Eye Health Services

Our complete vision analysis and eye health examinations are more than just vision correction! Did you know that your eyes reveal insights regarding your overall health? In fact, your eyes provide early detection of many different diseases that can affect more than just your vision! That’s why we routinely perform tests that look for signs and symptoms of many different diseases, not just eye diseases, during your regularly scheduled eye health evaluation.

Through your eyes, Optometrists and Ophthalmologists can identify early signs of health conditions including high blood pressure and diabetes. That’s why it’s so important to leave your total eye care to professionals. We feel it’s important to review your family history, then monitor and watch for signs of possibly inherited diseases or illnesses as another precaution.

Here’s what we check during your routine eye health evaluation:

• Eyesight – Of course, we are always checking your eyesight to ensure proper vision. Your total eye health is extremely important to us and we do everything we can to make sure you receive the best personalized care possible.
• Cornea – Did you know that the curve of your cornea determines how the light reflects into your retina and the type of image produced? We use the latest technology to measure your cornea, record your vision, then consult and recommend the best options available to you.
• Glaucoma – We check for Glaucoma, a disease where high levels of pressure inside of your eye are present when your eyes fail to regulate internal pressure. Early detection of glaucoma is crucial to prevent the loss of sight.
• Cataracts – We watch for cataracts when the internal lens of your eye becomes cloudy and necessitates cataract removal. A referral to Ophthalmologist Dr. John Dvorak would be recommended.
• Eye Muscles – We also conduct a series of tests that assess the ability of your eye muscles to make sure that both eyes are working as a team!

Few things affect the quality of your life more than your eyes. Please don’t put them at risk! Start off right by seeing an eye care professional who provides full-service care in assessing your medical needs, your lifestyle, and the highest quality contact lenses available to meet your needs, and proper training to ensure great vision.

When choosing the perfect eyeglasses for yourself or your family, remember that the lens manufacturer matters. At Glenwood Family Eye Center, we use top of the line, quality lens manufacturers that are located right here in Minnesota.

Based on your eye exam, prescription, and vision history, the staff at Glenwood Family Eye Center will discuss the different lens types and frame brands with you and make recommendations on what’s best for your eyes and lifestyle.

We understand that every patient’s vision needs are unique. That’s why we carry all the latest in eyeglasses fashion and technology to best accommodate your entire family including:

• Designer Eyeglasses
• Designer Sunglasses
• Kids Glasses
• Safety Glasses
• Sports Lenses
• Impact Resistant Lenses
• Bifocal Lenses
• Trifocal Lenses
• and More!

We’ll help you select the perfect lenses to compliment your frames and your lifestyle! Plus, complimentary adjustments are always available – just stop in.

With advancing technology in contact lenses, most everyone is a candidate for some form of contact lens. We offer gas permeable and soft hydrogel contact lens options.

Depending on your prescription, visual requirements, and desires, contact lens options consist of:

• Single vision lenses to correct nearsightedness, farsightedness, astigmatism, and presbyopia
• Multi-focal lenses to provide distance, intermediate, and near vision while maintaining depth perception
• Daily wear disposable lenses to be replaced each day, every two weeks, monthly or quarterly.

Advances in contact lens technology have provided high oxygen transmission soft lenses for nearly all prescriptions. Due to the amount of oxygen transmission these particular lenses provide, most are approved by the Food and Drug Administration to be worn overnight (extended wear).

It is important to remember that contact lenses are prescription medical devices. Various brands are designed and manufactured differently. The selection of a particular contact lens is based on your vision problems, prescription, eye health, comfort requirements, lifestyle, age, and physiological factors like tear flow.

At Glenwood Family Eye Center, our staff will discuss the different lens types and brands with you and advise you on the lens choices that are best for your eyes. Because everyone’s eyes and vision needs are different, contact lenses are available with varying schedules for removal and replacement. We’ll teach you how to properly clean and wear your new contact lenses to maximize vision and minimize potential risks.

We make sure that vision correction not only helps you see better but also helps you feel better. That’s why Glenwood Family Eye Center offers contact lens evaluations. Contact lenses aren’t right for everyone, but they may be right for you. Even if you have astigmatism or need bifocal lenses, we may have a solution.

Contact Lens evaluation includes:

• A thorough review of your vision history
• A thorough examination of your corneal tissue
• A consultation session with your eye doctor, including recommendations and options

Enjoy the freedom that contact lenses provide!

Your vision is always our primary concern. At Glenwood Family Eye Center, we offer vision correction for eye diseases and disorders. We specialize in the treatment of macular degeneration, glaucoma, dry eyes syndrome, eye infections and eye injuries, low vision, and cataracts. We effectively correct vision conditions, such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and presbyopia.

Our vision correction services aren’t just about clear vision – they’re about healthier vision. That’s why our practice offers a variety of treatment options including glasses, contact lenses, and vision therapy.

Vision therapy is available at Glacial Ridge Hospital. Experienced Occupational Therapist Tammy Vig is trained in vision therapy. Call 320-634-2015 for an appointment.

Ophthalmologist Dr. John Dvoark treats a multitude of eye conditions at Glacial Ridge Hospital both surgically such as cataract removal and non-surgically including eye injections. Dr. Dvorak sees patients at our eye center twice a month.

Did you know that 80% of everything a child learns, understands, and remembers is acquired visually? Vision is very important in the learning process. One in four children has undiagnosed vision problems that affect their learning. Sometimes the problem is misdiagnosed as ADD (attention deficit disorder), ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or dyslexia.

At Glenwood Family Eye Center, we know it’s important that children receive comprehensive visual exams starting as early in life as possible. Vision screenings at school can help but may not identify underlying vision problems. A comprehensive exam will determine any visual problems, and your eye doctor can recommend treatment.

Signs that your child may suffer from a visual problem:

• Struggles with reading
• Grows tired or frustrated with reading
• Can’t sit still or stay at a task for any length of time
• Reverses words, numbers, or letters
• Has difficulty remembering the spelling of words
• Frequently loses their place, skips words, or skips lines of text while reading
• Has poor reading comprehension
• Has shown no improvement from medication or tutoring

Children suffering from uncorrected vision problems may face many barriers in life – socially, academically, and athletically. Make sure your child’s vision is developing well with complete eye exams from preschool through adulthood.

At Glenwood Family Eye Center we are happy to help athletes. Vision is a key element to being successful in sports. Improving your vision can improve your performance.

Here are some aspects of vision that can be the difference between victory and defeat:

• Dynamic visual acuity is your ability to see objects when they are moving fast. This is important in sports like hockey, baseball, and tennis.
• Visual concentration is your ability to ignore distractions happening around you. Your eyes naturally react to movement in the field of vision from spectators, other participants or the playing environment.
• Eye tracking is following an object with your eyes without much head motion. It is important for any sport that involves a fast-moving ball. Good eye tracking will improve balance and reaction time.
• Eye-hand-body coordination is how your muscles and limbs react to the information gathered by your eyes. It affects timing and body control.
• Visual memory is the ability to process and remember a fast-moving, complex picture of people and things. It is very important in basketball, hockey, and soccer, where the game quickly moves up the field. Visual memory helps you know where your teammates and opponents are positioned.
• Peripheral vision is the ability to see what is not directly in front of you, out of the corner of your eye. This allows you to see your teammate to your left or right while focusing on the goal in front of you.
• Visual reaction time is what allows a batter to hit the ball, or a tennis player to return a serve. It is the speed with which your brain interprets and reacts.
• Focus flexibility allows a quarterback to quickly focus on his receivers even though they are at varying distances.
• Depth perception lets you judge distance. This is especially important in basketball, golf, and other sports involving distance to the goal.

By improving these aspects of your vision, you can improve your performance, no matter what sport you’re involved in.

Though some vision problems can be treated using corrective lenses, many require a different kind of treatment. Vision therapy is a series of activities or exercises prescribed and monitored by an optometrist or occupational therapist to treat problems with visual skills and processing. After a comprehensive eye exam here at Glenwood Family Eye Center, your eye doctor will determine if vision therapy is the best treatment option for you. Vision therapy programs are based on the results of standardized tests and the needs of our patients.

Vision therapy is administered at Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood, Minnesota under the guidance of a licensed Occupational Therapist trained in vision therapy. Sometimes a number of visits are required over a period ranging from several weeks to several months. Your therapist will teach you techniques and exercises to practice at home to reinforce the developing visual skills.

Vision therapy can effectively treat eye movement disorders, inefficient eye teaming, misaligned eyes, poorly developed vision, focusing problems, and other visual information processing disorders.

Cataracts are generally related to aging and are very common. In fact, by age 80, half of all Americans have either developed cataracts or have had surgery to remove it. Cataracts form slowly and progress to the point of cloudy vision, but do not impair vision initially.

Symptoms you can look for early on and tell your eye doctor about include:

• Halos around lights and increased difficulty seeing at night
• Reduced vibrancy in colors
• Increased sensitivity to light and the glare from lights
• Frequent changes in your glasses or contacts prescriptions
• Blurred or double vision

An annual visit to your eye doctor can also help identify cataracts early on.

Treatment for Cataracts

If a cataract minimally affects your vision and lifestyle, treatment may not be needed. Minor changes can provide a short-term improvement in vision. It’s when the cataract progresses to the point of affecting a person’s everyday tasks that surgery may be needed.

Cataract Surgery

Cataract surgery is performed by an Ophthalmologist on an outpatient basis. Small incisions allow removal of the cloudy natural lens and implantation of an artificial lens. Thorough instructions are discussed with patients undergoing cataract surgery, including a detailed eye drop schedule, to help make sure the eye heals properly.

Dropless Cataract Surgery

A newer procedure called Dropless Cataract Surgery can also be done at Glacial Ridge Hospital. During Dropless Cataract Surgery, antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medication are placed in the eye at the time of surgery. These are absorbed by the eye over the next month, providing patients the benefit of antibiotics and anti-inflammatory medicines without needing drops. This results in improved protection from bacterial infections and – you do not have an eye drop schedule to remember to administer afterward. If you need cataract removal, talk to Dr. Dvorak to see if you are a candidate for Dropless Cataract Surgery. Dr. Dvorak performs both types of cataract surgeries and other eye surgeries at Glacial Ridge Hospital in Glenwood.