Services

Primary Eye Care

A routine eye exam is anything but routine.  It involves a comprehensive vision and eye health examination.  The goal is to ensure the best possible vision in a pair of healthy eyes. The American Optometric Association recommends that all people should have a periodic comprehensive eye examination every one to two years depending on one’s particular needs.

Eye Diseases

We provide diagnosis, treatment and management of diseases which affect the human eye and visual system.  Some examples include:

• Dry Eye Syndrome occurs when the normal flow of tears over the eyes is interrupted, or the tear film is abnormal.  In many cases, dry eye syndrome is a life-long problem.  You can relieve the symptoms, but not cure the original cause.  Artificial tear lubricants or, in some cases, blocking the tear ducts will concentrate the limited tears that are available.
• Diabetic Retinopathy is a condition when a diabetic person’s blood sugar gets too high.  High blood sugar levels start a series of events which end in damaged blood vessel walls.  As such, the blood vessels begin to leak fluid or bleed, causing the retina to swell and form deposits known as exudates.  Vision can be lost if these spots are not watched and treated.  Here at our office, we carefully examine the back of your eyes to follow and manage this and other important eye diseases.
• Glaucoma is a disease where increased pressure in the eye changes the optic nerve.  This at first causes loss of peripheral vision, but if untreated can progress to total blindness.  Glaucoma is called the silent thief of vision as it has no symptoms until it is far advanced.  Glaucoma is usually diagnosed during a routine eye exam.
• Cataract is a clouding or opacity of the natural internal lens of the eye.  This opacity may be a small spot or may cover the entire lens.  When light enters the eye it is scattered, causing images to appear hazy and blurred.  There are many different types of cataracts.   Ultimately, the best treatment is to remove the cataract lens and replace it with an acrylic man-made lens.  This is referred to as cataract surgery.
• Macular Degeneration is a condition in which the central part of the back of the eye loses blood circulation.  It is considered a natural aging process.  There is a breakdown of retinal pigment epithelium cells in the macular region.  As the disease progresses, central vision diminishes.  It is believed that this breakdown may be due to a lack of nutrients being supplied to the region. Additional studies have found a genetic link to this disease.  Treatment can range from better nutritional management, sometimes to include a tablet containing the primary minerals and vitamins that are found lacking in many macular degeneration patients.

Contact Lenses

A thorough eye exam is an important first step to successful contact lens wear.  At that time, we can discuss what type of contact lens may be best for you.  We have vast experience at fitting soft, rigid gas permeable, astigmatism, correcting, and bifocal contact lenses.

While not difficult, inserting and removing contact lenses can be a challenge at first.  We provide training to help you become adept at this.  We also teach you how to clean and care for your lenses and recommend the proper solution.

After you have worn the lenses for a short period of time, you come back to the office; at that time we verify the prescription, assess the fit and response of the eye to the contact lenses.  We also answer any questions and resolve any challenges.

Frames

Your eyeglasses make a powerful first impression.  While style is important, fit, design and materials are also important considerations. We consider your needs when helping you to select eyewear, based on your occupation, hobbies, recreation or day-to-day needs.  For example, a construction worker will not have the same vision needs as a computer operator.  It is important that we understand your daily activities in order to help you select glasses that work best for your needs.  As a courtesy, free eyewear adjustments are provided without an appointment.

Lenses

Spectacle lenses have a wide range of available feature, new technologies have improved lens design.  However, not all available features are right for every patient.  We will discuss with you the best features and their benefits to you.

Materials

Glass was the original lens material. It is very good optically but is heavy and more likely to shatter and cause eye injuries.

• Plastic lenses are lighter in weight, more comfortable and less likely to break.
• Polycarbonate is the most impact resistant material; it is also thinner and light than the others.
• Polarized sun lenses eliminate reflected glare from wet road surfaces, bumpers, windshields and water on the road, lakes and rivers.  This is especially useful for drivers, boaters, fishermen, hunters and many other outdoor activities.
• Transitions and Photogray lenses change when exposed to the ultraviolet rays of the sun.  This changes the chemistry of the lens, causing them to darken.  “Transitions” is a brand name for lightweight plastic lenses.  “Photogray” are glass lenses.  Both of them block over 95% of the ultraviolet from reaching the eye.  This may help prevent certain diseases such as cataracts and macular degeneration.  In your car, they will not darken as much because the windshield absorbs a lot of ultraviolet.
• Transition Extra Active is a transition lens that will darken behind the windshield of your car. For added protection against eyestrain and fatigue. (Grey only)
• Drive Wear are polarized lenses that reduce glare and optimize color contrast, continuously adapting to changing daylight and weather conditions, providing ideal color and clarity for driving.
• Hard Coat Finish can be applied to the surfaces of the lenses.  It is baked on and resists scratches and nicks.  Over a period of time, the hard coat finish will reduce scratches by approximately 75%.
• Anti-Reflective Coating when you look at a high quality camera lens you will note a purplish sheen to the surface of the lens.  This is an Anti-Reflection (ARC) Coating which is baked on the lens.  This same anti-reflection coating is available in your glasses.  This coating reduces reflections and glare from lights by over 80%.  This feature is particularly useful when driving at night, when there is a multitude of streetlights and car lights that are reflecting off the surfaces of your lenses.  Glare while driving or while on a computer can create a lot of visual discomfort.  Another cool feature of ARC is that it is “Hydrophobic”.  This means that water beads up on a lens with ARC on it and will roll off the lens when it is raining.  Water would normally spread out on an untreated lens and make it impossible to see through it.  The final feature of ARC is that it also has the hard coat finish built into it. This gives your lenses the same hard finish as the Hard Coat listed above

Ocular Trauma

• Examination:  Eye injuries can occur at any time.  Our office is equipped to handle most eye injuries.  The primary instrument we use is a biomicroscope, sometimes referred to as a slit lamp.  The biomicroscope has a high magnification and is particularly designed to aid us in evaluating the extent of an eye injury.  Whether it is a laceration, foreign particle embedded or a burn, the biomicroscope is the primary tool to carefully examine the injury.
• Embedded Foreign Bodies:  A common injury is a hot iron metallic foreign body embedded in the cornea.  Grinding or drilling in iron or other metals will release particles that are hot and when they hit the eye they embed themselves in the cornea.  If it is iron, it will immediately begin to rust due to the salty consistency of our tears.  When the metal particle is removed, there is a remaining rust deposit that has infiltrated the surrounding cornea.  We have experience at removing these rust spots.  With proper medical treatment, these injuries resolve well. If the foreign particle was embedded in the central visual axis of the cornea, there may be a scar remaining which could affect the patient’s ultimate visual acuity.  Safety glasses are always recommended to prevent these types of injuries.
• Retinal Trauma:  Contusions, otherwise referred to as a “black eye”, can result in more than just the obvious bruises on the face.  The retina is the nerve tissue that senses light, which lines the back of the eye.  There is a blood vessel layer under the retina.  This is very delicate and sensitive tissue.
• Retinal Hemorrhages:  A compression type of injury can knock the retina loose and cause bleeding underneath.  These examples show both retinal hemorrhage and retinal detachment.  Both can result in blindness to the affected eye.  Immediate examination and subsequent treatment is needed in these types of injuries.
• Emergency Eye Care:  If you have symptoms of “Flashes of Light” in your vision, when there is no light to explain the flashes, this could mean that there is something happening on the back of the eye.  The eye does not have any pain sensors so flashes are your best clue that there is something wrong.  In contrast, the cornea (the clear window on the front of the eye) has more nerve pain sensors that any other part of the body.  Injury to the cornea can be incredibly painful.  However, in both cases, immediate treatment is needed.  I am trained to know how to expedite the treatment of these types of injuries.  Call immediately when an injury occurs.  We are here to help.