Winter Driving in the Dark…Be Safe!

Your safety when winter driving is extremely important. It can be nerve wrecking and dangerous to drive in the dark, especially on slippery roads. Darkness affects your peripheral vision, depth perception, and color recognition. If the driver is older, more light is required to see well. If you're tired, reactions become slower. The age of the driver and energy level can also be important factors.

How you respond to dangers on the road depends entirely on your vision, the strength of your vision decreases greatly in the dark. To avoid accidents, here are some tips to make sure you and your loved ones are taking the best safety precautions possible this winter:

• Remove snow from the roof and windows because that snow can fall onto the windscreen and ruin your view. It can be a major hazard to other drivers on the road as well.
• Try turning on the air conditioning, it’s faster for diminishing and reducing condensation on cold windows.
• Make sure your headlights are working, nothing is worse than having a light out to further worsen the visibility. 
• Consider buying night vision glasses.
• If you’re feeling sleepy, chew on something to keep you alert and awake!
• Don’t be a speed demon; driving slow on a winter night is perfectly okay! Black ice can be quite deceiving so hit your breaks early enough to avoid a collision.
• Make regular eye exam check ups to ensure you have the correct prescription.

If you have any other questions about vision and winter driving in the dark, don’t hesitate to call Dr. Tom and the gang!

What You Should Know About Diabetic Retinopathy

If you have diabetes, there’s an eye disease you need to know about. Diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in American adults today. This disease is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina. In some cases, the blood vessels may swell and leak fluid into the eye, causing blocked vision, vision loss and even blindness.

What are the warning signs?

In many cases, the early stages of diabetic retinopathy yield no real symptoms. In fact,

people with this disease may not realize any vision loss until the disease is in its advanced

stages. And, since there is usually no pain associated, diabetic retinopathy can progress a

long way before being detected.

How is it detected?

Persons with diabetes should have a thorough eye examination at least once a year. As part of the exam, your eyes should be dilated to allow an eye care professional to see more of the inside.

Who’s at risk?

Anyone who has diabetes is at risk for developing diabetic retinopathy. The longer a person has diabetes, the greater the risk. Research indicates that nearly half of all diabetics develop some degree of this disease during their lifetime.

Can diabetic retinopathy be treated?

Laser surgery can now reduce the abnormal blood vessels on the retina, reducing the risk of severe vision loss by up to 90 percent. Laser surgery can also be used to “seal” the leaking block vessels caused by the disease.

Can it be prevented?

Unfortunately, anyone with diabetes can not prevent this disease 100%. But, studies show that better control of your blood sugar level can slow the onset and progression of this disease later on in life.

If you or someone you know has diabetes and has questions about diabetic retinopathy or any other eye disease, please call Infinite Eye Care at 320-257-4990. We are care about the health of your eyes!

Cold Air, Dry Eyes

Now that Minnesota winter is well on its way, our eyes get to take on all the battles that the below zero temperatures bring. Our eyes are quickly irritated and dried in the winter months and Minnesota gets to experience four very cold months. Eye injuries occur in high winds, cold weather, and winter activities like skiing or snowmobiling. Some symptoms from cold temperature exposure include: eye pain, blurred vision, double vision, or sensitivity to light.

Also, frozen tears and dry eyes are not fun. Ever wonder why our eyes water in the cold weather? The cold air stimulates the production of tears to protect the eyes and acts as a lubricator. It’s actually a normal response that yes, can be annoying.

We strongly encourage that you use eye protection by using goggles with UV protection while skiing and other winter activities. This is crucial if you want to decrease the risk of injury and eliminate the issue of dry eyes when flying through the cold air.

For light sensitivity, put on those sunglasses! It is perfectly healthy and normal to wear sunglasses during the cold winter days, it’s still the same UV rays as the summer. We guarantee you won’t get any funny looks!

Dry eyes and contact wearing may be the worst combination in the winter. Your contact lenses soak up the moisture. It may be worth looking into finding some rewetting drops to keep your eyes moist!

For the most obvious and easy tip to keep your eyes healthy and hydrated, water! We promise your eyes will thank you!

For any other questions related to dry eyes or light sensitivity in any season, stop by our office and we would be happy to answer them!

New face at Infinite Eye Care!

We are happy to announce that we a have new Director of Operations at our clinic, Jeff Udy!

Jeff graduated from Central Lakes College in 2005. He came to Infinite Eye Care by a chance of fate. Jeff had a mutual friend of Dr. Tom who needed help delivering some items to clients in St. Cloud and this just happened to be Jeff’s last week at his previous job. His friend told him about the open position at our clinic, and he kindly referred Jeff to Dr. Tom. Very soon after, Jeff met Dr. Tom and everything fell into place. Jeff felt he was meant to be there and he sure fits right in!

Jeff chose Infinite Eye Care for several reasons, “First, Dr. Tom is a great Doctor and just as great of a person. His devotion to many different charities and events just made me feel like this is a great business. His staff is a core group of people to build with. One of the main reasons I decided to come and work for IEC is the challenge that has been laid out for me here. My super competitive spirit makes me want to do everything I can to take IEC to the next level of greatness,” and there you have it!

Jeff’s favorite part about working at Infinite Eye Care is the great people that he gets to work with every day. He also mentioned the hours are very ideal for his life right now. His favorite part of the overall eye care industry is the look on a person’s face when they put on their new glasses and can clearly see the difference.

Jeff would love to meet you at Infinite Eye Care and we are looking forward on seeing his talent and hard work pay off!

Did You Catch The Bug?

We had A LOT of fun at Infinite EyeCare this summer! We got to be involved with Ladies Night Out in Sauk Rapids a few times, which was a blast! More importantly, we hosted a great event for kids at our clinic. Our “Reading Bug” program was a great success!

What is the Reading Bug program?  Every Summer, Infinite Eye Care provides a program giving motivation for kids to read by offering prizes to EVERYONE turning in a reading log to our office between June and the end of August. It is fun for the kids and truly a joy for us knowing we are making a difference. One reason we strongly believe in children reading over the summers is because the “summer slide” causes the average student to lose up to one month of instruction.

This blog post is to send out a HUGE thank you for all that participated. Many kids entered the contest and the three winners were chosen throughout the summer! For the final three, there was over $100 in prizes in a brand new back pack. Everyone who participated received some sort of reward. J Everyone deserves a prize for keeping up the brain power during the summer months- we know it can be a challenge! It was such a treat for us to see kids coming in excited and ready to submit the list of books they read.

The program would NOT have been possible if it weren’t for our fantastic sponsors! These include; Space Aliens, Domino’s, Dave and Busters, Air Maxx, Great River Bowl, Summerland, The Skatin’Place, and Marcus Theatres! It’s great to see local businesses supporting such an awesome and prevalent cause.

We hope to have a great turnout next summer so make sure you keep your eyes peeled this spring for all of the details! 

We Know How To Do Frames At Infinite Eye Care

At Infinite Eye Care, we strive to create the best possible experience for our clients. Part of doing this is being experts in different frames. This ranges from knowing what is popular, stocking a variety of different types and knowing what glasses go well with your face shape.

When browsing our website, you may be wondering what our best selling frames are. For women, the Zyl (which are plastic like) are a top seller. Overall, large eye size frames are quite popular- Police, Gant, and London Fog all offer these thick, larger size frames! For men, black or dark colored frames, metal, and smaller eye size frames are top sellers. Examples of brands that offer these features are Callaway, Evatik, and Michael Ryan. For the kids, the brands Bongo, Jallepeno, Quick Silver, and Superflex are usually their top choice! A lot of kids like neon, vibrant colored frames.

We know frames can be quite the investment, so how often should you replace your frames? We recommend one new pair every one to two years, depending on how rough you might be on your frames. Sun Rx frames should be replaced every two years. When purchasing your next pair of sunglasses, consider transition glasses. These sunglasses can be used both indoors and outdoors. For people on the go, this may be the best choice! On top of this, we offer anti-reflective glasses. 

As far as picking out the right shape of frame for your particular face shape, a way to find out your shape is by pulling your hair back and look into the mirror. The general rule is playing against your facial contours. Find the right pair of glasses for your face shape here.

At Infinite Eye Care we take pride in that we provide a wide selection of frames for you to choose from. We are always ready to help you find the right type of glasses that work best for you. When you stop in at Infinite Eye Care you will truly see that we have the perfect frames for you! 

Meet Dr. Tom

In Dr. Tom’s own words “Infinite Eye Care is an extension of myself. I want to create a relationship with my patients. I want to give them one - on - one personal service. Infinite Eye Care will provide the best care, look out for the best interests of our patients and give back to the communities we serve.”

Dr. Tom completed his undergraduate work at St. Cloud StateUniversity. He earned his medical degree from Pacific University (Forest Grove, Oregon) in 1989. Dr. Tom researched various eye clinics on the west coast and in the Midwest. None of the opportunities felt right to him so he came back to St. Cloud, where he discussed employment with many local eye care facilities,  but finally decided to join the newly opening Walmart Vision and Eye Care Center in south St. Cloud. For the next 16 years Dr. Tom served the Greater St. Cloud publics’ optometry needs from this Eye Care Center location.

Although Dr. Tom enjoyed his years of services in the corporate world, something was missing.  Dr. Tom dreamed of a practice that would allow for more personal service, better diagnostic equipment, a high quality inventory of product and more autonomy.

Dr. Tom began to seriously consider opening his own eye care center in 2008. Seemingly small events can often shape a persons future. It was one of these “small events” that crystalized Dr. Tom’s Future. He and his 14 year old son were driving around Sauk Rapids searching for a potential location if he chose to open his own eye care clinic. His son looked over at Dr. Tom and asked, “Dad, what if you open your business and it fails?” This question became the catalyst for a life changing event. After carefully considering the question, Dr. Tom responded to his son “It is better to try and fail then to never have tried.” Sounds a bit corny maybe but Dr. Tom meant it from the bottom of his heart. Talk about a teaching moment!

Dr. Tom opened Infinite Eye Care in Sauk Rapids on May 1^st 2009. Failure was never an option. When the business opened, it immediately employed three local people. Today Dr. Tom employs five people.

He is proud to bring his personal brand of care to the patients who usually become his friends. Dr. Tom’s one – on – one attention combined with the finest equipment and high quality inventory of eyewear have made Infinite Eye Care the “go to” eye care clinic in the Greater St. Cloud marketplace. Dr. Tom takes great “pride of ownership” in his business. He really does believe that Infinite Eye Care is an extension of himself. He is proud of the community involvement that both he and the business engage in. Dr. Tom and his staff visit the local nursing homes monthly. He is an active member of the local Lions Club. In 2012 Dr. Tom was honored to receive the Lion ClubHelen Keller sight award. Dr. Tom is an active supporter of the Anna Marie’s Shelter (for battered woman an their children). Infinite Eye Care is a very active member of the Greater St. Cloud Chamber of Commerce. Dr. Tom visits elementary schools every year, providing free vision check ups to the kids.

Five years ago Dr. Tom’s mother was honored to receive the “Citizen Of The Year” award from Lake Benton, the community she resides in. Dr. Tom remembers her one sentence acceptance speech… “Where else but in America could you receive an award for only doing what you should be doing.”

The next time you’re in downtown Sauk Rapids stop in and say hello to Dr. Tom and his staff. Chances are you will arrive a stranger and leave a friend!