SERVICES OFFERED
Dr Cusner welcomes new patients who are age 3 and above. You should expect to spend approximately 30 minutes with Dr Cusner for your initial comprehensive examination. During that visit, you will be given a prescription so that you can have glasses made if necessary, and you will be given samples of eye drops if appropriate. Your current contact lenses will be evaluated and recommendations will be made regarding your use of contacts. Please wear your contacts to the office if you can, and please bring your contact lens prescription or an empty box with you for your first appointment.
General Eye Examinations
Complete eye examinations include vision tests for distance, near, and computer use, as well as tests for eye teaming and tracking, external eye structures, corneal topography, dilated retinal evaluation, color vision, pupil testing, cataract evaluation, and detection of macular degeneration and glaucoma.
Traditional Contact Lenses
Dr Cusner prescribes soft and gas permeable contacts for near-and far-sightedness, presbyopia (so you may not need those reading glasses!), and astigmatism. She has samples of tinted and opaque lenses for you to try. She prescribes contacts for people of all ages and for people who want 1-day lenses or lenses which are kept and cleaned for 4 weeks or more.
Orthokeratology and Myopia Management
Orthokeratology involves the use of innovative contact lenses which can prevent the progression of nearsightedness. We have been utilizing this technique with great success for 15 years using overnight gas permeable lenses. With this program, a child no longer needs to wear glasses or daytime contact lenses, making their everyday life much simpler.
A new FDA-approved one-day soft lens is available to help stop the progression of myopia in children. There are also monthly-wear versions of this lens. Dr Cusner will help you determine which lens is the best for you.
Some children benefit from special eye drops which can be used alone or in conjunction with either standard glasses, orthokeratology or soft lenses for myopia control. When these eye drops are used, the progression of myopia is often reduced.
All of the options for myopia control can help reduce the progression of your child’s myopia so that they can minimize the risk of major vision issues associated with high myopic prescriptions. These issues include retinal tears, macular degeneration, and glaucoma. For more information, go to www.myopiaprofile.com and click on “For Parents” on the upper right corner. You can find more information on orthokeratology at http://www.orthokacademy.com/what-is-orthokeratology/
Scleral Lenses for Irregular Corneas and Dry Eyes
Scleral Lenses fit on the sclera (the “white” of the eye) and fully vault the cornea. These lenses are unbelievably comfortable and result in optically superb vision. Because they don’t touch the cornea (the covering over the colored part of the eye), they are the lens of choice for people with dry eyes, keratoconus, and other types of irregular corneas. If you’ve had refractive surgery like RK or LASIK and you were told that your vision is not correctable with conventional lenses, sclerals may be the perfect answer for you. For more information, you can visit https://www.allaboutvision.com/contacs/scleral-lenses/ or go to http://www.sclerallens.org .
Dry Eye Evaluations and Treatment
If you think that you have dry eyes, Dr Cusner will discuss with you how you usually take care of your eyes including eye drops, eyelid cleaning, and eyelid treatments. Dr Cusner will ask you about your work and home environments, including the use of heat, air conditioning, and fans. All of these factors, plus hormonal changes, lack of sleep, the use of or exposure to cigarettes, and caffeine and alcohol can all affect the dryness of your eyes.
Geriatric Optometry
Dr Cusner has been a consultant to many nursing homes, head injury facilities, assisted living facilities, adult day care facilities, and hospitals for mentally challenged individuals. Her office is wheelchair accessible. Dr Cusner has portable equipment for testing the eyes, so that you will be given a complete eye examination even if you are unable to use the standard equipment in the office.
School Eye Evaluations
In 2004, Massachusetts legislature passed a law which requires all students in the Commonwealth who are entering kindergarten present certification of a vision screening conducted within the previous 12 months. Dr Cusner will be happy to help your child to be in compliance with this law. As of January 1, 2014, according to the Affordable Care Act, everyone under tha age of 20 will be covered for a comprehensive eye exam yearly.
Eye Infections and Abrasions
If you are experiencing sticky, itchy, watery, puffy, or sore eyes, or if you are very light sensitive or feel as though you have “something in your eye”, you may have an eye infection or abrasion. Dr Cusner will be happy to help you even if you don’t have a scheduled appointment, and if needed, she will prescribe an eye drop or ointment to help solve your problem.
After Your Cataract Surgery
If you’ve recently had cataract surgery, Dr Cusner will work with you to determine the optimum prescriptions for distance and for near so that your vision will be the best that it can be. Many patients are entitled to a free pair of glasses after cataract surgery through their Medicare insurance. Please ask Dr Cusner to give you more details about this little-known benefit.