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Age Related Macular Degeneration (ARMD) is the predominant cause of blindness in developed countries. Day in and day out we know there is one phrase patients do not want to hear: “you have macular degeneration.” However we also know that early detection and treatment are keys to maintaining vision. We are pleased to add the AdaptDx Pro to our office so we can detect ARMD at its earliest stages.

The AdaptDx Pro allows us to detect macular degeneration before a patient has noticed any problems and before the doctor can see damage occurring. The test is simple, does not require eye drops and takes as little as 5 minutes.

According to a 2017 study published in JAMA Ophthalmology, 25% of age-related macular degeneration (AMD) cases go undetected—even with regular examinations using current imaging tools.  That’s a scary thought for patients but even scarier for eye doctors who are doing their best but still missing one out of every four cases.

The numbers become more alarming when we add in the role of genetics. This Medscape article indicates folks are at more than 25x the risk of developing ARMD when a parent has the disease and 12x the risk when a sibling suffers from macular degeneration.

Who should be concerned? The most common risk factors for ARMD are: being over 50 years old, Caucasian (white) and having a family history of macular degeneration. Smoking is the #1 modifiable risk factor. You can’t change your age, ethnicity or family history but you can decide whether or not to smoke. We understand it can be extremely difficult to quit but this is one more very good reason to stop smoking.

We’re committed to staying at the forefront of technology to help you maintain good vision for life.

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We love what we do and sometimes we love it just a little more.

Click here for the newsletter: https://www.valleycontax.com/newsletters/2017-05-15/

When Dave came to us, he was in pain and couldn’t see. That’s a bad combination for sure.

He and his family run a local women’s and children’s shelter. Here’s a guy who has dedicated his life to giving back and for once needed a little help himself.

Here’s a snippet from the article:

“The old style lenses corrected my vision but moved a lot and often slid out of place. Also, living in Arizona the climate is often dry and windy making wearing contacts uncomfortable and often led to scratches on my eye surface which meant glasses until they healed, but glasses didn’t work so I was miserable.

Since being fit with your lenses the discomfort of living in a dry and windy environment is almost a thing of the past and the lenses are so comfortable I often forget I am wearing them at all. I also haven’t had a surface scratch since I started wearing them almost two years ago.”

Thanks Dave for letting us play a small part in your amazing story!

 

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[fusion_builder_container type=”flex” hundred_percent=”no” equal_height_columns=”no” menu_anchor=”” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” class=”” id=”” background_color=”” background_image=”” background_position=”center center” background_repeat=”no-repeat” fade=”no” background_parallax=”none” parallax_speed=”0.3″ video_mp4=”” video_webm=”” video_ogv=”” video_url=”” video_aspect_ratio=”16:9″ video_loop=”yes” video_mute=”yes” overlay_color=”” video_preview_image=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” padding_top=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” padding_right=””][fusion_builder_row][fusion_builder_column type=”1_1″ layout=”1_1″ background_position=”left top” background_color=”” border_color=”” border_style=”solid” border_position=”all” spacing=”yes” background_image=”” background_repeat=”no-repeat” padding_top=”” padding_right=”” padding_bottom=”” padding_left=”” margin_top=”0px” margin_bottom=”0px” class=”” id=”” animation_type=”” animation_speed=”0.3″ animation_direction=”left” hide_on_mobile=”small-visibility,medium-visibility,large-visibility” center_content=”no” last=”true” min_height=”” hover_type=”none” link=”” border_sizes_top=”” border_sizes_bottom=”” border_sizes_left=”” border_sizes_right=”” first=”true”][fusion_text]This 9 year old with permanent damage I just saw will answer that with a resounding “Yes!”

Now I’m not one to bubble wrap our kiddos nor try to remove all risk from my own life. That’s no life at all. However I’m not as cool as Hunter S. Thompson:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well preserved body…….”

There’s a balance in here somewhere.

Back to the laser pointer: if we can eliminate risk 100% with very little impact to quality of life, then it’s a no brainer. So I’ll state in no uncertain terms: no kid should ever have a laser pointer. Period.

Why? Here’s why:

On the top is his beautiful left eye which sees better than 20/20. On the bottom is his permanently damaged right macula (center of retina) limiting vision to no better than 20/40 with a fuzzy blind spot surrounding everything he looks at. Forever. No glasses, medication or surgery can repair it.

Here’s another look at his retinas with our scanning laser:

Check out the top photo in each printout and look at the bottom white line. See how it goes all the way across perfectly smooth in the left eye yet in the right eye there’s a big gaping hole? Yeah that’s a problem. You’ve probably heard of photoreceptors aka “rods and cones.” Well they ain’t there and he ain’t seeing.

That’s a steep price to pay for being eight years old and shining a laser in your eye.

Be a parent. Be an adult. Just say no to laser pointers.[/fusion_text][/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

 

Here take a look:

 

Look right behind the upper eye lashes. We shouldn’t see those little pointy guys. The oil coming out of those glands should be more like olive oil than crisco.

When we give the lid a little pressure around :08-:013 the oil starts to come out properly.

Now look at the :25 mark. Try looking through that oil sheen. No bueno.

It all adds up to dry, irritated, red eyes with fluctuating vision. Clear. Blurry. Clear. Blurry.

And here’s a good friend of mine who was tired of 2 week long goopy, red, irritated left eye. Yup-her glands are not happy especially that one right in the middle.

We love taking the time and utilizing technology to educate our patients on the why of what we are doing.

“My eyes feel great!”

-Lynne, a week after her procedure

Do you:

• have dry, irritated eyes?
• find “sleep” or “crust” in your eyes; especially upon wakening?
• suffer from red eyes?
• sensitive to bright sunlight?
• have the feeling of something in your eyes more often than not?
• have eyelashes that are brittle and/or fall out?
• find relief from heat packs and/or lid scrubs?
• rub your eyes throughout the day? If you say no, ask your spouse or friend. I was surprised at the answer given me.
• find lubricating eye drops help….but only for a short period of time?
• have vision that fluctuates throughout the day and fluctuates as you blink?
• suffer from styes?

 

If so, you may suffer from blepharitis. Eye doctors have known about blepharitis for decades and we were all trained to tell patients “wash your lashes with baby shampoo every day.” Our frustration has come from the minimal improvement seen.

 

 

Over the past handful of years, there has been a veritable explosion in blepharitis diagnosis and treatment options. Some simple and some extravagant. Some cheap and some costing nearly $2000. Blepharitis can not be cured but it can be managed.

 

Why am I excited about all the new treatment options for blepharitis? Because I suffer with it. For years, my eyes have felt like there is something in them. I have tried nearly every treatment available…even some of the more weird options. This new treatment is the real deal.

 

After treatment, my eyes are no longer a constant light red due to chronic inflammation. When I wake up, I no longer spend the first hour digging around at the inside corner of each eye to get out little crusties. After I quit rubbing my eyes, I had two staff members independently say “hey, you rub your eyes a lot less these days.” “Really? I didn’t know I rubbed them at all.” I also love walking outside without sunglasses and no longer having my eyes immediately burn, sting and water.

 

“I have only used wetting drops 2x today; usually by now I would have used them at least a half dozen times.”   -Rebecca, a few days after her procedure

 

We are excited to now offer microblepharoexfoliation with the BlephEX system. The procedure is performed in office; takes about 10 minutes; and patients can drive home afterwards. This procedure allows us to remove the biofilm of debris from the lids and lashes. This film prevents the body’s natural antibodies from being able to do their job. Many patients with blepharitis come to see us multiple times per year for recurrent infections.

 

I encourage you to visit the BlephEX website which contains a wealth of information. Click here  That’s a great site but I want to show you some of our own personal patients from here in Prescott.

First up is a sweet lady whose eyes are irritated nearly every day. Eye drops help for a few minutes but don’t give lasting relief. When it would really bother her, I would prescribe some medication which would help for a few weeks but nothing has given long term relief. We were only able to treat the symptoms and not the cause.

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I know you’re thinking “wait, that second photo is brighter and at a different angle.” I’m not a photographer…just an eye doctor with a camera 🙂

 

Now you’re probably also thinking, “I could just wash my eyelids with baby shampoo or lid scrubs from the store like Dr. Google and all my previous eye doctors said.” True. And that’s a great daily habit akin to brushing and flossing your teeth. But you still need to see the dentist for the deep cleaning.

 

Here are photos of my friend, Lynne. She was diagnosed with blepharitis decades ago and religiously uses Ocusoft eyelid scrubs every night. Notice the waxy buildup along the base of her lashes despite being the most committed eyelid scrub patient I’ve ever met.

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After BlephEX, her lids and lashes are perfectly clean and clear. No more biofilm buildup. She will continue her lid scrubs (akin to brushing and flossing daily) and we will repeat the deep clean procedure probably every 6-12 months.

 

Here’s a video of one of our patients who has had uncontrolled blepharitis for too long and is now miserable. Sorry for the poor quality video. What we see in her case is debris floating around in the tear film. Every time she blinks there are chunks floating around in her tears. The tear film isn’t clear because the quality of tears is poor. This helps to explain why her vision is clear, then blurry, then clear throughout the day. Her lashes have also become thin and brittle due to chronic inflammation. If you look along her lower eyelid, you will notice divots or dents where her glands have quit functioning and atrophied.

 

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After seeing too many patients like this, eye doctors around the world have begun focusing on prevention and wellness with early treatment. We are excited to be a part of that movement.[/fusion_builder_column][/fusion_builder_row][/fusion_builder_container]

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We are excited to now offer in office electrodiagnostic testing with the Diopsys NOVA system. This means earlier detection of glaucoma, macular degeneration, multiple sclerosis and many other issues.

Visual Evoked Potential (VEP) and Electroretinography (ERG) are objective tests meaning no response from the patient is required. All we need to do is connect the electrodes and have you look at a computer screen for a few moments. The test is painless, noninvasive and does not require dilation.

Electrophsyiology is the study of electrical impulses along the entire visual pathway. This covers from the eye to the far rear of the brain. Vision is based on the function of all parts of the eye and how that information is processed within the brain. Now we get the whole picture.

Dr. Sullivan has been using the Diopsys system for a month now and in that time:

• diagnosed a healthy 45 year old lady with Multiple Sclerosis (MS). Confirmed diagnosis by MRI and neurologist 2 weeks later. No one wants that diagnosis but better to know sooner than later.
• discontinued medicated glaucoma eye drops for a few patients who were never sure of their diagnosis from previous doctors.
• clarified to a patient that she did not have optic neuritis from MS after years of conflicting reports.
• began treatment for early glaucoma for patients we have been monitoring but were never sure if they were losing vision. ERG helped confirm the need for treatment.
• reassured patients taking Plaquenil that it is not negatively affecting their eyes.

All in all we are excited to continue providing state of the art care here in Prescott. There is no need for our patients to travel to Phoenix.

For more information, visit the Diopsys website by clicking here.

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