Ask MetaFilter questions tagged with ophthalmology

Seattle Eye Doctors?

rouftop — Wed, 05 Dec 2007 23:04:46 -0800

Hi, Looking for an eye doctor in Seattle. Somebody who'll give me the skinny on whether I'm a good candidate for Lasik, without trying to push me into anything. Lots of good lasik threads here on AskMeFi, not so many threads on eye doctors in Seattle. Am I even going the right route? Should I just go straight to a good Lasik doctor? I fear being pitched something that's not right for me.

Is Doxycycline A Bad Idea?

blahtsk — Fri, 15 Dec 2006 15:57:52 -0800

Doxycycline used for eye surface repair: Safe? Worth it? I have severe dry eye symptoms and light sensitivities. I saw an ophthalmologist this morning who is a cornea specialist. He gave me some drops to use, but he also wants me to try taking 100 MG of doxycycline twice daily for six weeks to see if it helps increase tear and oil production in my eyes (I may be a little bit off but that's the gist of what I gathered).

My wifey believes antibiotics should be used as a distant last resort, and is very skeptical of me using a broad-spectrum antibiotic for that long.

Is the wifey overreacting?
Should I give the pills a try?
Also, is 100 MG of doxycycline a sub-anti-microbal dose?
Have you had positive or negative experiences using doxycycline for eye surface repair?

Thanks in advance, hive mind.

How to deal with a loss of accomodation.

ceribus peribus — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 13:57:20 -0800

Cataract questions. Is there an ophthalmologic surgeon in the house? Here's the bullet: 33yo male, non-diabetic, suddenly developed a cataract in left eye this year, pretty rapid progression. Lens replacement surgery is the only treatment.

I saw a specialist today, and even though I had to wait seven weeks for this appointment (which was free; behold the pros and cons of Ontario healthcare), he did little more than examine my eyes to confirm my condition, then explain a price list for the different intraocular lenses offered.

While I try to figure out where to get a second opinion, maybe MeFi can help answer some layman questions for me. It's my understanding that the procedure necessarily involves severing the ciliary muscle. The idea of permanently losing accomodation in that eye is kind of freaking me out, so I'm looking for how to deal with that or avoid it altogether.

Has anyone experienced what it's like? If you get the eye set to "near" focus, do you end up having to adjust the page closer and farther away until you get a lock? If you instead elect to have "far" focus, do you have a threshold beyond which things are fine, or is there a noticable point in the distance where billboards and such come into focus and then blur out again as you approach?

The most advanced lens presented to me is the ReSTOR lens (aka AcrySof ReSTOR Apodised Diffractive Optic Posterior Intraocular Lens) , which the fluffy info sheet I have only describes as "a bifocal lens .... eliminates the need for bifocals." I don't want to shell out for this and discover I have to tilt my head and look down my nose for near vision, as if I had a bifocal inside my eye. Is that how it works?

What about non-fixed focal lenses; does anyone know about those? Is an accomodating lens, or a multifocal lens what I really want? See, in general this kind of surgery is targetted at people twice my age, who probably already need reading glasses and bifocals because of their age. Most of my concerns would be brushed off by doctors, saying "well, you can't expect to see as well as you did when you were younger". But I am younger!

Medical technology has really advanced in this area in the last 10 and even 5 years, so I'm also considering just waiting. I'm presently in Canada which has excellent, if not cutting-edge care, but would be willing to get a procedure in the US if I can afford it.