One of the sources of education that I frequently use are listservs in which ophthalmologists can discuss questions and ideas. At the same time, with the recent pandemic, I have had some additional time to devote to education. I have been able to use some of that time effectively with some educational resources, such as…

When we ophthalmologists take cataracts out of people’s eyes, we replace them with artificial lens implants. They are intraocular lenses, often abbreviated “IOLs.” Most of the time, in order to know what type of lens implant has been placed (since there are different manufacturers), we go by the appearance of the IOL. Sometimes, it is…

Ophthalmology is a field of medicine that is heavily reliant on very special exams and testing. So, at first glance, it doesn’t seem like that much would be possible with a telemedicine visit, which is basically a video chat. In general, I think that is a reasonable objection to telemedicine, and once the world returns…

What do flags have to do with cataract surgery? Not much in general! However, there is a special situation in cataract surgery that does. When cataracts get really bad, they turn white. When I do surgery on a bad cataract like that, the surgery starts with a dilated pupil and a white circle staring up…

Many people often say that the pupil is the small black dot in the middle of the colored part of the eye. Some people have big black dots and some have little black dots, and they can change size. What is actually happening when the pupil changes size is that the iris (the colored part)…

When we as ophthalmologists examine patients, possibly the most important part of the examination is the exam at the slit lamp. The slit lamp is the device that the patient has to put their chin and forehead against so the doctor can get a microscopic view of the eye. However, that puts the doctor and…

Many eye care clinics, mine included, have decided to close for general eye appointments. We are now seeing only those patients who have urgent/emergent eye care needs that can not be delayed. We are trying to be responsible and do our part to decrease the spread (or at least the speed of spread) of the…

While my area of expertise is eye care, there is, of course, a lot of talk about Covid-19 going on these days. One of the specific recommendations that I have heard about that doesn’t seem to be affecting the behavior of our communities is the use of masks. The basic idea is that people who…

I have been reading listservs about cataract surgery, and it seems that there are many new lens implants that are coming down the pike! I’m sure that some of these will turn out to be more useful than others, but it is nice to have so much research and development going into improving vision for…

A lot of patients ask me about restrictions after cataract surgery. Sometimes I get some really interesting questions about certain activities! There are many things that I would prefer patients not do after cataract surgery, but there are two big categories that I think about: 1) keeping the eye clean, and 2) keeping the eye…