Loudon Ophthalmology Services

Change your pointe of view..

SERVICES

Loudon Ophthalmology

Cataract Surgery

Low Vision Needs

Retinal Disease Care

Diabetic Eye Disease Care

Full-service Laser Center

Glaucoma Evaluations and Treatment

Macular Degeneration Treatment

Injuries Or Eye Trauma

Glasses and Contact Lenses to Fit Any Style Or Budget

Contact Us

Cataract Surgery

Loudoun Ophthalmology wants you to truly understand what a cataract is and the treatments that are available to you and your family. Having all of the facts and tools at your disposal will ensure that you are more comfortable with your situation and how Loudoun Ophthalmology can make this decision even easier for you! First, let’s talk about what a cataract is. A cataract is a clouding of the lens in the eye that affects vision. Most cataracts are related to aging. Cataracts are very common in older people. By age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract or have had cataract surgery. A cataract can occur in either or both eyes but cannot spread from eye to the other.

Most cataracts are related to the aging population and there are different types of cataracts:

Secondary Cataract

Cataracts can form after surgery for other eye problems,

View More

Traumatic Cataract

Cataracts can develop after an eye injury, sometimes years later.

Congenital Cataract

Some babies are born with cataracts or develop them in childhood.

View More

Radiation Cataract

Cataracts can develop after exposure to some types of radiation.

Now, let’s cover the surgical procedures offered here at Loudoun Ophthalmology. Keep in mind that all surgeries pose some risks, but with cataracts surgery, these are rare. There are two types of cataract surgery and we’ll explain them in more detail to you and which one will benefit you:

Phaco-Emulsification, Or Phaco

A small incision is made on the side of the cornea, the clear, dome-shaped surface that covers the front of the eye. Your doctor inserts

View More

Extra-Capsular Surgery

Your doctor makes a longer incision on the side of the cornea and removes the cloudy core of the lens in one piece. The rest of the lens is removed by suction.

After the natural lens has been removed, it is replaced by an artificial lens, called an intraocular lens (IOL). An IOL is a clear, plastic lens that requires no care and becomes a permanent part of your eye. Light is focused clearly by the IOL onto the retina, improving your vision. You will not feel or see the new lens.

Some people cannot have an IOL. They may have another eye disease or have problems during surgery. For these patients, a soft contact lens, or glasses that provide high magnification, may be suggested.

At Loudoun Ophthalmology, we strive to professionally care for and treat each person as individuals and will ensure you are comfortable with your decision for cataract surgery and are kept in the best possible care!

Contact Us

Glaucoma Evaluation and Treatment

Loudoun Ophthalmology offers glaucoma evaluations and treatment whether we catch it early or later in the disease process. We want you to fully understand glaucoma and the steps we’ll take in order to maintain your vision.

Let’s take a look at what glaucoma actually is and possible treatments of it.

Glaucoma is a group of diseases that can damage the eye’s optic nerve and result in vision loss and blindness. It is one of the main causes of blindness in the United States. However, with early treatment, you can often protect your eyes against serious vision loss. Therefore it is very important that it be diagnosed.

Help protect your vision and the vision of your relatives and friends. African Americans over age 40, people over 60 years of age, especially those of Mexican descent, and people with relatives that have had the illness can run a high risk of having glaucoma.

Loudoun Ophthalmology will evaluate and treat most cases of glaucoma ensuring that your eye disease can and will be controlled. We offer this through these various treatments:

Medications

These may be either in the form of eye drops or pills. Some drugs are designed to reduce pressure by slowing the flow of fluid into the eye. Others help to improve fluid drainage. For most people with glaucoma, regular use of medications will control the increased fluid pressure. But these drugs may stop

View More

Laser surgery

During laser surgery, a strong beam of light is focused on the part of the anterior chamber where the fluid leaves the eye. This surgery results in a series of small changes that make it easier for fluid to exit the eye. Over time, the effect of laser surgery may wear off. Patients who have this form of surgery may need to keep taking glaucoma drugs.

Surgery

Surgery can also help fluid escape from the eye and thereby reduce the pressure. However, surgery is usually reserved for patients whose pressure cannot be controlled with eye drops, pills, or laser surgery.

Loudoun Ophthalmology strives to professionally care for and treat each person as an individual ensuring you are comfortable with your decision regarding your glaucoma while receiving the best possible care!

Contact Us

Low Vision

Loudoun Ophthalmology wants you to understand what low vision is and the treatments that are available to you or your family member. Having all the facts and tools at your disposal will help you be more comfortable with your situation and how Loudoun Ophthalmology can help you plan for your treatment.

First of all, low vision means that even with regular glasses, contact lenses, medicine, or surgery, you find everyday tasks difficult to do. Reading the mail, shopping, cooking, watching TV and writing can seem challenging. But, many people with low vision are taking charge by making better use of their remaining vision. Many individuals can continue to enjoy doing important daily activities that are so important to them and their family members!

You’re most likely wondering what you can do to correct low vision and the costs attached with it, right? Loudoun Ophthalmology caters to your needs and budget. While costs vary by region, typically, a low vision evaluation costs between $100 and $200; and remember, Medicare will cover low vision exams performed by eye care professionals and that private health insurance usually does not. We have state of the art techniques and some of the area’s most talented professionals ensuring that this debilitating disease does not take you out of the game.

Loudoun Ophthalmology strives to professionally care for and treat each person as an individual ensuring you are comfortable with your decision regarding your low vision while receiving the best possible care!

Contact Us

Diabetic Eye Disease

Loudoun Ophthalmology understands that the detection of diabetic eye disease is important and offers one of the area’s most prestigious and state of the art facilities in order to assist you or your family member cutting edge technology. We want you to fully understand what you may be facing and the professional steps that we’ll take in order to care for your vision.

In order to properly understand diabetic eye disorders, we need to fully explain what they are and how to treat them.

Diabetic eye disease has no warning signs. Finding and treating the disease early, before it causes vision loss or blindness, is the best way to control diabetic eye disease. If you have diabetes, make sure you get a dilated eye examination at least once a year.

Diabetic eye disease includes:

Diabetic retinopathy

Damage to the blood vessels in the retina.

Cataract

Clouding of the lens of the eye.

Glaucoma

Increase in fluid pressure inside the eye that leads to optic nerve damage and loss of vision.

The question asked of Loudoun Ophthalmology the most regarding diabetic eye disease is, “can diabetic retinopathy be treated?” The short answer is, “yes” and at Loudoun, we’re more than happy to show you how!

As your eye care professionals, we may suggest laser surgery in which a strong light beam is aimed onto the retina.

Many of our patients ask us if they can do to prevent diabetic eye disease and the answers as follows: Diabetes is a disease that can cause very serious health problems. If you have diabetes:

  1. Know your ABCs: A1C (blood glucose), blood pressure (BP), and cholesterol numbers.

  2. 2.Take your medicines as prescribed by your doctor.
  3. Monitor your blood sugar daily.
  4. Reach and stay at a healthy weight.
  5. Get regular physical activity.
  6. Quit smoking.

Loudoun Ophthalmology strives to professionally care for and treat each person as an individual ensuring you are comfortable with your decision regarding your diabetic eye disease while receiving the best possible care!

Contact Us

Injuries or Trauma to the Eye

Injuries or blunt trauma occur daily to eyes more frequently than you’d think. When trauma or injury happens, the patient is in pain and Loudoun Ophthalmology is here to assist the patient and help remedy the situation.

Some common injuries or afflictions of the cornea are:

  • Allergies
  • Conjunctivitis (pink eye)
  • Corneal infections (dry eye)
  • Fuchs’ Dystrophy
  • Herpes Zoster (shingles)
  • Iridorcorneal endothelial syndrome
  • Keratoconus
  • Lattice dystrophy
  • Ocular herpes
  • Ptergium
  • Stevens-Johnson syndrome

Loudoun Ophthalmology strives to professionally care for and treat each person as an individual ensuring you are comfortable with your decision regarding your trauma or injury to the eye while receiving the best possible care!

Contact Us

Macular Degeneration

Loudoun Ophthalmology offers treatment for macular degeneration no matter what stage we identify it. We want you to fully understand this condition and the professional steps that we’ll take in order to care for your vision.

As with other eye disorders, macular degeneration (AMD) is painless, yet it is a disease that blurs the sharp, central vision you need for “straight-ahead” activities such as reading, sewing, and driving. AMD affects the macula, the part of the eye that allows you to see fine detail.

In some cases, AMD advances so slowly that people notice little change in their vision. In others, the disease progresses faster and may lead to a loss of vision in both eyes. AMD is a leading cause of vision loss in Americans 60 years of age and older.

AMD occurs in two forms: wet and dry.

Wet AMD occurs when abnormal blood vessels behind the retina start to grow under the macula. These new blood vessels tend to be very fragile and often leak blood and fluid. The blood and fluid raise the macula from its normal place at the back of the eye. Damage to the macula occurs rapidly.

With wet AMD, loss of central vision can occur quickly. Wet AMD is also known as advanced AMD. It does not have stages like dry AMD.

An early symptom of wet AMD is that straight lines appear wavy. If you notice this condition or other changes to your vision, contact your eye care professional at once. You need a comprehensive dilated eye exam.

Dry AMD occurs when the light-sensitive cells in the macula slowly break down, gradually blurring central vision in the affected eye. As dry AMD gets worse, you may see a blurred spot in the center of your vision. Over time, as less of the macula functions, central vision is gradually lost in the affected eye.

The most common symptom of dry AMD is slightly blurred vision. You may have difficulty recognizing faces. You may need more light for reading and other tasks. Dry AMD generally affects both eyes, but vision can be lost in one eye while the other eye seems unaffected.

Wet AMD can be treated with laser surgery, photodynamic therapy, and injections into the eye. None of these treatments is a cure for wet AMD. The disease and loss of vision may progress despite treatment.

  • Laser surgery. This procedure uses a laser to destroy the fragile, leaky blood vessels. A high energy beam of light is aimed directly onto the new blood vessels and destroys them, preventing further loss of vision.
  • Photodynamic therapy. A drug called verteporfin is injected into your arm. It travels throughout the body, including the new blood vessels in your eye. The drug tends to “stick” to the surface of new blood vessels.
  • Injections. Wet AMD can now be treated with new drugs that are injected into the eye (anti-VEGF therapy). Abnormally high levels of a specific growth factor occur in eyes with wet AMD and promote the growth of abnormal new blood vessels.
  • Once dry AMD reaches the advanced stage, no form of treatment can prevent vision loss. However, treatment can delay and possibly prevent intermediate AMD from progressing to the advanced stage, in which vision loss occurs.

Loudoun Ophthalmology strives to professionally care for and treat each person as an individual ensuring you are comfortable with your decision regarding your macular degeneration while receiving the best possible care!

Retinal Diseases

Loudoun Ophthalmology wants you to understand what retinal diseases are As well as the treatments that are available to you or your family member. Having all the facts and tools at your disposal ensures that you will be more comfortable with your disease and its possible treatments.

Retinal diseases vary widely. Some are common and easily remedied, while others are rare, more difficult to diagnose and require more complex or, sometimes, urgent treatment. The team at Loudoun Ophthalmology is skilled in differentiating these diseases, and then designing a treatment plan that slows or stops the disease and preserves as much vision as possible.

Our team’s approach to care and its professional eye specialists work together with other specialists to provide comprehensive care by treating your eye condition and any other disorders at the same time. For example, ophthalmologists can consult with diabetes care specialists regarding patients with diabetic retinopathy.

More of the common treatments we offer include:

  • Retinal detachment
  • Diabetic retinopathy
  • Epi-retinal membrane (macular pucker)
  • Retinal tear
  • Macular hole
  • Age-related macular degeneration

Loudoun Ophthalmology strives to professionally care for and treat each person as an individual ensuring you are comfortable with your decision regarding your retinal diseases while receiving the best possible care!

Contact Us