Can’t Read the Fine Print? Breakthrough Treatments and Care for Aging Eyes with Dr. Ella Faktorovich
Show Snapshot:
One day you can read fine print, the next day you're stashing readers all over the house. Midlife brings eye surprises, and Dr. Ella Faktorovich, a nationally recognized ophthalmologist and vision correction pioneer, has solutions beyond drugstore glasses. Discover treatments for dry eyes, when to worry about biggies like macular degeneration and cataracts, how diet impacts vision, and get up to speed on revolutionary lens surgery that can eliminate reading glasses entirely. Plus, why regular eye exams are non-negotiable. Eyesight equals freedom. This week’s show helps you clearly see how to keep your eyes healthy for the long haul.
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Quotable:
“As we get older, in our 40s and older, the lens inside of our eyes starts to age and it becomes less flexible. And so as it becomes less flexible, we have more and more challenges reading menus in restaurants, reading small print, sometimes seeing the computer.”
Transcript:
Katie Fogarty 0:03
Katie, welcome to A Certain Age, a show for women who are unafraid to age out loud. I'm your host, Katie Fogarty. Beauties, how's your eyesight holding up? Are you addicted to reading glasses like me? Getting to midlife means one day you can see the fine print on a medicine bottle. The next day, no such luck. My readers are like an Amex card. I don't leave home without them. Because here's the deal: your vision shapes everything—your freedom, your sharpness, your confidence in the activities you love. We need our vision to hang in there for the long haul. Healthy, vibrant aging requires healthy, vibrant eyes. Today, Dr. Ella Faktorovich, a nationally recognized ophthalmologist and vision correction pioneer, shares strategies to protect your sight as you age, learn how diet and exercise influence eye health, discover cutting-edge treatments for irksome things like dry eyes and biggies like macular degeneration, and make sure you stick around to the end of the show to hear about fresh innovation that might help you get rid of your reading glasses entirely. This isn't just about seeing better. It's about living better at every age. Welcome to A Certain Age, Dr. Faktorovich.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 1:18
Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here.
Katie Fogarty 1:21
I am very excited about this because I am concerned about my eye health. I've noticed a change as I started adding more birthday candles to the cake. I have heard friends and family members who've had big challenges with eye health, so I know how important this conversation is. Personally, I started reaching for reading glasses, probably in my late 40s. Now, at 56, I can't function without them. What are the most common vision changes people experience as they age?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 1:49
The most common thing, as you mentioned, is the need for reading glasses. So as we get older, in our 40s and older, the lens inside of our eyes starts to age and it becomes less flexible. And so as it becomes less flexible, we have more and more challenges reading menus at restaurants, reading small print, sometimes seeing the computer, for example. And that's when we start to need reading glasses, and the prescription on that goes up as we age into our 40s, 50s, and 60s. So the need for reading glasses is a condition called presbyopia, and it affects pretty much everyone, universally. And if patients wear, say, contact lenses or glasses for distance, for example, then they would need reading glasses on top of that. Sometimes they need progressives, bifocals, trifocals. The second most common thing that can happen is dryness. Again, as we get older, our biochemistry changes, hormones change, and the eyes become drier. So we have to be very attuned to that, as far as what kind of things we can do to help us not only see better, but also to help our eyes feel better.
Katie Fogarty 3:04
And so what are some of the common interventions for dry eye? Because I have friends in my life who really struggle with this.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 3:10
There are a number of different things. There are many causes for dry eyes. The first thing that we do is try to figure out what is the cause of dryness. And when patients come in and they complain of dryness, I always tell them that the eyes have kind of a limited way to express how they feel, and the most common way is that they feel dry. But there could be a number of different reasons why the eyes feel dry. Maybe the tear film is unstable. Maybe the patient has rosacea. The oil glands may be a problem. Maybe the eyes are not producing enough tears. So there are many different reasons for the eyes to feel dry. So our first step is to figure out why your eyes feel dry, and there's a very targeted way to approach that problem. And once we figure it out, then there are many different interventions, from eye drops to other types of medications that we can use to newer modalities, with IPL treatments, for example. And what is an IPL treatment? It's intense pulsed light treatment that has been used by dermatologists for many years to treat skin conditions like rosacea, for example, but in the past number of years, we've been using it to treat dryness by improving the quality of the tear film, by addressing the lid margins and the health of the lids, to improve the quality of the tear film. So these types of technologies are now very, very prominent in our approach to how we can help patients improve the way their eyes feel, improve the quality of their tears, improve the volume of the tears, and resolve dry eyes in many ways.
Katie Fogarty 4:57
And so dry eyes sounds just so incredibly irksome. I'm assuming it's really bothersome, just like dry skin is where you feel itchy and tight and it's uncomfortable. Are we treating dry eyes simply because it's really bothersome, which is a good enough reason, but do dry eyes sometimes signal that there are bigger, more troubling changes afoot?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 5:17
Oh, I think that we as doctors should always try to figure out if there are other symptoms that patients may be having, because the symptoms of dryness can be related to conditions that can affect the rest of our body, for example, some collagen vascular diseases like lupus and things like that. It's always important for the patient to have a good evaluation by not only an eye doctor, but also their primary care provider to see whether they're healthy. There are some medications—antihistamines for allergies, antidepressants, for example—that can cause some dryness. So I usually work very closely with their primary care provider, and we figure out the best approach for the patient, both from the eye perspective and also from the rest of their body perspective.
Katie Fogarty 6:07
I know we sometimes assign body parts one task, like the eyes are vision, but when we think about what you just said, that they actually can signal that there are other things that are going on, maybe before we dive into the lifestyle choices that we can make to help give our eyes a long, healthy run, and then some of the big challenges that I know that people experience, let's do a little bit more stage setting. Talk to us a little bit about the link between eye health and overall health and longevity. Why eye health is so critical for our emotional and physical health as well.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 6:39
Well, the eyes are really essential for many reasons, but it's very important for us to have great vision so that we can feel vital, confident, safe, that we can do activities that we enjoy, going out to dinner with friends, seeing the menu in the restaurant, seeing your friends across the table in the restaurant, going out and enjoying things. Vision is very important, and we normally don't think of vision as the reason why, for example, we may feel low energy, or we may feel like staying home at night and not getting into the car and driving to meet a friend. I constantly, constantly hear stories from patients about after they have surgery to improve their vision, like cataract surgery, for example, which is also very, very common to have cataracts as we get older. And the onset of the vision change in that setting is kind of gradual, so the patients may not even notice that they simply choose to do less, right? They think maybe they're just getting older, or maybe they're getting less social, or they may not feel safe driving. I had a patient after her cataract surgery, and she came back very happy, and then she said, the first thing I did, Dr. Faktorovich, is get into my car at night and drive all around the Marina District in San Francisco. And I was just driving and driving and driving. I didn't have anywhere in particular to go, but I just enjoyed driving, and I realized how safe I feel. And she stopped driving because she wasn't seeing well, wasn't feeling safe. So there are a lot of emotional connections that we have to how well we're seeing, or, for example, another patient would say, you know, I just became a homebody and kind of preferred to stay home, and I turn up the light really high and I read, but even that is getting to be a little tiring, because I can't read for a long time. That's something that I've enjoyed doing in the past. But 'as we get older,' right? And I really hate that phrase 'as we get older.' I try never to use it with patients, because there are many things that can be treated and successfully resolved, and I don't think we just need to accept that something is the way it is just because we're getting older.
Katie Fogarty 9:08
Yeah, that is such a common theme on this show. I've had so many doctors who've come on to say that we don't have to just fall apart as we age. There are interventions that we can do to take care of ourselves, our bones, our heart, our body, and our eyes, which is why I'm so lit up about talking to you. Eyesight equals freedom. You've spelled it out so clearly. Let's talk about some of the biggies. You're mentioning cataracts. This is something that I think everyone's familiar with. There are other ones that I'm less familiar with, like macular degeneration. Let's start with cataracts, since we've already brought that up. At what age does this typically occur? What are some signs to look out for, and when should you get into a doctor to get it handled?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 9:50
Cataracts are very common. The changes in the lens can start happening in our 40s, progress in our 50s. Most common age for patients coming in for cataract surgery is probably in their 60s. We try to educate both patients and the referring doctors that we don't need to wait till the cataracts are, quote unquote, mature or ripe or the patient can't see anything. Early changes in vision, for example, difficulty driving at night, glare from oncoming traffic, difficulty seeing in dimmer lights, the need to turn up the light, to turn up the backlight on your computer, for example—one of the common symptoms of early cataract. And then, of course, that can progress. The vision can deteriorate after that, but anytime or frequently changing vision. For example, if you go to an eye doctor, and a year later you need a pair of glasses with a different prescription, and then a different prescription, that typically means that there is some change in the lens in your eye that's going on, and that change is called cataract. So anytime there is a change in the lens that creates some opacity in the lens that either scatters light or makes the prescription change a lot, that's called a cataract. And if you feel like this is something that affects your vitality and your functioning, prevents you from doing the activities you want to do, then that's the time to look at it. I think that after the age of 40, we should have an eye exam every year. There are many things that are kind of silent in the eye. It's good to detect them early. Cataracts may be one of them. And the earlier we do the treatment, the easier the procedure is, and the faster somebody can enjoy better vision.
Katie Fogarty 11:42
Fantastic. Cataracts seems very fixable, relatively routine, relatively straightforward. Tell us about macular degeneration and glaucoma, which sound much scarier and harder to resolve.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 11:53
Macular degeneration is definitely more scary and harder to treat, and it's a good idea to talk about it because as we get older, those things become more and more prevalent. And I think it's important for everybody to know about it. Macular degeneration affects the central part of the vision, the part that we see with when we look at something, unlike our peripheral vision. So if patients have macular degeneration, they have trouble seeing centrally. They may have some distortion, some blind spots in the center, and it happens in both eyes, although not necessarily equally, but over time it can happen in both eyes. There are two types of macular degeneration. So-called dry, which progresses more slowly and is more gradual, and then the wet form, which is more aggressive and more, can be very, very visually debilitating. There are a number of treatments for it, and it's good to catch it early. For example, with the dry form, there is some newer medication that came out last year, which is the first FDA-approved medication to treat dry macular degeneration. It can slow the progression of that, so it's important to get checked because if you don't have any symptoms yet, you may be able to be treated before you develop symptoms. For the wet form, there are injections, medications that are injected into the eye that can stabilize and improve vision, so there is treatment for that. But it's important to catch it early. There is something called an Amsler grid. It's like a grid of squares, and the patient can look at the grid and see if any lines are wavy or distorted. That may be an indicator of macular degeneration. So we encourage patients to have one of those grids at home, and some people put it on their refrigerator and they look at it every day. Because if you catch it early, you can get treatment quicker and better, and potentially reverse vision loss. Glaucoma is something that's different. It can affect the peripheral vision primarily. The central vision in most patients is preserved, but the peripheral vision can be adversely affected, and it can progress to the point that the patients may have significant damage from glaucoma. So that's also important to catch it early, and that's one of the conditions that's really silent. Most patients don't have any symptoms. Vision may be perfect centrally, and so that's why it's good to have good checkups where the eye pressure is checked and also peripheral vision is checked, because then if there is some early changes, the eye doctor can discuss the treatment options. There are many different drops, for example, or procedures that can be done to treat glaucoma.
Katie Fogarty 14:46
This is all so important. I think that we fixate on the things that we can see changing, so when we can't see up close or we notice that our vision is changing for the worse in certain circumstances. That gets our attention because we feel it. But if there's something more pernicious at work, we need to get in regularly to see a professional so that we can make sure that that's not happening. It sounds like many of these things are slow moving and gradual, and that can give us the false confidence that they're not there, when in fact, if we just get in and get ourselves looked at, we can catch them when they're more treatable.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 15:19
Absolutely. I think that's very, very well said, and that's so important for us to take care of our eyes and not ignore them, because I think it's important to be proactive and not reactive. Because if you're reactive, you may be too late to be able to correct the problem.
Katie Fogarty 15:37
Absolutely. So before we get into the exciting parts, which is the innovation and how we can get rid of our glasses someday, let's talk about lifestyle. What can we do to promote good eye health? What we eat, how we move our bodies, the quality of our sleep, all those things that I feel like on this show we hit again and again and again.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 15:57
Absolutely. There are so many things we can do. Diet is very important. Diets rich in antioxidants, omega-3 fatty acids, leafy green vegetables—those are all important. Things like smoking cessation is important. It's important not to smoke. UV protection is important, so wearing sunglasses outside. Exercise—general exercise is very important for overall health, but also eye health, because a lot of conditions like diabetes, for example, which can lead to diabetic retinopathy and loss of vision from that, can be prevented if we keep our blood sugars under control through diet and exercise. So a lot of things that are good for us in general are also good for our eyes.
Katie Fogarty 16:44
I love the fact that there isn't one prescription for healthy aging. It's many of the same levers. And I love that because it really encourages us to think holistically. If we're doing things good for our heart, it's good for our eyes. If we're doing things good for our brain, it's good for our eyes. How about screens? I have become much more dependent, as I think many of us have, on screens. I work on a screen. I get my pleasure reading on a screen. I watch movies on a screen. I text on a screen. Is that causing real harm to my eyes?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 17:14
It can. It depends how much you use the screen and really what you're doing. So the constant focus at near, especially like on the phone, for example, can contribute to dryness. It can also contribute to fatigue and eyestrain. There is some data about younger individuals, like children and teenagers developing more nearsightedness because of constant near work. So it's important to take breaks from your screen, look at distance, blink more, because when you're looking at a screen, you're blinking less than you normally would. So just kind of being aware of that and making sure you take breaks, look at distance, blink, and that's important. The other thing is the position of the screen. So if your computer screen is above your eyes, then your eyes are open wider, and so more tear evaporation happens. So we want to have the screen just a little bit lower so the eyes are looking kind of slightly down at the screen, and that way less tear evaporation. Also, the air currents—if you have a heater or a fan blowing into your face when you're working at the computer, that can contribute to dryness. So a lot of awareness of the environment is helpful.
Katie Fogarty 18:33
I love these practical tips. And I think many of the things you just mentioned are things that we can do today. It's not like we need to make big purchases or have a big conversation with anyone. We can just start to think about the way that we're engaging with our screens, the environment that we're in. So many things that you just said feel really, really practical.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 18:50
Absolutely.
Katie Fogarty 18:51
I want to ask you about supplements because I think that a lot of us are now very interested in what we can take to help our bodies perform better. When it comes to eye health specifically, are there evidence-based supplements that you recommend?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 19:06
There are. The AREDS2 formula, which is a combination of vitamins and minerals, has been shown in studies to slow the progression of macular degeneration. So for patients who have early signs of macular degeneration or are at risk, that's something that can be helpful. There are also omega-3 supplements that can be helpful for dry eyes and overall eye health. But I would always recommend talking to your doctor before starting any supplements to make sure they're appropriate for you.
Katie Fogarty 19:37
That makes so much sense. Okay, I want to talk about what feels to me like the most exciting thing, which I've been hearing little bits and pieces about: vision correction that doesn't involve glasses. I know that there are things like LASIK. I know people who've had that. I know that that's more for people who have distance vision problems. But can you talk to us about some of the newer innovations in lens replacement or lens implants that can actually help people with reading vision? Because that feels like it would be life-changing.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 20:09
Absolutely. So lens replacement surgery, or refractive lens exchange, is a procedure where we remove the natural lens of the eye and replace it with an artificial lens. And the artificial lenses that we have now are incredible. They can correct not only for distance vision, but also for near vision and intermediate vision. So patients can potentially get rid of their glasses entirely. The lenses that we use are called multifocal or extended depth of focus lenses, and they allow patients to see at multiple distances. So for somebody who's been wearing reading glasses for years and years and is tired of it, this can be truly life-changing. They can read, they can see their computer, they can drive, they can do all these things without glasses. It's a relatively quick procedure, very safe, and the results can be amazing.
Katie Fogarty 21:02
This sounds incredible. How long has this been around? Is this something new, or has this been available for a while and I just haven't been paying attention?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 21:10
The technology has been evolving. Multifocal lenses have been around for maybe 15, 20 years, but they've gotten significantly better in the last 5 to 10 years. The newer generation lenses are much better than the older ones. They provide better quality of vision, less side effects like halos and glare, and overall just much better patient satisfaction. So it's a technology that's been evolving and getting better and better.
Katie Fogarty 21:38
This is so exciting to me. I am someone who loves to read. I love my independence. I love not having to think about where my glasses are. And I find that the older I get, the more I'm reaching for them constantly. So the idea that there could be a solution that would allow me to see clearly at all distances without glasses is really appealing. Are there downsides? Are there risks that people should know about?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 22:03
Like any surgery, there are risks, but overall it's a very safe procedure. The most common side effects with multifocal lenses can be some halos or glare around lights, especially at night. For most patients, they adapt to it very well and it doesn't bother them, but some patients are more sensitive to it. So it's important to have a good discussion with your surgeon about your expectations, your lifestyle, what you do, and whether you're a good candidate for it. Not everybody is a good candidate. For example, if you do a lot of night driving or you're very sensitive to glare, maybe a different type of lens would be better for you. So it's important to have that individualized discussion.
Katie Fogarty 22:46
That makes sense. And I imagine that as the technology continues to evolve, some of those side effects will become less and less pronounced.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 22:53
Absolutely. And there are new lenses coming out all the time that are getting better and better. There's also something called light-adjustable lenses, which is really exciting. It's a lens that after it's implanted, we can adjust the prescription using UV light. So if the patient needs a little bit of a tweak in their prescription, we can do that after the surgery without having to go back and do another surgery. So that's a really exciting advancement.
Katie Fogarty 23:22
Wow, that is incredible. So you put in a lens and then you can fine-tune it after the fact. That seems like it would really increase the precision and the satisfaction rate.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 23:32
Absolutely. It gives us much more control and allows us to really customize the vision for each patient.
Katie Fogarty 23:38
Amazing. So if someone is listening to this and thinking, 'I'm really interested in this,' what should they do? Should they talk to their regular eye doctor? Should they seek out a specialist?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 23:49
I would recommend talking to your regular eye doctor first to make sure your eyes are healthy and that you don't have any other conditions that would need to be addressed first. And then seeking out a specialist who focuses on refractive surgery, specifically lens replacement surgery. It's important to find somebody who has a lot of experience with these procedures and who can really guide you through the process and help you understand what's the best option for you.
Katie Fogarty 24:17
Makes sense. And I imagine that different surgeons might have different approaches or different lenses that they prefer to work with, so it's probably worth getting a couple of opinions or doing your research.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 24:28
Absolutely. I think it's always good to do your research, talk to different doctors, and find somebody that you feel comfortable with and who you trust.
Katie Fogarty 24:36
Excellent advice. Okay, so I want to talk a little bit more about this procedure. What's the recovery like? Is it painful? How long does it take? Give us the practical details.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 24:47
The procedure itself is relatively quick. It takes about 15 to 20 minutes per eye. We usually do one eye at a time, a week or two apart. The procedure is done under local anesthesia, so you're awake but you don't feel anything. There's no pain during the procedure. After the procedure, you may have some mild discomfort, some scratchiness, some tearing, but it's usually very minimal and resolves within a day or two. Most patients are seeing quite well the next day. The vision continues to improve over the next few days to weeks. And then you have some follow-up visits to make sure everything is healing well and the prescription is where we want it to be.
Katie Fogarty 25:31
So it's not like you're laid up for weeks recovering. You can be back to your normal activities pretty quickly.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 25:37
Exactly. Most patients are back to their normal activities within a few days. We usually recommend avoiding strenuous exercise or swimming for a couple of weeks, but otherwise, you can pretty much resume your normal life.
Katie Fogarty 25:50
That's amazing. And I imagine the fact that you do one eye at a time makes it easier because you still have one good eye while the other one is recovering.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 25:58
Exactly. And that's one of the advantages. You can still function, you can still see, and then we do the second eye and you get the full benefit.
Katie Fogarty 26:06
This is really exciting. I feel like this is something that could dramatically improve quality of life for so many people. Is this covered by insurance, or is this something that people have to pay for out of pocket?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 26:18
So if you have cataracts, then cataract surgery is covered by insurance. However, if you choose one of the premium lenses, like a multifocal lens or a light-adjustable lens, there's usually an additional out-of-pocket cost for that. If you don't have cataracts and you're doing it purely for vision correction to get rid of glasses, then it's not covered by insurance and it's out of pocket. But many patients feel that it's worth the investment because of the quality of life improvement.
Katie Fogarty 26:47
That makes sense. And I imagine that when you think about years and years of not having to buy glasses, contact lenses, all of that, it probably evens out over time.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 26:56
Absolutely. And also just the convenience and the freedom of not having to worry about glasses, not having to search for them, not having to remember to bring them. For many patients, it's priceless.
Katie Fogarty 27:06
I can totally see that. Okay, so let me ask you this. Are there any age restrictions? Like, is there an age that's too young or too old for this procedure?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 27:16
Generally, we recommend this procedure for patients who are 50 and older because that's when presbyopia sets in and the lens is not functioning as well. For younger patients, LASIK or other types of vision correction might be more appropriate. There's really no upper age limit. As long as the eyes are healthy and the patient is healthy enough to undergo the procedure, we can do it. I've done it on patients in their 80s and 90s who have had excellent results.
Katie Fogarty 27:39
Who's a candidate for this? Can anyone say 'I'd love to have lens replacement or lens implant,' or is it really for specific types of eye conditions?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 27:48
It's really for patients who are 50 plus. So if you're younger, then this is not the best option for you. It's for patients who have some difficulty reading already because the lens is not functioning the way it was when we're younger. So it's a procedure that we kind of grow into, as opposed to grow out of. So patients who are 50 plus are excellent candidates in general, providing that the eyes are healthy and all that. It can be truly incredible.
Katie Fogarty 28:16
You had me at 'not reading correctly.' Reading is one of my favorite pastimes, and if I ever thought that I would lose the ability to do that, I would be very intrigued by this. So I'm delighted to know that this is out there. Is this something that's very standard? Is it being offered around the country, or is it really only with specialists at this point?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 28:33
It's being offered a lot, and many doctors do it. I would recommend that the patient seeks out somebody who specializes in vision correction surgery, specifically in the kind of lens replacement surgery geared toward the goal of getting out of glasses. Many doctors can do it, but the super specialists are really outstanding at it, and we have many around the country.
Katie Fogarty 28:59
Okay, fantastic. Okay, one final question for you. What is it that you wish that every patient that you have would do to better care for their eyes?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 29:07
I think a couple of things. One is to see an eye doctor regularly so we can detect any issues before they become a real problem. And two is just take a break from your screen. Do activities that don't involve looking at the screens a lot. I think it's good in general, but it improves the quality of the tear film, gives you maybe a different perspective on things.
Katie Fogarty 29:32
All right. I love it—practical, actionable advice. We can all do both of those things. So thank you for coming on today, for sharing your expertise, for reminding us that we only get one set of eyes and we want to care for them. Before I say goodbye, though, where can our listeners find you, learn more about your work?
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 29:51
They can look us up on our website, www.pacificvision.org, and if they have any questions, we're happy to answer them.
Katie Fogarty 30:00
And if you're San Francisco-based, you can go see Dr. Faktorovich. Thank you so much again for your time today. I so appreciate it.
Dr. Ella Faktorovich 30:06
Thank you. It's a pleasure to be here. Thank you for the opportunity.
Katie Fogarty 30:11
This wraps A Certain Age, a show for women who are aging without apology. What a fantastic conversation. I'm always so inspired and in action after I have these conversations. You had better believe I'm going off to find a new eye doctor immediately. I moved a few months ago. I haven't found a new one. Guess what I'm fixing today? So important to take care of our eyes. We all want to age vibrantly. If you learned something from this show or a different one in the past, if you feel more inspired and in action after you listen, let me know in an Apple Podcast or Spotify review, because reviews help other women find the show, and they make me feel incredible every time I read them. Thanks for sticking around to the end of the show, and as always, special thanks to Michael Mancini, who composed and produced our theme music. See you next time and until then, age boldly, beauties.