All doctors decide to specialize or generalize at some point in their training or careers. And to be truly successful doctors in service to our patients, we also all resolve to do what we do best and refer our patients when other specialists better serve them. Back in the mid-1980s, 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 Keratoconus is not your specialty, we invite you to refer Keratoconus patients to the California Keratoconus Center, where we can collaborate on their care.

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 do not provide comfortable and clear vision for our patients. That’s because the light refracting through the corneas of a Keratoconus patient is different in every meridian, requiring different corrections at every point of the contact lens. And conventional soft or rigid-gas permeable (RGP) contact lenses can’t rest consistently and comfortably on a misshapen cornea.

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

The star of our treatment method is our Eaglet Eye Surface Profiler which 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 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 to 5 (or more) lens revisions and fittings, our skill, technology, experience and specialization have allowed us to achieve a first-fit success rate of 52%, with a second-fit rate of 85%. These were unheard-of statistics just a couple of years ago and, even today, far surpass the results of other treatments. This alone is a great reason to refer Keratoconus patients to the California Keratoconus Center to collaborate on their care, we’ll both end up with thrilled patients.

Non-Surgical Treatments of Corneal Dystrophies

Keratoconus is one of many Corneal Dystrophies that we treat here at the California Keratoconus Center. Our expertise with Keratoconus 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 lenses allow us to avoid surgery for our patients and to protect the already-fragile corneas with a large lens backed by saline solution.

Our success with these conditions is 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. We help other doctors treat their patients with Keratoconus and other Corneal Dystrophies by working closely with contact lens laboratories and technology companies to conduct seminars, either in our office or at colleges.

My personal teaching and instructional credentials include the following:

  • 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 advances in treatment technology and find other resources that might be helpful to you in treating your patients.

But if you refer Keratoconus patients to the California Keratoconus Center, we are respectful and cooperative, understanding 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 that 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 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 to whom we can refer our 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 also refer patients to you.

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 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 your patients can see more comfortably and clearly. Please call our office at 818-891-6711 or email me using the contact form here.