It’s important for your eyecare porvider to stay on the forefront of technology. So many advances happen all the time and while it is impossible to have all of the newest pieces of equipment, it is imperative that the doctor invest in a few new pieces to stay capable of giving you, the patient, the most up to date and thorough examination possible.

As with cancer detection and treatment, or advances in heart care, we don’t want eyecare that is 20 yrs out of date. It is no longer just about flipping dials and coming up with a number for a pair of glasses or contact lenses. Prevention and even reversal of some disease processes is a real possibility today as opposed to just 10 yrs ago.

Just yesterday I had two patients that we found things in their retina with the optomap that would not have been evident any other way of examination. This is such an awesome new advancement in retinal imaging. The optomap is capable of imaging the inside of the eye and giving a view of 220* of the inside of the eye. Virtually 85% of the inside of the eye is now capable of examination. The periphery is where so many diseases start showing up. It’s no longer acceptable to just look at the optic nerve as an complete evaluation of the retina.

One of these two patients could have a treatment for what was wrong and the other wasn’t. However, even the knowledge of what we found gives this patient time to plan for the coming years and how this patients wishes to structure life knowing what is coming. Time is a very valuable thing.

When you are looking for an eyecare provider make sure they are giving you the best care possible. It’s your eyes we are talking about. But it could also be your life or your livelihood. Please don’t accept less than you deserve for your care. It does make a difference.