One-on-One Patient Care at Eyes Fort Worth: A Worthy Convo with Dr. Cindy Zimmerman

Developing and maintaining a healthy whole body generally comes down to a relatively few basic categories.

Eating right, exercising daily, and making sure to see your doctor regularly covers a huge portion of it, but there are some things that require extra attention. Dr. Cindy Zimmerman of Eyes Fort Worth strives to make sure her patients’ eyes are also well cared for. Taking a one-on-one, patient-centric approach to eyecare and eye health, along with offering a unique eyewear selection and cutting edge technology, Dr. Zimmerman has quickly become one of Fort Worth’s premier eyecare providers.

Courtesy of Cindy Zimmerman

Can you give a brief account (including timeline) of your background and what led you to go out on your own and open Eyes Fort Worth?

I graduated from the University of Houston College of Optometry in 2008. I spent the first year out of optometry school as a “fill in” doctor to learn the style of practice that fit me best. It didn’t take long to realize that Private practice was my passion. I purchased an established private practice and changed the name to Eyes on Camp Bowie! I was able to add an associate doctor who is amazing and works a lot with our pediatric patients. We have enjoyed 10 years of growth and caring for the Fort Worth community. The practice has expanded our services and has grown out of our current space. We recently rebranded to Eyes Fort Worth in preparation for the move to our new office! We are excited about our location change and anticipate moving in early 2026!

What should our readers know about Eyes Fort Worth and what differentiates your practice from other FW vision care providers?

We at Eyes Fort Worth pride ourselves most on customer service and personalized care, every patient, every time. We provide preventative eyecare and love to cultivate meaningful relationships with our patients. We strive to be mindful of our patient’s time and communicate expectations effectively. Oh, and we have AMAZING eyewear!

Let’s talk glasses. Not only are they a useful medical device, but they are also a great way to accessorize and show our individuality. What are some of the brands and styles that you carry and are excited about that help your patients/clients do that? 

Where do I start? We are well known in Fort Worth for our amazing opticians and unique independent eyewear brands.  We carry luxury eyewear brands that are curated from all over the world. First and foremost, you want a lens for your eyewear that has superior optical quality and minimizes glare and distortions to help you see your best! We are really excited about our newest Jacques Marie Mage, Masahiromaruyama and Press Eyewear Collections!

For parents, vision issues aren’t always obvious in our kids, because we can’t see that something is wrong. What are things we should be looking for and talking about when it comes to our kids’ vision care?

Early detection is critical. Even if your child gets regular vision screenings, it is amazing how kids with vision problems can still go undetected.  Excessive eye rubbing, an eye or both eyes that turn in or out, watering or discharge coming from one or both eyes, avoiding near work, holding print extremely close when reading, closing an eye, and squinting are just some of the many things to work for.

Screen time is another topic that should be addressed. Excess screen time can lead to worsening myopia or nearsightedness. There are also studies that point to near work association with dry eye due to the decrease in blink rate. Having your kid go outside and play for an hour a day can help combat this.

Courtesy of Cindy Zimmerman

What about caring for aging adults? Whether our parents or ourselves, how do we best ensure we are recognizing and addressing issues early on, or even before they present?

Get annual examinations, even if you don’t require prescription glasses and just use reading glasses.

These preventative eye checks help to detect glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts, and also some systemic diseases.

Potential things to look out for include eyelid redness & matting, growths on the whites of the eyes or eyelids, difficulty seeing in dim light, difficulty driving at night, running into walls, tripping over furniture, excess tearing.

Finally, what are some simple things we should be doing regularly to ensure the health of our eyes?

– Get annual examinations.

– Follow the 20/20/20 Rule: After 20 minutes of reading, look 20 feet away and blink for 20 seconds. This allows the muscles of the eyes to relax, and the blinking encourages a more stable tear film which is essential for both clear vision and meibomian gland health of the eyelid.

– Eat more vegetables and fish, less fried foods.

– Be selective with cosmetics, eye creams, lash enhancing serums, and false lashes. Ingredients in certain formulas can be irritating to the ocular surface and can contribute to dry eye symptoms.

– Wear a hat and sun wear when outdoors. UV exposure can contribute to cataract formation and skin cancers around the eye and eyelid.