Eyecare Services
We provide a full scope of eyecare services and use the latest technology for eye exams, contact lenses, and more!
Eye Examinations
The most important part of an examination of any kind, including an eye examination, is when the doctor talks to you about the problems you are having. Our office utilizes many of the latest instruments, but these are not as important as a detailed discussion about your visual health.
Our Mission
In addition to being eyecare providers, we are also patients. We feel that the consistent overbooking by some offices that results in long waits for patients is inconsiderate and rude, and we don’t do it.
We probably take a bit longer than some other doctors, but our doctors feel strongly that unless we get to know you fairly well and discuss your job, hobbies, computer use, nutrition, exercise, general health and medications, family history and other factors it will be difficult to provide you with the best solutions to your visual needs. These questions also offer us invaluable insights into your risk of developing certain eye diseases.
Eyecare For Children
Children’s visual systems present special needs and special challenges. The visual system continues to develop after birth and therefore several visual conditions are most effectively treated at very early age. One of these is amblyopia, or “lazy eye”, which often results in permanently poor vision in one eye. There are several causes of amblyopia, and it is often difficult or impossible for parents to detect. There are also tumors that are “children-specific” that an eye examination will detect.
It has been estimated that eighty-five percent of learning relies on the visual system. Consequently, children’s learning is greatly impacted by the way they use their eyes. This means much more than having “20/20” vision. It also depends on having well-functioning focusing, tracking, form discrimination, imagery and sensory integration. These are special visual abilities that are often not tested but have life-long impact. Fortunately there is therapy that will improve visually-related reading and learning abilities as well as strabismus and amblyopia. If you wish information on these topics please click on this link. (Vision Therapy)
Contact Lenses
There was a time when contact lens wearers wore the same pair of soft lenses for an entire year. Rigid lenses were “hard lenses” or “PMMA” and wearers couldn’t see well with glasses when they removed the contact lenses. How times have changed!
Today’s Technology
Today, soft lenses are nearly all disposable lenses (daily, 2-week, & monthly). Hard lenses have been replaced with “gas permeable” lenses (RGP). These changes have dramatically improved the eye health of contact lens wearers. In addition we have extended (overnight) lens wear, bifocal contact lenses in both soft and RGPs, toric lenses for astigmatism in both soft and RGPs, lenses for keratoconus and other corneal disorders and breakthrough lenses for dry-eye patients. It’s never been better for contact lens wearers. Contact Lenses are now available for nearsightedness, farsightedness and astigmatism, as well as presbyopia (the over-40, short arm problem). In addition, we fit new soft disposable lenses specially designed for dry eye patients and firm contact lenses designed to slow down or stop the progression of nearsightedness in children and young adults.
Prescription Lenses
Obtaining a correct prescription from your doctor is the first important step in seeing well, but not the last. Selecting the right lenses for your glasses is a critical and yet poorly understood factor. This is especially true for seniors, patients who spend lots of time on computers, sports enthusiasts and those with certain eye diseases.
Seniors aged 65 need about six times the amount of light to see as well as a twenty year old due to various changes in the cornea, lens and retina. A normal untreated plastic lens loses about 8% of light due to reflections and a high-index lens loses about 12%. The only way to combat this loss of light is with anti-reflective (AR) coats, which increase transmission to about 99%. The best AR coats have built-in warranted scratch coats, which provide a type of insurance on the lenses against scratching. Seniors are also more sensitive to glare, which may be annoying or incapacitating. This problem is dealt with by utilizing photochromic lenses that change color or with separate polarized sunglasses. Even the color of the tint will affect the vision in different environments.
Refractive Surgery Co-Management
Laser Vision Correction is a term that includes several laser surgical procedures designed to eliminate or reduce the need for glasses. It includes LASIK, which is presently the most popular procedure, as well as PRK and Epi-Lasik. These laser procedures are actually part of a larger surgical category known as “Refractive Surgery”. In addition to the laser procedures, there is Refractive Lens Exchange. The number of procedures increases each year, and it is part of our job to advise you on which procedure will best fit your visual needs. This individual patient education is part of the service we provide during our pre-operative evaluation.