Dr. Scott Sylvia - Optometrist

While spectacles are increasingly in vogue most young people tend not to want to wear eyeglasses. As a child comes of age in their adolescent years their self-image begins to form. Some research suggests that the inclusion of glasses in that image detracts from the development of self-confidence.
In the past the professional contact lens fitters have had concerns about fitting very young people to contact lenses. The failure to fully disinfect a lens once it has been opened and worn can lead to serious sight threatening complications. The complexity of the care regiment, for these re-useable designs only added to the potential for non compliance. In addition, these older lens designs slowed the flow of oxygen to the still growing eyeball and with little research to provide answers we always took the side of caution in waiting as long as possible to fit young eyes to contact lenses.

With the introduction of single use contact lenses, we are much more comfortable fitting younger eye with lenses. Single use contact lenses allow the wearer to open a fresh, clean and sterile contact lens each day. Now with more than 15 years of experience dispensing these modern lens materials and a wealth of international research, we are confident that young eyes can safely wear lenses for many years.

The cornea is the clear window on the front of your eye. It comprises a vast majority of the transparent tissue in the human body. It is a remarkable structure; five individual layers of living tissue dependent upon a myriad of mechanisms to keep its clarity while providing you with sharp vision. When you place a contact lens on this delicate structure you disrupt its intricate balance. For every individual cornea there is a well fitting contact lens.

It is the job of your eyecare professional to assure that tiny piece of plastic floats gently on the tears preserving the integrity of the tissue beneath while providing clear sharp vision. Not just today but as you wear those contact lenses day in and day out over a lifetime. Because your vision is just important to you now as it will be twenty, thirty or even fifty years from now.

We have access to designs from every major manufacturer. We do not push one model. Through an extensive evaluation of your eyes we will determine the best contact lens for you. The reason that there are a virtually unlimited number of contact lens designs is that every eye is distinctly different. More distinct than a fingerprint, each eyeball requires something unique to assure the comfort and vision of a contact lens. We always think about what is best for you.

We have established relationships with designers and manufacturers of soft, gas permeable, rigid and hybrid contact lenses. We have the skill and experience to fit each of these specialty designs to assure your comfortable wear, good vision and ongoing eye health.

We use the latest innovations in equipment to measure your eyes to guaranty your comfort, vision and continued eye health.

Contact Lenses come in many forms and perform many functions.
Soft Contact Lenses:
Soft contact lenses are soft, supple and they even fold in half. But, it is their size that makes them so tolerable. They are large enough to fit well under the eyelids and are therefore remarkably comfortable, even if you have never worn them before. These designs come in a wide range of replacement schedules.

Colored Contact Lenses:
These lenses come in a wide array of colors. They can enhance your natural eye color or change that color completely. Modern technologies give you a natural look in the eye color that you have always wanted.

Theatrical Lenses:
For those interested in a wide variety of contact lens designs from extreme vivid colors to wild eye designs, we fit an extensive collection of theatrical lenses for your performance on the stage or in your life!
Lenses for Astigmatism:
A contact lens rests on the clear window in front of the colored part of your eye. Rarely is this tissue the same shape in all directions. Most eyes have a small amount of irregularity called astigmatism. Most eyes need a correction for a refractive error (see your prescription) that can be provided by a standard or spherical contact lens. If you have a greater amount of astigmatism your eyecare professional will fit you to a “toric” lens.
One of the reasons that a soft lens is so comfortable is that it drapes over your cornea. But, this allows an underlying irregular shape to transfer through the lens. A spherical contact lens will allow you to see better than with no correction, you will not see as well as you do with your glasses. “Toric” is Latin for two curves, and just like your spectacles, a toric lens has two curves cut on the back of it which align to the different curves on the front of your eye. These lenses provide great comfort and great vision.

Multifocal Contact Lenses:
Single vision lenses let you see in the distance. When you also need help with reading, we can fit you to a bifocal contact lens. Spectacle bifocals have the distance correction on the top of the lens and the extra power for reading at the bottom. We have never been able to create a really effective contact lens that has allowed us to keep the reading segment in the right position. So all bifocal contact lenses use some combination of concentric rings. This allows you to see at distance and at near. We offer experienced contact lenses fitters who will use the latest innovations to provide you with good vision at distance, near and everywhere in between.

Rigid Gas Permeable Lenses:
While once reserved for the more complex prescriptions, high degrees of myopia or large amounts of astigmatism, rigid lenses are once again, increasingly popular. Originally we made rigid lenses from a plexiglass like product, the material used for storm doors. This plastic provided great clarity of vision, but did not allow oxygen to pass through to and provide nutrition for the cornea. As a result, we had to make the lens very flat so that it would rock and draw oxygenated tear film under the lens. This meant that the bottom edge of the lens literally stuck out and bumped the lid as the wearer blinked.

Modern gas permeable materials allow a high volume of oxygen to pass right through the lens. And, modern manufacturing technologies allow us to use complex designs that mimic the shape of the cornea, vastly improving wearer comfort.

Providing Superior Vision:
 Rigid or gas permeable lenses are firm. Rather than draping over the cornea they float on top of that delicate tissue. Each lens is in essence two lenses. The first lens is the contact itself which forms a new, smooth surface for the front of eye. The second lens is the layer of tear between the back of the contact and the front of the cornea.

Damaged Corneas and Eye Disease:
Your Parrelli Optical® skilled, professional contact lens fitter can use this unique lens design to create a tear layer that will neutralize any corneal irregularity that might be found in a damaged or diseased tissue, including keratoconus, pellucid marginal degeneration of corneal transplants.

Complex Prescriptions:
Modern, computer generated manufacturing technologies allow us to fabricate far more intricate designs than ever before. At Parrelli Optical® we use our expertise to design lenses for complex prescriptions like astigmatism, bifocals and multifocals. Each of our gas permeable lenses is individually designed and custom fabricated for your eye affording almost anyone comfortable wear and great vision.

Dry Eye:
Modern soft lenses are generally 50% tear film when they are on the eye. That means you need to produce enough tear to keep that lens hydrated, comfortable and functioning well. A rigid lens material is less than five percent water, so that you only need enough tear to float that lens on your eye. Many dry eye patients find gas permeable contact lenses quite comfortable.

Rigid Gas Permeable contact lenses remain the only responsible annual replacement contact lenses. A daily cleaner and separate storage solution for safe disinfection and healthy lens wear are indicated on a daily basis.

Gas permeable contact lenses require an extra level of professional expertise to design and build. Our eyecare professional has the experience to improve your vision and your comfort.
Exciting New Lens Designs

Gas permeable contacts are firm and yield exception sharpness of vision. They can correct a wider range of vision problems. The firm lens floats on the front of the eye providing new ocular surface for irregular, diseased or surgically altered corneas. These lenses also provide much more oxygen to the delicate cornea that other materials.

Some eyes, due to genetics, damage or injury are hyper-sensitive to contact lenses. A hybrid contact lens provides the best answer for these patients. Hybrid lenses are made from two different plastics. The center portion of a hybrid contact lens is a gas permeable lens that provides high definition vision. The periphery of the hybrid contact is soft. This outer ring is supple and it slides under your eyelids to provide exceptional wearing comfort.

Benefits:
Hybrid contact lenses can offer you the best of both worlds. Your brain receives the high-definition visual acuity and your eye receives the extra oxygen associated with gas permeable lenses, but more importantly, you also get exceptional comfort delivered by soft contact lenses. Hybrid contact lenses are indicated for keratoconus, corneal ectasia, problems reading, high amounts of astigmatism and for the hypertensive eye that is intolerant of other designs.

Your physician will determine the most effect course of treatment. Anti-inflamatories, steroids, antibiotics and surgery for more dramatic cases are options available for treatment. Uveitis The uvea is the middle layer of the eye. It consists of the ciliary body which holds the crystalline lens behind the iris, the chroid which is the rich vascular network that nourishes the retina, and the iris which is the colored part of your eye that controls the amount of light entering the globe by adjusting the size of the pupil. Uveitis is a painful inflammation of some part of the Uvea. Uveitis is a general diagnosis used to define an inflammation within the eye. It can be further classified as front (anterior), middle (intermediate) or back (posterior). This inflammation can present in a single incident or in chronic reoccurring episodes. Steroids are used to quiet the body’s inflammatory response and are the first treatment choice for uveitis that is not bacterial in nature. The prognosis is usually good for patients receiving prompt diagnosis and treatment. Iritis The iris is the colored part of your eye, just behind the clear cornea. The hole in the center of this structure is the pupil. The iris regulated the amount of light entering the back of the eye. Inflammation of the iris is called iritis. Infections and disease are common triggering agents. But, many times no cause for the inflammation can be identified. Iritis can be acute or chronic. Acute iritis presents rapidly, can clear on its own or may require medications to quiet the response. Acute iritis rarely causes visual impairment. Chronic Iritis which will reoccur unexpectedly over many years is much more difficult to treat. Chronic iritis typically does not respond to medications. Information provided in the Website is intended to aid in your understanding of the eye and its operation; it will not replace your physician. Have you eyes examined annually.

Blepharitis: Red Irritated Lids
Blepharitis is an inflammation of the eyelids. Some people are more prone to blepharitis. Individuals of Celtic descent, light complexion, light hair and or light eyes are at greater risk. Their symptoms include red, swollen or crusty eyelids.

The tear film is made up of three layers. The inside layer is mucous that holds the middle aqueous, or watery layer, on the front of the eye. The outside layer is an oily film that is secreted by meibomian glands which empty along the edge of the lids just behind the lashes.

When the middle aqueous or watery layer of the tear film lessens, the oil from the meibomian glands is not diluted and it starts to collect at the base of the lashes. Blepharitis occurs when skin cells that slough off and would normally be carried away when you wash can now be trapped in this oily build up. These dead cells then become a source of bacteria which can cause infections within the lid or on the front of the eye. Blepharitis is of particular concern to contact lens wearers.

Careful attention to lid hygiene, particularly in times of season change can prevent blepharitis. When you wash your face, use a face cloth to gently rub along the edges of the closed eye to prevent the oily build up. Frequent warm compresses can also open the glands and purge them of debris. Ask the eyecare professionals at Parrelli Optical® about medicated scrubs to treat blepharitis.

Red Eye, Conjunctivitis and Subconjunctival Bleed
The eyeball has a limited number of ways to react to insult, the most common is redness. There is a thin mucus membrane (parts of the eye) that lines the inside of the eyelid and folds over to cover the outside of the eyeball. Inflammation or irritation of this tissue can lead to red eyes.

Subconjunctival Bleed: There is a vast network of blood vessels just below the surface of the white part of the eye. Even a single drop of blood leaking from the tip of one of these delicate vessels can lead to significant redness in the eye. Eye rubbing, coughing, sneezing and even the pressure of the finger tips pinching to remove a contact lens can result in this form of red eye. This can also be an indication of high blood pressure of other systemic disease. While in most cases the red eye will clear over several days you should always consult your eyecare practitioner for treatment

Bloodshot Eyes: The eye can become very dry due to systemic problems (see dry eye) or in reaction to transient environment conditions, medications, drug or alcohol use. In response to dry eyes the blood vessels just beneath the sclera (parts of the eye) fill with blood and become closer to the surface and cause red eye. Generally, drops designed to get rid of the this form of red eye, treat the symptoms by constricting those blood vessels, as these drops wear off the blood rushes back, enlarging the vessels further, requiring continuous use. Rewetting drops and whole body hydration treat the cause and resolve the red eye.

Conjunctivitis: An inflammation of the conjunctiva can lead to red eyes and has several causes.
Bacterial Conjunctivitis: A bacterial foreign to the eye can cause considerable swelling of the conjunctiva and redness on the front of the eye and excess thick, green-colored mucus production. Often the patient awakens with their eye, literally glued shut by this discharge. Starting in one eye the infection will usually spread to the other eye. Left untreated this infection can spread from hand contact or towel sharing to other members of the family. Antibiotics will often resolve the red eye in five to seven days.

Viral Conjunctivitis: A virus can lead to the same symptoms as a bacterial conjunctivitis. The major difference in that the discharge is usually white in color. While antibiotics will not resolve this form of red eye, some patients experience relief from the symptoms of dryness and itching caused by the virus and a doctor may prescribe them.

Allergic Conjunctivitis: Airborne pollens or other particulates can trigger an inflammation of the conjunctiva and lead to a mild red eye reaction. Again, the symptoms are very similar to the other forms of conjunctivitis except the discharge experienced is usually clear. Special over-the-counter drops can be recommended, or more potent prescription medication can be prescribed by the Eye Doctors associated with Parrelli Optical®