun between 10am and 3pm; Make UV protection, including sunglasses or Transitions® lenses, part of your everyday routine; Ensure your eye protection meets Australian Standards; Wear a hat. This can reduce the amount of UV reaching your eyes by 40 per cent; Choose sunglasses with side protection and a bridge setting as close to your eyes as possible without touching your eyelashes; For sport, consider more durable, glare-reduction sunglasses or UV protective contact lenses. Transitions® lenses that automatically adjust to changing light conditions provide convenient UV and glare protection for prescription lens wearers. If you have an existing lens prescription, check that your sunglasses prescription is also current.

Sunglasses | Protective Eyewear

Just like teeth, your eyes need regular check-ups too. Your optometrist will look for eye conditions or abnormalities, test your vision and focusing, and look for general eye health problems that may also be diagnosed by looking at the eyes. You may not know when you have an eye problem. Eye examinations with one of our optometrist take about half an hour and attract a medicare rebate. 

We recommend polarised sunglasses to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays. At Gerry & Johnson Optometrists we stock a large range of sunglasses for all budgets. We highly recommend Maui Jim sunglasses as they are fitted with premium patented polarised lenses that block 100% UV rays, reduce three types of glare whilst bringing out colours and making your surroundings look truely beautiful. Maui Jim are great for people that wear contact lenses or dont need glasses but they are perfect for people that would like perfect, protected vision out of a set of prescription sunglasses. Maui Jim have their own lab in Hawaii, which means they can fit a large range of prescriptions in a diverse range of frames. They deliver amazing look sunglasses in the largest range of presciptions!

Please give Elle a call if you are interested in any Maui Jim styles.
Visit Maui Jim to browse styles and feel free to pop in and experience the amazing Maui Jim polarised lenses :)