COLLEYVILLE, TEXAS – March 6, 2010 – In honor of World Glaucoma Awareness Week (March 7 to March 13, 2010), Total Eye Care will be offering free Glaucoma Screenings on World Glaucoma Day, March 12, 2010 at the Colleyville office located at 6114 Colleyville Blvd. from Noon to 2pm.

“Early detection and awareness are crucial to limiting vision loss from glaucoma.  The purpose of Glaucoma Awareness Week is to get the word out and prompt patients to seek an evaluation from their eye doctor.  At Total Eye Care we would like to make it easier for patients to learn about glaucoma by offering a free screening ” says Dr. Richard Driscoll, clinical director at Total Eye Care.  Glaucoma is the second leading cause of blindness worldwide, not because of lack of effective methods for diagnosis and treatment, but due to insufficient information available to the public and low awareness of the implications of the disease.  Glaucoma is asymptomatic in its early stages, while the patient’s vision suffers irreversible and cumulative damage. Visual disturbances are noted by the patient during the later stages on the way to blindness, whereas timely diagnosis and therapy could have prevented this degradation.

“We have so many advanced medications and diagnostic instruments available to us that the detection and treatment of glaucoma has been greatly advanced in the last 10 to 15 years” says Dr. Alycia Green.  A glaucoma awareness questionnaire is available on the Total Eye Care website along with detailed handouts for patients on glaucoma and many other eye diseases such as macular degeneration and keratoconus.

Total Eye Care participates in Glaucoma Awareness Week, the complete press release.

About Total Eye Care

Therapeutic Optometrist and Optometric Glaucoma Specialist Dr. Richard Driscoll has been serving the eye care needs of Colleyville, Texas since 1995.  Dr. Alycia Green brings over 10 years of experience to Total Eye Care, specializing in pediatrics.  The Colleyville office is located at 6114 Colleyville Blvd.  Total Eye Care’s Keller office is located at 1834 Keller Parkway. More information can be found on The Eye Doc Blog or the Total Eye Care website at www.TotalEyeCare.com

Contact Information

Dr. Richard Driscoll
Total Eye Care
6114 Colleyville Blvd.
Colleyville, TX 76034
817.416.0333

2. You are guaranteed to get unexpired lenses

3. If your lenses are not performing properly you don’t have to worry about exchanging your old lenses

4. You can exchange unopened, unexpired, unmarked boxes in new condition at your yearly eye exam

5. If you have a defective lens, we will replace it free of charge

6. We have the latest manufacturer’s rebates available to save you money

7. Competitive pricing

8. FREE shipping

9. You will be getting the lenses from an authorized distributor of the brand you wear

10. You will have the satisfaction of supporting a local business that cares about you and your eyes

Image courtesy of Flickr user Malkav.

We can judge depth because our eyes are about 2 1/2 inches apart, allowing each eye to have a slightly different view of an object.  The brain interprets these differing views, allowing us to note that the objects are at varying distances.

In a movie theater, the image is projected onto a flat screen, therefore we must show each eye a slightly different image, this is accomplished by using either polarized lenses (the better method) or red and green lenses (think headache).  Polarized lenses are, by far, the preferred method.  Typically, light radiates in all directions, polarized lenses filter the light so that it radiates in only one direction, with all of the light waves parallel to each other.

The 3D movie glasses use polarized lenses that filter the light 90 degrees apart for each eye, thus allowing each eye to see a different image.  Two movie projectors are then used to show the movie.   Each projector’s image is slightly offset on the screen simulating the distance between our eyes.  While wearing your polarized 3D glasses the movie looks clear and sharp.  If you take your glasses off the movie looks fuzzy with a shadow off to the left.  Your brain will fuse these views giving depth to the image.

An Interesting Experiment

If you take a friend’s 3D movie glasses and hold their left lens in front of your right lens you will see that no light gets through, turn the lenses perpendicular to each other and once again you can see through both lenses.

So How Was The Movie

The last 3D movie I saw used red and green glasses so it was great seeing a 3D movie that did not give me a headache.  The picture looked great and the 3D effects were well done, however that’s about it.  The chase scenes were way to long and really done mostly to show off the movie’s 3d effects.  Jim Carrey was good in his role as Ebenezer Scrooge and the movie stuck to the original book.  So the bottom line, it’s not a bad movie as a matter of fact they did a good job, however the only reason to see this movie, is to see the 3D effects.

• Tab Mix Plus – Adds increased options and functionality to Firefox’s current tab system
• Unites States English Dictionary – a spell checker
• Google Toolbar for Firefox – search Google from the browser without going to the website, includes other helpful items as well
• Adblock Plus – gets rid of pop ups and advertisements, you can tell it which pages you want the ads removed
• Delicious Bookmarks -  Store your bookmarks online and categorize them.  Decline the option to install Yahoo’s Toolbar, Google’s is better
• ForecastFox – gives you weather in the bottom right corner of the browser
• Gmail Manager – Much better way to access your Gmail, especially if you have multiple accounts
• IE Tab – sometimes only Internet Explorer works, usually only needed for an E-Commerce site
• Remember the Milk for Gmail – My todo list integrated with Gmail
• Sxipper – Gives me the option to enter my passwords at logon screens

That’s it those are my must have Firefox Browser Extensions/Addons.  You can search for other Firefox addons at the Firefox Addon Website.  I have also reviewed addons that are available to patients with impaired vision.

The Vascular Theory of Glaucoma

The premise of the vascular theory is that high pressure inside the eye restricts blood flow to the optic nerve causing the optic nerve to slowly die from lack of oxygen and nutrients.

The Mechanical Theory of Glaucoma

Physical damage is the underlying hypothesis of the mechanical theory of glaucoma. It is thought that the high pressure damages the optic nerve fibers.

So Which One Is It?

That’s a good question the leading researchers can make a convincing case for both theories and neither theory, by itself can completely explain how glaucoma damages the eye. In reality both probably play a role in how an eye is damaged by glaucoma.

We often use punctal plugs to increase the amount of tears present in a patient’s eyes. A recent study compared the two most common types of punctal plugs, silicone punctal plugs and the SmartPLUG®. Essentially the study found that they both were relatively equally effective in reducing a patient’s symptoms (over 55% of the patients reduced the use of artificial tears). The study evaluated only 36 eyes for less than 12 weeks which really was not enough patients over too little time. However, one would likely expect that as long as the punctal plugs remained in the eyes the patients would continue to do well. The study does show that treatment of dry eye syndrome with punctal plugs is an effective solution.

Interestingly, 33% of the eyes treated had a plug fall out during the 12 weeks, which is very high. In our practice we see approximately 5% of our patients per year lose a plug, a rate much more in line with other ophthalmic practices. A 33% loss makes me want to look for a problem with punctal plug sizes.

We use both types of punctal plugs used in the study, silicone plugs (made out of a rigid type of silicone) and the SmartPLUG® (made out of a thermodynamic gel). We find both to be very effective and helpful in different situations. I like the silicone plugs for most patients, it is easy to insert and verify that it is still in place doing its job. The SmartPLUG® is helpful in patients that find the silicone plugs irritating.

If you think you are experiencing the symptoms of dry eyes see your eye doctor and get some help. There are numerous treatments available, which we will cover in another article. At a minimum, patients typically note a significant decrease in symptoms with treatment.

If you would like to read a summary of the article it’s available here “SmartPlug versus silicone punctal plug therapy for dry eye: a prospective randomized trial”.

UPDATE: Check out this video on treating Dry Eye Syndrome with punctal plugs at Total Eye Care.

I find that the FDA is not the only one that could improve their modus operandi here but that some of the marketing/advertising for refractive surgery is irresponsible. This over promise of results does not apply to just refractive surgery but also the bifocal lens implants promising to give your back your ability to see near and far without bifocals.

At Total Eye Care our role as optometrists is to provide the patient with an objective assessment, finding the best method of vision correction available for each patients situation. Today there are many refractive options available such as contact lenses, glasses, orthokeratology, PRK, LASIK and refractive lensectomies just to name a few. If a refractive option is selected it is our job to work with the patient to find the best surgeon and procedure for each patient to get the best, safest result. The Associated Press had good coverage regarding the ophthalmic devices hearing, if you would like to read it it’s available here.

Both LASIK and contact lenses are safe and in our office we utilize both techniques, choosing which is best for the patient. It is our practice to discuss all of the refractive options with our patients. We weigh the risks and benefits of each option before proceeding.

As a practical matter the incidence of vision threatening problems in compliant contact lens wearers is very small. When a patient does have a problem, it typically manifests itself as a red eye usually resulting from poor care or not replacing their contacts as often as recommended. It is exceedingly rare for a contact lens related red eye to cause a patient to require surgery to resolve the problem.

This prompts me to ask “what does the research say”. In my mind that’s what matters. Let the studies show us which is safer. The most important contact lens and LASIK complications are those that have resulted in a loss of vision and therefore that is the best criteria to compare LASIK versus extended wear contact lenses. A 2005 study including almost 5,000 patients followed over a 1 year period showed that 30 day Ciba Night & Day contact lens wearers, experienced an overall rate of presumed infiltrative keratitis (a type of corneal ulcer) of 0.18%. Of those experiencing keratitis 0.036% resulted in a loss of vision and 0.144% experienced keratitis without vision loss.

Numerous studies published in 2005 and 2006 indicated a complication rate for LASIK, resulting in a loss of best corrected vision, ranging from 0.6% to 7.0%.

Given the facts outlined above, I feel it is doing patients a disservice to state or imply that refractive surgery is as safe or safer than silicone hydrogel contact lenses. Both LASIK/PRK and silicone hydrogel contact lenses have come a long way in reducing both the rate and severity of complications and in looking at the numbers both are safe.

I still believe LASIK and PRK are good options for patients. I, in fact, have had LASIK and at our office it is still one of the refractive options we present to our patients. However, the research does not support the statement that refractive surgery is as safe as contact lens wear nor should it be promoted as such.

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