All doctors decide at some point in their training or careers to either specialize or generalize. And to be a truly successful doctor in service to our patients, we also all resolve to do what we do best, and refer our patients when they would be better served by other specialists. Back in the mid 1980’s when I was in Optometry school, I was diagnosed by my professor with Keratoconus. And it was then that I decided to specialize in understanding and treating other patients with Keratoconus.

If you have patients with Keratoconus or other corneal dystrophies, and KC is not your specialty, I want to invite you to refer Keratoconus patients to the California Keratoconus Center, where we can collaborate on their care together.

Refer Your Keratoconus Patients to the California Keratoconus Center

Are you an eye doctor who has patients with Keratoconus? Here’s why you should refer Keratoconus patients to the California Keratoconus Center, the leading non-surgical Keratoconus treatment center.

Treating Keratoconus at the California Keratoconus Center

Keratoconus is a degenerative eye disease that weakens and reshapes the corneas, often into something that resembles a bumpy cone. As you know, uneven corneas refract light inconsistently, making the treatment of Keratoconus a challenge. For anything but the mildest cases of Keratoconus, conventional contact lenses just do not provide comfortable and clear vision for our patients. That’s because the light refracting through the corneas of a KC patient is different in every meridian, requiring different correction at every point of the contact lens. And conventional soft or RGP contact lenses just can’t rest consistently and comfortably on an mis-shapen cornea.

In over thirty years of treating Keratoconus patients, I’ve never been more excited than I am today about the prospects for giving my patients clear and comfortable vision that allows them to live a full and active life, and almost forget that they have KC. My passion for treating Keratoconus has led me to collect and master the most advanced technology for treating corneal dystrophies.

The star of our treatment method is our Eaglet Eye Surface Profiler, that allows us to map over 350,000 individual points on the eye, including 100% of the cornea and most of the sclera. The technology in the Eaglet allows us to design scleral contact lenses and send the data directly to any one of over 40 different contact lens laboratories, including BostonSight, ZenLens, TruForm, SynergEyes VS and Acculens.

And while most scleral lens prescriptions based on older technology require between 3 and 5 (or more) lens revisions and fittings, our skill and specialization has allowed us to achieve a First Fit Success Rate of 52%, with a second fit rate of 95%. These are statistics that were unheard-of just a couple of years ago, and even today with other treatments. This alone is a great reason to refer Keratoconus patients to the CKC so we can collaborate on their care: We’ll both end up with very happy patients.

Non-Surgical Treatments Of Corneal Dystrophies

Keratoconus is not alone among corneal dystrophies that we treat here at the California Keratoconus Center. Our expertise with KC has also led us to specialize in related diagnoses, such as…

We specialize in non-surgical treatment of all of these conditions because in many cases, when doctors refer Keratoconus or other patients to us, the cornea is already weakened or thinned from prior diseases or surgeries. Our uniquely designed scleral contact treatments not only allow us to avoid surgery for our patients, but to actually protect the already-fragile corneas with a large lense backed by saline solution.

Our success with these conditions are similar to that of our Keratoconus patients.

How We Help and Collaborate With Eye Doctors Like You

Referring your Keratoconus patients is not the only way we can work together. One of the ways that we help other doctors treat their own patients with Keratoconus and other corneal dystrophies is by working closely with the contact lens laboratories and technology companies to conduct seminars, either in our office or at colleges. My teaching and instructional credentials include:

  • Eaglet-Eye Opinion Leader
  • AOA Contact Lens and Cornea Section
  • Adjunct Clinical Professor at Western University College of Optometry
  • Adjunct Clinical Professor at Pacific University College of Optometry
  • Adjunct Clinical Professor at Salus University Pennsylvania College of Optometry

We also maintain a set of Keratoconus Resources for Doctors on our website, where you can learn about upcoming training events, the latest in treatment technology, and find other resources that might be helpful to you in treating your own patients.

But if you do decide to refer Keratoconus patients to the California Keratoconus Center, we are respectful and cooperative with every doctor-partner. We understand that this patient is your patient first. As a result, we keep you informed about your patient’s diagnosis, prognosis and progress. And, if other conditions arise which you treat, we always refer the patient back to you for that care.

It’s never our goal to take a patient from a referring doctor. We simply want to collaborate with other good eye care professionals like you to give your patient the best vision possible.

What Is Your Specialty?

The California Keratoconus Center is always looking for other great doctors with specialties of their own to whom we can refer our own patients for specialized care. Do you have a specialty in your practice? If so, we would very much like to know what it is so that we can refer patients to you as well.

Let’s Work Together

We try to be a great partner in the care of your patients. If you would like to learn more about Keratoconus so that you can begin to treat your own patients with this disease, let us know. If you would like to refer Keratoconus patients directly to us, that’s good, too. Either way, let’s work together so that your patients can see more comfortably and clearly. Please call our office at 818-891-6711 or send me an email using the contact form here.