Services
Mountainview Eye Associates offers full scope optometric eye care for the family from infants to seniors. We distinguish ourselves with outstanding personalized care. Any surgical requirements are co-managed or referred to our affiliate physician of choice within your insurance coverage network.
COMPREHENSIVE EYE EXAM
Yearly eye exams are recommended for most children and adults to monitor for changes in eye health and eyeglass prescription. A comprehensive eye exam includes determination of eyeglass prescription, eye muscle imbalance, focusing problems, and eye disease.
Vision Exam for Infants
The American Optometric Association recommends that infants 6-12 months should receive their first complete eye exam. This assessment helps determine healthy vision development and early detection of vision problems. Risk factors for amblyopia (lazy eye), muscle imbalances, and some ocular diseases are most beneficial if detected early. This exam is available to everyone free of charge through the InfantSee program. For more information, please contact our office or visit http://infantsee.com.
Vision Exams for Adults
The American Optometric Association recommends a yearly eye exam for adults to detect vision changes and to maintain eye health. For example, glaucoma is a gradual loss of vision due to nerve damage with little or no symptoms even with the typical elevated ocular pressures associated with the disease. Yearly exams also help in identifying and managing headaches related to eyestrain often aggravated by excessive computer use or near visual tasks.
A yearly exam should always include a view of the retina by either dilation or Optomap™. This allows the doctor to check for signs of diseases such as glaucoma, cataracts, macular degeneration or possible dangerous ocular effects of high blood pressure and diabetes. In their early stages, many of these conditions may not cause symptoms or create problems, and therefore, can go undetected.
Vision Exams for Children
The American Optometric Association recommends that pre-school children receive a complete vision exam at three years and five years. It is particularly important that a child have a complete evaluation in the summer prior to entry into Kindergarten. While in school, yearly evaluations are recommended.
Your Child's Eyes
Studies have shown that 80% of learning takes place through vision!
Good vision is critical to learning, yet studies indicate that more than 20 percent of kindergarten children have vision problems. This number climbs to between 30 and 40 percent by the time these children reach high school graduation. Vision problems may keep many children from graduating from high school, as more than 70 percent of juvenile delinquents and 60 percent of adults in literacy programs have vision problems (Section on learning courtesy of the Eye Care Council).
Children as young as six months can be checked and accurately diagnosed. At six months old, our optometrist will test eye movement ability as well as eye health problems. By age three, your child should have their second thorough eye exam. Our optometrist will reassess your child's visual system to confirm the absence of any eye disease, as well as monitor the continued growth and efficiency of their visual skill development. The next exam should take place before their first day of school and then continue annually. Keep in mind that with early detection and treatment, many vision problems are reversible and in some cases preventable.
Diabetes
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition in which the small blood vessels in the eye’s retina weaken as a result of poorly managed Diabetes. These vessels may begin to swell, bleed, or develop abnormal brush-like branches. In the early stages, this may cause blurred vision, or they may produce no visual symptoms at all. As the disease progresses, you may notice a cloudiness of vision, blind spots, or floaters.
If left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness, which is one reason why it is important to have your eyes examined regularly by your doctor of optometry. This is especially true if you are a diabetic or if you have a family history of diabetes.
Cataracts
Cataracts occur as the lens becomes cloudy and slowly over time, causes your vision to dim. Cataracts are most often found in persons over the age of 55. Early symptoms may be glare and/or difficulty driving at night. As this condition continues, it may require a corrective lens change through surgical removal.
Macular Degeneration
Macular Degeneration is a disease that obscures a person's central field of vision. It is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness for seniors in North America. Early detection is key in managing this disease.
Amblyopia
Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, is the eye condition in which reduced vision is not correctable by glasses or contact lenses and is not due to any eye disease. The brain, for some reason, does not fully acknowledge the images seen by the amblyopic eye. This almost always affects only one eye but may manifest with reduction of vision in both eyes. It is estimated that three percent of children under six have some form of amblyopia.
Causes of Lazy Eye
Anything that interferes with clear vision in either eye during the critical period (birth to 6 years of age) can cause amblyopia. The most common causes of amblyopia are constant strabismus (constant turn of one eye), anisometropia (different vision/prescriptions in each eye), and/or blockage of an eye due to cataract, trauma, lid droop, etc.
Amblyopia is a neurologically active process. In other words, the loss of vision takes place in the brain. If one eye sees clearly and the other sees a blur, the brain can ignore the use of the eye with the blur. The brain can also suppress one eye to avoid double vision. The inhibition process (suppression) is dangerous because it can result in permanent vision loss and loss of depth perception that cannot be corrected with glasses, lenses, or Lasik surgery.
Detection and Diagnosis of Lazy Eye
An eye exam by a pediatrician or the 20/20 eye chart screening is not adequate for the detection of amblyopia (and other visual conditions). The most important diagnostic tools are the special visual acuity tests other than the 20/20 letter charts currently used by schools, pediatricians, and eye doctors. Examination with dilation can be necessary to detect this condition in the young.
Since amblyopia usually occurs in one eye only, many parents and children are unaware of the condition. Many children go undiagnosed until they have their eyes examined at the eye doctor's office at a later age.
Treatment of Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)
Treatment involves glasses, drops, vision therapy and/or patching. Recent medical research has proven that amblyopia is successfully treated up to the age of 17. The ideal age of treatment is as early as possible. Although improvements are possible at any age with proper treatment, early detection and treatment still offer the best outcome.
The older a child becomes, more effort and time is required in the treatment.
Convergence Insufficiency
People who have convergence insufficiency may have the following symptoms while doing close work (i.e., reading, computer work, deskwork, playing handheld video games, doing crafts, etc.):
- blurred vision
- sleepiness (especially while reading)
- trouble remembering what was read
- words move, jump, swim or appear to float on the page
- problems with motion sickness and/or vertigo
- double vision
- eyestrain (especially with or after reading)
- headaches
- inability to concentrate
- short attention span
- frequent loss of place
- squinting, rubbing, closing or covering an eye
It is not unusual for people with convergence insufficiency to cover or close one eye while reading to relieve the blurring or double vision. Symptoms may worsen with tiredness, illness, anxiety, and/or prolonged close work.
Furthermore, many people who have convergence insufficiency may not complain of double vision or the other symptoms listed above because vision in one eye has shut down. In other words, even though both eyes are open, healthy and capable of sight, the person's brain ignores one eye to avoid double vision.
When one of your eyes is suppressed, there will be a lack of depth perception. Poor binocular vision can have a negative impact on many areas of life, such as coordination, sports, and judgment of distances. They may show the following:
- trouble catching balls and other objects thrown through the air
- avoidance of tasks that require depth perception (games involving smaller balls, handicrafts, hand eye coordination, etc.)
- frequent accidents due to misjudgment of distances (particularly within twenty feet), such as:
- trips and stumbles on uneven surfaces, stairs, and curbs
- frequent spilling or knocking over of objects
- bumping into doors and other objects
- sports and/or car parking accidents
- avoidance of eye contact
- poor posture
- one shoulder noticeably higher
- frequent head tilt
- problems with motion sickness and/or vertigo
A regular eye exam involving only the 20/20 eye chart screening is not adequate for the detection of convergence insufficiency (and many other visual conditions). The most important diagnostic tools are comprehensive eye exams involving a binocular vision evaluation. A person can pass the 20/20 eye chart test and still have convergence insufficiency. If you are concerned about this condition, please schedule an appointment with our binocular vision specialist, Dr. Nancy Truong.
The best treatment for convergence insufficiency is vision therapy, which re-establishes the reflexes of convergence. Treatment usually consists of both in-office and home exercises.
MEDICAL SERVICES
We offer evaluation, treatment and management of most eye conditions such as:
- Dry Eyes
- Eye infections
- Diabetic eye conditions
- Glaucoma
- Cataracts and pterygium
- Macular degeneration
- Kerataconus
LASER VISION CORRECTION (LASIK)
CO-MANAGEMENT AND CATARACT SURGERIES
LASER VISION CORRECTION (LASIK / PRK)
AND CATARACT CO-MANAGEMENT
Mountainview Eye Associates has affiliate relation with one of the leading LASIK refractive surgeons in the southeast, Dr. Jonathan Woolfson who has performed over 65,000 procedures; over 300 eye doctors have had Dr. Woolfson perform their own surgeries. Lifetime assurance is standard. Please contact our office for a consultation and evaluation to help determine if you would be a good candidate for LASIK or PRK. To learn more about Dr. Woolfson, visit http://www.woolfsoneye.com.
Cataracts are among the leading causes of blindness; however, it is one of the most treatable eye conditions. At Mountainview Eye Associates, we are able to detect, monitor and co-manage cataract treatment. In our office, we perform evaluations and post-surgery care for cataracts. This is often covered by most medical insurances and Medicare. Please call our office to schedule an evaluation.
VISION THERAPY
Vision Therapy is a treatment program designed to help eye-related conditions that cannot be adequately treated with just glasses, contact lenses, or patching. It is a type of physical therapy for the eyes and brain.
This is a highly effective non-surgical treatment for many common visual problems such as lazy eye, crossed eyes, double vision, convergence insufficiency, and some reading and learning disabilities. Many patients who have been told, "it's too late," or "you'll have to learn to live with it" have benefited from vision therapy.
In the case of learning disabilities, vision therapy is specifically directed toward resolving visual problems that may interfere with reading, learning, and educational instruction. (It is not a direct treatment for learning disabilities).
The program length varies as it is individualized to address each person’s specific areas of deficiencies. It is generally conducted in-office under doctor supervision, involves once or twice weekly sessions of 30 minutes to one hour, and is supplemented with procedures done at home between office visits.
The goal of the therapy is to improve visual comfort, ease, and efficiency and to change how a patient processes or interprets visual information. This is especially remarkable in children who struggle with reading and writing, but otherwise perform well when asked verbally. More information on conditions treated by vision therapy can be found at the end of ‘About your Eyes.’ For further information, please visit http://www.visiontherapy.org. If you have specific questions regarding vision therapy you can contact Dr. Truong at drnancy@gaoptom.com.
LOW VISION
Low Vision is a service to help those who have experienced vision loss due to disease or injury that cannot be adequately corrected with medical, surgical, conventional eyewear or contact lenses. The vision loss is often a loss of sharpness or acuity but may present as a loss of field of vision, light sensitivity, distorted vision, or loss of contrast.
Our doctors help patients regain their independence by giving back the ability to do tasks that have become difficult. Through a low vision evaluation and retraining exercises, tasks such as watching TV, reading, and writing a check may be regained. Depending on the needs, our doctors may prescribe custom prescription eyewear, filters, microscopic - telescopic eyewear, magnifiers, adaptive equipment, closed circuit television systems, independent living aids, training, and counseling.
Low vision care does not replace the need for other concurrent treatments such as laser, medication and surgery. It does not cure the cause of the vision problem, but it is rather a form of rehabilitation for vision; it helps utilize the remaining vision to its fullest potential.
CRT/CORNEAL RESHAPING
CRT/CORNEAL RESHAPING
CRT (Corneal Refractive Therapy) is a safe, convenient, non-surgical, and reversible form of vision correction clinically developed to reshape the cornea while you sleep. It allows you to correct your vision at night and enjoy great vision 24 hours a day without the hassle of daytime glasses or contact lenses. CRT therapeutic lenses gently reshape the corneal surface during sleep to provide clear, natural vision when the lenses are removed upon waking.
ACTIVE INDIVIDUALS, TEENS and CHILDREN can now freely participate in sports without the interference of glasses or contacts. Eye irritation or dryness associated with contact lens wear due to outside dust and pollutants is eliminated. These lenses have also been shown to slow or stabilize rapidly changing prescriptions, especially in younger age groups (6-18). Furthermore, what differentiates this from other surgical options is that this procedure is reversible.
Corneal Refractive Therapy is a SAFE, CONVENIENT, NON-SURGICAL, and REVERSIBLE procedure clinically developed to reshape the cornea while you sleep. To learn more, visit
ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY
Our office is equipped with a Nidek-RT 5100 digital refraction system allowing smooth, accurate, state-of-the-art prescription determination.
Electronic Medical Records
Maxim Eyes electronic medical records allow efficiency in maintaining and retrieving your complete eye examination records and images.
Retinal Photography/Optomap
We are proud to offer you the Optomap™ Retinal Exam. Optomap™ technology better allows us to perform a thorough exam of your eye often, WITHOUT dilation. It is comfortable, convenient, and takes less time than a dilated retinal exam without any of the side effects of blurred vision and light sensitivity. Early detection of any retinal abnormality is crucial, so we use the Optomap™ to produce the most comprehensive image of your retina. The result is that we can better prevent or reduce vision loss in our patients with a simple, quick, and patient-friendly method.
To find out more about the Optomap Exam, visit http://optos.com/us/Your-Eye-Health/Patient-Stories/.
MPOD (Macular Pigment Optical Density)
We are proud to be among the few top offices in the country to offer macular pigment density evaluation as a potential risk measurement for Macular Degeneration, a condition of often devastating central vision loss. This is a non-invasive, scientifically validated device that measures each patient’s MPOD. The test is quick, in-office, and does not require dilation.
Why is this measurement important?
This powerful tool gives us advance information as to the future risk of Macular Degeneration, much sooner than previous in-office measures.This instrument is not designed for patients who already have advanced AMD. Rather, average adults or adults with known risk factors typically benefit the most from MPOD measurement.
If we can identify a patient who is at risk for AMD associated with lower MPOD levels at an early stage, we may be able to intervene to reduce risk, or slow disease progression. Nutritional supplements (carotenoids zeaxanthin, and lutein) and lifestyle changes can increase the patient’s MPOD. Discussion of individual risks and risk management are routine for every adult patient.
Benjamin Franklin once said, “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” This statement takes on new meaning the relation of this technology in AMD management. To be able to do something before it’s too late is critical in mitigating irreversible vision loss in the fight against Macular Degeneration.
To find out more about MPOD, visit http://zeavision.com/quantifeye.html.
Visual Field Testing
Zeiss Matrix visual field analysis instrumentation allows our office the most advanced technology for detecting vision loss associated with glaucoma as well as other neurological disorders.
Scanning Laser Ophthalmoscopy
Using the Heidelberg Retina Tomograph, we are able to better evaluate the retinal nerve fiber layer to help in diagnosis and management of eye disease like glaucoma.
Corneal Topography
Using in office instrumentation that maps the corneal shape quickly and comfortably, conditions of the front clear membrane of the eye, the cornea, can be detected and also assists in contact lens fitting. Conditions such as kerataconus, a progressive thinning of the cornea, can lead to changes that require this measurement.
Pachymetry
Pachymetry is a measurement of corneal thickness using ultrasound technology and is used prior to LASIK refractive procedures as well as in evaluation of glaucoma or kerataconus.
CONTACT LENS SERVICE
If you have been told that you can’t wear contacts, think again! The latest lens designs and materials greatly improve your chances of successful contact lens wear. We offer a variety of contact lenses for people who are near-sighted, far-sighted, have astigmatism, wear bifocals, or want colors. We are experts in contact lens design, which allows us to fit you with the best contact lens for your ideal vision, comfort, and ocular health.
Most lenses can be shipped directly to your home at no extra charge with a minimum order either through our website or by calling our office during regular business hours.
We also fit specialty contact lenses such as bifocal rigid gas permeable lenses, soft bifocals, or specially designed lenses for kerataconus or color deficiencies. Cosmetic and novelty contacts are also available. Please call our office or email us for more details.
EYEWEAR/OPTICAL
Mountainview’s optical department carries eyewear from all over the world. We have hundreds of designer frames to choose from as well as budget eyewear and lens packages. Please stop by to take a look.
Our sunglass collection includes:
Our in-office lens lab produces high quality lenses that back our reputation. We offer premium products among the following lens types:
- Ultra-Thin Lightweight Lens Technology
- Lenses That Darken When You Go Outdoors
- Anti-Refelective Lens
- Computer Lenses
- Progressives ("No-Line Multifocals")
- Magnetic Clip-On Sunglasses
- Polarized Lenses
- Custom Sports Frames
- Safety Eyeware For Kids
Advanced Progressive Multifocal Lens Technology and Lens Products
To better serve you, you may fill out and bring along our online form “Eyewear for your Lifestyle,” so the doctor and our frame specialists can help you find the ideal eyewear for all your needs.
Office Hours: 8:30am - 5:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Friday; 7:30am - 5:00pm Wednesday & Thursday 9:30am - 7:00pm; Saturday by appointment only.