ANTERIOR BASEMENT MEMBRANE DYSTROPHY

Otherwise known as Map, Dot, Fingerprint Dystrophy

IS IT A FOREIGN BODY, OR MATERIAL INTERNALLY WORKING IT'S OUT?

Palpebral conjunctival Papilloma vs. Granuloma

This is a lesion under the upper eyelid.  The upper lid is everted.   The top picture is taken in December 2011 and the bottom picture was taken in July 2011.  The lesion appears less vascularized (less blood supply) curretnly, however it does appear like there are is a new nodule to the left and larger nodule to the right.  With the evidence of growth, I believe that, although this is likely a benign lesion, it should be removed before it becomes much larger, so that it is easier to remove with less risk of complication than if we wait. 

LARGE RETINAL HOLE

This is a large hole in the retina in a 20 year old patient.  It needs fairly urgent attention before it becomes a retinal detachment.  There is some fluid under it so part of the retina is already detached. We catch about 2 to 3 patients with retinal holes per week just on routine dilated eye exams.  Without dilating, these breaks in the retina cannot be discovered.  Therefore the people that go blind from retina detachments are often the ones with perfect vision who don't come in for exams regularly, because they don't get discovered until it's too late. 

CORTICAL SPOKING CATARACTS

These are the kind of cataracts that grow from the outside of the lens, working it's way in.  While it looks bad through the microscope, this patient is still able to achieve 20/20 vision, albeit not as sharp as we'd like.  It causes glare problems and starbursts at night. 

CORNEAL ABRASION

The patient in the photos below had her hard lens decenter off her eye and in the effort to remove it her cornea was abraded.  So her vision is blurry, she's in pain, and she's light sensitive. 

WHY SHOULD I REPLACE MY CONTACT LENSES MONTHLY

Below are photos of the underside of the lids of patients who overwear their contact lenses and don't replace them when they're supposed to.  These lids have inflammatory bumps on them that make the contact lenses move, the vision fluctuate, and mucous come out of the eye.  Nothing like mucous coming out of your eye when you're on a date!  

GPC takes months to get rid of, and sometimes years.  We have to use more expensive contact lenses thereafter and you have to use expensive drops and care solutions to try to fix the problem. 

Bottom line? Please replace your contact lenses when you're supposed to.  If you can't afford to replace your lenses monthly, don't get contact lenses.  These are your eyes.  Compromise elsewhere!