Infinite Eye Care Gives Back—From Infants to Roller Derby

At Infinite Eye Care, we are dedicated to improving the lives of our customers and our community, whether that’s by giving the best care for your family’s eyes or by making an impact in the world around us. Here are some of the ways we are involved in our local and broader community.

Strides Against Breast Cancer

The “Infinite Pink” team will be participating in the American Cancer Society’s Making Strides of Central Minnesota walk. Our goal is to raise $1,500 to support the fight against breast cancer, and we need your help! You can join the team and walk with us on October 14th, or make a donation. A $20 donation gets you an “Infinite Pink” t-shirt!

InfantSEE

Infinite Eye Care is proud to offer free InfantSEE assessments for children ages 6 months to 1 year. These evaluations are recommended in addition to your child’s eye exam done by your pediatrician. 1 in every 10 children is at risk from undiagnosed eye and vision problems. The InfantSEE session may include assessing eye movement ability, eye health, and excessive or unequal amounts of nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism, allowing for earlier identification and treatment of these issues.

Back to School Screenings

Dr. Tom and other volunteers have recently helped screen approximately 800 kids in area school districts. It was found that over 35% of the kids needed referral for further assessment by local eye care providers. Of them, about 50% are not currently wearing any corrective lenses and have probably not been to see an eye care professional.

Identifying when children need further assessment can be a major benefit to parents, and we’re happy to help our local students in this way.

Reading Bug Program

Infinite Eye Care wants to encourage young readers to keep up their interest in books throughout the summer months. Whether children are reading on their own or enjoy books read to them (through our “Read to Me, Please” Program), the Reading Bug Program encourages kids to sign up to win prizes as they reach the goal of 10-15 books through the summer!

SCAR Dolls Sponsor

There is nothing quite like the speed and tenacity of our local Roller Derby team, the Saint Cloud Area Roller Dolls. Infinite Eye Care is proud to sponsor this local team of athletes.

Eyeglasses Recycling

We are proud to support the Minnesota Lions Club Eyeglass Recycling Initiative, and we are a collection site for used glasses. Don’t throw them away; recycling them at our location!


We believe that meaningful relationships don’t just apply to the patients walking through our doors, but that we are part of something bigger. We hope you will be a part of some of our philanthropic initiatives in the local community!

Pregnancy and Eye Exams

Is it unsafe for a woman to have her eyes dilated for an eye exam during pregnancy? 

Absolutely not! It is completely safe to have a comprehensive eye exam while pregnant, it is even recommended! Pregnancy, especially the resulting hormonal changes, can cause vision changes that may need to be monitored or treated by a physician.



Conditions that increase your risk of vision changes:

If you have diabetes (including gestational diabetes), high blood pressure, or glaucoma, you are more likely to experience vision changes during your pregnancy. The same is true if you have taken fertility treatments. A comprehensive eye exam can detect issues early and appropriate treatment can be provided.

Vision changes that may occur:
Vision changes you may experience during pregnancy include:

Dry eyes - may make contact lenses uncomfortable. This can be treated with eye drops.

Corneal swelling - can make it difficult or impossible to wear contacts, but will likely subside after delivery or breast feeding. 

Prescription changes - your refractive error might change during pregnancy. You may require a new prescription if you wear glasses or contacts. This change may be temporary, but it may also be permanent. If you do need a new prescription during your pregnancy, you will need to be reexamined after delivery or breast feeding to see if the new prescription is still right for you. An eye exam will allow for the proper prescription throughout the entire pregnancy.

Sensitivity to light - caused by hormone-triggered migraine headaches. An eye exam can determine if hypersensitivity to light is causing headaches.

Dr. Tom will take the time to discuss the individual concerns of each patient. Expectant Mothers should take special care of all aspects of their health. A comprehensive eye exam during pregnancy will help Mom maintain her overall health and wellness.

Infinite Eye Care is also an InfantSEE provider. Even if no eye or vision problems are apparent, the American Optometric Association recommends scheduling your baby's first eye assessment at 6 months. Click HERE to learn more about InfantSEE and Infinite Eye Care.

Never Too Early

As Infinite Eye Care has mentioned a couple of times this month, January is National Glaucoma Awareness month. Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually steal sight without warning because there are no symptoms and once vision is lost, it is permanent. Although the most common forms primarily affect the middle-aged and the elderly, glaucoma can affect people of all ages. The bright side to all of this: it’s preventable!!!

The cure is as simple as receiving an eye exam. Even though this process is quick and painless, 2.7 million people in the United States over age 40 have glaucoma because they do not catch it early enough. Even more astonishing, half of those individuals still don’t know that they have it.

In addition to adults, we recommend that all children receive eye exams.

Minnesotans who are parents of newborns are strongly encouraged to bring their young ones in for a FREE eye exam. The best time to examine the eyes, though it may seem young, is between 6 and 12 months. This effort is being performed all over the United States in an attempt to catch vision problems as early as possible.

Here at Infinite Eye Care, we provide a service called the InfantSEE program. This program is designed to ensure that eye and vision care become an essential part of infant wellness care to improve a child’s quality of life. Under this program, Dr. Tom provides a comprehensive infant eye assessment as a no-cost public service.

While it may sound like it would be pretty tough to check the eyesight of an infant, the test is tailored for the very young, as it includes preferential looking to see if they’re looking at specific targets.

Talking about glaucoma is not meant to scare you. However, it is meant to make you more aware of a growing disease that is 100% preventable if the right precautions are taken. Please make an appointment for yourself and your family members. It’s never too early!