Primary Eye Care

Dry eye disease is a multifactorial condition affecting millions of people, with causes that can include aging, hormonal changes, environmental factors like low humidity and air conditioning, prolonged screen time and reduced blinking, certain medications including antihistamines and blood pressure drugs, contact lens wear, and underlying health conditions like autoimmune diseases such as Sjögren's syndrome, rheumatoid arthritis, and thyroid disorders.

Cataracts develop when the normally clear crystalline lens inside the eye becomes cloudy and opaque, causing progressively blurred vision, increased glare sensitivity, difficulty with night driving, faded color perception, and frequent prescription changes. During your exam, we carefully inspect the lens using the slit lamp microscope to identify early cataract formation, classify the type and location of lens opacity, and monitor progression over time.

Glaucoma is often called the silent thief of sight because it typically causes no pain or symptoms until significant irreversible vision loss has occurred, making regular screening absolutely critical for early detection. Our comprehensive glaucoma evaluation includes measuring intraocular pressure using tonometry, examining the optic nerve head for characteristic cupping and nerve fiber layer damage, testing peripheral vision with automated visual field perimetry, measuring corneal thickness with pachymetry since this affects pressure readings, and using OCT imaging to quantify nerve fiber layer and ganglion cell thickness.

Age-related macular degeneration affects central vision needed for reading, recognizing faces, and seeing fine details, and it exists in two forms: dry AMD, which progresses slowly with drusen deposits and gradual photoreceptor loss, and wet AMD, which causes rapid vision loss from abnormal blood vessel growth and fluid leakage beneath the retina. Using detailed retinal examination, OCT imaging to detect fluid accumulation and structural changes, fundus photography to document drusen and pigment abnormalities, and Amsler grid home monitoring for distortion, we track disease activity carefully and intervene quickly when treatment is needed.

Diabetes and high blood pressure can cause significant damage to the delicate blood vessels in your retina, leading to vision-threatening complications if not detected and managed properly. Our dilated retinal examinations specifically look for signs of diabetic retinopathy including microaneurysms, retinal hemorrhages, hard exudates from leaking vessels, cotton wool spots indicating ischemia, and neovascularization of abnormal new blood vessels, as well as hypertensive retinopathy with arteriovenous nicking, flame-shaped hemorrhages, and optic nerve swelling.

Your comprehensive eye exam begins with our staff reviewing your health history including current medications, family eye disease history, and any vision concerns or symptoms you're experiencing, followed by a series of tests to measure visual acuity at distance and near, assess eye alignment and movements, determine your eyeglass prescription using the phoropter, check eye pressure with tonometry, examine the external eye structures with the slit lamp microscope, and conclude with a dilated examination giving your doctor a detailed view of the retina, optic nerve, macula, and blood vessels to screen for eye diseases.

The American Optometric Association recommends that healthy adults with no risk factors have comprehensive eye exams every two years for ages 18 to 64 and annually after age 65, but examination frequency should be increased to every one to two years or even more often for patients with risk factors including diabetes, high blood pressure, family history of glaucoma or macular degeneration, high myopia, previous eye surgery or injury, or current eye diseases requiring monitoring.

Contact lens fittings are completely painless and comfortable procedures; your eye doctor will gently place trial lenses on your eyes to evaluate fit, vision, movement, and centering, using numbing drops if any measurements require brief contact with the eye surface, and most first-time wearers adapt quickly to the sensation of lenses with no pain, though mild awareness of the lens and slight dryness are normal initially and typically resolve within a few days as your eyes adjust.

We accept most major vision insurance plans including VSP, EyeMed, Davis Vision, Spectera, and Avesis, as well as medical insurance including Medicare, Medicaid, Aetna, Anthem, Cigna, United Healthcare, and ConnectiCare for medically necessary eye care related to eye diseases and health conditions, and our knowledgeable billing staff will verify your benefits before your appointment, explain your coverage including copays and deductibles, and provide cost estimates for services and eyewear so there are no surprises.

If you experience an eye emergency including sudden vision loss or significant vision changes, severe eye pain, eye trauma or injury from a foreign object or chemical, sudden onset of floaters and flashes, or persistent redness with discharge, call our office immediately at the main phone number where our staff will assess the urgency of your situation, provide first-aid instructions, and arrange for you to be seen promptly the same day to evaluate the problem and begin treatment to protect your sight and prevent complications.

Yes, in most cases you can select frames and order prescription glasses or begin a contact lens fitting immediately after your eye exam, and many patients leave the same visit with new eyewear, though complex prescriptions, specialty lenses, or certain frame-lens combinations may require a few days to a week for our optical laboratory to fabricate and deliver, while contact lens wearers will typically receive trial lenses at the fitting visit to ensure comfort and proper fit before ordering a full supply.

Advanced imaging technology like optical coherence tomography provides your doctor with cross-sectional views of the retina's microscopic layers that are impossible to see with standard examination techniques alone, allowing detection of subtle early changes like retinal thickening from fluid accumulation, thinning of nerve fiber layers in glaucoma, drusen deposits beneath the retina in macular degeneration, and structural alterations from epiretinal membranes or vitreomacular traction months or even years before these conditions cause noticeable symptoms or vision loss, giving us the critical opportunity to begin treatment early when it is most effective.

Extended wear contact lenses that are FDA-approved for overnight use provide the convenience of not needing to remove lenses daily, but sleeping in contact lenses significantly increases the risk of serious eye infections including bacterial keratitis, which can cause pain, redness, discharge, and potentially permanent vision loss if not treated aggressively with antibiotic drops, because the closed eyelid during sleep reduces oxygen supply to the cornea and creates an environment where bacteria can multiply more easily, so if you choose extended wear lenses, your eye doctor will discuss proper wearing schedules, strict lens hygiene, signs of infection to watch for, and the importance of removing lenses immediately and seeking care if problems develop.