About Our Office

We take pride in placing great value on our patient’s overall health and well-being. We have accomplished this by establishing a solid foundation within our eye care professional community and by working in conjunction with primary care physicians providing our patients with comprehensive medical eye care while still maintaining a focus on your entire systemic health.

Each of our surgeons is certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology.

What can you expect from your visit at one of our clinics?

Our premier focus is to provide professional and efficient care for our patients. We would like to keep you informed of what you may encounter during your visit at our office.

Your visit will begin with a trained ophthalmic technician who will document information with reference to your eye and medical history. The ophthalmic technician will then perform preliminary testing needed to gather information for the physician’s examination.

Depending on the nature of your examination, your eyes may be dilated. Dilation consists of additional eye drops to enlarge your pupils to provide a wider view of the back of your eyes. Full dilation is achieved in a maximum of 30-45 minutes following drops being instilled in the eye. The effects of dilation could last approximately four to eight hours causing your vision to be partially impaired. Dilation may also increase light sensitivity and decrease your ability to drive. It is highly recommended that you bring someone to drive you home.

After your eyes are fully dilated, the physician will examine your eyes thoroughly to determine the necessary of additional testing or procedures. Further testing may include Potential Acuity Meter (PAM), visual field analysis, Flourescein Angiography, photos of the back part of the eye and ultrasound.

Following your visit with the physician, the staff will assist you with scheduling follow-up appointments and or surgery within our state certified AAAHC surgical facilities.

Frequently Asked Eye Questions

What is a normal eye pressure?

Glaucoma is a disease process that leads to optic nerve damage, which can lead to vision loss and possible blindness. This optic nerve damage usually occurs in the presence of high eye pressure.

Traditionally, an eye pressure of 21 or below is considered within the normal range as long as everything else in the eye is found to be normal. However, there are cases where an individual’s eye pressure measures below 21 but they still have glaucoma damage in their eyes. This is a type of glaucoma called low-tension glaucoma. There are also cases where an individual’s eye pressure measures greater than 21 but their eyes show no signs of glaucoma damage. This is called ocular hypertension.

Since there is no steadfast rule of correlation between intraocular pressure and glaucoma it is extremely important that people receive a full dilated eye exam routinely. There are no symptoms of increased eye pressure or early stages of glaucoma, so it is imperative that people undergo a full eye exam with dilation.

Unlike blood pressure, such things as stress, diet, and weight do not affect a person’s eye pressure. There are certain risk factors that make a person more prone to develop glaucoma such as family history, eye trauma, and dark eye color.

The treatment of glaucoma includes eye drops, laser and surgical procedures.

Can cataracts come back after I have had surgery?

Once a cataract is removed from the eye it cannot grow back. Cataract surgery is the remhoval of the human lens that has become clouded and replacement with an implant lens. Thus, once the human lens is removed there is no way that a cataract can grow back.

Approximately 15-25% of the time after cataract surgery a patient can develop a “film” or membrane behind the implant that requires removal with a laser. This film can develop at any time after surgery and would cause visual symptoms much like those that were caused by the cataract. These symptoms would include decreased near vision and glare difficulties. The laser treatment takes less than 5 minutes and is an out patient procedure. Once a patient has the laser treatment they do not have to worry about ever needing it repeated since the film or membrane cannot grow back. The film behind the implant can be diagnosed during routine eye exams.

If my eyes are dry why do they water so much?

The number one cause of watery eyes is dry eyes. Dry eyes is the result of a vicious cycle that starts with the cornea, the clear watch glass structure on the front of the eye, becoming dry secondary to poor tear production. This drying leads to exposed nerve endings in the cornea that send a signal to the main tear gland to overproduce tears. The reflex tears that are produced are “watery” and not the normal oily type necessary to keep the cornea lubricated. The way to break this cycle is to use an artificial tear, which is a reproduction of our normal “oily” tears so the corneal nerve endings will be soothed and no longer send a message to overproduce watery reflex tears.

There are many different conditions that can help lead to the development of dry eyes such as contact lens wear, certain heart and blood pressure medications, windy or smoky environments and aging.

Other symptoms of dry eyes besides watering include: a foreign body sensation, burning, itching, redness, blurred vision, or morning mattering.

A full comprehensive eye examination will help determine if you suffer from dry eyes and what the proper treatment would be for your condition.

Do I still need to have eye examinations if I don’t wear glasses?

Even if you have never worn glasses or you used to and now you don’t after refractive surgery, you still need to have routine dilated health checks of your eyes.

There are many systemic diseases that can be detected through eye exams since the back of the eye is the only area of the body where blood vessels can be observed without overlying skin. Sometimes a dilated eye exam is where such conditions as diabetes, high blood pressure and tumors are first detected.

At what age should I have my child’s eyes first checked?

Children should start having their eyes checked as early at 6 months of age. There are simple tests that can be performed, which can lead to early detection of tumors, eye misalignment and significant far-sightedness or near-sightedness. Early detection of significant near-sightedness or far-sightedness in one or both eyes can help decrease the incidence of amblyopia or lazy eye.

Most schools require each student to have a complete eye exam prior to enrollment. In the past there were many cases of misdiagnosed learning disabilities when in fact the children just had a visual perception problem or an undetected need for glasses.