Read up about the latest news at Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry.
We apologize but we are booked for the rest of the year. The November/December months always book up fast and we recommend patients not wait until the end of the year to schedule their eye exams.
If you do choose to get your eye exams and must shop around and you have VSP, just be aware of who is in network with your insurance and who simply “takes” your insurance. Please check the VSP website to make sure the office is in network or you will end up paying very, very, very dearly.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will be closed Saturday, December 24, 2022 and Saturday December 31, 2022.
We apologize for this inconvenience. Every year, we have patients who want to use their insurance before the year is over. But don’t forget you have an entire year to use your insurance. We maintain our high level of quality by keeping our patient volume low.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will be closed beginning Tuesday, November 22, 2022 to Friday November 25 and will be opened again Saturday, November 26, 2022.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will be closed for July 4th to celebrate the Declaration of Independence holiday.
Little known fact: September 3rd is the true Independence Day for the United States. July 4th 1776 is when the US Declared its Independence. Sept 3rd, 1783 is when the United States was formally recognized by the major powers of Europe and Great Britain as an independent state as outlined in the Treaty of Paris.
This is a more zoomed in photo than we normally show. This late 30s male patient came in at 9AM sharp this morning (tiny details may seem insignificant but we will revisit this later). He said for 1.5 months, he noticed a circular dark circle in his vision out of his left eye and it is still visible when he closes his eyes. Based on his occupation (that I will not disclose), I immediately asked if he is stressed out. And the patient said “yes.” In the back of my head, I immediately thought about Central Serous Retinopathy.
Slit lamp microscopy revealed tiny white dots in the center of the eye and a well demarcated dark ring around the macula in the left eye (the photo presented on the right as if the patient is facing you). Our Compass coherent retinal camera captured it perfectly and we confirmed CSR.
Further directed questioning confirmed a Type-A Personality, a stressful job—in an industry disproportionately upturned by the pandemic—, and long term steroid cream use. We recommended the patient reassess his ability to handle stress and consider lifestyle changes regarding stress and his outlook on life. We decided to NOT consider changing his steroid cream use until he consult the doctor that Rx’ed that cream and we don’t consider it to be a major cause since he has been using the steroid cream nearly all his life. There is always a possibility that the steroid cream may contribute and that the small contribution of the steroid cream PLUS the contribution of a Type-A personality, and the stress contribution of the COVID-19 pandemic put this patient over the threshold to produce CSR.
We scheduled a three month follow-up and no medical intervention because the patient’s vision is currently not considered vision-threatening. He scheduled his follow-up at 9AM also. Patients with Type-A Personality often tend to be morning people. Males are afflicted with CSR nearly 5x as prevalently as females.
The patient left our office much relieved he has an answer and said he was shocked at the connection between stress and the diagnosis. I recounted to the patient that the discovery of the connection between stress and heart disease was discovered serendipitously by a cardiologist who had his waiting room furniture absolutely ruined by his fidgety patients in a very short amount of time and that small things can result in huge impacts.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will be closed December 31, 2021. However, we will be OPEN January 1, 2021.
Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration
This patient claimed he received an eye exam two years ago and said the previous doctor never said anything. Upon UNDILATED microscope exam, dry drusen were found in his macular regions of both eyes. Fundus coherent photography revealed Dry Age Related Macular Degeneration and further questioning indicated the patient is “pretty certain but not for sure” that his mother and his maternal grandmother both had macular degeneration. This patient will be monitored yearly for this and we hope his yearly photos look identical to this one year after year. To slow this down, we recommended this patient wear sunglasses and eat a diet rich in dark leafy greens, blueberries, eggs, and other foods containing lutein and zeaxanthins.
We will be closed Thanksgiving Thursday and Friday. We will open back for normal business hours on Saturday of that week. We apologize for any inconvenience this may cause. We wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving with your friends, family, and loved ones. And pets!
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, numerous contact lens manufacturers have reduced manufacturing capacity. As a result, there are numerous long delays when ordering contact lenses. We apologize for this inconvenience and we will continue to make accommodations for patients such as providing sample lenses at no additional charge while patients wait for orders to arrive at our office or mailed to your home.
Lenses that take a particularly long time are contacts that have astigmatism (also known as toric lenses). Wait times can stretch into weeks and on occasion, into months for more rare prescriptions. Please do not hesitate to email us if you are experiencing a long wait for your contacts.
Dr. Nguyen is receiving his second dose of the Moderna COVID-19 vaccine on Thursday afternoon. Because of widespread reports of generalized malaise after the second Moderna vaccine dose, Dr. Nguyen has decided to take Friday off. This is out of an abundance of care and to maintain a certain level of quality of eye exams.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will always take the quality of our work as being more important than simply making revenue. It is simply the right thing to do. We will open again on Saturday, February 13, 2021.
As we draw 2020 to a close, we want to thank Morgan Hill and the surrounding area for all of your support through these difficult times. We could not have done it without you.
We wish you a healthy and happy 2021. Our next business day will be Saturday, January 2, 2021.
This is a fundus photo of the two eyes of a 9 year old male patient who presented this morning with his mother. After a recent visit to the pediatrician, the pediatrician recommended this child be seen by a retinal specialist. The boy’s mom called a retinal specialist who then told her the boy should first be seen by an optometrist. The reason became evident when he presented with unaided visual acuity of 20/40 out of the right eye (presented on the left side of the photo, as if the boy was facing you) and 20/20 out of the left eye. The mother indicated verbally that he never complained about his vision until that day at the pediatrician when the pediatrician asked him to cover the left eye. The boy then recalled that he had played with a LASER pointer and pointed it at point blank range into his right eye.
At this point, any damage caused to the retina has been caused and there really is no treatment for the LASER scar. For management, we recommended near reading glasses as a way to blur his distance while at the computer as a way to focus his attention and to blur his distance (in essence, anti-distraction glasses). His mom indicates he is very easily distracted. We also will be placing anti-blue antiglare in his glasses. He currently does NOT need distance glasses but we recommended he be seen yearly since puberty is imminent and we expect him to go myopic shortly.
We discussed with this patient’s mom that protection of the left eye is paramount since he really only has one eye. Polycarbonate lenses were required on his prescription since polycarbonate lenses are much more shatter resistant. We also discussed occupational limitations such as becoming a pilot in which case both eyes are required to be correctable to 20/20.
No referral was made to retina since this case is non-progressing.
Please keep LASER pointers away from children.
Dr. Nguyen spent three years as a biochemist working on human Apolipoproteins, siRNA, and drug delivery. That’s why he can read peer review journal articles and actually understand them. Today’s article is Discovering drugs to treat coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
For those of you not familiar with siRNA, I highly recommend you research it. It is an elegant solution developed by nature probably tens of thousands of years ago and only discovered and described by humans in the last 20 years. The natural world is teeming with viruses. The overwhelming number of viruses attack bacteria, fungi, and plants. Many bacteria, fungi, and plants have developed a defense mechanism against viral mRNA in the form of siRNA and their associated peptides. In the coming years, expect researchers to develop treatment modalities that involve injecting siRNA into cells to cut up viral mRNA as they try to invade the body.
We hope everyone is safe and we hope to be able to get back to work soon.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry takes public health seriously. During the heightened alert period surrounding Covid-19, we ask that all patients experiencing signs and symptoms similar to flu to abstain from receiving eyecare unless it is an absolute emergency and in such cases to receive their eyecare at a local hospital.
Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry has always disinfected all equipment that comes in contact with patients. When designing our offices, public safety was always front and center and we hope it shows. We do not use any carpeting and made sure our bathrooms do not contain moisture absorbing materials and paints.
We here at Morgan Hill Eyecare Optometry will be implementing UV disinfecting lamps that will be kept on overnight to kill bacteria, molds/fungus and their spores, and viruses. We will also be using air filtrations with HEPA 0.12um filters.
We will always put the safety of our patients first and we hope our measures provides a safe environment to continue to take care of our patients and our community.
We are excited to make a few exciting announcements. We will be adding an online store for eyewear in the first half of 2020.
Following the online store for eyewear, we will be adding an online store for contact lenses in the second half of 2020. The contact lens portal will ONLY work for OUR patients and will NOT be open to random people on the internet. All orders will be verified with OUR records. You will still be able to come in and submit an outside Rx to keep on record for future orders (or fax).
Lastly, we hope to have an in-house lab using state of the art technology by the end of the year. Dr. Nguyen will remain the doctor, optician, and optical engineer. There is no optometry office like our’s where your “optician” has a graduate degree level of education, has a strong background in material science, manufactory processes, and physics and isn’t just a glorified salesperson. We are a bit different and we hope it shows.
2020 is going to be an amazing year and we hope you’re buckled in for the ride!
Oftentimes, patients have questions about signs of quality. Today, we’d like to discuss a useful signifier of quality: country of origin. Below, we will discuss why a country of origin will change the level of quality of your glasses and we hope this short blog entry will help you choose a pair of glasses you will feel great about purchasing. Below is a short list but is not meant to be comprehensive.
1) Germany:
a) Highly technical- because of Germany’s philosophy of precision engineering and good work ethic, Made In Germany is usually a very good indicator of quality. Eyewear usually meets strict tolerance guidelines.
b) Responsible labor practices- German eyewear companies provide their employees with good benefits, safe work environments, and provide employees with a sense of equity and fulfillment in their jobs.
c) Uncompromising materials- Generally speaking, German eyewear brands will not cut corners to source cheap alternatives. Racing to the bottom is usually not in their DNA.
2) Japan:
a) Leaders in titanium- Japan’s titanium prowess is second to none. Oftentimes, a German or Italian eyewear company will send their engineering teams to Japan to learn about titanium if they wish to implement titanium in their eyewear. Many companies will also source their titanium from Japan, such as in the case of Blackfin™.
b) Good work ethic- The Japanese work ethic often means having strict tolerances for quality control and not being afraid to trash batches that do not meet quality controls.
c) A pedigreed history of metallurgy- Japan’s metallurgy history is world renown. Much like their knives, their metal glasses are exquisite.
3) Scandinavia:
a) Scandinavian eyewear brands are often overlooked. Much like the German brands, they are generally very technical, have an eye for quality, and due to a good work ethic, have strict quality controls.
b) Responsible labor practices: much like most of Europe, Scandinavian brands treat their employees well and this means you can feel good about purchasing frames made from Scandinavian countries such as Denmark and Sweden.
4) United States:
a) Often overlooked due to a lack of a storied past in the eyewear industry, Made in the USA is a good sign of quality.
5) Italy:
a) Sorry Italiaphiles, but Italy is at number five. A storied past needs constant updating to remain technically relevant. Unfortunately, Italy has seen itself resting on its laurels, its branding, and its history.
b) There are still gems such as MadItaly, Blackfin, and LGR.
6) South Korea:
a) Similar to Japan, a good work ethic oftentimes means excellent quality.
b) Unfortunately, a short history means brands are few in number but this is quickly changing. Many European brands are opening factories in South Korea and technical knowledge will slowly improve to the point where native South Korean companies will spring up.
c) Unfortunately, labor practices require huge improvements. Unhappy workers often mean products will be loosely allowed to skirt quality controls as a result of employees not feeling their work is fulfilling or they feel they have a lack of personal stake in the products they make.
This morning a patient came in exclaiming nobody in Morgan Hill and Gilroy could fix her Prada sunglasses. We were her last resort. We fixed it in about 5 minutes. Wasn’t terribly difficult. It was a drill mount/screw mount.
Even on Christmas Day, we saw patients. We saw a man who wanted to make sure he spent all his Health Spending Account on LASIK so he received a LASIK Consultation. We also saw a young lady who wanted to get more contacts before the end of the year. We are here to serve all your needs, Morgan Hill!
But now, family time! We wish you and your’s a Merry Christmas and a Happy Holidays. And a great new year!
Below is something we designed just for fun. We believe in stimulating the brain in all sorts of different ways to keep our creativity up and graphic design is a fun way of doing it.
This was another case of “I don’t feel like filling out forms.” Upon examining this patient’s eyes undilated, Dr. Nguyen asked her if she is hypertensive and the patient admitted to taking hypertension medication. Although not severe, there are enough signs in the eyes to suggest this patient has hypertension.