DR . Gore's
b l o g
April 16, 2021
Dr. Gore Had a Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD)
I have diagnosed hundreds of posterior vitreous detachments over the past 21 years of practice. Starting yesterday, I began to have one myself. I first noticed a faint floater right in the center of vision in my right eye. I then took an OCT image and compared it to an image taken 3 months ago. It was very clear that the vitreous gel was no longer attached at the optic disc and macula as it had been on the earlier scan. Today I went to the office of Dr. Raghu Murthy, an excellent retina doctor in South Pasadena. He verified that my PVD has begun and, fortunately, he found that there was no retinal damage. He will see me again in about a month to assure that no retinal damage occurs from the PVD.
What is a PVD? We have a gel on the inside of our eyes, and it is called the vitreous. When we are born, it is usually clear and fairly solid and fills up the eye. During life, that gel becomes more watery and shrinks, and gravity is pulling it down. Eventually the gel may pull away from the retina. If someone is very nearsighted or has had head/eye trauma, or diabetic retinal damage, that process may occur earlier in life. During the PVD, the patient may notice new floaters and/or flashes of light. Usually a PVD does not cause any damage; however, once in a while, the PVD may cause a retinal tear or detachment, which if not treated quickly, may cause severe vision loss. The moral of this story is that if someone notices symptoms including new floaters, flashes of light, a missing area in the peripheral vision, or a curtain coming down on the vision, it is important to call the eye doctor's office right away.
February 2, 2020
Continuing Education at USC Medical School
I was privileged to attend a class given by 18 residents in the ophthalmology department at USC Medical School recently. Each resident presented his or her most interesting case of the past year. Some of the cases were shocking and astounding. One case involved desperate attempts to save the vision of a man whose eye was damaged by a bullet. Another involved a baby's severe eye damage that had occurred because the baby had been shaken by a parent. A third man had very advanced tumors around his eye, and what almost seemed worse was, per the video we saw, there were insects creeping around in the damaged tissue. All of this increased my respect for these ophthalmologists in training.
August 12, 2019
COLOR VISION AND BIRDS
Science Friday on NPR had a discussion with researchers into bird color vision. It turns out that birds have four types of cone cells in their retinas, and can see well into the UV part of the spectrum. (Humans only have three types of cone cells and the UV part of the spectrum is invisible to us). This means not only that birds can see colors that we cannot, but that they also have what the scientists were referring to as 3-D color vision; they have depth to their color vision that we cannot even imagine:
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/a-birds-eye-view-of-color/
March 2019
PLEASE DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY WEBSITES AND APPS OFFERING FREE OR CHEAP ONLINE EYE EXAMS.
Online "eye exams" exist, and unfortunately some patients think they are saving time and money by using them. The providers of these websites are violating medical ethics. Companies that support such practices are there to make quick money off the public and there are tragic potential complications. These companies have only one concern: their profit.
During a recent routine exam in this office, we unexpectedly found that a young patient with normal vision had a brain tumor. We can guaranty that the online eye exam would not have discovered that, and by the time it would have been discovered, we can only guess as to the damage it would have caused. Prior to this, we had also discovered strokes, glaucoma, retinal tears, cancer, diabetes and other significant disease when the patient was completely unaware. Cases like this happen all the time at optometry offices across this country on a routine basis.
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SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES! - A NOTE FROM DR. GORE
It has become apparent from discussions with many of my colleagues, and it has been our experience in this office, that the world of commerce is changing very quickly for private practice optometrists. We now experience fierce competition from well-funded national and international corporations and monopolies who are doing their best to dominate the eye care business and who would love to put us out of business. These are companies that sell eyeglass frames and contact lenses and provide eye exams. How have we managed to survive and compete?
First and most importantly, I feel that we provide a quality of service that a patient does not get from a "big box" store or online. When I provide an eye exam, I schedule a huge chunk of time so that I can do the required testing, have enough time to talk to patients to determine their needs, and provide enough education about their ocular conditions. In contrast, it is now commonplace that many doctors spend 10-12 minutes with a patient. In that scenario, something is going to be skipped and there is more opportunity for error. I have seen hundreds of patients with pathology not discovered during quicky exams elsewhere.
Second, we feel we provide very high quality glasses. When a patient buys glasses online, there is no optician or optometrist to discuss some all-important factors such as lens materials (e.g. trivex or high index) or treatments (e.g. which antireflective treatment is best and what benefits do the different ones have), and there is no assurance that the frame will fit correctly or that the lenses are up to spec. (A study by the American Optometric Association found that about 45% of glasses purchased online failed to meet either prescription specifications or impact-resistance requirements. See article further down this page.) Our office verifies that each pair of glasses we receive from the various optical labs is made correctly and within published tolerances; if they do not, they are returned to the labs for correction. It goes without saying that many of our patients who have ordered glasses online have been very unhappy with the quality of the work.
Third, in many cases our prices are similar to online prices for various types of contact lenses, especially many Acuvue and some Coopervision lenses, and also several other brands. We also have various rebates, discounts and benefits that are available when a patient orders a full year's worth of contact lenses from our office
In summary, our office has been in this location for over 50 years, and we plan to be here for you at least another 50 years. But in order for that to happen, we hope you will keep in mind: if you like the kind of patient, detailed service provided by local professionals, please support them!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fire sticks (Euphorbia tiruccali)
If you grow this plant, please take extreme care when touching it and make sure that you keep children away from it. If the sap goes on your skin or in your eyes, it will burn terribly. Goggles and gloves should be worn if you are gardening around fire sticks.
Dr. Gore Had a Posterior Vitreous Detachment (PVD)
I have diagnosed hundreds of posterior vitreous detachments over the past 21 years of practice. Starting yesterday, I began to have one myself. I first noticed a faint floater right in the center of vision in my right eye. I then took an OCT image and compared it to an image taken 3 months ago. It was very clear that the vitreous gel was no longer attached at the optic disc and macula as it had been on the earlier scan. Today I went to the office of Dr. Raghu Murthy, an excellent retina doctor in South Pasadena. He verified that my PVD has begun and, fortunately, he found that there was no retinal damage. He will see me again in about a month to assure that no retinal damage occurs from the PVD.
What is a PVD? We have a gel on the inside of our eyes, and it is called the vitreous. When we are born, it is usually clear and fairly solid and fills up the eye. During life, that gel becomes more watery and shrinks, and gravity is pulling it down. Eventually the gel may pull away from the retina. If someone is very nearsighted or has had head/eye trauma, or diabetic retinal damage, that process may occur earlier in life. During the PVD, the patient may notice new floaters and/or flashes of light. Usually a PVD does not cause any damage; however, once in a while, the PVD may cause a retinal tear or detachment, which if not treated quickly, may cause severe vision loss. The moral of this story is that if someone notices symptoms including new floaters, flashes of light, a missing area in the peripheral vision, or a curtain coming down on the vision, it is important to call the eye doctor's office right away.
February 2, 2020
Continuing Education at USC Medical School
I was privileged to attend a class given by 18 residents in the ophthalmology department at USC Medical School recently. Each resident presented his or her most interesting case of the past year. Some of the cases were shocking and astounding. One case involved desperate attempts to save the vision of a man whose eye was damaged by a bullet. Another involved a baby's severe eye damage that had occurred because the baby had been shaken by a parent. A third man had very advanced tumors around his eye, and what almost seemed worse was, per the video we saw, there were insects creeping around in the damaged tissue. All of this increased my respect for these ophthalmologists in training.
August 12, 2019
COLOR VISION AND BIRDS
Science Friday on NPR had a discussion with researchers into bird color vision. It turns out that birds have four types of cone cells in their retinas, and can see well into the UV part of the spectrum. (Humans only have three types of cone cells and the UV part of the spectrum is invisible to us). This means not only that birds can see colors that we cannot, but that they also have what the scientists were referring to as 3-D color vision; they have depth to their color vision that we cannot even imagine:
www.sciencefriday.com/segments/a-birds-eye-view-of-color/
March 2019
PLEASE DO NOT BE DECEIVED BY WEBSITES AND APPS OFFERING FREE OR CHEAP ONLINE EYE EXAMS.
Online "eye exams" exist, and unfortunately some patients think they are saving time and money by using them. The providers of these websites are violating medical ethics. Companies that support such practices are there to make quick money off the public and there are tragic potential complications. These companies have only one concern: their profit.
During a recent routine exam in this office, we unexpectedly found that a young patient with normal vision had a brain tumor. We can guaranty that the online eye exam would not have discovered that, and by the time it would have been discovered, we can only guess as to the damage it would have caused. Prior to this, we had also discovered strokes, glaucoma, retinal tears, cancer, diabetes and other significant disease when the patient was completely unaware. Cases like this happen all the time at optometry offices across this country on a routine basis.
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
SUPPORT YOUR LOCAL BUSINESSES! - A NOTE FROM DR. GORE
It has become apparent from discussions with many of my colleagues, and it has been our experience in this office, that the world of commerce is changing very quickly for private practice optometrists. We now experience fierce competition from well-funded national and international corporations and monopolies who are doing their best to dominate the eye care business and who would love to put us out of business. These are companies that sell eyeglass frames and contact lenses and provide eye exams. How have we managed to survive and compete?
First and most importantly, I feel that we provide a quality of service that a patient does not get from a "big box" store or online. When I provide an eye exam, I schedule a huge chunk of time so that I can do the required testing, have enough time to talk to patients to determine their needs, and provide enough education about their ocular conditions. In contrast, it is now commonplace that many doctors spend 10-12 minutes with a patient. In that scenario, something is going to be skipped and there is more opportunity for error. I have seen hundreds of patients with pathology not discovered during quicky exams elsewhere.
Second, we feel we provide very high quality glasses. When a patient buys glasses online, there is no optician or optometrist to discuss some all-important factors such as lens materials (e.g. trivex or high index) or treatments (e.g. which antireflective treatment is best and what benefits do the different ones have), and there is no assurance that the frame will fit correctly or that the lenses are up to spec. (A study by the American Optometric Association found that about 45% of glasses purchased online failed to meet either prescription specifications or impact-resistance requirements. See article further down this page.) Our office verifies that each pair of glasses we receive from the various optical labs is made correctly and within published tolerances; if they do not, they are returned to the labs for correction. It goes without saying that many of our patients who have ordered glasses online have been very unhappy with the quality of the work.
Third, in many cases our prices are similar to online prices for various types of contact lenses, especially many Acuvue and some Coopervision lenses, and also several other brands. We also have various rebates, discounts and benefits that are available when a patient orders a full year's worth of contact lenses from our office
In summary, our office has been in this location for over 50 years, and we plan to be here for you at least another 50 years. But in order for that to happen, we hope you will keep in mind: if you like the kind of patient, detailed service provided by local professionals, please support them!
* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *
Fire sticks (Euphorbia tiruccali)
If you grow this plant, please take extreme care when touching it and make sure that you keep children away from it. If the sap goes on your skin or in your eyes, it will burn terribly. Goggles and gloves should be worn if you are gardening around fire sticks.
