Many of us have freckles on various parts of our body. A freckle is a collection of pigmented cells. Your primary care doctor or dermatologist monitors the size and shape of these pigmented spots during your regularly scheduled visits. During many routine ocular exams, these freckles can be found in the back of the eye.  When a freckle is located in the back of the eye, it is called a choroidal nevus.  Because it is impossible to monitor a choroidal nevus without an ocular exam, if your doctor does find a freckle in the back of your eye, you may be advised to return for scheduled follow up visits to monitor for changes in the nevus.

If a nevus is found during a routine eye exam, a photograph is usually taken to document the size and shape of the freckle. Your doctor may see you back in 4-6 months for a follow up examination to make sure that the nevus is stable. After several visits where no change is documented, you may be advised to return annually for examinations. If at any time your doctor is suspicious of change, you may be referred to a retinal specialist for further evaluation. These doctors are known as retinal oncologists.

A choroidal nevus usually has no apparent symptoms for the patient. Only your eye doctor can properly diagnose and monitor your freckle. Although most choroidal nevi are harmless, there is a small percentage that progress to choroidal melanoma or cancer within the eye. This means that although rare, if your doctor diagnoses you with a freckly inside your eye, make sure that you return for your scheduled follow up visits!

When artificial tears or increasing the amount of tears in your eye does not help with symptoms of dry eye, the next step is usually to decrease the amount of tears that drain from the eye. A punctal plug can accomplish this.  A punctal plug is a small silicone device that is inserted into the lower tear duct to help increase the quantity of tears that remain on the ocular surface by decreasing the amount of tears that drain from the eye. 

In many patients, a temporary plug made out of collagen is inserted first to determine if a patient will gain any relief in symptoms from this procedure. The collagen plug dissolves over a period of 7-10 days. This is a period where the patient can decide whether or not a more permanent plug is necessary.

It is important to know that punctal plugs come in several different shapes and many different sizes. Your doctor will determine which size best fits you as an individual. Although the silicone plugs are designed to stay in the eye indefinitely, they can come out, especially after excessive rubbing. If at any time there is a need to remove the punctal plug, your doctor can easily remove this device in the office.

Although punctal plugs are not for every patient, they do give you and your doctor another option to combat dry eyes, especially if your symptoms do not respond well to topical tear supplements. 

Call us today at (404) 897-6810 if you would like to discuss this option with one of our physicians.

I’ve heard so much lately about CO2 laser resurfacing! What exactly is it, how can it benefit me, and am I a good candidate? These are some of the most frequently asked questions regarding this type procedure. CO2 laser resurfacing is a procedure that utilizes concentrated, pulsed beams of light to gently vaporize or remove layers of skin, revealing fresh new skin underneath. The laser directs its energy precisely and in a very controlled fashion to correct skin irregularities with minimal thermal (heat) damage to the surrounding structures. Because there is a limited amount of heat absorbed by the skin, risks, complications, and down time are greatly reduced. Laser resurfacing has numerous benefits. It can erase or minimize fine lines and wrinkles, reduce pigmentation caused by sun damage, and improve the tone and texture of the skin by decreasing pore size and by softening scarring from acne or injury. It also stimulates collagen growth which serves to tighten underlying skin and prevent deeper lines and wrinkles from forming or progressing. You are a good candidate if you have realistic expectations (this will not take the place of a facelift) and you do not have dark skin, including patients with certain Mediterranean, Asian, or African American backgrounds.

Call us today at (404) 531-9988 to schedule your complimentary consultation with Dr. Kristina Price!

 The cornea is the clear outer window to the back of the eye.  Why is it important to understand what the cornea is and how it works? The answer is that because if any part of the cornea is compromised, no matter how healthy the rest of the eye is, you will not be able to see as well as you should be able to.

The cornea is composed of three main layers. The epithelium is the top layer of the cornea. Many patients with dry eyes can attest to the fact that if the corneal surface does not have adequate lubrication, symptoms can vary from burning and excess tearing to extremely variable vision. Contact lens over wear can also cause erosions in the surface layer of the cornea that make lens wear uncomfortable or impossible. Corneal abrasions often only affect the epithelium. This can be extremely painful but the epithelium can normally heal itself within 24-48 hours.

The middle layer of the cornea is called the stroma. This is the thickest layer of the cornea. If the stroma is compromised, significant vision loss can occur. Corneal infections that are not treated can damage this important layer. It is important to know that a corneal scar can only be obtained if the stroma is sufficiently damaged. This can happen with a foreign body such as a piece of metal in the eye, a severe infection that does not get properly treated or a corneal abrasion that goes deeper than the superficial epithelium.

The innermost layer of the cornea is called the endothelium. This layer is important because it serves to pump fluid out of the stroma. Many people have corneal dystrophies or bilateral disorders that cause this layer of the cornea to not function properly. If excess fluid enters the cornea and causes swelling, visual acuity is compromised. In extreme cases, a cornea transplant is required to replace the diseased corneal layers with healthy tissue.

It is very important to take care of your eyes and the cornea is our first line of defense. Please remember to wear protective eyewear in the form of safety glasses, sports goggles and sunglasses to make sure that your cornea is protected!

It is more common today for contact lenses to be more disposable, throwing the lenses away at 2 week, monthly or even daily intervals. Because disposable contacts are so popular, it is also more common that patients extend their approved wearing time for the lenses. It is not uncommon when I ask a patient how often they dispose of their contacts for the response to be “when I feel like I need to” or “when the contact starts to bother me.” I always try to spend extra time discussing the importance of regular replacement schedules. If you wait until you feel that something is wrong with your eye or your lens before you dispose of the contact, something may be legitimately wrong with your cornea.

Because a contact lens goes directly into the eye, there is an increased risk for ocular infection with lens wearers. Dirt and irritants from the environment, oils and residue from your skin and bacteria from your eyelashes are just a few of the contaminants that come into contact daily with your eyes. Although this is not common, infections that arise from unclean contacts and dirty storage cases can be very serious and sight threatening. Using a multipurpose solution to daily clean your contact lenses is very important. It is also important to always use brand new solution each day and dispose of your contact lens case every three months.  The most hygienic form of contact lens wear is a daily disposable lens. No cleaning is necessary because the lenses are disposed of on a daily basis.

If your eyes become red, irritated, sensitive to light, a discharge is present or if your vision changes, you should see your doctor. Especially with contact lens related infections, early detection could lead to treatment that prevents significant visual problems.

If taken care of properly, contacts can be a great alternative to glasses. Most patients never have any problems with their lenses but it is important to understand why it is so important to practice good contact lens hygiene every single day.

Call us today if you have any questions!  Our clinical team is here to assist you!

   The astigmatism correcting lenses are called Toric intraocular lenses. Astigmatism means the eye has different radii of curvature in the vertical and horizontal axes, as would a football lying on the ground. In the past, these patients would require glasses to correct the astigmatism after their cataract surgery. Now they can have good distance vision without glasses in most cases.

   Another really exciting new development is the advent of lenses which correct for both distance and near. There are two types of lenses in this category, Multifocal lenses and Accomodating lenses. Multifocal lenses have rings which allow the patient to have two focal points, one for far and one for near. Accomodating lenses allow some movement of the intraocular lens to adjust for various lengths of focus. There are lots of considerations that might make a patient a better candidate for one lens rather than another. These will be discussed with you at the time of your appointment after it has been determined that cataract surgery would be helpful.

   All three of our cataract surgeons, Drs Feinberg, Gabianelli, and Khator utilize these new exciting categories of intraocular lens implants. Be sure and ask about these during your next appointment!

 The back of the eye is filled with a jelly like substance called vitreous. The vitreous is attached to the retina in many different areas. As we get older, the vitreous shrinks and pulls away from the retina. When part of the vitreous detaches from the retina, this is called a posterior vitreous detachment or PVD. The most common symptom of a PVD is a new floater or a black spot in your vision. As the vitreous is pulling away from the retina, many patients also experience flashes of light in their vision. This symptom usually lessens after the PVD has occurred.

 Because floaters are very common and there are usually no significant visual problems associated with them, treatment is often not necessary. In a small number of patients, the spots in their vision are so degrading that the vitreous is surgically removed.

 There are a few symptoms that you should always pay very close attention to if you experience new floaters. If your floaters are greater in number and associated with severe flashes or a loss of vision that is commonly described as a “curtain” over your vision, you may have a retinal detachment.  This is not a common occurrence but as the vitreous pulls away from the retina, complications can arise.

 We always recommend that you have your doctor perform a complete dilated eye examination with all new floaters, even if you have experienced them before. Although severe retinal complications are rare, early detection is important!

If you or a member of your family are experiencing similar symptoms, call us today to schedule an appointment!

We each have one nerve in the back of our eye that connects our eyeball to our brain.  This is called the optic nerve and it is like a cable.  It takes all the pictures our eyeball sees and sends them to the brain for processing.  Even if the eyeball is healthy, if this cable structure gets damaged, it will result in vision loss. 

Glaucoma usually occurs because of high pressure inside the eye.  However, in some people, it can happen even in the setting of normal eye pressures.  This is called Normal Tension Glaucoma.  Your eye doctor will take a look at your pressures and the back of your eye to determine if you are at risk for glaucoma. 

There are some important risk factors for glaucoma.  You are at a higher risk of having the disease: as you get older, if anyone in you family has glaucoma, and based on your race (African Americans, Hispanics, and Indians are more likely to develop glaucoma).  However, lots of people without any of these risk factors develop glaucoma, so it is important to come in for any eye exam.

There are two forms of glaucoma: open angle and narrow angle.  Most people have open angle glaucoma and this does not usually have any symptoms.  That is why it is so dangerous.  Most people don’t realize they have the disease until they have already lost a lot of vision.  At the beginning of the disease, you lose peripheral vision.  We don’t use this vision a lot, so we don’t notice it going.  The vision loss is very gradual until finally you have no peripheral vision at all, and it is like looking through a tunnel.  At the end stages of the disease, you lose central vision.  

Once you lose vision from glaucoma, there is nothing your doctor can do to bring it back.  So the key here is prevention!

We believe that patient education and open communication with your doctor are the keys to achieving healthy, fully functional results and patient satisfaction, which is why we strive to provide the highest quality of ophthalmology care for patients of all ages. This is done by combining technical skill and broad experience with cutting-edge technology for impeccable medical results.

We sincerely appreciate you taking the time to visit our new blog. Please check back often to learn about the latest news, updates and additions to the practice and within the field of ophthalmology.  Thank you!