Blog

chalazion and stye

Eye Styes and Chalazions

dralanmendelsohn

Not many people are aware of what a chalazion is – it is a cyst on the eyelid that is a result of a blocked oil gland. If you want to see one, take a look at my video where I actually happen to be in the midst of suffering from one!

The symptoms of a chalazion are the eyelid become heavier and tender with a bit of swelling and some redness.

With all the blinking it can become irritating and obviously it’s not a good look to have something like this to feature so prominently on our face.

It actually looks worse than what it is. It can be treated with antibiotic drops, a steroid, drainage of it and possibly even surgery.

It could actually go away on its own.

If it is quite big, it will be removed via an incision at the front of the eyelid.

eye exam, glaucoma

Angle Closure Glaucoma

dralanmendelsohn

As I continue to spread awareness on glaucoma, I now want to talk more about angle closure glaucoma.

It results in blocking the part of the eye that allows fluid to leave the eye and thus there is an increase in intraocular pressure (IOP). 

How does this happen? Typically the angle is situated between the peripheral iris and cornea. Here the trabecular meshwork, which normally will filter out the fluid is located. When the iris is up against the meshwork, the fluid can’t escape.

If not detected quickly, the pressure will build up and can result is significant symptoms such as nerve damage and vision loss.

So if you have a family history of glaucoma or are over 50 years, you should definitely be having an annual eye exam.

blue light, eye news

Dr Alan Mendelsohn in the Miami Herald!

dralanmendelsohn

Prevention is better than cure and I do all that I can to help spread awareness about various eye ailments and issues.

When I speak to patients, they always say “If only I knew…..”

If only I knew about what caused glaucoma

If only I knew what causes cataracts

Because frankly, the awareness of what causes serious eye ailments that can result in vision loss, if not blindness isn’t what it should be.

I take great pride in my article in today’s Miami Herald about the dangers of blue light.

It is important that both employers and employees know about the seriousness of blue light and the consequences of it. It is a serious menace whose biggest weapon is ignorance.

Knowledge is really half the battle.

eye surgery, glaucoma

Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma and Surgical Treatment

dralanmendelsohn

The reason why ophthalmologists go on and on about having regular eye exams is so glaucoma can be detected at an early stage.

The earlier it is detected, the sooner treatment can start and given the glaucoma isn’t as advanced, the treatment needed won’t be as invasive.

But let’s say a patient hasn’t had a regular eye exam and now they’re diagnosed with Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma?

So this could be treated with eye drops, laser surgery and the innovative MIGS which stands for Minimally Invasive Glaucoma Surgery.

Should you have any questions about Chronic Open Angle Glaucoma or any other type of glaucoma please feel free to contact me.

eye news, lifestyle

Sports and the Eye

dralanmendelsohn

Sports is great for staying fit and healthy, but the physical exertion means injuries can occur, especially in contact sports.

In sports such as football and basketball where fingers are flying everywhere, serious eye injuries can occur.

When it comes to sports and the eye, certain precision sports such as archery require the athletes to have unbelievable vision. You may be surprised to hear this but softballers also have great vision.

Athletes such as golfers and tennis player don’t have the issue of being poked in the eye to contend with but they have to put up with a relentless harsh sun. Because of this, many of these athletes wear contact lenses in an attempt to reduce the harsh UV light they are exposed to.

Then there are the fans who also may be in the sun the whole day cheering on their favorite athletes. Don’t make sunglasses on how they look

eye news

Thriving

dralanmendelsohn

I’m thrilled to be a contributor at Thrive Global.

I just submitted my first article there which is a look back at my 30 years as an ophthalmologist.

While many things in the industry have changed, the fundamentals have remained the same.

While we have more technology at our fingertips than ever before, it’s the way they’re applied that is timeless.

Dealing with a patient’s vision is a serious responsibility and one not to be taken lightly.

I look forward to contributing more articles to Thrive and spreading awareness of ophthalmology to a large audience.

eye surgery, glaucoma

How to Treat Angle Closure Glaucoma

dralanmendelsohn

Angle Closure Glaucoma is also known as narrow angle glaucoma. How should it be treated?

When angle-closure glaucoma the iris is narrower than it should be.

To  treat this we need to use a laser to remove a portion of the iris.Thankfully the surgery tends to work well and there aren’t any additional problems. Saying this, a patient should still have regular checkups to monitor the eye and how it’s healing.

 

 

eye exam, glaucoma

Glaucoma and Optic Nerve Photos

dralanmendelsohn

When to go to the dentist for a checkup it’s common for s/he to take an x-ray of your teeth. They will then use these x-rays to assess the health of your teeth.

An ophthalmologist can not take an x-ray of the optic nerve so instead we take an optic nerve photo.

 

The great thing about the photos is that they are stored digitally so they can easily be brought up to compare.

Should the patient ever move and thus have a new ophthalmologist we can easily forward them onto their new doctor.

We use the photo to assess the health of the optic nerve. Should there be a glaucoma or anything else that is impacting the optic nerve, we will be able to see that.

 

eye exam, glaucoma, Macular Degeneration

Importance of OCT – Ocular Coherence Tomography

dralanmendelsohn

As an ophthalmologist, I have many tools at my disposal to gauge the health of my patients’ eyes not just pre-surgery but post-surgery.

Once such tool is Ocular Coherence Tomography which we refer to as OCT.

The tool is used to examine the retina and the eye’s anterior segment. It is great for assessing macular degeneration, glaucoma and diabetic eye disease.

First introduced in 1991, we are so fortunate to live in an age like today where sophisticated technology like this can be harnessed. I use this tool everyday to get a thorough appreciation and understanding of the patient’s eye.