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Eye Knowledge Paula June 22, 2018

What are cataracts?

What are cataracts? Did you know June is cataract awareness month! Yeah, they don’t get just a day like donuts do….cataracts get a whole month because they’re kind of a big deal!

Did you know? Cataracts are so common that they are the leading cause of vision loss in the entire world! For us here in Traverse City, Michigan in the great USA, it means that by the time we are 70, over 1/2 of all Americans will have a cataract!

Do you even know what cataracts are? I knew that they are the clouding of the normally clear lens of the eye, but what I didn’t know is that they can begin in your 40’s & 50’s. After the age of 60, most cataracts cause problems with your vision.

Did you know? Cataracts will continue to worsen over time and people can become legally blind from untreated cataracts. Fortunately, this is rare in the United States because of the availability to get to a cataract surgeon. People in developing countries aren’t so lucky.

Did you know? Besides aging, the sun’s UV rays put you at further risk of developing cataracts. Unfortunately you can’t stop the aging process, try as you might, but you CAN do something to help protect your eyes from harmful UV light. Wear your cool shades, people!

Did you know? There are several different types of cataracts, but the most common is the nuclear sclerotic cataract. Don’t worry…it’s not radioactive, but it is the classic age-related hardening and yellowing of the lens. Radioactive or not, who wants that?

Did you know? You can do something about cataracts! Cataract surgery is the most commonly performed surgery in the United States and it only takes about 15 minutes to perform! Dr. Potthoff performs this surgery at the The Surgery Center at TC Eye here in Traverse City, Michigan. Convenient!

Here’s a before-and-after photo of an eye that Dr. Potthoff recently performed successful cataract surgery on:

Cataract Surgery Traverse City — The left photo shows a cataract in cross-section (it’s the yellow cloudy thing in the middle of the pupil). The right photo shows the same eye after cataract surgery, with an acrylic intraocular lens (IOL) in place of the cataract.

Did you know? Cataract surgery consists of removing the lens of the eye and replacing it with an artificial lens. Amazing!! Yay technology!!

Did you know? Cataract surgery is performed while you are awake! No need for going all the way under anesthesia, but not to worry…..you’ll get a little something to keep you relaxed and your eye gets special numbing drops.

Did you know? I’ve asked our patients…..”does cataract surgery hurt?”….and the survey says…..”No!!…and it’s a quick recovery!”

Did you know? I’m glad to learn all about cataracts and the surgery that can help them because someday, like it or not, I’m going to be over 60 and chances are…..those crazy cataracts are likely to cause problems with my vision!

Eye Knowledge Paula June 14, 2018

Basic Eye Anatomy

Hello! My name is Paula and I am the office manager at Potthoff Eye Care & Surgery in Traverse City, Michigan. I come from a background in endocrinology and podiatry, so I am familiar with the endocrine system and feet but didn’t know much about eyes. They may be small but they sure are complex and turns out, quite interesting! Let me share with you, from someone new to ophthalmology (pronounced: of-thuhl-mol-uh-gee), as I educate myself about the anatomy of the eyes and diseases that affect them.

I’ve always been one to use correct vocabulary but I have to admit, when it came to eyes, I used words like “the white part”, “the colored part”,or “eyeball”. Well, it’s time for me to brush up on my ophthalmology terminology, so I’m starting with the very basics.

The first thing I learned is that the eye is sometimes called the globe, and it sits in a socket called the orbit. It has six specialized extraocular muscles that are attached to each eye and the bones of the orbits. They help the eye rotate and move up, down, left, and right. Here’s a great image I found to help visualize these muscles:

Here is a helpful list of parts of the eye and easy definitions:

Sclera: white part of the eye (not just known as the part of the eye that gets bloodshot and gives us away if we had a rough night!)

Conjunctiva: clear-ish membrane covering the sclera & inside of the eyelids

Lacrimal system: makes & drains tears (into the nose!)

Iris: colored part of the eye

Pupil: black hole in the iris that opens and closes to let more or less light into the eye (also a part of the eye known for giving us away if we may have “overindulged”)

Cornea: transparent tissue at the front of the eye that is in front of the pupil and iris, helps to bend and focus light

Crystalline lens: behind the iris, about the size of an M&M, and like the cornea helps focus rays of light on the retina; when the lens gets cloudy it becomes a cataract!

Vitreous: jelly-like substance behind the lens that helps the eyeball keep it’s firm, round shape (jelly-like substance? ewwwww, but we certainly don’t want a deflated eye do we?!?)

Retina: thin tissue lining the inside of the back of the eye containing nerve cells that are sensitive to light (sunglasses anyone?), the tissue that helps us turn light into vision! The retina is where macular degeneration happens.

Optic nerve: connects the retina to the brain, so that the light signals from nerve cells can travel to the brain and we can perceive vision! This is what gets damaged in glaucoma.

Since I’ve started working with Dr. Potthoff I have already gotten to see some amazing things inside patient’s eyes right here in Traverse City! I will share what I see from my perspective as I watch and learn. There’s so much more to our vision than what meets the eye! Stay tuned!

Eye Knowledge Dr. Potthoff June 12, 2018

Traverse City’s new eye educator

Exciting news! From right here in Traverse City, Potthoff Eye Care & Surgery will be welcoming a new contributor to our website, Paula! Paula is our wonderful office manager who helps out in a variety of roles, including scheduling and greeting patients, answering the phones, answering questions regarding the logistics of having cataract surgery in Traverse City , and helping our patients understand their insurance coverage.

Paula comes to us without any experience in ophthalmology or optometry, so she has been learning a lot about what goes on in an eye doctor’s office! Since I’ve been doing nothing but eyes for a number of years, we thought it would be fun and helpful to visitors for Paula to shed a newcomer’s perspective on her journey to learn about the eye. Paula will be writing about anything she finds interesting about ophthalmology, from the optics of glasses, to how modern cataract surgery is performed, and more!

Stay tuned for her first post about basic eye anatomy and the various structures of the eye!

Cataract Surgery Dr. Potthoff June 10, 2018

Queen Elizabeth II has successful cataract surgery

Even the Queen couldn’t avoid getting cataracts! A news release from Buckingham palace revealed that Queen Elizabeth II recently underwent successful cataract surgery. The Queen turned 92 in April; I am impressed that she didn’t need to have cataract surgery sooner as most patients develop visually significant cataracts earlier in life. However, I have seen a number of patients in their 80s and 90s who have impressively clear lenses (the part of the eye that develops a cataract) and don’t yet need cataract surgery. Family history and genetics can predispose to cataract development, along with systemic health conditions (i.e. diabetes) and environmental exposures (i.e. excessive sun exposure).

To date, the oldest patient I have performed cataract surgery on was 94 at the time. She was quite spry and in great overall health (not unlike the queen!). Following her successful surgery she noticed an improvement in her ability to read and see the faces of her great grandchildren! She was quite happy and a joy to care for.

Cataract surgery is almost always an elective procedure, which means that it is up to the patient to decide when to proceed with the eye surgery. I counsel patients that modern cataract surgery has an incredibly good success rate (arguably one of the best in medicine), but that no surgery is 100% without the chance of complications. As such, the patient must have a cataract that is causing impairment in their ability to see and perform daily activities and hobbies that they enjoy. Visual problems may also include bothersome glare when driving at night, leading to patients to be more reluctant to drive at night. An eye doctor can examine your eyes to evaluate for the presence and severity of cataracts.

Health Dr. Potthoff May 31, 2018

What happened to Lebron’s eye?

If you are/were watching Game 1 of the 2018 NBA Finals you may be wondering what happened to Lebron James’ eye. In the second quarter Draymond Green fouled Lebron and essentially poked him in the eye in the process. Ensuing camera angles showed Lebron’s left eye with a “spot” of blood on it. This is called a subconjunctival hemorrhage, it results from a broken or ruptured blood vessel on the surface of the eye.

In this case the bleed was caused by trauma, but a subconjunctival hemorrhage can also happen spontaneously (especially in people on blood thinners) or as the result of coughing or bearing down (Valsalva manuveur).

No treatment is needed for a subconjunctival hemorrhage as they are self-limited. The blood can be expected to resolve like a bruise, with improvement over the next few days and complete resolution in a week or two. Given the limited nature of Lebron’s eye bleed, I would expect it’ll look a bit better by Game 2 and may be completely resolved by Game 3.

Health Dr. Potthoff May 10, 2018

Visiting the eye doctor, what you can expect

Going to the eye doctor can be scary if you don’t know what to expect. In this article we will outline what you can expect when you visit your Traverse City optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Eye Questions from the Eye Doctor

Your visit to the eye doctor will start with some questions. Your eye doctor will want to know what kinds of issues you are having with your eyes. Is your vision blurry? If so, does it get better when you blink or is it constantly blurry? How long has your vision been like this? Do you wear glasses or contacts? Have you ever seen any flashes or floaters? Do your eyes hurt? Do your eyes feel irritated or burning? When does this happen? How frequently? Have you tried anything to help with your eyes? Have you ever had any eye surgeries? Has another eye care provider ever diagnosed you with any eye conditions? Do any eye disease run in your family? Being able to correctly describe your eye symptoms can go a long way in helping your eye doctor reach the correct diagnosis.

Eye Function

Next, your eye care provider will want to evaluate how your eyes are functioning. There are many ways to assess visual function, but the most common is by testing your visual acuity. This happens when your eye doctor asks you to read letters on a chart. The smaller the letters you can read, the better your visual acuity. Visual acuity is most commonly tested one eye at a time. You may have noticed that sometimes your optometrist or ophthalmologist will ask you to read the letters on the chart through a tiny pinhole, this helps your eye doctor evaluate how well your eye should be able to see with the correct glasses prescription.

Your eye doctor will also perform other simple tests on your eyes, such as checking your pupils, evaluating your eye movements, measuring your eye pressure (intraocular pressure), and testing the visual field of each eye.

Eye Exam

Because eyes are relatively small as far as body parts go, your eye doctor needs magnification to carefully examine them. He or she also needs to be able to examine your eyes with a variety of light intensities and varying beam sizes. This is all made possible by a slit lamp. A slit lamp is the shiny gadget where your eye doctor asks you to position your chin in the chinrest while he looks through something akin to a microscope and shines bright lights in your eyes. The various knobs and dials allow your eye doctor to examine the various structures of your eye. By dilating your pupils, your eye doctor is able to examine your entire eye, including the lens, vitreous, and retina.

Based on what your eye doctor finds while examining your eyes, he or she may recommend additional in-office testing. For instance, if he suspects you may have glaucoma he may perform a visual field test. Or if she is worried about macular degeneration, an OCT (optical coherence tomography) scan may be performed. One of Dr. Potthoff’s favorite parts about ophthalmology is that the testing produces visual reports, which can be used to educate the patient about the condition of their eyes.

Glaucoma Dr. Potthoff February 16, 2017

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is a disease of the optic nerve in the eye. Think of the optic nerve as the cable that carries information from the eye to the brain so that we can see. In glaucoma the optic nerve becomes damaged.