Other Services
Routine Eye Exams
Dr. Gordon’s office is equipped with the latest technology in diagnostic and examination equipment. This allows us to provide our patients with the most thorough, comprehensive eye examinations available.
We thoroughly check the internal and external health of your eyes including tests for cataracts and glaucoma. Dr. Gordon also checks for the presence of corneal disorders and will examine the retina to ensure proper health and continued good vision.
Blepharoplasty
Eyelid surgery (blepharoplasty) is designed to remove excess skin and fat from the upper and lower eyelids. The procedure can correct drooping upper lids that tend to sag with time and the puffy bags below the eyes. The procedure usually takes about 1 hour and can be performed in the office using local anesthesia. Stitches can be removed after one week. Blepharoplasty can be done as a single procedure, or in conjunction with other facial surgery such as a brow lift.
Blepharoplasty surgery, in addition to improving appearance, also can make it easier to open the eyes, and improve the upper portion of the side vision, thereby improving ocular fatigue. It oftentimes is done for reasons other than cosmetic.
In those cases, blepharoplasty can be a service covered by Medicare and sometimes other insurances. In order to check whether the surgery would be covered by insurance, documentation of side vision loss is done and, along with photographs of the condition, the insurance company is then sent a letter and prior approval is obtained. In many cases, we can proceed with the surgery without prior approval. The procedure is generally done in the surgical center with an anesthesiologist available, but can be done in the office to save costs.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetes continues to be a major cause of vision loss today. the management of diabetes involves both ophthalmologist, internist/family practitioner, occasionally endocrinologist and other specialist. Routine retina exams are important for the appropriate management of diabetes because the retina continues to be the only site in the body in which a physician can look directly at the living blood vessels that are affected by diabetes.
Dr. Gordon was recently written up in the Highmark Blue Shield magazine as being recognized as communicating with internists/family physicians in the management of this disease.
People with diabetic retinopathy may experience symptoms such as:
- Blurry, foggy vision
- Central vision loss
- Sudden vision loss
Our office began treating diabetic retinal disease with the standard treatment of it’s time, laser, and the diagnostic tool of retinal angiography well over 20 years ago, introducing the treatment to the Mifflin/Juniata/Centre/Huntingdon area. As management of diabetic vision loss has expanded over the years, our practice has introduced the technology of optical coherence tomography and treatment with Kenalog and anti-VEGF medications. We continue to refer on to retinal subspecialists for cases requiring vitrectomy, but most patients can be managed here at home with the treatments we offer. Unless you have a restrictive insurance plan such as Geisinger health plan and have no choice, it’s likely that you too can be managed locally.
Why choose us:
We offer the tricounty areas only modern management of diabetic retinopathy with Kenalog, anti-VEGF medications as well as laser.
Macular Degeneration Diagnosis and Treatment
The leading cause of legal blindness in the US today is a condition called macular degeneration. This condition usually involves the slow degeneration of the central portion of the retina, called the macula, but it can evolve rapidly – sometimes overnight. It is generally divided into two forms – the “dry” form and the “wet” form. These two forms are really different stages of the same condition. In the dry form, there is a very slow loss of nerve function in the central retina with deterioration of the retina and the membrane below the retina. In the wet form there is a rather sudden deterioration in the vision caused by a break in the membrane below the retina resulting in fluid formation under the retina separating the nerve tissue from it’s blood supply. If nothing is done within a short time, permanent loss of vision occurs, occasionally with hemorrhage under the retina resulting in scarring.
Although complex cases are referred to specialists in Camp Hill, many of the patients continue to be treated at our office. We began using laser for patients with this condition at our LeMed office some 20 years ago and were the first to bring retinal angiography to the Mifflin/Juniata/Centre/Huntingdon area around the same time. Several years ago, we were the first in the same area offering the new technology of optical coherence tomography, and began offering the most common treatments in wet macular degeneration, the use of anti-VEGF medication.
People with macular degeneration my experience symptoms such as:
- Central vision loss
- Central visual distortion inability to read, recognize faces or other tasks requiring central vision
The evaluation of macular degeneration requires:
- Fluorescein angiography
- Optical coherence tomography
The management of macular degeneration includes:
- Nutritional management
- Home monitoring of vision
- Visual aids (low vision aids such as magnifiers, computer aided devices, telescopic devices and large print)
- Laser and steroid and anti VEGF medications
Why choose us for your care:
We are the only practice in the Lewistown area offering treatment – the anti-VEGF medications of Avastin, Lucentis, and Eyelea. Having a local ophthalmologist for rapid diagnosis and management are keys to good outcome in this potentially blinding disease. It’s fine to see an optometrist, but what if he finds macular degeneration? He’s not licensed to treat it.
Corneal Transplantation
The cornea is a thin clear layer of tissue that covers the eye like a window. The function of the cornea is to focus light rays on the retina and protect delicate working parts of the eye from injury. To stay clear, the cornea must be healthy.
When the cornea is damaged either by injury, disease, or hereditary conditions, it may become swollen or scarred. These scars cause the cornea to scatter or distort light resulting in reduced vision, sometimes to the point of blindness.
If a cornea becomes cloudy the only way to restore sight is to replace, or transplant, the cornea. Corneal transplant is the most successful of all tissue transplants. This microsurgical procedure is extremely delicate. The surgery involves removing the button-shaped portion of the damaged cornea. A clear donor cornea is then stitched into place with very fine sutures. As with any surgical procedure, complications and/or side effects may occur. Your ophthalmologist will decide when to remove the stitches, usually depending on the health of your eye and the rate of your recovery.
Our practice uses sophisticated corneal analysis equipment:
- Specular microscopy – a method to analyze the health of the cells responsible for keeping the cornea from swelling
- Corneal pachymetry – a method to analyze corneal thickness. Important in both glaucoma, refractive surgery and in analysis of corneal health
- Corneal topography – a method to analyze the optical qualities of the cornea and to determine areas for suture removal in corneal transplant
Corneal transplantation is performed in the Mifflin County Community Surgical Center by Doctor Gordon and corneas at our facility are generally supplied by the Lion’s eye bank in Eastern Pennsylvania .