I really like my current doctor, but it's always bugged me that it's actually the TECHNICIAN who seems to do all the work. Basically the doctor's role seems to be to come in and shake my hand, say hi and make polite conversation, shine the light in my eyes to be sure the anatomy appears okay, and leave. Oh--that is, after he signs the prescription that was decided upon entirely by the technician.
That's why I no longer use the expensive specialist "just" for my glasses prescription. i've had better accuracy and results from the bulk-billing optometrist.
However - when it comes to eye care, and especially issues concerning my retina, I'm seeing the best. But no longer my previous, highly regarded and very expensive eye specialist. Yes, I liked him, but I hated the very long waits in overcrowded waiting rooms plus the increasingly frequent mistakes he was making in my prescription, without admitting to it being his mistake.
At my new and top market eye specialist (the retina people) I am VERY happy with how they do things. No more the ridiculous long waits, just as long as it's needed. I arrive, and I'm seen by a junior colleague who does the basic stuff, takes a history, has a look in my eyes, checks pressures (for glaucoma) and when it needed to be done, set up the peripheral vision testing. Then this person put the drops in my eyes. All this is done while we wait for the Big Man.
By the time the eye doctor is ready for me, my eyes have dilated nicely and he has a good look inside.
I was warned the appointment would take 90 minutes (still a great improvement on the previous specialist who sometimes took three hours, most of which I was waiting outside). But actually both times I have been to the new specialist, I have been out of there in under and hour, with a more thorough eye check than I've ever had.
Meanwhile I've been trying to see my optometrist for my glasses prescription. But to his credit, the optometrist actually cancelled my appointment and said, "We need to wait until this retina problem has settled down."
I also grew up with the idea that the top specialist was the only one to treat my eyes. However, my experience has taught me that I'm now getting much better eye care (including some highly specialised care) than I ever got with my previous specialist.
Transitions lenses - I've had them before, I've since chosen to not have them. But I would happily recommend them for anyone who wants protection from glare. They do get very dark, very quickly. My main problem with transitions lenses was the appearance of them in photos - I was bridesmaid for sis-in-law and in the photos outside the church, my glasses looked wrong. Since then I've been using pop-over sunglasses, over my normal prescription glasses.
A lot of my eye problems now (including the retina issues) are due to the long eyeball. It stretches the retina to tearing point and at some point, the vitreous humor lets go and risks tearing the retina. My optometrist has been monitoring this and every so often has referred me to an eye specialist (including my previous 'expert' at my request who has turned out to be a turkey). I choose now to go to the eye specialist my optometrist suggests, and he has never steered me wrong.
EB, the way your eye doctor manages his practice should still be OK< but the results are what shows whether it's working right or not. And if the eye doctor got your prescription wrong, then it is his responsibility to fix it.
A suggestion for the future - always keep your old lenses and where possible, keep an old pair of glasses. Whenever you can, get replacement lenses put in cheap specs so you always have something you can wear in the event of, say, breakage. Another option for emergencies is contact lenses. I've had to resort to contact lenses to get me through a time while I wait for specs to be repaired/replaced.
I'm seeing my new eye specialist again tomorrow - it's my two week check-up after the torn retina scare. I'm really impressed with this practice.
Marg
