Press Releases

  Dr. Eric Shnayder, Ophthalmologist,

Moves to Modern New, Expanded Office in Kinnelon

Eric Shnayder, MD, recently announced the opening of his new, expanded office, New Jersey Eye MD, for the practice of ophthalmology for both adults & children in Kinnelon. Dr. Shnayder was previous located on Route 23 in Butler.

Dr. Shnayder, a board-certified eye physician and surgeon, treats a wide variety of eye disorders, including cataracts, implant lenses, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, dry eye, strabismus, lazy eye, and corneal transplants.

After graduating summa cum laude from Temple University, Dr. Shnayder received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. The doctor completed his Ophthalmology residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Also in the new Kinnelon facility is Hillcrest Opticians, a complete eyeglass center, with an expanded selection of the latest eyewear designs from Gucci, Elle, Nine West, Liz Claiborne, Norma Kamali, and others. Hillcrest Opticians, managed by veteran licensed optician, Bob Figueras, also features the popular Crizal No-Glare Lenses and Polarized Lenses.

New Jersey Eye MD is located at 11 Kiel Avenue in Kinnelon, just off Route 23 across from the Pathmark Shopping Center.

The second floor office has an elevator and is handicapped accessible. There is plenty of free parking.

Dr. Shnayder treats both adult and pediatric eye problems. Most insurance plans are accepted.

 

Make Eye Safety a Holiday Tradition

Kinnelon, NJ—Children may know which toys they want to open this holiday season, but they’re too young to decide which toys potentially can be dangerous.

According to the Consumer Product Safety Commission, more than 250,000 toy-related injuries were treated in U.S. emergency rooms in 2010; nearly three-fourths of those injured were children younger than 15 years.

That’s why Eric Shnayder, MD, Kinnelon ophthalmologist, and the American Academy of Ophthalmology (AAO) reminds parents about the dangers that some toys may pose to children's eyes. Here are five tips on how to choose safe toys for gift giving:

1. Avoid purchasing toys with sharp, protruding, or projectile parts.

2. Make sure children have suitable supervision when playing with potentially hazardous toys or games that could cause injury.

3. If you plan to give sports equipment as gifts, provide appropriate protective eyewear with polycarbonate lenses. An ophthalmologist can provide advice about protective gear recommended for a particular sport.

4. Check labels for age recommendations, and be sure to select gifts that are appropriate for a child's age and maturity.

5. Keep toys that are made for older children away from younger children.

“With so many toys being recalled or having the potential to cause injuries, many of my patients’ parents are wondering what toys are safe,” said Dr. Shnayder. “A good rule of thumb that I often share with parents is to select a toy that is age appropriate for their child’s abilities. I also tell them that they must be willing to supervise their child’s use of the toy. Being mindful and attentive about what you are putting in your children’s hands is the best preventive medicine.”

Eric Shnayder, MD is a Board Certified Ophthalmologist who treats a wide variety of eye disorders. After graduating summa cum laude from Temple University, he received his Doctor of Medicine degree from the Medical College of Pennsylvania. The doctor completed his Ophthalmology residency at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey.

Aside from performing regular eye exams, Dr. Shnayder is proficient in cataract & laser surgery, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease, retinal disease and children’s eye problems. He practices at 11 Kiel Avenue in Kinnelon and can be reached at 973-838-7722.

 

Diabetes is a Big Risk Factor for Vision Loss

Diabetes is a disease that affects the body’s ability to produce or use insulin effectively to control blood sugar or glucose levels. Although glucose is an important source of energy for the body’s cells, too much glucose in the blood for a long time can cause damage in many parts of the body, including the heart, kidneys, blood vessels and the small blood vessels in the eyes.

When the blood vessels in the eye’s retina (the light sensitive tissue lining the back of the eye) swell, leak or close off completely — or if abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina — it is called diabetic retinopathy, says Eric Shnayder, MD, an ophthalmologist in Kinnelon, New Jersey who deals with many such cases.

People who are at greater risk of developing diabetic retinopathy are those who have diabetes or poor blood sugar control, women who are pregnant, and people with high blood pressure, high blood lipids or both, says Dr. Shnayder.  Also, he adds, people who are from certain ethnic groups, such as African-Americans, Hispanics and Native Americans, are more likely to develop diabetic retinopathy. A new study recently confirmed that diabetes is a top risk factor for vision loss among Hispanics.

Dr. Shnayder noted that diabetes can cause vision in your eyes to change even if you do not have retinopathy. If your blood sugar levels change quickly, it can affect the shape of your eye’s lens, causing blurry vision, which goes back to normal after your blood sugar stabilizes. Maintaining good control of your blood sugar helps reduce episodes of blurry vision.

Dr. Shnayder recommends visiting an ophthalmologist to learn more about diabetic retinopathy and how to save your sight.

 

Top Five Eye Tips for Healthy Vision

Imagine how life would be if you could not see well. Simple things like reading the Sunday paper or curling up with your favorite book would be difficult. You couldn’t enjoy a movie or your favorite TV show. It would even be difficult to focus on the faces of loved ones.      One in four Americans over 40 years of age suffer from some level of vision loss, and 43 million suffer from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) or cataracts — the two leading causes of vision loss and blindness. In places like Arizona or Florida, residents are even more susceptible to certain eye conditions due to the nearly year round exposure to sunlight.      Unfortunately, most people do not seek eye care until they suffer a problem. However, eye health — like dental health — requires routine exams. It is much healthier to discover a slight vision problem during an eye exam then to wait until vision impairment affects your everyday life.      In addition to diagnosing vision impairment, eye checks can also reveal a lot about a person’s general state of health. For example, diabetes is very often first discovered with an eye exam. Other diseases, like glaucoma, a disease of the eye that causes vision loss and can gradually lead to blindness, can be quickly detected and treated.     While the most common cause of diminished vision is the aging of the eye, other causes may include hereditary factors; long-term, unprotected exposure to UV radiation; previous eye surgery; medical problems, such as diabetes, high blood pressure and arthritis; and medication side effects, from medications like steroids.      The following are general recommendations for long-term eye health: After 40 years of age, get an eye exam every two to three years. After the age of 60 years, have an eye exam annually. •    Protect eyes from UV exposure by wearing sunglasses that block at least 99 percent of UV radiation. Avoid sunglasses that only offer dark lenses, but do not provide proper UV protection. Dark lenses dilate the pupil, allowing more UV radiation to get into the eye and causing more eye damage, like cataract formation and macular degeneration. •    Address other health problems, especially diabetes and hypertension, which can affect eye health. •    Maintain a nutritious diet. Research shows that eating foods rich in antioxidants, lutein, essential fatty acids, vitamins C and E and zinc can help protect your vision. •    When vision becomes limited or affects daily activities, such as working, reading or driving, seek medical attention from an ophthalmologist. A complete eye examination can rule out any other condition that may be causing blurred vision or eye problems and an ophthalmologist can provide a treatment plan to preserve long-term eyesight.

More than one option available for laser eye surgery

If you're one of the millions of Americans who wear glasses or contact lenses, you've probably thought  about getting corrective laser eye surgery. While LASIK surgery has typically been the most popular way to say goodbye to glasses, there's another, little-known option for those of us who might not be eligible for LASIK but who still want the same results. It's called photorefractive keratotomy, or PRK. LASIK and PRK both allow improved vision at distance by changing the shape of the cornea.  The main advantage of LASIK is that it gives the quickest improvement in visual function, with most patients seeing quite well within 24 hours of the operation. PRK takes an average of one week to heal and about a month to stabilize.  LASIK is also classically associated with less post-operative pain, but with the advent of new bandage contact lenses, most PRK patients also remain fairly comfortable during the healing process. Long-term eyesight stability and quality is generally excellent with both PRK and LASIK. Patients want five main things from laser refractive surgery: minimal pain, quick recovery, accuracy of refraction, excellent optical quality and stability over the long haul.  To achieve that,  patients are screened for risk factors that would cause us to recommend LASIK vs. PRK. Ophthalmologists also look for risk factors that would preclude us from doing any laser refractive surgery.  Factors that enter into the risk profile include the severity of the refractive error, the axis of astigmatism, the thickness of the cornea, the curve of the front surface of the cornea and the curve of the inside portion of the cornea.  For most patients, these five factors are normal, and LASIK and PRK are equally effective. For others, however, one or more of these factors is too abnormal to allow any surgery. Enhancements are sometime needed if the initial correction is not 100-percent accurate. LASIK enhancement and PRK enhancement are both performed in a fashion similar to the initial operation, but require very short laser times. People need to understand that PRK and LASIK are designed to allow you to see well from 20 feet and out. People under the age of 45 perform this auto-focus well, but after that not so well. So, a person in his or her late 40s or older will be able to see well in the distance after laser refractive surgery but will probably need reading glasses for close-up work.

How To Help Stop the Thief of Vision - Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness. But because vision damage often occurs gradually, most people with the eye disease do not realize they have it until a good deal of their sight has been lost. If caught early, though, there are medications and procedures that may help treat glaucoma.

About 3 million Americans and 60 million people worldwide have glaucoma, and the numbers are projected to rise over the next few decades as the population ages.

The disease involves damage to the optic nerve, which relays images from the retina to the brain.

Early detection is key, but without regular eye exams, most people don’t know they have a problem.

We call this disease a ‘thief of vision’ because most people with it have no idea that they have lost sight until it is too late to bring it back.

It is recommended that adults aged 18 to 60 get eye exams every two years, every year for adults 61 and older, or as recommended by their eye doctor.

In addition to glaucoma, regular exams can detect other eye diseases associated with aging, including macular degeneration and cataracts.

 

Athletes’ Eye Injuries Can Be Avoided with Protective Eyewear Gear

With the new school year fast approaching, Kinnelon Ophthalmologist Dr. Eric Shnayder has some important advise about protecting eyes during sports activities.

August is Children's Eye Health and Safety month and Dr. Shnayder is using this opportunity to warn parents, coaches and young athletes about the dangers of eye injuries. Dr. Shnayder is urging them to wear protective goggles when they participate in sports particularly those with high-risk activities, including soccer, basketball, softball, lacrosse, baseball, fencing, and boxing.

“As sports training season begins, hospital emergency rooms across the country see a lot of eye injuries from sports”, adds the doctor. But he points out that most of those eye injuries could be prevented if the athlete wore protective goggles.

Experts say nine out of 10 injuries could be prevented when protective goggles are worn consistently. Mild injuries like eyelid bruises and corneal abrasions usually only cause short-term damage but serious eye traumas can have lasting effects. High-impact injuries can cause internal bleeding or fracture the bones around the eye, which may need surgery.

Shnayder adds: "Eye injuries at an early age can have serious, life-long consequences for the young athlete that go beyond missing a game or two and can sometimes lead to permanent eye damage and loss of vision."

In the U.S., eye injuries are the leading cause of blindness in children. According to the National Institutes of Health, most eye injuries in school-age children are sustained during sports.

Experts state that protective eyewear includes safety glasses, goggles, shields and eye guards and that these offer adequate protection for most sports. However, regular prescription glasses do not, and all sports eyewear should be sports-specific. Children who need to wear prescription glasses can have their safety goggles custom-made to match the prescription.

Serious eye damage can be prevented by following these guidelines issued by the Hopkins experts:

• Make your child wear protective eyewear during practice and games.
• Consult an eye doctor to find the best type of protective glasses suited for a particular sport.
• Take your child regularly for eye screenings and exams, if he or she has a problem.

If your child experiences any of the following, seek immediate medical attention:

• Deep eye pain, pain behind the eyes and/or unexplained headaches
• Cuts or punctures to the eye
• Floaters or flashes in the field of vision or partial loss of vision. This could be a sign of possible retinal detachment
• Redness, itching or irritation of the eyes
• Swelling of the eye or the area around the eye
• Discharge or excessive tearing in one or both eyes

Dr. Shnayder warns that you should never rub the affected eye and should not try to remove any splinters or objects that are stuck in the eye. Doing so may cause further damage, and specialists advise you to visit the emergency room instead.

 

Treating the Leading Cause of Vision Loss - Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness in our nation. But because vision damage often occurs gradually, most people with glaucoma do not realize they have it until a good deal of their sight has been lost. If caught early, though, there are medications and procedures that may help treat this eye disease, according to Eric Shnayder, MD, ophthalmologist, speaking at the New Vitality Series at Chilton Hospital in Pompton Plains on January 30th.

Glaucoma causes damage to the optic nerve, which relays images from the retina to the brain.

Early detection is key, notes Dr. Shnayder. But without regular eye exams, most people don’t know they have a problem.

We call this disease a ‘thief of vision’ because most people with it have no idea that they have lost sight until it is too late to bring it back.

About 3 million Americans and 60 million people worldwide have glaucoma, and the numbers are projected to rise over the next few decades as the population ages.

It is recommended that adults aged 18 to 60 get eye exams every two years, every year for adults 61 and older, according to Dr. Shnayder.

In addition to glaucoma, regular exams can detect other eye diseases associated with aging, including macular degeneration and cataracts.

Dr. Eric Shnayder, a specialist in ophthalmology, practices at 11 Kiel Avenue in Kinnelon. His website is www.NewJerseyEyeMd.com.