Jill N. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

The winner of our Facebook Sweepstakes made it to Florida Friday afternoon to the Transitions PGA Championship with his wife, brother-in-law and sister-in-law. Whil PGA player John Mallinger wasn’t able to make it to the tournament last minute, our back up plan did work well with an introduction to non-other than Erik Estrada, that’s right, Ponch himself. That’s a fair trade right?

After a good night sleep, Dave and guests joined us at the Transitions/VSP/Nike Competitive Advantage Tent to receive a private swing consultation with Kinesiologist, Tyler, walk through the newest lens and frame technology from Nike and Transitions and learn about the importance of annual eye exams and eye health through a putting excercise wearing glasses that simulated different eye conditions such as diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration and glaucoma.

Erik Estrada hanging with Dave W.

Next, we walked next door and took a tour of our newest mobile eye clinic (yet to be named!) and recorded a video on the video kiosk showing their squinty faces when they are caught outdoors in bright light. Last stop was the Live Your Vision Pavillion where they experienced Optomate technology and watched the Transitions/VSP/Nike fashion show before sneaking onto Ponch’s tricked out CHP car for a quick photo.

Stay tuned for some videos of Dave’s experience and updates from Sunday, including Erik Estrada’s explanation of the “Sightations” he has been giving out all weekend.

Joel Kestenbaum O.D. is a VSP provider in Long Island, NY.

In today’s guest blog post from Dr. Joel Kestenbaum of Optix Eyecare in Long Island, NY, he discusses protective eyewear and winter sports …

The 2010 Winter Olympics are upon us.  Lets take a look at the common attributes most Winter Olympians have:

• Athletic ability
• Drive and determination
• Support of family and friends
• Excellent vision

If you look at all the skiers, snowboarders, speed skaters, lugers and bobsledders, they are all wearing some sort of protective eyewear.  How do they know which lenses to wear?  What if it is cloudy, sunny, snowing, sleeting, raining, foggy, nighttime, or early morning?

Think Safety First

You can be certain that the lenses in an athlete’s goggles are made of polycarbonate.  For fast-moving winter sports, this material is much more impact-resistant than glass or conventional plastic. The frame also needs to be lightweight and flexible reducing the likelihood of the lens breaking or popping out in a bad fall.  Prescription lenses can be made for inserts that sit behind the shield of the goggle or some goggles are actually made to wear over a regular pair of eyeglasses.

Think Visual Efficiency Next

Black, gray, or smoke lenses

Best for bright conditions – they dim the bright sunlight to ease the strain on your eyes. Depending on the intensity of the tint, these lenses do darken your vision but gray does not alter color.  These lenses are best for wide-open areas, especially on sunny days.  One should not ski or snowboard in trees or trails with dark lenses.

Amber Lenses
Amber is a color in between a light brown and a dark yellow lens.  Amber blocks blue light, greatly increases contrast.  This color is a good choice for seeing moguls out on the slopes.  Amber is best for under cloudy skies or on dimly lit trails but is not recommended for sunny days.

Brown or Bronze Lenses
I love brown lenses.  They are a good “all around” lens color choice.  Brown improves contrast, clarity, and depth perception.  Brown filters out blue light waves thereby enhancing shades of green in trees, bushes, and grass.  Brown is best for daytime skiing and snowboarding in good weather.

Vermilion, Red or Rose Lenses
Red lenses, usually referred to as “rose” or “vermilion,” will increase contrast and brighten cloudy, dreary days. It is important to remember that this color lens distorts real world colors.  This fact is probably not important on the slopes.  These lenses are not suitable for bright, sunny days.

Yellow Lenses
Yellow works best in foggy, hazy conditions. Yellow increases clarity even in dense fog.

Best for: Skiing or snowboarding in the early morning fog.  Yellow is not for bright, sunny days.

Clear Lenses
Clear lenses do not alter your vision and work great in dark conditions when you still need to protect your eyes from wind, debris, and harmful UV rays. They are best suited for dark conditions, such as night skiing and snowboarding.

Polarized Lenses

Polarized lenses block reflected glare off the horizontal plane and are great when it’s bright out. But they may not be ideal near the end of the day when long shadows appear in the snow, because they are usually made with a darker tint than most sun lenses.  Polarized lenses are not suitable if you ski moguls or for nighttime use.

Anti-Fog

Look for anti-fogging features, UV protection and scratch resistance.  Some goggles have double lenses that discourage condensation from forming when the warm air of your breath makes contact with the cold lens.

And most importantly, athletes need excellent quality vision.  Whether you prefer eyeglasses or contact lenses, make sure your optometrist takes his or her time determining your best visual correction.

Stay safe on the slopes and enjoy the 2010 Winter Olympics!

Dr. Joel Kestenbaum

www.optixeyecare.com

Learn more about the importance of wearing sunglasses – even on cloudy, overcast days – on VSP’s Eyecare Discovery Center and The Vision Council’s Under the Sun Guide.

While we can’t see ultraviolet radiation, it can see—and harm—us if we are not careful. Even on an overcast day, UV light from the sun can cause sunburn of our skin and the cornea of our eyes, which is called “photokeratitis.”  Over a long time, it can increase your chance of cataracts (a clouding of the lens of the eye) and damage to your retina that might lead to total blindness.

Team Type 1's Kori Seehafer wearing Nike sunglasses.

Sunscreen protects your skin from overexposure to UV rays. Proper lenses can safely block UV radiation and protect your eyes.

Be Glare Aware!
Glare, or extreme brightness, can be distracting and even dangerous. The direct rays of the sun are the most powerful source of glare and UV radiation, but glare can also be reflected off roads, buildings, water, and snow. Special “polarized” lenses reduce or eliminate glare and reflections. They work by selectively absorbing the reflected glare while transmitting useful light from the scene.

Source: eyedidntknowthat.com

Sara P. is a member of Altair's sales team.

I’ve recently developed an addiction to sunwear. I’ve got a full rainbow spectrum to choose from and I have no intention of slowing down. It’s a recent obsession so I’m only at 8 pairs but the rate at which I’ve acquired them is getting a bit scary.

I have gone through accessory addictions in the past (shoes, purses, one weird phase of collecting argyle socks) but this one is turning into a dangerous one for me because a) I work in the industry so am constantly being exposed to the latest and greatest and b) I can make the argument that it’s actually for my own good: “Hellooo, the lenses are polarized, which means UV protection, which means I’m protecting my eyes…what, you don’t think my precious eyes need protection?!”

For my friends and family that mock my ever-expanding collection, I tell them it’s very simple-I have a compulsion to match my sunglasses to my clothing. But secretly, I match them to my moods too. There are just some moods and days that scream for that funky green pair, and others that demand the classic black.

While having the sunwear rainbow at your disposal seems somewhat reasonable if you argue the “But they need to match my outfit” point, I recently read about a technology that would actually give me zero reason to have more than one pair of sunglasses…if we’re talking sunwear as strictly a color coordination accessory versus a choice of mood.

It’s actually a pair of sunglasses that will turn into any color you desire, which got me thinking-would I be able to give up all my different sunglasses and commit to just one pair if I could make them any color I wanted? I’ll just say this-I’m very relieved that I won’t have to make this decision any time soon!

Liz B. is a member of VSP's Corporate Public Relations team.

Dear Readers:

Thank you for your support and comments to the VSP Blog! In appreciation and to help bring attention to the importance of vision health and of protecting your eyes all year round (see UV Protection – Protect Your Eyes), we’re giving a way a pair of Nike sunglasses on Twitter to one winner. It’s super easy to enter:

Make your own customized eyechart!

1. Using our cool eye chart app at http://eyechart.seemuchmore.com/ or on Facebook at http://apps.facebook.com/vsp_eye_charts/, simply create an eye chart with a secret message, like the one I created for this blog post.
2. After typing in your message and clicking “Make Chart,” click the “Grab Link For Sharing” button and copy the link generated for your chart.
3. Paste the link into this Twitter message: See my cool eye chart YOUR LINK. RT or create your own to enter #SeeMuchMore #Giveaway http://bit.ly/Mh8ql
4. Then, just tweet this message from your personal Twitter account. That’s it – you’re entered.

If you’re too busy to create your own eye chart (although it’s pretty cool), you can also retweet someone else’s post about their eye chart.

Be sure your tweet is posted between today, Tuesday, October 13 at 10:00 a.m. ET and Friday, October 16 at 12:00 a.m. (midnight) ET and that your tweet includes the #seemuchmore and #giveaway hashtags – they’re vital to becoming entered to win. And remember that you must be at least 18 years old to participate.

That’s all there is to it.

The winner will be selected at random from the entries, and will be notified on Tuesday, October 20 with a public reply from @VSPVisionCare on Twitter using the winner’s Twitter handle and the #seemuchmore, #giveaway and #winner hashtags.

Good luck!

Make your own customized eyechart!

As the skies turn overcast and the air has a chilly bite to it, many people tuck their sunglasses away for the oncoming winter months. Tsk, tsk, tsk!

Visit VSP Active to learn why UV protection is important – even on overcast and cloudy days.

Parker, from the Coach Eyewear Collection

Popular lifestyle blog BlissTree is conducting a giveway contest featuring the latest Coach sunglasses! Six winners will be selected and entry is simple. Visit the BlissTree VSP Vision Care Coach Giveaway for all the details.

Sara P. is an account executive for Altair Eyewear.

Everyone here is talking about the new VSP site seemuchmore.com. I’ve spent a great deal of time on there clicking every moving object, answering poll questions, and cruising around making sure I haven’t missed a single image, quote or fact. My favorite graphic is the hot air balloon with the money that drops down, because after all, who doesn’t want money dropping from the sky? I decided chronicling my journeys on the site would be a good way to highlight just a few of the things that caught my attention. And, maybe, inspire YOU to check it out too!

August 18, 2009: First look at seemuchmore.com. I was immediately intrigued by the color scheme, graphics and the concept behind the site. I watched the dad and son graphic for a few minutes, then clicked into the site. The plane image with the “See Eye Care Tips” banner was practically screaming to be clicked first, so I succumbed and my attention was immediately caught by the tip that popped up: “Wear sunglasses when exercising outdoors to protect your eyes from harmful UV rays.”

Why, you may ask, was I so caught by this tip?

Because I can remember a very specific situation where I made the horrible mistake of insisting I didn’t need sunwear when doing outdoor sports. I was a freshman in high school and just learning how to snowboard, and although all my experienced snowboarder friends tried to tell me I needed to protect my eyes, I wouldn’t wear my sunglasses. Secretly, I didn’t want to wear my shades because I’m really klutzy and was convinced at some point during the day I would take a header and break them. Very bad mistake. After a very bright, sunny day on the sparkling white snow, my poor eyes were screaming at me in agony. I literally felt like someone had poured sand in them and I suffered for days afterward while my corneas recovered. Obviously I made the wrong decision in the interest of trying to save my sunglasses, which, by the way, were picked up for $5 at a gas station. Very hard lesson learned: ALWAYS wear your sunwear outside-especially while doing sports!

August 20, 2009: My second journey back onto the site, this time to more thoroughly explore and also go to the only section I hadn’t had time to go through yet-the poll. Being a bookworm, I loved the image of the book flipping open for that particular section. The

poll questions are all interesting and I happily clicked away my yes’s and no’s, but one in particular caught my attention here- “Would Harry Potter look better without glasses?” As discussed previously, Harry Potter and his glasses are doing an incredible job of inspiring kids everywhere to be excited about their glasses, so of course my very strong opinion on that poll question was “NO!” I clicked the answer and was horrified to see that only a mere 79% of visitors to the site agreed with me. For you remaining 21% who obviously have the wrong opinion on this subject, please refer to the above-mentioned article. And re-vote immediately.

I would definitely encourage everybody to take a few minutes to explore the new site. It’s entertaining, useful, educational, and best of all, it’s fun!

After you do so, leave a comment and let me know- what is YOUR favorite part of seemuchmore.com?