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Dr. Driscoll Becomes a Member of Wellness.com
Wellness.com is a healthcare portal on the web providing information on a wide variety of healthcare topics. Dr. Driscoll’s Wellness.com profile is now live.
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Posted in Admin
Dr. Driscoll and Total Eye Care are Listed on ZoomInfo
Dr. Driscoll’s ZoomInfo profile is now available online in addition a profile for the Colleyville Total Eye Care office. We will update both profiles with more content soon.
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Posted in Admin
How Does Glaucoma Damage the Eye?
Glaucoma Blindness Theories
We are frequently asked to explain how glaucoma causes blindness. Glaucomatous damage to the eye is caused when the pressure within the eye is greater than the optic nerve can tolerate. How does the pressure cause blindness? The simple answer is we don’t know exactly; however, there are two main theories as to why the damage occurs. Neither theory fully explains how the optic nerve damage occurs in the different types of glaucoma.
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 glaucoma 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, completely explains how glaucoma damages the eye. In reality, both probably play a role in how an eye is damaged by glaucoma.
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Posted in FAQ, Glaucoma, Optic Nerve
Tagged blindness, blood pressure, Glaucoma, hypertension, Optic Nerve
A New Treatment for Dry Eye Syndrome Will Soon be Available
I have mentioned to many of our dry eye patients that a cream with testosterone was being researched and would give us another avenue of relief for our patients. Argentis has licensed a testosterone-progesterone therapy for dry eye syndrome. Argentis is licensing this compound from the Southern College of Optometry. I expect this compound to be very helpful for patients with dry eyes and look forward to prescribing it for our patients. It is not available for us to prescribe yet, however we will update this entry as soon as it is.
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Posted in Cornea, dry eye syndrome
Tagged dry eye syndrome, eye, keratitis sicca, Vision
Treating Dry Eyes with Punctal Plugs: Silicone Plugs vs the SmartPLUG®
Are you sensitive to light? Do your eyes often feel gritty? Does your vision fluctuate? Does blinking improve your vision? Do you use artificial tear more than 3 times a day? Find your contact lenses uncomfortable?
These are just a few of the most common symptoms we hear when patients tell us their eyes feel dry and irritated. Dry eye syndrome is very common, especially in women. Treatment of dry eye syndrome is very beneficial with very little risk of complications. Punctal occlusion with silicone plugs is one of the most common modes of treatment.
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.
Posted in Cornea, dry eye syndrome, FAQ
Tagged Contact lens irritation, dry eye syndrome, punctal occlusion, punctal plugs, sjogren syndrome
Good News! Unique pH Contact Lens Solution is Available Again
Last year Alcon discontinued the distribution of Unique pH contact lens solution for gas permeable contacts. However, due to numerous patient requests, Alcon has once again started distribution. We have had many patients ask where can they get it. It is available from Amazon at this link.
Posted in contact lens, Eye Care, Vision
Tagged Contact Lens Solution, Gas Permeable Contact Lens, Hard lens, Unique pH
FDA Listens to LASIK Patients
On Friday, the Food and Drug Administration heard testimony from LASIK patients dissatisfied with the outcome of their surgeries. The ophthalmic devices panel heard testimony that approximately 1/4 of all patients that wished to have LASIK were poor candidates and 95% of LASIK patients were satisfied with the outcome of their surgery. Expert testimony before the panel concluded that the FDA should provide clearer warnings about the risks and possible complications of LASIK. Next year the FDA and the National Eye Institute will begin a landmark study to better identify which patients are more likely to encounter post surgical LASIK complications and how those complications affect quality of life. We compared the incidence of complications for patients having LASIK vs contact lens related complications in a prior blog entry.
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.
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Posted in Cornea, FAQ, LASIK, Refractive issues
Tagged FDA, LASIK, LASIK Complications
Dr. Alycia Green Joins Total Eye Care
We are pleased to announce that Dr. Alycia Green has joined Total Eye Care! With the addition of Dr. Green we have expanded our hours at our Keller office. We will now offer appointments Monday through Friday at both the Colleyville and Keller offices. Saturday visits are available, by appointment, in Colleyville.
We are very excited to welcome Dr. Green to Total Eye Care. Dr. Green is a 1999 graduate of the University of Houston College of Optometry. A complete complete press release is available.
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Posted in Admin, Eye Care, optometrist
Tagged announcement, Dr. Green, optometrist, press release
Q: If My Blood Pressure is High Does That Mean the Pressure in My Eye is High Too?
A: This is a great question that gets asked a lot. The pressure inside your eye is completely unrelated to your blood pressure. The intra-ocular pressure system and the blood pressure are completely separate systems and fluid is not exchanged between them. Therefore, if you have high blood pressure you won’t necessarily have glaucoma.
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Tagged blindness, blood pressure, Glaucoma, hypertension, Optic Nerve