Procedures

William J. Pogoda, M.D. offers a full service eye care center designed to meet your eye care needs. He and his staff are dedicated to maintaining and enhancing the quality of life for his patients by providing state-of-the-art eye care.

Some of the procedures and services we provide are:

Cataract Surgery

Glaucoma Surgery

Laser Surgery

Treatment of diabetic eye disease

Oculoplastic (cosmetic eyelid) Surgery

BOTOX®

Complete Contact Lens Dispensing Center

Full Line Optical Center

Cataracts

A cloudy area in the lens of the eye

Most people get some hardening and then clouding of their eye's naturally clear lens after they mature. This is first noticed at about age 40 when reading glasses are needed. This hardening and clouding may progress to become so dense that it interferes with vision and glasses don't make things any better. This is noticed by the need for brighter light when reading, by difficulty to see light contrast print, by the inability to see where the golf ball went, and by "discomfort" with driving after dark. When this cataract prevents people from doing what they want, it can be replaced with an intraocular lens.

Many people with cataracts may experience symptoms such as:

Cloudy, fuzzy, foggy vision

Difficulty in seeing to drive, especially at night

Trouble seeing to do close work

Problems watching television

Colors that seem dull, faded, not as bright

Frequent changes and a stronger glasses prescription

Haloes around lights

Bothersome glare

Diagnosing a cataract

Getting cataracts is a part of life, but some cataracts may be present from birth (congenital) or may be associated with injury, disease or with the use of some medicines. After drops are used to dilate the pupil of the eye, Dr. Pogoda can look at the cataract to see how dense it is and to advise about when it should be treated. The mere presence of a cataract is not necessarily an indication for treatment. Some cataracts may be slow growing and vision my be temporarily improved by getting different glasses. Other types of cataracts progress more quickly and their progress can be evaluated by periodic eye examinations.

Glaucoma

Glaucoma is an optic nerve disease, which is a common cause of visual loss or even total blindness. It has been called "The Sneak Thief in the Night" because in it's typical form, it has no symptoms; no pain, no swelling, no redness. People with glaucoma may not know that anything is wrong until after vision has been permanently lost.

Glaucoma is usually associated with elevated pressure in the eye. This pressure is caused by a rate of fluid production inside the eye which is too much for the natural drainage mechanism to handle. It's like blowing too much air into a balloon except that the eye can't enlarge like a balloon so the pressure goes up. When the pressure gets too high, nerve cells die off and vision suffers. Early diagnosis and treatment can save vision.

We can think about glaucoma by creating different categories:

Open Angle - The most prevalent kind of glaucoma which does damage slowly and silently.

Narrow Angle - Which can be silent or can present as an acute attack characterized by extreme eye pain, headache, and possibly vomiting.

Secondary Glaucoma - Which develops after an eye injury, disease, or even after taking some medicines.

Congenital Glaucoma - This rare problem can put infants in danger of blindness even while they are still in the nursery.