Uncategorized

When I use the term “floater,” I am talking about a relative opacity in the vitreous cavity.  The vitreous cavity is the biggest part of the “inside” of the eyeball.  When people are young (e.g. most eight year olds), they have a formed vitreous “jelly” evenly filling that cavity.  Over time, the vitreous changes, and…

Lately, I have been hearing about certain medications, especially erythromycin ophthalmic ointment, being on “back order.”  I’m not 100% sure what that means, but I have done a little digging into this.  I am aware that there are some facilities that state that an item is on back order if their storage warehouse doesn’t currently…

There are devices that can be placed in the eye at the same time as cataract surgery that can treat eye pressure. These devices are often used for patients with mild-moderate glaucoma and cataract at the same time. One of these devices is called the iStent, and I am quite a fan of it. The…

Recently, a listserv that I belong to in which ophthalmologists communicate had a discussion. The discussion had to with a posting in which someone was having undesirable outcomes, and the other doctors were trying to give advice about what to do regarding those outcomes. One of the topics that came up was that all of…

Yesterday I was reading a listserv for ophthalmologists. In one thread, there were 30+ posts regarding the cataract surgery incision. This is obviously the tiniest step in the overall process, but many posters had different suggestions about the incision. I won’t get into all of the details, but one topic was how to make sure…

I recently read a review article about management of dry eye-related pain. Some people have pain that is very similar to dry eye pain, but their eyes don’t appear to be that dry and they don’t respond well to conventional treatment for dry eye. Sometimes, this has to do with “over sensitive” nerves. It is…

The varicella zoster virus causes chickenpox and shingles. Most of us know shingles as a painful rash somewhere on the body, such as on the back. Those “somewheres” on the body can include the face, including the upper area of the face. Shingles occurs because the virus exists in the nerve roots in a dormant…

What does air conditioning have to do with eyeballs? Conventionally, the summer months with warmer temperatures and higher humidity are a good time for the surface of eyeballs. The eye surface can dry out less in humid weather. However, if the eyeballs spend a lot of time in air conditioned environments, they don’t get the…

During cataract surgery, we remove the natural lens of the eye. The lens of the eye is a part of the eye that focuses light and is located inside the eyeball (“behind” the colored part of the eye, the iris). The natural lens is replaced by an intraocular lens implant during the surgery. Recently, I’ve…

I am often asked in clinic about what causes the need for glasses. The basic answer is that light entering the eye does not get focused appropriately on the retina in the back of the eye. This is why adding a lens (like glasses or a contact lens) can help to appropriately focus that light.…