OptoMap Retinal Imaging

Ocean Eye is very proud to use this advanced technology.  OptoMap Imaging allows our doctors to evaluate the health of the back of your eyes, the retina, without the use of drops or dilation in most cases.  In unique cases where family history, your own ocular history or other risk factors are present, your doctor may determine that a traditional dilation is the best means for evaluation of your retina.  The OptoMap allows for a 200 degree view of your retina, compared to just 45 degrees with other cameras.  Our office uses OptoMap Imaging during all eye exams.  This is a non-covered benefit for our patients and we charge $32.00 per patient for the technology.

Optos was founded and incorporated in 1992 by Douglas Anderson after his then five-year-old son went blind in one eye when a retinal detachment was detected too late. Although his son was having regular eye exams, routine exams were uncomfortable, especially for a child, which made it impossible for the doctor to conduct a complete exam and view the entire retina. Anderson set out to commercialize a patient-friendly retinal image product that encompassed a digital widefield image of the retina in a single capture.

Ocular Allergy Evaluations

The joys of living in Summerville! Summerville is known as the ‘Flowertown in the Pines’ because of the beautiful flower and trees that produce wonderful colors and aromas in our area.  However, these same flowers and trees produce systemic and ocular allergy symptoms for many of our patients.

Our physicians will evaluate your eyes for signs of allergies and will recommend the most appropriate treatment options available.  In addition to over-the-counter drops, several prescription drops are available to alleviate most of your allergy symptoms such as itching, redness, and irritation.

Dry Eye Evaluations

Dry Eyes are a common symptom that brings many people to our practice.

Dry Eyes can be caused by a variety of conditions, including the following:

• Medications
• Hormonal Fluctuations
• Pregnancy
• History of LASIK
• Auto-Immune Diseases (Arthritis, Gout, etc.)
• Environmental Factors

If a patient has a dry eye complaint, our physicians generally perform a variety of tests to determine what type of dry eyes you have.  The two most common symptoms of dry eyes are 1) lack of natural tear production, and 2) increased evaporation of natural tears.  Once the type of dryness is diagnosed, treatment can be tailored so that it is more effective.

Treatment of dry eyes includes:

• Over the Counter Artificial Tears – Your physician will discuss which type of drops will provide the best relief for your type of dryness.
• Punctal Plugs – For advanced cases of dryness, our physicians may recommend inserting microscopic silicone plugs into each tear duct in order to keep more of your tears on the eye surface for longer.  This in office procedure is painless and provides many of our patients with a reduced dependency on artificial tears.
• Restasis – This medication allows the patient to produce more of their natural tears.  This medication typically takes 2-3 months to improve symptoms, so our physicians usually pair it with a mild topical steroid drop to speed up the resolution of dry eye symptoms.

Diabetic Evaluations

Diabetes and Your Eyes. Diabetic Retinopathy is the most common diabetic eye disease and a leading cause of blindness in American adults. It is caused by changes in the blood vessels of the retina.  Fortunately, frequent eye exams help to diagnose retinal changes early and prevent blindness.

The physicians at Ocean Eye evaluate the health of your eyes completely and can determine if there are changes secondary to Diabetes.  We recommend yearly eye exams for all of our patients, but for patients with signs of diabetic retinopathy we generally see them on a more frequent schedule.

The physicians at Ocean Eye will take all the time needed to explain this condition and cover all of the treatment/follow up options that exist.  We also communicate with your primary care physician any ocular findings seen during your eye exam in order to provide the best overall health care possible for you.

Glaucoma Evaluations

The ‘Silent Thief of Sight’. Glaucoma is a progressive eye disease that begins with increased pressure within the eye.  This increased pressure causes damage to occur to the optic nerve (visual pathway between the eyes and the brain) and causes a loss of side vision.

There are many risk factors for glaucoma, some of which include:

• Increased eye pressure
• Ethnicity (Higher incidence in African-Americans)
• Family History
• Nearsightedness
• Increased Age
• Those with Diabetes and/or Hypertension
• Prolonged Corticosteroid use

Our physicians will evaluate your eye pressure along with the appearance of the optic nerve in each of your eyes.  If your eye pressure is elevated or your optic nerves look larger than average, they may order a series of tests to rule out the presence of glaucoma.  These tests are performed in our office on a later date.  They include a repeat eye pressure test, a visual field evaluation to detect any problems with your side vision, and a procedure called gonioscopy to evaluate the balance between fluid production within the eye and the rate that this fluid drains out of the eye.

If your physician determines that you have glaucoma, many treatment options exist.  Many patients can simply begin using drops to lower their eye pressure to an acceptable level and follow up more often with our office to evaluate for any progression of the disease.  However, some patients are better candidates for other pressure lowering procedures including laser therapy and possible surgery.  Our physicians will take all the time needed to explain this condition to you and cover all of the treatment/follow up options that exist.

Contact Lens Fittings

The Healthiest Contact Lenses Available. Because of our mission to provide our patients with the highest quality products and services, we only fit lenses that are healthy for the patient and provide the most comfortable wearing experience. We do not offer generic brand contacts and do not fit lenses that have an increased incidence of eye infections.  Our physicians and staff will take a thorough patient history to determine which lens material, wearing schedule, sleep schedule, and replacement schedule is best for that particular patient.

The physicians and contact lens technicians at Ocean Eye currently fit and have advanced training in the following lenses:

• Air Optix Brand Contact Lenses- Air Optix Aqua, Night and Day, Air Optix for Astigmatism, and Air Optix Multifocal Lenses.
• Purevision Brand Contact Lenses- Purevision Spherical, Purevision Toric and Purevision Multifocal.
• Proclear Brand Contact Lenses- Proclear Spherical, Proclear Toric, Proclear Multifocal, and Proclear Multifocal Toric.
• Acuvue Oasys, Acuvue Oasys for Astigmatism, Acuvue Oasys for Presbyopia, and Acuvue Advance for Astigmatism.
• Biofinity and Biofinity Toric Lenses
• Extreme H2O lenses
• Freshlook Colorblends
• Various RGP (hard) lenses including Boston EO, ES, and XO designs.

Our physicians and contact lens technicians specialize in providing the following types of contact lenses designs;

SPHERICAL LENSES – This type of lens corrects for nearsightedness (myopia) or farsightedness (hyperopia).
TORIC LENSES – This type of lens corrects for astigmatism, a condition resulting from different curves on the cornea.  Fortunately for patients with astigmatism, technology is constantly providing new options for soft contact lens wear.  Many patients who were told previously that they could not wear contacts due to their astigmatism are now ideal candidates to wear this type of lens!
MULTIFOCAL LENSES – Ocean Eye is one of the few practices in our area to fit these lenses. This type of lens provides patients with an option other than reading glasses! If you wear reading glasses or bifocals, and would like the option of wearing contacts lenses and no glasses, be sure to ask our specialized staff about this new technology!

Contact Lens Fittings explained. A contact lens fitting includes the time spent by our physicians and/or staff to evaluate the contact lenses on your eyes for proper coverage, proper movement, any surface problems with the lenses, and any corneal complications secondary to lens wear.  We also spend time with the patient to ensure they are comfortable with inserting and removing the lenses, and are able to correctly clean and disinfect the lenses on a regular basis.  The contact lens fitting fee also includes a complimentary pair of lenses and any additional follow up care needed within the first 3 months of a contact lens fitting (usually 1-3 additional visits).  For additional information on contact lens fittings, please click here to review our patient handout on Contact Lens Fittings.

Eye Exams

The best ocular examination you’ve ever received. At Ocean Eye, we pride ourselves in providing our patients with the highest quality products and services.  That mission starts with an extremely thorough yet efficient eye exam.  Our eye exams ensure that your visual system is functioning at the highest level possible.

The first part of an eye exam includes a discussion of your medical and ocular history, as well as pertinent family history.  We then perform a computerized glasses prescription (auto-refraction), keratometry readings (corneal curvature to evaluate for astigmatism), visual assessment for distance and reading (20/20, etc.), pupil reactions, ocular motility (ability of your eyes to move in conjunction), ocular alignment (evaluates for strabismus, also known as ‘lazy eye’), peripheral vision testing, depth perception, intra-ocular pressures (evaluation for glaucoma) and color vision evaluation.

Once this testing is performed by our highly knowledgeable staff, your eye doctor will then evaluate the health of your eyes using a specialized microscope called a slit lamp.  Your doctor will then review the Optos Images (non-dilated retinal imaging) that were obtained earlier to evaluate the internal health of your eyes to check for glaucoma, cataracts, diabetes, high blood pressure, macular degeneration, retinal holes/tears, retinal detachments, ocular cancers/tumors, among other ocular conditions. In some cases, your doctor may choose to dilate instead of reviewing the optos images based on family history, risk factors or findings on the Optos images that may necessitate further evaluation.

Our eye exams also evaluate for the presence of dry eyes and ocular allergies, 2 of the biggest contributors of ocular irritation in our region of the United States.

On the forefront of technology. Our practice uses some of the best technology available in ocular healthcare today. Our electronic medical records network allows us to provide a higher level of service to our patients and creates a much more efficient exam process. The technology also reduces our paper usage, making our office more eco-friendly.

Optomap® Retinal Exam. In our effort to continue providing our patients with exceptional service, we have instituted Optomap Retinal Technology into our practice.  We now perform OptoMap Retinal Imaging on ALL patients at their annual eye exam.  The Optomap provides a 200°image of the retina, compared to just 45°with most retinal cameras.  It serves to replace or compliment dilation, depending on the overall health of your retina, however most patients will not need to be dilated following OptoMap Imaging.  This technology is able to detect changes in the retina due to diabetes or high blood pressure, macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinal tears/detachments and ocular cancers, among others. Your doctor will review the results of these images with you at the conclusion of your exam so that you understand the health of your eyes and what conditions we are looking for.  Optomap Retinal Exam is a non-covered benefit for our patients and our office charges $32.00 per patient for this technology.  For more information on the Optomap Retinal Exam, click here.