Services provided at our office include:
	Optos Retinal Imaging		Comprehensive Eye Examinations
	Contact Lenses		Optical Dispensing
	Laser Vision Correction		Preventative Vision Care
	Eye Infections, Eye Injuries, Dry Eyes		Eye Diseases; Cataracts, Glaucoma, Diabetes
	Heidelberg Retinal Tomographer (HRT)		Our Newsletter!

We are pleased to offer the newest retinal camera for taking photos of the back of your eyes, the Optos Retinal Imaging System. Not only do we get a great view of the center of you retina, but now we can see up to 200 degrees out. We stongly recommend that every patient has an Optos photo every 2 years. It is amazing what this camera can see that might go un-noticed for years.

We know your vision is important to you – and it’s important to us. When you come for your appointment, we make sure to schedule ample time for your appointment so you will never feel rushed. Our office provides complete eye care for both adults and children. Our comprehensive eye examinations will check your eyes inside and out for any potential eye disorders or diseases. Your visual skills and abilities are carefully evaluated and appropriate treatment is prescribed, whether it’s medication, lenses, or vision therapy. We are prepared to handle whatever your eyecare needs are, and will treat them with the latest in diagnostic equipment and are committed to keeping up with eye care technology.

For over a year I have been working with a new lens from Ciba, the Night and Day lens. It is designed for one month of continuous wear. You can wear it from the first of the month and not take it out until the 30th. As much as I have never liked sleeping in contact lenses, this has turned out to be a fantastic new lens. The plastic is a unique blend of gas permeable plastic and soft lens. It has also been a fantastic lens for dryness, and other problems. Over half of my patient who wear the lens, do not sleep in it, but use it for taking care of other problems.

There is also a new bifocal soft lens that shows promise. There is a new bifocal soft lens that is doing very well. After all of my disappointments with all the other makes that I have tried, I now have one that works the majority of the time. It still is not perfect, but it is so much better than any lens I previously tried, that I can now feel confident in offering a bifocal soft lens!

As mentioned before, I am working on a new lens for keratoconus. This lens is designed with a constantly changing back curve to better fit the keratoconic cornea for better comfort. But what is really unique is the compensating curve of the front the lens to allow for excellent vision.

Our optical laboratory has the latest in equipment to not only fabricate your glasses, but to maintain and repair them should they become broken or damaged. We are able to tint, coat, harden and edge spectacle lenses. We are able to provide you with any frame or lens design available. Our highly qualified optician and staff are able to adjust and fit your glasses to you for extended comfort and vision.

I am excited to be among the first in Los Angeles to offer the newest in laser vision, Wave-Front technology. This new technique measures your prescription point by point across your entire eye. By using this, we can measure your prescription better than glasses or contact lenses could ever correct. The company hopes that with this we will be able to correct people to better than 20/20. I can’t promise that everyone will get better than 20/20 vision with the new laser, but we now have something that could give you better vision than glasses or contact lenses.

This new laser technique is also very helpful in correcting healing problems that may have occurred with the older lasers such as night time glare, halos, or variable vision. Please tell your friends who may have been interested, but waiting for new advanced laser techniques, the time has come. Call to schedule a free screening.

We also have the new Interlace laser that is used to create the initial flat. Up until now, we had to use a mechanical device to make the flap off cornea before we laser. Now, we can use one laser to make the flap, and a second to do your prescription.

If you are interested in learning more about these new laser techniques, please call me, email me, or make an appointment for a free screening. Be sure to visit my associate, Dr. Salz’s web site to find out more about laser vision at drsalz.com

Vision, in the broadest sense, is the global ability of the brain to extract, process and act on information presented to the eye. This complex process can be thought of as three major but related areas: visual acuity, which is largely dependent upon refractive status and eye health; visual efficiency skills, representing eye focusing, teaming, and tracking skills; and visual information processing, representing the ability to recognize and discriminate visual stimuli and to interpret them correctly based upon previous experience. Every examination we provide, regardless of age, has these thoughts in mind.

Our office provides emergency services for eye infections and eye injuries. Please call our office at 818-789-2030 during office hours or for emergencies. Our staff will work with you to schedule an appointment as soon as possible. State of the art microscopes allow us to examine the front surface of the eye and facial areas around the eye for infection or injury. After assessing the extent of the injury or infection a treatment plan will be formulated and explained to you. Treatment may include medications and supportive care. Follow-up visits to monitor your recovery will be scheduled as needed.

Dry Eyes: Symptoms include scratchy eyes, burning, mild redness and gritty feeling eyes. Oral medications, reading, computer tasks and dry environments may aggravate marginally dry eyes. Dry eyes can be diagnosed by using dyes to observe tear patterns, evaluation of the amount of tears on the front of the eye and from review of your symptoms. Treatment may include artificial tears; eye drops for treating allergies; and/or punctal plugs inserted in the tear drainage canals.

Cataracts: The natural lens in the eye gradually becomes less clear as we get older. When opacities develop in the lens and the lens gets too hazy, vision will be impaired. Our office can diagnose and manage cataract care. When the cataract affects the vision to the extent that you cannot read or see distant objects comfortably, we will recommend cataract surgery. Our office co-manages with cataract specialists that are proven experts in cataract surgery. Cataract surgery can provide you with a bright new world of vision.

Glaucoma: Glaucoma gradually destroys the optic nerve tissue in the back of the eye. The greatest danger of glaucoma stems from the fact that the disease is painless and without obvious symptoms until significant damage has occurred. The most common cause is from pressure being too high inside the eye, but vascular disease and other diseases can also cause glaucoma. We always monitor for glaucoma during routine eye examinations. Tests include checking the pressure of the eye, screening for peripheral vision defects and analyzing the appearance of the optic nerve. If you are diagnosed with glaucoma, we typically prescribe medications that lower the eye pressure. Most forms of glaucoma are successfully treated with eye drops. Laser treatments and eye surgery are secondary treatments that offer alternative ways to treat more advanced glaucoma.

Diabetes: Diabetic patients should have a dilated retinal examination each year. Laser treatments have proven to slow the progression of retinal eye disease for many patients. Diabetes often stimulates the growth of new blood vessels in the back of the eye, which ultimately leak and damage the retina. If this condition is discovered early, laser treatment can destroy these vessels. We have the latest instruments used to detect changes in the back of the eye. If we discover advancing diabetic eye disease that can be treated or needs further evaluation, we will refer you for consultation and further testing to a board certified retinal specialist.

We now have a new scanning laser camera to help diagnosis glaucoma and macular degeneration. It is called the Heidelberg Retinal Tomographer (HRT). We are now able to better follow any changes that go on in your eyes!


Over the past few years, new techniques and drugs have been developed for the diagnosis and treatment of glaucoma. With glaucoma, the nerves that carry the signal from you retina (the back of your eye) to the brain are destroyed. We used to think that the increase in the pressure inside the eye was the whole story behind glaucoma. We now know that the pressure is just one piece of the puzzle. Now there are new instruments that measure the number of nerves and, more importantly, we can watch over time if these nerves continue to become destroyed. With the use of the retinal camera, and other new advances, I will be able to detect glaucoma at a much earlier time.

Please contact us at 818-789-2030 for more information about receiving our "Vision Update" Newsletter!