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Regular eye exams are vital in evaluating and maintaining your eye health – because even if you believe your eyes are healthy, you can miss diseases given that many eye diseases are asymptomatic until late in the course of the diseases. Some diseases, such as glaucoma, develop gradually without symptoms of pain or vision loss, and thus patients may not notice anything is wrong until significant and irreversible damage has been done. Early detection of eye diseases makes for a choice of treatment options and a reduced risk of permanent damage. You should be aware that an eye exam is quite different from a vision screening, which only tests vision and is commonly performed by a school nurse, pediatrician or other health care provider. In their exams, Drs. Dressler, Geller and Randolph regularly evaluate for diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, along with many other conditions.
Children also should have regular eye exams to ensure the proper development of their vision. One of our special treatments for children is myopic management which aims to keep the level of myopia as low as possible to reduce the many eyesight-threatening conditions associated with high myopia, including retinal detachments. See below.
Patients with diabetes are at an increased risk of various complications including diseases that can lead to vision loss. In fact, diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness in the United States. More than 40 percent of patients with diabetes will develop some form of eye disease in their lifetime. Early detection of eye disease can help prevent permanent damage. For this reason, it is important for diabetic patients to have their eyes examined at least once a year.
Cataracts are a clouding or smudging of the eye’s natural lens which can make people think that their eyeglasses really need cleaning and updating! This is a natural part of aging but can also result from ocular trauma, inflammation or side-effects of certain medications.
Early cataracts are usually asymptomatic but as cataracts progress, the following symptoms are common:
Treatment of Cataracts
If the cataract is impairing daily functions, you may want cataract surgery to restore your vision. Cataract surgery is one of the most commonly performed surgical procedures and has low complication risks.
At Dressler Ophthalmology, we perform advanced cataract surgery using the latest laser technology, as well as specialty intraocular lenses (IOLs) including astigmatic IOLs and multifocal IOLs.
Our practice is unique in providing retinal sub-specialty eye care. Our retina specialists, Dr. Marena Patronas and Dr. Alexandre Gauthier, treat the full spectrum of retinal diseases, including diabetic retinopathy, macular degeneration, retinal detachments and retinal tears.
Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that gradually steals sight starting with your peripheral vision, and it is one of the leading causes of blindness. It is often referred to as the “silent thief of sight” because most types typically cause no pain or obvious symptoms (as it’s hard to perceive the insidious, subtle loss of peripheral vision).
Early detection is vital to controlling glaucoma so that you don’t lose your vision. Dressler Ophthalmology is dedicated to early and thorough glaucoma screening. We use the latest and most advanced diagnostic equipment during your examination to detect glaucoma at its earliest stages. There are various treatments to control glaucoma including medicated eye drops, laser procedures or surgery.
Dry eye syndrome is a disorder of the ocular surface that can affect a person at any age, but it is more likely the older one gets. Most people over age 60 have some level of this condition even if they have no symptoms. Early treatment is more effective than late treatment of dry eyes to avoid permanent damage to the ocular surface.
Your ocular surface is like a mirror which should be perfectly smooth – if your tears do not effectively coat your ocular surface and keep it moist, you will eventually have dry eye symptoms which include but are not limited to the following:
stinging, burning, sandy sensations like a foreign body, tired-feeling eyes
especially with stresses like cold air, wind, near vision tasks
At Dressler Ophthalmology Associates, PLC, our doctors counsel patients on various ways to treat their dry eye syndrome. Treatment modalities can include various prescription and non-prescription eye drops, warm compresses and lid scrubs.
A new and exciting treatment modality is the ILUX machine which unblocks the sticky oils (meibum) of your eyelids by applying gentle heat and pressure which allows for a significant improvement of your ocular surface and dry eyes. You may wish to watch the company’s video below.
Floaters can occur at any age, but are more common as we age.
The interior cavity of our eyes is filled with a gel-like protein
like Jello called vitreous. Our vitreous can condense to form floaters
and these floaters can disturb vision when light travelling through the
eye encounters them, thus casting a brief shadow onto the retina. This is
usually perceived by the patient as a darting piece of lint travelling across
vision briefly.
Since floaters can be associated with ocular pathology, early
evaluation is recommended especially if you notice any of the following:
Children deserve more than just a stronger and stronger glasses prescription each year. Higher levels of myopia (nearsightedness) not only increase your child’s dependence on glasses or contact lenses to see clearly, but also increase the risk of numerous eye conditions that can cause permanent vision loss later in life, including retinal tears and detachments, cataracts and glaucoma.
It’s now possible to reduce the progression of myopia by up to 50% or more through specially-designed contact lenses and nightly prescription eye drops. Dr. Brian Randolph offers a myopic management consultation. Please give your child the gift of better sight!
We fit all the different types of contacts available, including contacts for very strong, astigmatic and multifocal prescriptions. Even people with abnormal corneal pathologies, such as scars and keratoconus, can be fit with specialty contacts that allow for better correction than with glasses.
Optimum Optical, LLC is an optical shop located in the same office as Dressler Ophthalmology. Our opticians are highly experienced, licensed, and ABO-certified, and are ready to assist you with all of your eyewear needs. (For your information, many opticians practicing in Virginia have not passed the rigorous Virginia licensing test).
Optimum Optical carries many brands of frames including:
Optimum Optical is a ZEISS-certified optical shop. Depending on the needs of the patient, Optimum Optical will use ZEISS's i.Terminal to gather measurement information. Mobile centration is the new way to capture your individual position of wear parameters with ZEISS high precision technology. The ZEISS i.Terminal mobile centration system for iPad gathers and calculates basic fitting parameters in a few seconds.
