Services provided at our office include:
	Eye Evaluations		InfantSEE (TM)
	Child Vision and Learning		Optical Dispensing
	Contact Lenses		Eye Infections, Eye Injuries
	Laser Vision Comanagement		Surgery Comanagement
	Eye Diseases; Cataracts, Glaucoma, Diabetes		Dry Eyes
	Technology		Vision Therapy

At Horizon EyeCare, we put quality above all else. We want to make sure your eyes and your vision are healthy. That’s why we offer comprehensive eye evaluations and follow up care. For more information, please call or e-mail our office.

InfantSEE (TM) is a public health program designed to ensure that eye and vision care becomes an important part of healthcare. Horizon EyeCare is proud to be a part of this ground-breaking program. Our doctors provide a no-cost, comprehensive infant eye assessment during the first year of life as a public health service. Early detection of eye conditions is the best way to ensure your child will have healthy vision for successful development. Please call our office with questions you have about InfantSEE (TM).

Did you know that 80% of everything a child learns, understands, and remembers is acquired through his or her visual system? Vision is very important in the learning process. What’s worse is that one in four children have undiagnosed vision problems that affect their learning. Sometimes the problem is misdiagnosed as ADD (attention deficit disorder), ADHD (attention deficit hyperactivity disorder), or dyslexia.

It is important that children receive comprehensive visual exams starting as early in life as possible. Vision screenings at school are not sufficient as a basis for diagnosing vision problems. A comprehensive exam may find a visual problem missed during screenings, and your eye doctor can recommend treatment.

Your child may suffer from a visual problem if they exhibit any of the following characteristics:

*struggles with reading

*grows tired or frustrated with reading

*can’t sit still or stay at a task for any length of time

*reverses words, numbers, or letters

*has difficulty remembering the spelling of words

*frequently loses their place, skips words, or skips lines of text while reading

*has poor reading comprehension

*has shown no improvement from medication or tutoring

Children suffering from uncorrected vision problems may face many barriers in life- socially, academically, and athletically. Make sure your child’s vision is developing well.

For more information, speak with one of the doctors.

Horizon EyeCare Professionals carry all the latest styles in eyewear for the whole family. Check out our designer sunglasses, available with and without prescription. We carry a full line of sports glasses, featuring impact resistant lenses and padded bridges. Pick the perfect lenses for your lifestyle at Horizon EyeCare.

Our professionals can fit you into a pair of lenses that is just right for you. The doctors are experts in fitting contact lenses and can handle the most specialized needs. Whether rigid or soft lenses, we are experienced in handling the most difficult of prescriptions.

If you have allergies, then you are aware that they can be particularly annoying to contact lens wearers. In the past, many people had to quit wearing their lenses during the allergy season. However, new lens materials and allergy medications have made it possible for these people to eliminate the burning, itchy eyes associated with allergies. Prescription medications such as Patanol and Alocril are amazingly effective and safe even in children as young as three years old. Let us know when you come in for your appointment if you have special allergy needs and we will be happy to help you.

Our office provides emergency services for eye infections, eye injuries and foreign bodies in the eyes. Please call us at 507-451-3072 during office hours, and our staff will work with you to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. If you need assistance after hours or on weekends, our emergency telephone number is stated on our answering machine. One of the doctors will be happy to see you immediately at any time.

State-of-the-art microscopes allow us to examine the front surface of the eye and facial areas around the eye for infection or injury. After assessing the extent of the injury or infection, a treatment plan will be formulated and explained to you. Treatment may include medications and supportive care. Follow-up visits to monitor your recovery will be scheduled as needed.

Many people with vision correction issues are interested in LASIK and whether it is right for them. Here is a brief description of the procedure:

After the procedure, we take great care to monitor your eyes and healing to make sure you have the best possible experience and visual outcome. We are happy to follow your progress during the following year.

Our office provides many of the co-management services for cataract, laser, and refractive surgeries. We offer this in conjunction with the hospital and local eye surgeons.

Additionally, we have working arrangements established with other specialized eye care doctors to manage such things are retinal detachments, retinal tears and hemmorhages.

Cataracts: The natural lens in the eye gradually becomes less clear as we get older. When opacities develop in the lens and the lens gets too hazy, vision will be impaired. Our office can diagnose and manage cataract care. When the cataract affects the vision to the extent that you cannot read or see distant objects comfortably, we will recommend cataract surgery. Our office co-manages with cataract specialists that are proven experts in cataract surgery. Cataract surgery can provide you with a bright new world of vision.

Glaucoma: Glaucoma gradually destroys the optic nerve tissue in the back of the eye. The greatest danger of glaucoma stems from the fact that the disease is painless and without obvious symptoms until significant damage has occurred. The most common cause is from pressure being too high inside the eye, but vascular disease and other diseases can also cause glaucoma. We always monitor for glaucoma during routine eye examinations. Tests include checking the pressure of the eye, screening for peripheral vision defects and analyzing the appearance of the optic nerve. If you are diagnosed with glaucoma, we typically prescribe medications that lower the eye pressure. Most forms of glaucoma are successfully treated with eye drops. Laser treatments and eye surgery are secondary treatments that offer alternative ways to treat more advanced glaucoma.

Diabetes: Patients with diabetes should have a dilated retinal examination each year. Diabetes often stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in the back of the eye, which ultimately leak and damage the retina. If this condition, called diabetic retinopathy, is discovered early, laser treatment can destroy these vessels. We have the latest instruments used to detect changes in the back of the eye. If we discover advancing diabetic eye disease that can be treated or needs further evaluation, we will refer you for consultation and further testing to a board certified retinal specialist.

For more information on these and other eye conditions, please visit the "Eyecyclopedia" tab located on the right hand side of this screen.

Dry Eyes: Symptoms include scratchy eyes, burning, mild redness, and gritty-feeling eyes. Oral medications, reading, computer tasks and dry environments may aggravate marginally dry eyes. Dry eyes can be diagnosed by using dyes to observe tear patterns, evaluation of the amount of tears on the front of the eye, and from review of your symptoms. Treatment may include artificial tears; eye drops for treating allergies; Restasis, a prescription medication shown to improve tear production in many people; and/or punctal plugs inserted in the tear drainage canals.

We check for Glaucoma, a disease where high levels of pressure inside of your eye are present when your eyes fail to regulate internal pressure. Early detection of glaucoma is crucial to prevent the loss of peripheral or side vision. We have state of the art technology called the GDx, to determine whether nerve damage has occured in the retina of the eye. The GDx can help diagnose glaucoma much sooner than traditional means of testing for the disease.

Horizon EyeCare now has a new retinal camera. It is capable of capturing an image of the inside of the eye that is digitally specific. Once a photo is taken of the inside of the eye, we discuss any findings with you at length. Photos are a great way to monitor for change over time.

We monitor your eyes for the development of cataracts. When the internal lens of your eyes becomes cloudy and necessitates replacement, we are able to refer you to local surgeons for further care.

Do you know what binocular vision is? It occurs when each of your eyes forms its own image and transfers these images to the brain. The brain fuses these two images into one. In order for this to occur, your eyes must move together, be aligned, and produce the same size and shape image. When this doesn’t happen, it’s difficult to see clearly and usually causes strain and headaches. We also conduct a series of tests to assess the ability of your eye muscles to make sure that both eyes are working as a team!

Though some vision problems can be treated using corrective lenses, many require a different kind of treatment. Vision therapy is a series of activities or exercises prescribed and monitored by an optometrist to treat problems with visual skill and processing. After a comprehensive eye exam, your eye doctor may determine that vision therapy is the best option for treatment. Vision therapy programs are based on the results of standardized tests, and the needs of the patient.

Vision therapy is administered in the office under guidance of the doctor. Sometimes a number of office visits are required over a period ranging from several weeks to several months. Usually the patient performs several exercises, then the therapist teaches the patient techniques to be practiced at home to reinforce the developing visual skills.

Vision therapy can effectively treat eye movement disorders, inefficient eye teaming, misaligned eyes, poorly developed vision, focusing problems, and other visual information processing disorders. For more information, please ask your eye doctor, or visit the website under our related sites page: www.minnesotavisiontherapy.com.