It's Almost Back to School Time

We said it last year and we'll say it again: It's never too early for that yearly eye exam.

If you want your children to succeed, you should make sure to have their eyes checked. If kids can’t see, their grades, behaviors, and learning abilities are severely affected. “They learn to compensate with their vision problems without fixing them, which can lead to more problems in school and later in life.” (Prevention Blindness America)

It’s not just children that should have their eyes checked. Even as an adult, if you have had 20/20 vision your whole life, there are age-related vision problems that occur with everyone. Presbyopia is just one of these vision impairments. After the age of 40, the lens of your eye begins to harden and lose its flexibility. You may not begin to notice it at first, but eventually you will have trouble reading things up close. You’ll start to notice you need to stretch your arms further and further away in order to read your cell phone or a restaurant menu.

The good news is that there is a solution to Presbyopia. Often people will start wearing bifocals. Bifocals allow someone with Presbyopia to see up close, but also to focus in the distance if they have nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.

If you don’t want to wear lenses, you can also speak with an Ophthalmologist about your options. Many doctors can provide lens replacement surgery. The lens of your eye is removed and replaced by a synthetic lens that will never harden. Depending on the type of lens, you may also be able to correct your existing refractive error (the reason you need glasses) at the same time.

So don’t put up with bad vision any longer! Come in and see us at Buckley Chang Eye Institute today!

Super Human Vision

Superhero powers are only a thing of comic books. No one person has super powers.

Or do they?

Scientists have begun to uncover an ability found in only about 12% of women – the ability to see more colors in the color spectrum than originally thought possible. While studies are still being performed to test this new vision ability, the thought that our world holds more color than most can see is quite intriguing.

The eyes are a very powerful thing. 

To read the full article, click here.

Protect Your Eyesight - Vodka Eyeballing

Whether you have glasses, contacts, or 20/20 vision, it’s very important to protect your eyes. The University of Illinois at Chicago Department of Ophthalmology reports an estimate of “… 1.1 to 2.4 million eye injuries occur each year, and about 42,000 of these injuries require hospitalization.”

While accidents are common for eye injuries, some younger people intentionally put their eyes at risk in a new drinking game called Vodka Eyeballing.

Yes, you read that right.

People are actually drinking through their eyes, in an attempt to get drunk faster. With Vodka Eyeballing, a person will take a bottle of vodka and put the opening up to their eye and pour the vodka directly onto the eye. The idea is that the alcohol will be absorbed through the eye and into the bloodstream faster than drinking it. However, there are no actual facts that prove this is the case.

The eye can only absorb a very limited amount of alcohol. The actual alcohol can do more damage and harm to your eyesight – burning through your cornea and causing permanent damage. Repeated often enough, the alcohol may even cause permanent blindness.

While not all eye-related injuries can be avoided, this is one instance where it can be.

Why Your Eye Surgeon Needs to be Local - Part 2

Corporate medicine has its benefits and its downfalls. In regards to the refractive surgery field, there are more downfalls to a corporate practice than there are benefits. Last week we discussed the difference between the doctors at each type of practice. This week, let’s look at the services offered.

The Right Procedure for Your Eyes

Another big difference between local and corporate owned practices are the services they offer. When a corporate practice is set up, it’s one of hundreds, maybe thousands of locations. In order to keep control over the brand name, these practices only offer a very small number of services, sometimes just LASIK and nothing else. By doing this, the headquarters can ensure that each practice is exactly the same, offering the same service, providing the same website, and the same marketing and advertising collateral. They also don’t have to worry too much about training doctors who don’t know anything other than LASIK. This brings the cost of operation down for them and allows the board of directors to earn more money.

All of this is quite the opposite for a local doctor and local practice. The doctor (or a small group of local doctors) decides to open up a practice in order to improve the eye health of the community. The doctor will spend his/her own money because they know they can provide excellent eyesight to their patients. They are vested in their community because they know the people and they care about them.

These doctors will offer different types of services because they know that the best care that can be provided isn’t through one single solution. LASIK isn’t the best procedure for someone with very thin corneas. A patient with this issue may be better suited for PRK. Some patients may not be suited for laser vision correction at all. If this is the case, there are other options but usually only provided by a local ophthalmologist. 

A local ophthalmologist can decide which procedures to offer his/her patients. They will be the one responsible for your treatment and follow-up care and they wouldn’t provide anything less just to earn a dollar. They are held accountable by their patients, not a board of directors looking to make a profit.

This all points to a new consideration on your quest for excellent vision:

Would you rather have vision correction performed on you that may not be right, but it’s all the practice offers? Or would you want to be fully examined by the surgeon performing your procedure who can offer other proven procedures that may actually be better for the health of your eyes? 

Check back in next week when we continue this topic and discuss Technology.

Why Your Eye Surgeon Needs to be Local - Part 1

Corporate medicine has its benefits and its downfalls. In regards to the refractive surgery field, there are more downfalls to a corporate practice than there are benefits. But first, let’s take a look at what the difference is between a local ophthalmology practice and a corporate one.

Local Ophthalmology Practice

A local ophthalmology practice is one that has one or just a few locations, all found within the same state, the same geographical region. The doctors and staff are all from the area as well

Local practices, like Buckley Chang Eye Institute, are usually owned by the doctor or surgeon, or a small group of doctors or surgeons. They are responsible for all of the decisions regarding staffing, technology, services offered, and everything else that is included with their particular practice.

Corporate-Owned Ophthalmology Practice

A corporate-owned ophthalmology practice is one that has multiple locations, usually nationwide. These practices are run through a company, which is run by a board of directors. They often only offer one or two services, usually just LASIK, and maybe PRK. They employ thousands of doctors and traditionally these doctors work at multiple locations. They travel to different locations, perform surgery and then travel to another location. Some doctors even travel to different states just to perform surgeries.

All decisions are made by a board of directors, not the staff or doctors working in each particular location.

The Difference

So what’s the difference? Why should you choose one location over the other?

Doctor Availability

Perhaps the biggest factor in why you should really know the difference between the two types of ophthalmology practices is doctor availability. In a locally owned practice, the doctor lives in or near town. S/he works at the practice full-time and performs consultations, the planning of treatment, the surgery, and the post-operative follow-up exams on each patient that comes through the door. They have a relationship with their patients, and they are most likely there for anything the patient may need.

In a corporate practice, the doctor sees patients at multiple locations. S/he will fly in, review the chart and work-up of the patient without even meeting or personally examining the patient, perform the surgery, and then fly off. This means that the surgeon that performs your particular surgery is not available for pre-surgery exams, follow-up, or even during emergency-related issues that may have resulted from your surgery. They usually have an optometrist perform these tasks. An optometrist, while a perfectly capable doctor, is not trained in the actual performance of the surgery. If a complication arises that the optometrist is not qualified to respond to, where are you going to go? Who’s going to help?

Sometimes an optometrist refers a patient for LASIK. When this happens, the LASIK surgeon will perform the surgery and then refer you back to your optometrist for follow-up exams. This works well when you are referred to a local practice, so that your surgeon will still be available for any emergency issues that may arise.

So which would you prefer – a surgeon operating on your eyes, someone you’ve never met, who’s never actually seen your eyes and who won’t be around if you have an emergency? Or would you rather have someone who is local, available all week, and who takes it as a personal responsibility to care for you and your eyesight?

Check back in next week when we continue this topic and discuss The Right Procedure for Your Eyes.

LASIK and Dry Eyes

Perhaps the most common side effect to LASIK is dry eyes after the procedure. Most of our patients experience a little dry eye after the procedure. This temporary issue can be relieved with eye drops and it will correct itself within a couple of weeks.

According to FDA trials, 20% of LASIK patients still experience dry eye even six months after LASIK. While this side effect may be annoying, it can be treated with punctual plugs or medications.

At Buckley Chang Eye Institute, most all of our patients are free of this irritation after one year. This is why the post-LASIK follow-up appointments are absolutely necessary. We take your vision very seriously and we want to make sure you can see clearly for years to come.

LASIK works by correcting the cornea of your eye. LASIK can have you seeing clearly for many, many years, depending upon what age you receive treatment. If you are not a good candidate for LASIK, there are other procedures that can be performed to correct your vision. Learn more about laser vision correction with Buckley Chang Eye Institute.

LASIK and Your Retina

There is a misconception when it comes to LASIK and your retinas. Some patients think that because they are having LASIK, the issues with their retinas will also be corrected.

This is not true.

Your retina is found at the back of your eye. It is responsible for sending messages to your brain. These messages tell your brain what you are looking at.

You have LASIK to correct a refractive error. Refractive errors occur when the cornea in your eye is misshapen. The cornea, which is found in the front of your eye, should be round and bowl-shaped. If the cornea is not perfectly shaped, then you will experience a refractive error: nearsightedness, farsightedness, or astigmatism.

Light is reflected off of objects and is filtered by the cornea of your eye. When the cornea is perfectly shaped, this light will refract directly onto your retina. If the cornea is misshaped, then the light will not shine directly onto your retina, and this causes double vision, blurry vision, or fuzzy objects.

LASIK works to reshape the cornea into a bowl-shape so that the light will reflect directly onto your retina. It does this through the use of a laser, guided by a surgeon. The laser only affects the cornea and not the retina, therefore it does not correct any issues you may be experiencing with your retina.

A board-certified surgeon should carefully analyze your eyes prior to approving you for LASIK surgery. Most of the risks associated with LASIK occur because the person may not be an excellent candidate for the procedure. Some of these risks include double vision, a fixed or rotating glare, rings of light (“halos”) or starbursts of light. There is also a risk of dry eye, however most patients will experience dry eye for a short time after surgery.

To learn more about LASIK and how to find out if you’re a good candidate for laser vision correction, please visit our website.

Performing LASIK at Home

Did you know that you can now have the benefits of LASIK without ever seeing a doctor?





Well, maybe not.

While this cartoon is meant to be a joke, having LASIK is not.

LASIK is offered in many different ophthalmology practices. It has become a very common procedure for patients looking to improve their eyesight. The two most important things in choosing where to have LASIK are technology and experience.

The most advanced technology can mean the difference between excellent outcomes and something else. Newer technology can help to solve the issues of older technology, like night vision issues. Couple that with an experienced surgeon and you are assured the best outcomes possible.

To find out more about LASIK, please visit our website.

*There are always risks to LASIK. Please speak with an experienced surgeon before making the decision to have any surgery. The above cartoon is a joke. Please do not attempt LASIK or any other surgery by yourself. NEVER give your credit card out to a company claiming to provide you with an "At Home LASIK Kit".