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.
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.