As Eye Care Practitioners (ECPs), we find ourselves in the position of “fixing” vision problems after they’ve been diagnosed. Glasses, contact lenses, vision therapy and more come out of our toolbox to help those who can no longer see clearly. But, with a nod to an old saying, what can we do to fix it before it’s broke?

Leonardo da Vinci made tremendous contributions, not only to art and science, but to optics as well. He foretold the invention of contact lenses when he had a visually impaired man open his eyes in a bowl of water and the man’s vision improved. Da Vinci also aggressively studied the nature of light and anatomy. According to Historian of Art, Martin Kemp, “He planned to make a glass model of the eye to confirm how it functioned. If he understood how optics worked in the external word, and how the eye functioned, he should be able to make paintings that looked like a ‘second nature.’ This means that naturalism is not the taking a kind of ‘photograph’ of nature but reconstructing and demonstrating how nature works.”

The brutally cold weather that swept across much of the country recently may have affected more than your heating bill. Eyes are resilient in the extreme cold, but can still suffer negative effects. Patients may have some unusual complaints, so we must be alert, know the facts, and share the information with our patients.

Black Friday and Cyber Monday have come and gone. Have you finished your holiday shopping? I’ve barely scratched anyone off my list, but even if you’re ready to ‘wrap things up,’ there’s something to keep in mind if your gift list includes children. December is Safe Toys Month, and Prevent Blindness reminds us that each year, thousands of children younger than 15 suffer serious eye injuries from toys.