As a fully licensed and equipped optometric practice, Vision Specialists of Idaho PC offers a complete range of eye care services to all our patients.
Whether the eye care issue involves correcting blurry vision with glasses or contact lenses, helping patients find their perfect eyeglasses, or diagnosing/treating different eye conditons, our experienced team will help educate and implement you on the best individual solutions for your needs.
Our office has years of experience diagnosing and treating vision disorders such as nearsightedness, farsightedness, amblyopia, presbyopia, cataracts, eye pain, macular degeneration, and diabetes. Dr. Heiner and his team are equipped to provide the medical eye care you need, and we work with great local surgeons to help comanage surgical needs.
Our office offers a wide array of high-quality eye care products at reasonable prices. We strive to offer the best quality glasses, contact lenses, sunglasses, and personalized service.
If you are diagnosed with an eye disease, you want the best treatment available to help manage your condition. At Vision Specialists of Idaho PC, we stay current with best treatment practices. Based on your diagnosis, we may recommend a wide variety of approaches, including improved nutrition and prescription medications when needed. If surgery or other treatments are necessary that we don't provide, we will refer you to the best person to help you get the care that you need.
Although many do not realize it, the best way to protect your vision is with a yearly eye checkup. Even a basic eye exam can instantly detect many health-threatening conditions, such as tumors, vascular irregularities, and diabetes-related problems to the retina. At Vision Specialists of Idaho PC, that basic checkup is brief and painless.
When patients come to our office for eye exams, many times there is testing that we do to help us diagnose problems. One of these tests uses Optical Coherence Tomography or OCT. Pictures taken with our OCT machine are generated by light waves that reflect off the back of the eye or retina, creating images similar to what could be produced by a low-power microscope. The OCT also provides cross-sectional images similar to an ultrasound. These images can display the various layers of the retina to help closely monitor Diabetes, Macular Degeneration or other conditions that can affect the retina. This technology is also used to image the optic nerve, which is important in glaucoma treatment and management.
OCT is a non-invasive and no-contact test that doesn't require preparation from the patient. There is no exposure to radiation since the machine uses light to obtain the images. The patient sits in front of a machine, a couple of bright flashes like a normal camera flash go off, and then the photos can be viewed on the machine within a minute.
The OCT is an extremely valuable tool used to help diagnose and manage common retinal eye diseases such as macular degeneration, macular edema (fluid in the retina), and macular hole/epiretinal membranes. We use the initial OCT images to aid in making a definitive diagnosis. The OCT compares these initial images of your eye to a database of images of normal eyes matched to your age. In this way, the first OCT images we take can help point out potential issues if there is something that looks different from normal or average. Subsequent OCT images can then compare how you look now compared to how you looked initially. This can be very valuable in gauging how well treatment is working or if the problem is progressing.
The other common use of the OCT is for monitoring and managing glaucoma. We usually take initial images of the optic nerve, and the OCT can then compare these images to those of age-matched healthy control patients. The OCT will usually be repeated every year so we can follow any changes or progression over time.
The advent of OCT has revolutionized the way we evaluate the retina because we can now detect subtle findings not otherwise easily seen during clinical exams. This makes the OCT one of the most valuable tests we can do in our office.
LASIK, a form of refractive surgery, is an popular option for vision correction, often eliminating the need to wear glasses or contact lenses. Simply put, LASIK reshapes the cornea with a laser.
Other surgical alternatives have become available. Among these is a technique called ICL (Implantable Contact Lens) which involves implanting a lens behind the iris. With this new option, many of those who were too highly nearsighted for LASIK are now candidates for refractive surgery.
If you are interested in refractive surgery, please let us know. Refractive surgery is not to be taken lightly. Detailed testing is necessary to determine whether or not you are a good candidate for the surgery. If testing shows you to be a good candidate, we can help you choose the refractive surgeon who is most appropriate for your case. After your surgery, we can provide post-operative care for refractive surgery.
Scleral lenses are a great advancement in refractive therapy. Scleral lenses are a gas permeable or hard contact lens. Scleral lenses are the size of a soft contact lens with similar comfort but offer the vision of a small RGP or gas permeable lens.
Many conditions such as cornea scarring, Keratoconus, corneal transplants, Pellucid Marginal degeneration or severe dry eye cannot have clear vision with glasses or regular contact lenses. Scleral lenses help compensate for cornea irregularities to help improve vision.
The fitting process and care of theses lenses are different than other lenses. During the contact lens fitting, scleral lenses will be customized to fit your specific eyes and then we will train you how to wear and take care of the lenses.
If you have any questions about theses lenses call to schedule an appointment today!
In our continued efforts to bring the most advanced technology available to our patients,we are proud to announce the inclusion of digital retinal images as an integral part of your eye exam.
Many eye problems can develop without warning and progress with no symptoms. Early on, you might not notice any change in your vision. However, diseases such as macular degeneration, glaucoma, retinal tears or detachments, as well as other health problems such as diabetes and high blood pressure, can often be detected with a thorough exam of the retina. The retina is the part of your eye that catches the image of what you are looking at, similar to the film in a camera.
Digital Retinal Exam provides:
Vision Specialists of Idaho PC
4207 Clock Tower Ave Suite 102
Caldwell, Idaho 83607
Phone: (208) 510-5150
Fax: (208) 510-6060
The Background
Over the last several years, research has indicated a strong correlation between the presence of Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA) and glaucoma. Information from some of these pivotal studies is presented below.
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