In Focus: Specialty Contact Lens & Vision Solutions

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In Focus: Specialty Contact Lens & Vision Solutions

In Focus is dedicated to providing the highest quality comprehensive vision solutions & specialty co

10/06/2023

Can You Write Off Contact Lenses On Your Taxes?

Did you know Arizona allows for 100% of qualified medical expenses to be deducted from your state tax return?

This includes your contact lenses and eye examinations!

After consulting with a Certified Public Accountant regarding tax deduction rules for the State of Arizona, we wanted to alert our patients that contact lenses and eye examinations (and all other qualified medical expenses for that matter) may be 100% tax deductible on your state tax return. Arizona, for example, does allow a 100% tax deduction of ALL qualified medical expenses, with no Adjusted Gross Income (AGI) limitations, even if the Federal tax return does not allow a medical deduction.

The information below is taken directly from this handout from the AZ Government:
https://www.azleg.gov/itr/materials/AZ_State_Tax_Adjustments.pdf

1.) Medical expenses are 100% deductible as an Arizona itemized deduction. Federal itemized deductions are disallowed if they don’t meet the Federal threshold.

2.) If you have been diagnosed as Legally Blind, you may qualify for an additional personal exemption of $ 1,500.

To qualify as Legally Blind you must have the following:

(a) A central visual acuity of 20/200 or less in the better-seeing eye WITH your glasses and/or contact lenses on. Vision without glasses or contact lenses does not qualify.

(b) Loss of peripheral vision where your visual field in the better-seeing eye is no more than twenty degrees (most common in glaucoma patients).

If you are one of our snowbirds and have residence in another state, please consult your tax preparer as each state varies and some allow for federal or state deductions over a percentage of your AGI.

This post is for information only and does not qualify as your personal tax advice. You must consult with your own personal CPA, or other qualified tax professional, to make sure that you qualify to use these deductions.

05/19/2023

Our patients have the *best* tips and tricks for managing their specialty contact lens supplies, so we share them with you!

This week, one of our patients told us about a travel hack for their supplies. This patient has very low vision when their lenses are not in, which can make using eye drops or cleaners a little tricky - how can you tell the bottles apart?

This patient puts a rubber band around anything that is ok to insert in their eye, such as saline, rewetting drops, prescription drops, etc. “If it doesn’t have a rubber band around it, it doesn’t go in my eye.” We love this simple tip!

05/10/2023

Check out this RGP lens for a patient who has Graft Versus Host Disease and extreme dry eye. This patient recently had a corneal ulcer that decreased his vision. Dr. Morrison () designed an RGP lens to help increase vision in that eye and the patient's vision went from 20/200 to 20/60 - a real game-changer for this patient!

04/07/2023

Want to know about the latest custom contact lens technology? Sign up to receive email updates on informative webinars, new lens technology, must-have supplies, and more. Sign up here: https://bit.ly/SendMeInFocusUpdates

04/04/2023

DISPENSING DAY! Check out this prosthetic lens that we ordered for a patient with a permanently fixed pupil in one eye due to blunt force trauma with a tennis ball. They had been wearing a prosthetic annular pupil contact lens to manage light sensitivity, especially when playing pickleball, and since the material on these types of lenses only lasts about a year, the time had come to replace the old lens. added astigmatism for monovision near more clarity, too - we can't wait to hear how the patient does with this new lens!

Follow the link below to learn more about the many types of prosthetic lens applications:
https://www.youreyesinfocus.com/prosthetic-soft-contact-lenses

03/21/2023

Many patients who require specialty contact lenses like sclerals often deal with issues like extreme dry eye and fogging while wearing lenses. One of the ways we add extra comfort to custom contact lenses is by adding a coating called Hydra-PEG to the lenses. ⁠
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What is Hydra-PEG coating on scleral lenses? Click the link below to learn more about how Hydra-PEG works and if lenses can be re-coated!

https://www.youreyesinfocus.com/post/what-is-hydra-peg-coating-on-scleral-lenses

03/15/2023

Join us for a free contact lens seminar for patients with Dr. Morrison and Dr. Woo!

Saturday, March 18th at 9:00AM PST

All specialty lens patients are invited from around the globe to learn about the latest technology in specialty lenses.

The webinar will include updates like:
- What are the best contact lenses for astigmatism?
- What is the latest technology in scleral lenses?
- Is there any new materials to make lenses out of?
- Is there new technology that could make me see better?
- New solutions or eyedrops to help dry eye or lens comfort?

We will also be answering questions directly from attendees!

RSVP here: https://bit.ly/SpecialtyLensSeminar2023

02/27/2023

Great results today for a patient who previously had LASIK surgery and removal of the (now recalled) Raindrop Inlay. Vision prior to lens was 20/60 and distorted. With a lens vision is 20/25, almost 20/20!

The Raindrop Inlay was a plastic insert into the non-dominant eye that tried to give patients the ability to read because of a "pinhole effect". It was recalled in 2018 because it was giving people corneal haze. Most that were in have been removed by cornea specialists.

This patient has residual scarring from her Inlay. You will also she she has a LASIK scar in this eye from prior surgery.

She wanted a simple and easy way to clear up her vision without having to go through a long fitting process. The corneal rigid gas permeable lens was perfect for this.

This is a photo of the lens on the eye where I can observe the tears under the lens by looking at the pattern of green.

You can see right at the bottom of the lens there is a green spot. This is where her scar is. Scars tend to "scar down" making the corneal flatter in this area, thus, more pooling of fluid under the lens.

Thankfully she is wearing the lens successfully and has much better vision.

01/05/2023

Here is an interesting case where we used a small hole in a scleral lens to create an area of increased oxygen permeability close to the cornea.

This patient has an older corneal transplant (done because the have keratoconus). With our initial molded scleral lens, vision and comfort were great but because the cornea is so delicate, the corneal transplant started having a mild rejection. This rejection with lens wear is rare but can occur due to the reduction in oxygen to the eye with lens wear.

Because we get better vision in a scleral lens than anything the patient has tried before (RPs, hybrids), we put a fenestration in the haptic zone of the lens, almost right above the area of stem cells. Putting in these fenestrations (holes) in this area does not induce a bubble like putting them in the optic zone (further in), but can help in increasing oxygen.

Of course with oxygen, we do everything we can BEFORE putting fenestrations in. This includes thinning the lens plastic as much as possible, putting lens as close to the eye as possible to minimize the tear film thickness, and using a highly oxygen permeable material (we prefer Acuity 200, the newest material available for these cases).

Our patients are usually very complicated so it is our honor to join them on their journey to achieve the best vision possible and keep the eye healthy.

12/14/2022

Here is a patient of ours who we just fit with mold-designed EyePrint scleral lenses! They are extremely happy with 20/20 vision in the right eye and 20/25 vision in the left eye.⁠
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They had radial keratotomy (RK) surgery and were left with fluctuating vision that was unable to be corrected well with soft contact lenses or glasses. ⁠
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Prior to seeing us, they had tried both RGP lenses and soft contact lenses. ⁠
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Because they had pinguecula (tissue growths on the white part of the eye from UV damage), and redundant conjunctiva (where the squishy part over the whites of your eyes increases with time), decided that the impression-designed lenses were going to be the best option for this patient. ⁠
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In the second photo, you will also see where added small holes, or fenestrations, to the landing zone of the lens. This decreases suction which is very common in patients who have had RK surgery.⁠
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We are so happy for this patient and they are over the moon!

Learn more about specialty lenses and Radial Keratotomy here: youreyesinfocus.com/radial-keratotomy

12/09/2022

Check out these images of a custom soft contact lens on an eye with a corneal transplant. This eye does not benefit from RGP or scleral lenses because it has damage from glaucoma. We were able to fit this eye with a custom soft lens to achieve 20/200 vision (the best the patient is capable of).

Looking closely at the fit, you can see the edge of the lens is barely over the diameter of the cornea. This is a look at the kinds of things I observe in the office when I am designing lenses.

The original design was ordered based on the patient's measurements from both myself and a corneal topographer machine.

I will order this lens in a larger diameter as well as a flatter curvature to allow for more tear exchange under the lens. We'll have the patient back in a few weeks to try out the new lens!

Learn about our fitting process for specialty contact lenses here: youreyesinfocus.com/post/what-can-i-expect-being-fit-with-specialty-contact-lenses

12/05/2022

Once our patients have received their new pair of specialty lenses, we review lens insertion/removal techniques along with cleaning regimens, and make sure the patient is seeing clearly and is comfortable with the fit. ⁠
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Sometimes, first-time scleral and contact lens wearers will report that their vision is immediately blurry when they put the lenses in at home: "How come I can't see with the lenses anymore?" ⁠
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More often than not, this can be easily remedied after asking a few quick questions. Follow the link below for a few things to check if this is happening to you! ⁠
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https://www.youreyesinfocus.com/post/blurry-vision-right-when-you-put-your-contacts-in

Address

7301 E 2nd Street, Suite 202
Scottsdale, AZ
85251

Telephone

+14804204243

Website

https://www.youreyesinfocus.com/

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