Punctal Plugs are small plastic tubes that can be inserted into the puncta of the upper or lower eyelid. The puncta are the small openings you can see on the eyelids, found in the inner corner of your eyes. Individually called the Upper Punctum and Lower Punctum. It is more common to have just your lower puncta plugged. Eye care...

Do you have constantly watery eyes? Perhaps you even have tears running down your face? Sick of people asking you if you’re OK? Or if you have been crying? Well watery eyes aren’t something you just have to put up with. There are some solutions available to help. Watery eyes are very common and are usually temporary. For a small...

Eduard Zirm completed the first successful corneal graft, also known as a corneal transplant, in 1905. Since then innumerable ophthalmologists have refined and developed the procedure to become the most common and successful form of human transplantation. This article will discuss some of the reasons people may need a corneal graft, what types of corneal transplants are now possible and...

Hobby glasses are easily purchased from pharmacies, department stores, the warehouse, supermarkets and even in some $2 shops! Hobby glasses are also known as ready-made reading glasses, over the counter reading glasses, magnifying glasses or readers. They are quick and easy to buy, rarely more than $30.00, but do they damage your eyes? The short answer is no, they don’t...

These days, there are two types of laser clinics – ones that do SMILE® surgery and ones that do not. In New Zealand, Australia, and the rest of the world, most laser eye surgery clinics offer SMILE as well as LASIK and PRK. The choice of which procedure to have done depends on several factors including: type of focusing error...

The effect migraines can have on your eyesight is both fascinating and disruptive. But the very first time you experience it, it can also be very distressing. In this blog, we explore the connection between the brain, the eyes and what we see. What is a migraine? A migraine is a recurrent and severe headache which a whopping one in...

We see inherited traits every day. Families with the same hair colour, eye colour, nose shape or build. But those of us who don’t experience poor vision probably haven’t considered the links between genetics and eyesight. Many eye conditions do have an underlying genetic cause, which means they can be inherited or “run in the family”. For people who have...

Many of us would have grown up hearing that carrots can help you see in the dark, watching too much television will give you square eyes and if you cross your eyes, they might get stuck that way. But is there any truth behind these myths and old wives tales? In this blog, we explore some of the more popular...

The process of seeing is a hugely complex subject. To understand what happens when we “see” something, it is helpful to separate the subject into two parts. Firstly, the eye and how it functions, and secondly, how vision actually occurs, a process known as visual perception. Finally, we will show how damage to different parts of the visual system affects...

It looks like New Zealand may have dodged the worst of the Covid 19 bullet, and here at the Wellington Eye Centre we are looking forward to getting back to something approaching normal. However, it has become obvious over the last couple of months that people can carry the virus but have no symptoms. This means that we must still...

Does your job have you glued to your screen? Maybe your go-to activity is Netflix or gaming? Or perhaps you are one of the millions of people currently housebound due to Covid-19 and screens are your only link to the outside world. Love them or hate them, it’s hard to escape our screens. They are a major part of modern...

Viruses can infect the eyes in many different ways, some more severe whilst others are more contagious and common. At the start of the Covid 19 pandemic there was much talk around whether or not it could infect via your eyes. Covid 19 can affect the eyes, causing conjunctivitis, but it is not the only virus that can affect the...