Axon Optics

Jessica’s Story

Virginia — Fri, 24 May 2013 08:25:32 +0000

Hi my name is Jessica I am 41 years old, married and have identical twin sons 9 years old. I work full time as an executive assistant for a major construction company and I have been suffering from migraines and headaches since I was a little girl.

I can remember as a child having a migraine in the night and getting up and walking through the house either to the bathroom or to find my parents and having hallucinations because my head would hurt so badly. It was frightening! As a child there wasn't much to help with my migraines – children's aspirin was practically like eating candy so my mom would rub my head 'a lot' and most if not all the time I would have to throw up to feel better; most definitely not enjoyable.

I did not find out until my early twenties that my migraines were hereditary. I knew my mom, dad and sister suffered from migraines but neither of my parents ever went to a physician about them. So unfortunately with both parents being migraine sufferers I guess my sister and I were destined to be sufferers too! I am also very sensitive – if I stand too long, sit in an uncomfortable chair for too long, etc., I get a migraine. So I can get them fairly often.

I have pretty much learned to tolerate my migraines. But some days they are so bad I just want to die!

I did end up seeing a specialist in my twenties about my migraines and even did some trial drugs trying to find that perfect 'fix'. The trial drugs were not fun most of the time and I almost think they gave me the 'sugar' pill so again had some major suffering and I finally said enough is enough please just give me something that will help! I have found that Relpax works the best for my migraines and I would say 80% of the time taking a pill helps but unfortunately I do have a side effect when taking. It makes my throat feel funny.migraine…funny feeling throat??? I usually go for the funny feeling throat. So I wanted to find something that might help during the onset of a headache, maybe I wouldn't have to take a pill?

So then I came across Axon Optics and thought oh I want to try some of those! Because one of my major triggers is the fluorescent lights at work! In fact I have gone as far at two different jobs to have the inside of the round lights (they are usually shiny metal) painted! And this does help; it cuts the glare tremendously. Unfortunately the job I have now has the huge fluorescent lights above so can really ask about painting. So I have gotten my glasses and anytime I feel a headache coming on I put them on and I feel like they help with the glare and even just looking at my computer screen for too long. I do think they are helping. I am still trying them out and am looking forward to summer and wearing them outside when it is a sunny day. I truly believe axonoptics glasses help with the glare and you don't have to feel like you are wearing sunglasses inside!

If you are a migraine sufferer I would totally recommend trying especially if constant glare is troublesome for you!

The post Jessica’s Story appeared first on Axon Optics.

How Does America Protect Their Eyes?

Virginia — Mon, 13 May 2013 05:46:00 +0000

Check out these statistics on eyewear. A perfect reminder for summer! It is so important to protect your eyes from the sun in the summertime. If you have prescription lenses, you still need protection! This is a great article if you're interested in the numbers…or if you want to be inspired. Before you leave the house, put on those lenses!

Photo courtesy of Virginia. Article republished from Vision Expo East.

View the original article on Vision Expo East's website by clicking here.

SUNWEAR UPDATE: HOW DOES AMERICA PROTECT THEIR EYES?

There are a lot of different options out there for American adults when it comes to protecting their eyes from the dangers of the sun and UV rays. The most common option is plano (non-Rx) sunglasses. Around 207 million American adults wear plano sunglasses to protect their eyes from the sun. That represents about 86% of the U.S adult population. We consider about two thirds of these adults to be “consistent” plano sun wearers—people who wear sunglasses most of the time while outside during daylight.

When it comes to people who use Rx eyeglasses there are a few different sun protection options available. About 31.2 million Rx eyeglass users protect their eyes from the sun by wearing photochromic lenses. About 27 million people protect their eyes by wearing Rx sun lenses and finally about 23.4 million adults protect their eyes by wearing clip-on sunglasses in conjunction with their eyeglasses. Also, about 20 million Rx eyeglass wearers also use plano sunglasses when going outside in bright conditions to protect their eyes from the sun—even if it means giving up on their prescription correction. Many U.S adults who wear Rx eyeglasses choose to wear multiple forms of sun protection for their eyes. For instance, there are about 300K American adults who wear both Rx sun lenses and photochromic lenses to protect their vision from the sun. Moreover, there are about 2 million adults who wear Rx sunglasses and plano sunglasses; and finally there are close to 8 million adults who wear both plano sunglasses and Rx eyeglasses with clip-ons to protect their vision from the sun.

Unfortunately there are still about 21.5 million Americans who do nothing to protect their eyes from the dangerous effects of the sun. Interestingly, those 21.5 million are split equally between people who wear Rx eyeglasses or contact lenses and do not protect their eyes from the sun and those who do not use vision correction at all. As you might expect, most of these 21.5 million adults are younger—under the age of 35 and do not believe they have any vision problems. Most also underestimate the damage that sun exposure can do to the human eye without some form of UV protection.

Fortunately, over the past couple of years, the number of people not protecting their eyes from the sun has declined, by about 1 million adults—mostly attributable to increased use of different forms of “sun” eyewear by the American adult population. Further, over the past couple years, the number of plano sunglass users (both total users and “consistent” users) has gone up slightly. The number of people using photochromic lenses has also gone up by about 10% over the past 3 years; and the number of Rx sun users has gone up by about 15% over the past few years.

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Choosing a Bifocal Lens

Virginia — Sun, 28 Apr 2013 21:56:36 +0000

What is the difference between Standard Bifocals and Progressives? A Standard Bifocal has your distance prescription on the top half of the lens, and a magnified version of your prescription on the bottom half for reading. A Progressive Bifocal has both distance and reading like a traditionl bifocal, but with the line blended.

I realized how few visual examples of this concept exist on the internet. This diagram illustrates how they both have magnification on bottom, distance on top; note the difference between the line on the standard bifocal and the progressive.

The post Choosing a Bifocal Lens appeared first on Axon Optics.

Polarization Vs. Anti-Glare Coatings

Virginia — Tue, 19 Mar 2013 22:07:02 +0000

Just recently, we added polarized lenses and transitions lenses to our collection.

This has lead many people to ask what Polarization is, exactly, and how it is different than an Anti-Glare Coating. Are they the same?

These are actually different, and you can get an AR coating on the polarized lenses. The AR coating basically reduces glare and "ghost" images due to reflections at the lens surfaces. It works indoors and outdoors. Polarized lenses are primarily for outdoor use, and you probably cannot work at a computer wearing them. Polarized lenses reduce glare from smooth surfaces. As an example, if you look at a lake when the sun is low in the horizon, you'll see a lot of glare. Polarized lenses will reduce that glare. Same thing for glare from roads while driving.

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Brain Injury Statistics from the Brain Injury Association of America

Virginia — Wed, 06 Mar 2013 20:02:07 +0000

It's Brain Injury Awareness Month.

Here is a list of facts from the Brain Injury Association of America's Brain Injury Awareness Month factsheets. Their website can be found here: http://www.biausa.org/

Incidence of brain injury

· 1.7 million people sustain a traumatic brain injury (TBI) each year. According to the

Centers for Disease Control and Injury Prevention, the leading causes of TBI are:

o Falls (35.2%)

o Motor vehicle-traffic crashes (17.3%)

o Struck by/against events (16.5%)

o Assaults (10%)

· Brain injury can result in a range of outcomes (according to the Centers for Disease

Control and Prevention):

o 52,000 die

o 275,000 are hospitalized

o 1,365,000 are treated and released from an emergency department.

· According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, among children ages 0 to

14 years, TBI results in an estimated

o 2,685 deaths

o 37,000 hospitalizations

o 435,000 emergency department visits

· The number of people with TBI who are not seen in an emergency department or who

receive no care is unknown.

· TBI is a contributing factor to a third (30.5%) of all injury-related deaths in the United

States.

· About 75% of TBIs that occur each year are concussions or other forms of mild traumatic brain injury (MTBI).

Cost of brain injury care

· Average hospital-based acute rehab is about $8,000 per day

· Range for post-acute residential is about $850 to $2,500 per day

· Day treatment programs (e.g., 4 hours of therapy) are about $600 to $1,000 with no room/board

· According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, direct medical costs and indirect costs of TBI in the U.S., such as lost productivity, totaled an estimated $76.5 billion.

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Featherweight Migraine Relief Frames Ready for Production

Virginia — Sun, 03 Mar 2013 23:15:54 +0000

Our RocketHub campaign has been extended! A little more info about our Rockethub campaign:

We've designed new, lightweight frames that put far less pressure on the face. They're an eyeglass-style frame with wraparound-style curvature, so they hug the face better; they have lens sizes made specifically for maximum coverage from our therapeutic Axon Lenses.

Its features include:

Featherweight Frame: So light you wont even notice they are there.
Medical Grade Stainless Steel: Tough material to withstand abuse.
Precision Geometry: Shape provides maximum coverage.
Flex Hinge: Light can cause enough pain as it is so our hinges assure no pressure points.
Silicone Nose Pad: Adjustable floating silicone pads provide soft fit for every person.

Our Therapeutic Lenses are precisely designed to filter harsh wavelengths of light using cutting-edge coating techniques and injection molding. Together, they will provide even greater relief.

It costs a great deal of money to begin production of a new style. That’s why Axon Optics partnered with the University of Utah’s Technology Commercialization Office (TCO) to start this fundraiser. Many of our contribution levels include Axon Eyewear as a gift for your contribution – at surprisingly low gift amounts. This money will help us pay the upfront manufacturing fees. For a $200 donation, you’ll get two pair of our new featherweight frame glasses when they are released in late spring.

We’ve got 34 days left, and 35 funders so far. We’ve raised $3,660.00 of our $15,000.00 goal. That’s a mere 25% of what we need to get these frames started. Please consider making your contribution today. Thanks!

The post Featherweight Migraine Relief Frames Ready for Production appeared first on Axon Optics.

Note From A Migraineur

Virginia — Sun, 24 Feb 2013 07:43:49 +0000

One of the perks of the job is that I get to test-drive our products. I love my glasses. I used to use the computer for hours at a time. I used to drag myself around the grocery store, or try to sit through a flourescent-lit three hour college lecture. I used to squint all the way from one destination to the next, just because it was daytime. I would walk around the house with a shirt over my head to filter the light. I wonder how I did these things for how long. The answer is simple: what choice was there? I had taken all of the medications under the sun – but that's another blog entirely.

So, as I sit here typing in my indoor-tint PRIME S59s, I wonder what would have convinced me to try this product? Would I have tried it because of the money-back guarantee? Would I have tried it because of the reviews? Or would it be my personal love of scientific discoveries and new gadgets? I might have purchased it during a migraine in desperation for something that works. What other choice would I have?

I think the scientific articles would have intrigued me, but the Customer Experiences would have convinced me. I hope my own experience helps others make the best decision for their own medical conditions. If your condition is light sensitivity, is triggered by light sensitivity, or has light sensitivity as one of its symptoms, then this product should help you.

I received a very nice letter from one of our customers. I asked her permission to share this on our site. Thanks, Devonna!

To: Axon Optics

I just wanted to say THANK YOU for these glasses.
I've dealt with migraines and light sensitivity for years, and after
surgical menopause hit me, they got even worse. I had 2-3 migraines
per week, and that's no life.

I received these on a Friday morning, and wore them off and on all
weekend. Any time I felt a slight headache coming on, I wore them. I
don't know how they work, they just DO, and I've told EVERYONE about
them! All I know is that every time I put them on, my head
relaxes…my entire head, from my eyes to the base of my neck feels
that relief (I have occipital nerve migraines).

Thanks for your product. My friends should be ordering them soon as
well!

The post Note From A Migraineur appeared first on Axon Optics.

fMRI evidence that precision ophthalmic tints reduce cortical hyperactivation in migraine

Virginia — Sun, 17 Feb 2013 02:53:17 +0000

The National Institute of Health keeps Public Access Archives. This is great for those of us who don't have access to University-level research journals. But once you have access, how do you know which articles to read? The text isn't exactly easy reading, either – it's dense with scientific and medical jargon that means nothing to everyone else.

In fMRI evidence that precision ophthalmic tints reduce cortical hyperactivation in migraine, researchers studied migraineurs and healthy adults' brain activity with and without 'Precision Opthalmic Tints', or POTs. Multiple tests demonstrated the value of POTs for migraine therapy. It's compelling evidence. Even if you don't like reading dense text, it's worth a glance.

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Precision-tinted glasses seem to help prevent migraines in people whose pain is triggered by certain visual patterns, new research indicates.

Virginia — Sun, 10 Feb 2013 02:49:38 +0000

The USA TODAY wrote an article about precision tinted lenses that may benefit migraine sufferers particularly those whose migraines are accompanied by visual auras, or flashes of light. The artcle references data found in the May 26 issue of the journal Cephalagia which is a peer-reviewed journal containing papers on all aspects of headache. The arcticle says:

Researchers have already noted that certain striped patterns can cause migraines in people with aura and even seizures in patients who have epilepsy that involves light sensitivity.

For this study, Huang and his colleagues assessed 11 people with migraines and 11 without the headaches using a functional MRI machine, which captures brain activity in real time. They wanted to see if tinted glasses normalized brain activity in the people who get the pounding headaches.

All participants were asked to look at "stressful" striped patterns (high-contrast stripes a certain distance apart) through three different pairs of glasses, one of which was precision-tinted.

The tinted glasses were individualized for each patient so they would experience the most comfort and least distortion of the pattern.

The researchers noted a normalization of brain activity in migraineurs wearing the tinted glasses while they were looking at the different patterns. The specific type of brain activity is known as hyperactivation and is present when migraines are occurring.

Participants with a history of migraines also reported less discomfort (by about 70% compared with 40% for the other lenses) when looking at the patterns through tinted glasses.

Research continues to show that particular lenses, such as Axon Optics lenses, may provide relief and comforf to those with light sensitivity. What makes this research exciting was the use of an MRI machine capturing brain activiity.

This is the first time that scientists have been able to come up with a neurological explanation for why tinted glasses work in preventing migraines, the authors stated. Their research was funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health.

Its good to see the National Institutes of Health back this type of research. Original Text can be found here: http://usatoday30.usatoday.com/news/health/medical/health/medical/story/2011/05/Special-tinted-glasses-may-stymie-migraines/47726166/1

The post Precision-tinted glasses seem to help prevent migraines in people whose pain is triggered by certain visual patterns, new research indicates. appeared first on Axon Optics.

We need your help in our Research Fundraiser!

Virginia — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 19:48:54 +0000

Hi everyone! Virginia here!

We have only 18 days left to reach our Rockethub goal. We're 17% of the way there.

We still have some Early Backer gifts of our lenses for those who are interested in these new frames. We have reached the maximum number of early backers for the 2/$100 gift, but we still have 18 slots for one pair at the $75 donation level; one pair for the $100 donation level and 2 for $200 are unlimited.

A personal note from Dr. Bradley Katz:

Migraine attacks? Sensitive to light? You are not alone. Over 30 million Americans have migraine or are sensitive to light. I'm Dr. Bradley Katz, a Neuro-ophthalmologist at the University of Utah and I have visited with over a thousand patients with these debilitating neurological conditions. Far from a bad headache, migraine and light sensitivity are accompanied by nausea, vomiting, dizziness, pain, and last 4 to 72 hours.

Having seen so much need for solutions in this area, I now research how light triggers pain in the human body. Through my research I've found that certain wavelengths of light can trigger migraine attacks and cause painful light sensitivity in many people. For years I have been prescribing lenses with a unique filter that blocks the light that has been implicated in triggering and exacerbating migraines. 80-90% of my migraine or light sensitive patients find relief by wearing these lenses. In fact, migraine attacks were reduced from about six a month to one a month using these lenses in a clinical study.

Recently I teamed up with Photonics Researcher Steve Blair and Marketer Ben Rollins to form Axon Optics to make our lenses more readily available to the public (so you don't have to come all the way to the University of Utah to visit me or my colleagues). We also continually develop and perform clinical studies on new light filtering techniques and products. Our team has prototyped the most advanced therapeutic eyewear for those suffering from migraine or light sensitivity.
Its features include:

Therapeutic Lenses: Precisely designed to filter harsh wavelengths of light using cutting-edge coating techniques and injection molding.
Featherweight Frame: So light you wont even notice they are there.
Medical Grade Stainless Steel: Tough material to withstand abuse.
Precision Geometry: Shape provides maximum coverage.
Flex Hinge: Light can cause enough pain as it is so our hinges assure no pressure points.
Silicone Nose Pad: Adjustable floating silicone pads provide soft fit for every person.

With our eyewear you will be able to step out of the dark room and work, play, and enjoy life again. We need your support to turn these amazing prototypes into a product. You funding will be used to manufacture our "Axons" so that more people can find some relief from their painful symptoms. Please lend your support today.

The post We need your help in our Research Fundraiser! appeared first on Axon Optics.