Brittany Fox stands at the front counter of her Fox Family Eye Care in downtown Blue Earth.

It has been said that the eyes are a window into a person’s soul.

It is also true that a person’s eyes can reveal a great deal of information about their health.

“High blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes, lupus, Lyme disease and a higher risk for stroke are all things that may be found during an eye exam,” Dr. Brittany Fox, who owns and operates Fox Family Eye Care in Blue Earth, says. “For instance, when examining the back of the eye, if kinks or bleeding from blood vessels are found – that can be an indication of high blood pressure.”

Fox opened her business in Blue Earth in January of this year when she was presented with an opportunity she could not refuse.

“Dr. Spencer Seibert and Dr. James Busche operated Associate Optometry in Blue Earth and in Fairmont,” Fox comments. “They first asked if I wanted to work at their Blue Earth location. Later they asked me if I wanted to buy it. They also let me retain the charts of their previous patients.”

Fox is excited to have been able to return to her home area. She graduated from Blue Earth Area High School in 2008, took her undergraduate classes at St. Catherine’s in St. Paul and then completed her education at the Illinois College of Optometry in Chicago.

“It was the closest optometry school to home,” Fox notes. “So that is where I went.”

Fox then worked for Blue Earth Valley Eye Clinic before working for private practices in New Ulm and Waseca.

“I didn’t really want to leave Blue Earth,” she reveals. “But it was good to get a different perspective on how people operate a business. But I always wanted to return to the Blue Earth area so when I got the opportunity, I took it.”

Fox left her hometown in October of 2023 while on maternity leave after she and her husband, Jon, had their first child, Henry, in June of that year. Jon farms and the couple lives just west of Amboy.

“Now, seven weeks ago, we had another son, Robert,” Fox comments. “That was just eight months after starting my own business here in Blue Earth.”

She credits her two assistants, Nichole Springer and Alicia Glanzman, with being a key part of her business.

“They make things easier for me,” Fox says “They are a big help.”

Fox reminds people that like medical checkups, getting regular eye exams is also very important.

“A typical exam takes 30-45 minutes depending on if a person has their pupils dilated,” Fox explains. “I will also do a binocular vision test to see how a person’s eyes work together, a refraction test and examine the anterior and posterior (front and back) of the eyes.”

Fox shares that during anterior and posterior examinations problems like dryness, cataracts, cornea damage, glaucoma, macular degeneration and pulls or tears in the retina can be discovered.

“That is when I will also find floaters in the eye,” she says. “Some of those are caused by a collection of proteins and collagen and others could indicate a hole or tear in the retina.”

There is one thing that is the most common problem with eyes. In fact, Fox says everyone will experience this problem if they live long enough.

“Cataracts,” she comments identifying the problem. “Everyone will get them. They kind of act like a pair of sunglasses over your eyes and it happens so slowly that most people do not notice the change. If I find that a person has cataracts I send them to a specialist.”

According to Fox, the way that cataracts are treated is really quite remarkable.

“The surgeon actually removes the clouded lens in the eye and replaces it with a clear artificial lens,” she says. “Then they put the artificial lens in the same place as your natural lens and it remains a permanent part of your eye.”

Fox reveals there have also been changes in contact lenses over the years.

“I wear hard lenses that stay in my eyes overnight while I sleep and then I take them out in the morning,” she says. “They mold the eyeball during the night and then my vision is fine during the day.”

There are also contact lenses available that help correct vision for people with astigmatism.

“When people have astigmatism, their eyeball is shaped more like a football instead of being round like a basketball,” Fox comments. “Scleral lenses, which are wider than normal lenses, are rigid and hold their shape. They are used to correct astigmatism and are also for people who need a high correction that is not possible with a soft lens.”

Fox, who shares she knew she wanted to be an eye doctor when she was 14 or 15 years old, has seen some rare problems in her years of caring for people’s eyes.

“I discovered swollen optic nerves in one patient. That person ended up seeing a medical doctor and discovered they had a brain tumor,” she recalls. “An unusual case was when I found a fungal problem inside of a person’s eye.”

Fox notes she is also appreciative of the newer technology which is available for her to use. One item is a camera that looks like it is a smartphone with a camera lens attached to it.

“I use that to take a photo of the back of a person’s eye,” she explains. “It is very easy to do and is non-invasive.”

She also uses what looks like a virtual reality headset to test a person’s visual field.

And while all of those things are great in helping her give her patients the best care possible, there is something else she enjoys even more -her patients.

“I get to see such a wide variety of people,from five-year-old kids to 80-year-old grandmothers,” Fox says. “And being able to help people is very rewarding.”

A grand opening for Fox Family Eye Care will be held on Oct. 22, from 9-11 a.m. A ribbon cutting will be held at 9 a.m. and drawings and frame discounts will be available. Fox Family Eye Care opens at 8 a.m. Monday through Friday and stays open until 5 p.m. each of those days except Wednesday, when they close at noon.