(Photo: Rhiannon Richer at St Pats)
Optometrist Rhiannon Richer had the pleasure of spending a day volunteering at St Patrick’s Community Eye Clinic.
She prescribed and dispensed donated spectacles to those underprivileged.
This is her third year volunteering at the clinic.
She said that “it’s always a warming experience witnessing the gratitude expressed by those I spend the day testing”
Introducing Cruiz, one of our many young patients from Perth Children’s Hospital
We met when Cruiz was 5 months old due to cataract surgery. He now wears contact lenses and spectacles.
Cruz’s mother left a comment on our Facebook Post:
” We couldn’t be more blessed to have Damon and the Ezekiel Eyes take care of Cruiz’s sight 👓 as well as our family.
Always making us feel like family from the start, any hour of any day and night you’re all so responsive during some desperate low times.
Through all the very difficult times you have all held our hands and saved us with all your knowledge and gentleness.
Forever grateful and forever family cause you’re stuck with us for his life 🥰🥰🥰🥰 ❤️❤️❤️❤️ the appreciation I have is bigger then you’ll ever truly know. Damon is my hero 🦸♂️”
After 20 years of dedicated and professional service to Ezekiel Eyes, our terrific Optical Dispenser and Technician Tom Gordon has retired.
I am sure there are many of you who have had the privilege of Tom’s service.
In particular, Tom had amazing skills in resurrecting patients’ damaged frames.
Some of these frames had been sat on, stepped on, destroyed by children/grandchildren or lovingly chewed by dogs.
I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge Tom’s incredible commitment to our team and to our patients, and wish him all the best in his retirement!
(L to R): Tracey Bowes, Ellen Balduk, Melanie Morris and Tom Gordon
This is also an opportunity to extend a very warm welcome to Rhiannon Richer, our new Optometrist (far right in photo below)
(Our Team: Left to Right): Melanie Morris, Ellen Balduk, Damon Ezekiel, Tracey Bowes, Rhiannon Richer
Rhiannon has a Masters from the Queensland University of Technology and has worked in various roles in Queensland and Western Australia.
She has settled in to Ezekiel Eyes very well and is quickly learning our different processes and systems.
As well as finding motivation in knowing her patients have received the best care possible, Rhiannon is particularly experienced in the examination of children’s visual systems and is undertaking the fitting of all our various contact lenses.
Optometrist Rhiannon Richer
Rhiannon enjoys a challenge and a laugh. This has led her into various roles with a drive to expand her clinical skills, including working for multiple Ophthalmologists in Brisbane as a student, and in Perth as a graduate.
This ambition to learn led her to contract work where she worked for numerous clinics around regional Western Australia.
She brings this drive to Ezekiel Eyes and is excited to meet you.
When not at work, you’ll find Rhiannon learning a new skill, on her boat, camping or with her nose in a good book.
I know you will join me in making Rhiannon welcome.
One of our patients, Sonia, just picked up her new Multifocal Glasses today.
Watch as Damon Ezekiel interviews her about her experience!
We look forward to welcoming you to Ezekiel Eyes soon.
If there is anything we can do to help you, please call us or email us or request an appointment online
Allergies are very common, with around 1 in 5 people in Australia experiencing an allergy during their lives.
The severity of allergies varies from person to person and can range from minor irritation to anaphylaxis.
When you have allergies, your immune system makes antibodies that identify a particular substance as harmful, even though it isn’t.
These are usually everyday items such as:
When you come in contact with the substance, your immune system’s reaction can inflame your skin, sinuses, airways or digestive system, typical of an allergic reaction.
A cold is an infection caused by a virus. Allergies are your immune system’s reaction to a substance like pollen.
Because the two conditions cause similar symptoms, like sniffles and stuffiness, many people get them mixed up.
The only ache you may feel with allergies is a headache from all that congestion.
Allergies can cause sore throat if there’s enough irritation from post-nasal drip and coughing, but if you’re experiencing a sore throat or mild body aches, they’re more likely a sign of a bad cold.
Here’s a breakdown of common symptoms of a cold vs allergy:
Not exactly. The tendency to develop allergies is often hereditary, which means it can pass down through genes from parents to their kids.
It could be eczema, hayfever or asthma, or all three of these conditions.
But just because a parent has allergies doesn’t mean that their kids definitely get them.
And someone usually doesn’t inherit a particular allergy, just the likelihood of having allergies.
Some kids have allergies even if no family members are allergic.
Experts think other factors come into play, like your environment, air pollution, respiratory infections – even diet and emotions.
Image: iStock used with permission |
The nose, eyes, sinuses and throat are affected by substances that are inhaled.
During an allergic reaction, these areas can become swollen, inflamed or itchy, with extra mucus produced in the nose and fluid in the eyes.
The symptoms of eye allergies can vary greatly in severity and presentation from one person to the next.
Your eyes may become increasingly red and itchy.
Most people will present with at least some degree of irritation or foreign-body sensation and clear, watery discharge.
Rubbing your eyes may seem like a relatively harmless thing to do.
Most of us do it regularly, whether we’re suffering from hayfever or a common cold, or are just feeling tired and groggy.
Rubbing stimulates tears to flow, lubricating dry eyes and removing dust and other irritants. Rubbing your eyes can also be therapeutic.
Pressing down on your eyeball can stimulate the vagus nerve, which slows down your heart rate, relieving stress.
However, if you rub your eyes too often or too hard, you can cause damage in a number of ways…
Studies have shown that continuous eye rubbing in susceptible individuals can also lead to thinning of the cornea, which is weakened and pushes forward to become more conical. We write about various topics that might affect your sight and vision. As certified optometrists in Perth who have been serving for three generations, we care about your health.
This is known as Keratoconus, and is a serious condition that can lead to distorted vision and possibly the future need for a corneal graft. Read more here
Request an appointment now with Rhiannon Richer or Damon Ezekiel
Do you ever suffer from glare?
If you’re like most people, glare can happen anywhere.
Glare can affect you when you:
Drive, watch kids sport, go to the beach or just step outside.
If you forget you sunglasses, you can struggle to function. You get tiredness, eyestrain or fatigue.
Glare can get in the way of normal life, right?
What can you do about glare?
You may have heard of polarised sunglasses.
These give the best glare protection for your eyes. Maui Jim are one of our favourite brands of polarised sunglasses.
First of all, if you have never worn a pair of Maui Jim Sunglasses, you don’t know what you’re missing.
They are the lightest, most comfortable and superbly optically correct sunglasses you will ever find anywhere.
The glare reduction through their amazing polarization process is without equal. You truly do get what you pay for.
Check out the moments in this video:
If you struggle with glare, or want to protect your eyes thoroughly, come and try on a pair of Maui Jim Sunglasses today!
“For the last ten to twelve years since the second Pterygium (skin growth on the coloured part of the eye) removal to my right eye and afterwards laser treatment to the eye, scar tissue has stopped me seeing clearly in fact my sight was not unlike looking through a frosted glass window, with more serious consequences with driving at night where each light source included a smudge to the right.
Damon Ezekiel was brilliant in sorting the problem, scanning the topography of my eye, fitting that eye with a correctly curved lens with appropriate sighted correction enabling me to improve the eye sight chart by seven lines, incredible !!!
The other improvement was the removal of the “flare” effect so nighttime driving eye sight is now perfect, now that’s brilliant.
The other point of interest for me was how clear the full moon is and all the perfect pin pricks of light from the stars, what have I been missing for all these years.
So thank you Damon for the life change it’s made for me.”
Thank you for sharing your comments, Bob!
Let’s all work to protect our eyes from sun and damage.
Happy January and we hope you had a great festive season!
Did you get away on a break? Tap reply and let us know.
My family and I were fortunate enough to visit our favourite place in the world, Malaysian Borneo.
This is the place where we as a family can unwind and relax – read a book, splash in the pool, play tennis, eat wonderful food and hang out as a family.
Here are some photos from our visit:
Astigmatism makes it harder to see street signs, read sport scores or recognise faces far away. It also increases glare when you drive at night.
Astigmatism is a common eye condition that affects the shape of the cornea, the lens of the eye or the overall shape of your eye (it is like an egg shape).
We hear this all the time at Ezekiel Eyes. Yes, you can get contact lenses that correct for astigmatisms….
Most patients with an astigmatism can wear contact lenses.
These are called toric contact lenses and they are designed to correct astigmatism by having different powers in different areas of the lens.
They can be made in both soft and rigid gas permeable materials.
You can get contact lenses for astigmatism so you can:
Contact lenses could be a viable option for you.
So how do you get them?
It is best to have an appointment with Rhiannon or Damon.
They will determine the best type of astigmatism-correcting contact lens for your specific needs.
All contact lenses require a fitting and a follow-up appointment.
This ensures that the contact lenses are providing a proper fit, comfort and optimal clarity.
Want to try contact lenses for Astigmatism?
Tap here to make an appointment with Rhiannon or Damon
Have a fantastic 2023,