Eye Health in St. Louis, MO

Our ultimate goal at Erker’s Fine Eyewear isn’t just to match you with exceptional independent eyewear; we also seek to provide high-quality eye care and complete vision correction, both with our advanced lens technology and our comprehensive eye exams. In order to improve your vision, we must first understand it.

COMMON VISION CONDITIONS,
ISSUES, AND DISEASES

Our comprehensive eye exams do far more than find your precise vision prescription. We screen you for a plethora of vision conditions and eye diseases. If we find something more severe than what we can treat in our office, we can refer you to a local specialist. You can find information about some of the most common eye conditions, issues, and diseases below.
REFRACTIVE VISION ISSUES

REFRACTIVE VISION ISSUES

Refractive vision issues — such as myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness), and astigmatism — are the most common causes of impaired sight. These issues occur when the eye is the wrong shape. Most people wear prescription glasses or sunglasses to correct for refractive conditions.

Vision issues are easily diagnosed during a comprehensive eye exam. In our over 140 years of operation in St. Louis, we’ve not only found the optimal ways to correct for these errors, we’ve learned how to select the lenses that would best suit each customer’s unique eyes. Let us put you in one of our pairs of glasses so you can see the difference Erker’s Fine Eyewear can make for your sight.

PRESBYOPIA

PRESBYOPIA

The lens sits behind the pupil, and works with the cornea to focus light onto the retina, allowing for clear vision. Presbyopia is a form of farsightedness caused by the lens losing its flexibility over time, and usually occurs naturally as a part of aging.

When we test for refractive vision issues, the same tests will determine whether you have presbyopia. While not all forms of presbyopia can be fully corrected with eyewear, many patients can improve their vision with our cutting-edge lenses. Talk to our eye doctor during your exam to find out how a pair of glasses from Erker’s can address your presbyopia.

PRESBYOPIA
STRABISMUS

STRABISMUS (CROSSED EYES)

Strabismus is a condition where a person is unable to align their eyes some or all of the time. An eye’s movements are controlled by six specialized muscles, which are, in turn, controlled by the brain. When there is a neurological or muscular problem, the eyes may fail to look in the same direction at the same time. This can affect vision as the brain learns to ignore what one of the eyes sees.

Our reflex testing is used to find signs of strabismus. Specialized eyewear can play an important role in improving the eyesight of someone with strabismus.

AMBLYOPIA (LAZY EYE)

Amblyopia, or “lazy eye”, describes when one or both eyes fail to develop vision properly, and the eyesight in the weaker eye gets ignored by the brain. Lazy eye can be caused by one eye having a much stronger prescription than the other, or one eye being obstructed during development by another condition like a droopy eyelid.

Reflex testing and a refractive assessment can be used to diagnose amblyopia in our comprehensive eye exams. As with strabismus, some treatments can utilize our state-of-the-art lenses to improve the weaker eye.

CATARACTS

CATARACTS

Many changes can occur in the lens as it ages, like how the loss of lens flexibility can lead to presbyopia. Another common change is that lens material can clump, creating cloudy spots in your vision. These “cataracts” can completely cloud your vision over time.

We have a variety of tests at our disposal which can look into your pupil to determine if you have cataracts and how severely your vision is being affected. In less severe cases, eyewear can make up for the vision lost by cataracts. More severe cataract cases will need cataract surgery, but may be able to find further vision improvement with our glasses.

GLAUCOMA

GLAUCOMA

Glaucoma refers to a group of eye conditions which damage the optic nerve. This damage is usually caused by too much pressure building inside the eye. The optic nerve cannot be repaired, meaning that vision loss is often permanent.

In addition to testing your intraocular pressure (IOP) to see if glaucoma is developing, we also assess your risk for glaucoma. There is no way to reverse glaucoma, but its progression can be slowed or prevented with proper management and regular eye exams, especially if it’s caught early.

GLAUCOMA
RETINAL DAMAGE

RETINAL DAMAGE

The retina — the structure in your eye that sends what you see to the brain — can be damaged in a few ways. Changes in the consistency of the gel-like fluid in your eyes (the vitreous), or in your eyes’ capillaries (blood vessels), can cause retinal tears, swelling, or even detachment.

We have specialized testing for retinal issues of all kinds. Because most retinal damage can’t be reversed, we make it our priority to catch and facilitate treatment for these retinal issues as soon as possible, which is just another reason we’ve developed our comprehensive eye exams to be as thorough as possible.

CONTACT LENSES AT ERKER’S

We’re proud to be the finest eyewear and eye care provider in St. Louis and throughout Missouri. If you’re interested in contacts, we’ll take care of you every step of the way, from initial conversations to easy re-ordering. To schedule a contact lens exam, call Erker’s Fine Eyewear at (314) 997-0002, Erker’s 1879 at (314) 692-9877, or schedule an appointment online.