I didn’t know, by the way, that people could be allergic to dogs. Cats are a common allergy. What’s the difference?

Allergies to cats are caused by their saliva, but with dogs it is typically on the skin. If we suspect allergic conjunctivitis, we conduct a very safe and effective 20-minute test. Thanks to a special applicator, we learn what the patient is allergic to and how to avoid certain stimuli.

So say goodbye to Fido? Picasso once got rid of his dachshund, thinking he was just a burden. 

Even if Fido or Max is causing an allergic reaction, it doesn’t mean that you have to get rid of your beloved pets, but knowing why it is occurring is key.

On a side note, about drops… One of your employees mentioned that things like Visine are not ideal, “to put it mildly.” I shuddered because I had bought some just the day before. This wasn’t because I read something good about them, but because they were the cheapest. Are the best drops the most expensive, or are there other considerations? 

All drops that you buy in the store constrict conjunctival vessels, but they do not like to be in this compressed state. They love to expand. So it goes like this: the drops narrow those vessels and life is good. But within 4 hours, they expand even larger than before and the eyes are still red. You apply the drops again, and now the effect only lasts 3 hours, then 2, and then only 1.

So they work like narcotics, where you have to take more to get the same effect?

Yes. The end result is that people often come in with bloodshot eyes from constantly using name brand drops. This is called rebound. However, sometimes redness is caused by drug allergies or from rosacea, which is a skin disease with symptoms that include reddening of the skin and the formation of sores on the face. Bill Clinton, for example, suffers from rosacea. This is often accompanied by lesions in the eye. All of this can be sorted out and controlled if your ophthalmologist is experienced and has adequate facilities.

So would you advise not to buy drops at the store?

We are often approached by people to whom it is important to have cosmetically-appealing eyes. Someone might have an important meeting and needs to come across as an upbeat person, for example, but this is hard to do with bloodshot eyes. And again, we have to determine the cause. If it is blepharitis, it needs to be treated; it is the same with allergic conjunctivitis. Store-bought drops just cover it up, rather than stopping it where it originates.

Then does it matter if they cost $6 or $26?

If you buy shoes that aren’t your size, then it isn’t important if they’re real crocodile or faux leather. I usually recommend buying artificial tears, but we must remember that drops vary in quality, much like toothpaste or shampoo. Glaucoma drops may contain preservatives, for example, so if you use them 6-8 times a day, you are irritating your eyes each of those 6-8 times. More than 3-4 times a day will negate its benefits.

Manufacturers include this information on their labels, but only microbes can read it, or those who just got laser correction. 

No one advertises the side effects. There are drops without preservatives sold in disposable pipettes, but they are very expensive. We have some prescription-only drops from Germany at our office that are watery, oily, and mucin, and of course have no preservatives. One pipette is enough for an entire day. Dry eyes can be treated in different ways, as well, with vitamins, compresses, and different types of “tears”, including tears that are made from the patient’s own biological material, as well as placental contact lenses loaded with stem cells. These really rejuvenate the eyes.

Placentas?!? That’s the topic of another conversation. 

LASIK, CATARACT, GLAUCOMA: Take advantage of the latest technology and one of the best teams in LA Benjamin Eye Institute310-494-7193

Text and photos: Sebastian VaroTranslation: Richard Grenwelge

Искусственные слезы (2)

Даже не знал, кстати, что и на собак бывает. На кошек-то очень популярна аллергия. А в чем разница?

– В последнем случае аллергия – на слюну кошки, а в случае собак – обычно на кожу. Если мы подозреваем аллергический конъюнктивит, то делаем весьма эффективный и безопасный 20-минутный тест.  Благодаря специальным аппликаторам, мы узнаем, к чему именно пациент аллергичен, и мы его учим, как избегать конкретных раздражителей.

– Так что, прощай, Жучка? Пикассо как-то выкинул свою таксу, решив, что она стала для него бременем.

– Даже если у вас дома Жучка или Мурка, на которых выявлена реакция, это не значит, что вы должны избавляться от любимого питомца. Но вооружиться знанием о причинах всегда неплохо.

Кстати, о каплях. Одна ваша сотрудница в беседе с другой как-то обмолвилась, что капли Visine, к примеру, не лучший вариант. «Так мягко скажем», 

 сказала она. Я вздрогнул, потому что накануне ухитрился купить как раз эти капли. Не потому, что читал о них что-то хорошее, а просто самые дешевые. Секрет лучших капель в цене? Или есть и другие критерии?

– Все капли, которые продают в магазине, и которые обещают избавить вас от красноты глаз, сужают сосуды конъюнктивы. А сосуды не любят находиться в сжатом состоянии, они любят расширяться. И получается так: ты закапал, сосуды сузились и вроде жизнь прекрасна. Но через 4 часа сосуды вновь расширились, причем еще больше, чем до закапывания, и глаз делается еще краснее. Ты продолжаешь бороться с этим врукопашную и снова закапываешь капли. Теперь эффекта хватает на 3 часа, потом на 2 часа, потом на 1.

Т.е. капли работают, как наркотик, который нужно принимать все чаще?

– В итоге приходят люди с краснючими глазами, которые постоянно капают названные вами или другие капли. Это называется rebound, т.е. отскок. Бывает к тому же так называемая медикаментозная аллергия. Люди принимают что-то от глаукомы, но у них краснеют глаза. А бывает и розацеа  – кожное заболевание, признаками которого являются покраснение кожи, образование гнойничков и высыпаний на лице. Клинтон, к примеру, ею страдает. Розацеа частенько сопровождается поражением глаз. Во всем этом можно разобраться и со всем этим можно бороться, если офтальмолог опытен, а офис оснащен адекватным оборудованием.

– Так что в итоге? Вы не советуете покупать капли в магазине?

– К нам часто обращаются люди, которым крайне важно иметь косметически привлекательные глаза, причем не только актеры. Кому-то предстоит важное совещание и ему нужно произвести впечатление бодрого человека, что трудно  с красными глазами. Опять же: нужно выяснять причину. Если это блефарит, то его и лечить, а если аллергический конъюнктивит, то соответственно. А просто замазывать красноту купленными в магазине каплями – это в итоге все равно не будет работать. Процесс нужно гасить там, где он зарождается.

– Т.е. не важно, стоят те капли 6 долларов или 26?

– Если покупать ботинки не своего размера, то не очень важно, из крокодиловой они кожи или из дермантина. Обычно я рекомендую покупать Artificial Tears, но нельзя забывать, что капли бывают разные, как и зубная паста или шампунь,  и обычно не решают проблему. Капли в бутылочках содержат консерванты. Если ты принимаешь  несколько видов капель от глаукомы и сверху еще наваливаешь консерванты, то получается, что ты 6-8 раз в день закапываешь консерванты, которые раздражают глаз. Больше 3-4 раз в день этого делать нельзя, иначе обратный эффект.

– Изготовители, небось, мельчайшим шрифтиком, который способны прочесть только микробы или люди после лазерной коррекции, предупреждают об этом.

– Побочные эффекты никто не рекламирует. Есть капли без консервантов, они продаются в одноразовых пипетках, но крайне дороги. У нас в офисе есть немецкие капли, которые распространяются только через врачей. Они бывают и водянистые, и жирные, и маслянистые и, само собой, без консервантов,  и вот их мы смело предлагаем. Одной пипетки хватает на день. Сухость глаз лечат по-разному: витаминами, компрессами, разными видами «слез», включая «слезу», которая изготовляется из собственного биоматериала пациента, а также при помощи специальной контактной линзы, изготовленной из плаценты – те самые стволовые клетки. Причем в последнем случае глаз реально омолаживается.

– Плаценты? Эта тема стоит отдельного разговора. 

– Значит, поговорим отдельно.

Интервью взял В. Койфман

en_ru

Allergies and Artificial Tears (part 2) - Benjamin Eye Institute

A lot of people run to buy over the counter eye drops if they experience burning, itching and redness of the eyes during the allergy season. Unfortunately, store-bought drops only cover the symptoms up temporarily, rather than stopping it where it originates.

Как не утонуть в порочном круге самостоятельной борьбы с синдромом сухих глаз и краснотой, подбирая капли для глаз, задавая один главный ориентир - цена продукта.  Все намного многограннее, чем вам кажется. 



Allergies and Artificial Tears (part 2)

Искусственные слезы ( часть 2) 

Staff was very personable and accommodated my needs.  Dr Benjamin was very professional and great bedside manner.  I would highly recommend the office to friend and family

An awesome experience as is the norm for our visits to Dr Benjamin. We have trusted him and his office with our multiple surgeries and care for many years, and plan to continue forward. Thank you Dr Benjamin, and your staff.

Great front desk and tech staff. The doctor was super nice and I’m so pleased I found this eye institute! Everyone was great and happy to finally have taken care of an appointment I had been putting off for a while. Great check-in process also for first time patients.

⭐️ My review of LASIK after one year ⭐️I told Dr. Benjamin I would do this a while ago, but I kind of feel like it says a lot I have kept this on my checklist for a year. I feel like a year is a good amount of time to review a procedure like this and give my honest thoughts and recommendation.So, let me tell you about my journey to getting LASIK and how I ended up in the amazing care of Dr. Benjamin. After going to an optometrist for years and him advising against LASIK because of my genetically dry eyes, I finally got a second opinion from an ophthalmologist (Dr. Benjamin). I didn’t know the difference between an optometrist vs. opthalmologist, but once I learned it kind of made sense why my optometrist didn’t want me getting LASIK lol. Because he couldn’t sell me on contact lenses or glasses for the foreseeable future if I got my vision corrected :) I mean, who knows, but I am glad I got a second opinion.I figured being in Los Angeles with some of the best doctors in the world… if anyone is going to touch my big, blue eyeballs, might as well get it done while I’m here. I found this business due to the reviews and they seemed to really know what they were doing and how to talk to clients.Upon meeting Dr. Benjamin he told me that I wasn’t a candidate for LASIK with my dry eyes, but he could put me through treatments for dry eyes and reevaluate after; and that these treatments had a good success rate for most.So, I started doing two treatments every other week for about 2.5 months - IPL laser treatment and Lipiflow. Lipiflow, especially, was a weird painless experience but highly recommend anyone with dry eyes to ask about it regardless of LASIK. I could tell my eyes felt way less dry a couple days after each treatment. There are videos on YouTube that talk about this treatment… Who knew this stuff existed. I’m not gonna lie, it’s an investment to do all these treatments on top of LASIK, but my eyes rarely feel dry anymore so if you’re going to get it done - do it right.Finally, I was approved for LASIK. I ended up waiting until the end of year to make sure I saved up the funds to do it and had some time to heal. I also took advantage of an end of year deal they were offering. $1000 off was a pretty nice forcing function to get me to finally do it after prepping my eyes with the treatments. The procedure itself I couldn’t feel anything even though I was awake the entire time (medicated). Even the scary part when bubbles form on your eyes Dr. Benjamin let me know about in advance so when it happened I just went with the flow. I think the worst part was the recovery the few days after and coming home drugged up lol. I remember day 1 thinking omg what did I do to my eyes. My eyes just hurt and felt weird, but omg I could see 20/15 immediately. And then, day by day it gradually got better. It took a few weeks for my eyes to heal, but after 1 month you couldn’t even tell I had surgery. One eye was a bit more bloodshot than the other.I can see 20/15. It’s been life changing for the past year not having to worry about contacts or glasses. I just got married and was able to walk down the aisle with clear vision. I only wish I had the means to have done this earlier in life. If you’re considering it - do it! And definitely consider Dr. Benjamin to do it right.Lastly, to continue treating my dry eyes, Dr. Benjamin gave me an extra LipiFlow treatment, and also recommended I try punctal plugs (painless plugs inserted into your lids that help your tears last longer). He placed the plugs in my eyes under 5 mins. Wild.I heard from people during the LASIK process they have been nervous to get the procedure so I wrote this to help and because I think highly of this business for changing my life. And, some of the dry eye treatments I would’ve never known about had it not been for them. Again, I wish I would have had been able to do this years ago. It is so, so worth it!Thank you, Dr. Benjamin (and staff!)

Concerned about a reoccurring virus, I text Dr Benjamin’s office first thing in the morning seeking immediate advice and an appointment. In quick time I received both sage advice and a same day appointment. Dr B takes a personal interest in his patients well being and has diligent, competent and attentive staff to support the care and support needed. Can’t speak highly enough.

Been going to Dr B for nearly a decade after trying many other eye doctors in LA.  Beyond solving my chronic dry eye and being the most knowledgeable, he is an all-around great guy and spends time educating. The staff is wonderful as well.

The ophthalmologist that performed my surgery, Dr. Benjamin, was extremely skilled and knowledgeable. He took the time to thoroughly explain the procedure and answer all of my questions. I felt confident in his abilities and knew that I was in good hands.

Dr Benjamin and his team are extremely professional. I had Lasik surgery performed by him and his team and everything to date has gone exactly as described to me. Front office is very friendly and scheduling appointments is easy.

The office staff were kind and considerate. The technician that assisted me explained everything she was doing. The Doctor was very nice and explained everything. He was definitely knowledgeable about my condition.

Dr Benjamin has been the “go to” eye specialist for 3 generations of my family, starting with my father and now grown children. Simply put, he’s an exceptionally capable, trustworthy, and cutting edge doctor with a courteous and professional staff.Without any reservations, I recommend him to anyone seeking an exceptional eye doctor.

The surgeons at Benjamin Eye Institute are true experts in their field - they were able to explain the procedure in detail and answer all of my questions and concerns. The surgery itself was quick and painless, and the recovery was much faster than I had anticipated.

I just completed my first visit and can say that this office deserves every high ranking it gets. The staff are efficient, friendly but highly professional.  The office is modern and sparkling clean. The examination was smooth and thorough. The doctor saw me on time.  He listened closely to the background of my problem, and he clearly communicated his treatment plan and the rationale for it. I absolutely trust him and highly recommend him.

Dr. Benjamin is always personable and thoughtful and very much an expert.  He has been my eye doctor for many years.  Now that I am older I am very grateful that he is still my ophthalmologist. Everyone in the office is very helpful. I, of course, highly recommend Dr. Benjamin.

One of the things that sets the Benjamin Eye Institute apart from other ophthalmology practices is their team of experienced and highly trained surgeons. The surgeons at the Benjamin Eye Institute have performed thousands of cataract and LASIK surgeries, and have a wealth of experience in these procedures. They are committed to providing the best possible care for their patients and strive to achieve excellent outcomes.

No exaggeration, this was the best visit with any doctor I've ever had. The facility is very nice, the staff is exceptionally thorough, professional, and efficient and Dr Arthur had by far the best bed side manner I've ever encountered. I 100% recommend him and his team

My experience at Benjamin Eye Institute was exceptional.  I’m not sure if I’ve ever encountered such an efficient and professional staff in a doctor’s office.  The front desk was communicative and everyone up to the doctor was beyond detailed in their care.  I would recommend this place to anyone who has eye problems because they have the most advanced equipment and Dr. Benjamin is caring, thorough and knowledgeable.

Dr Benjamin and his staff are excellent! 3/5 members of my family are patients from senior to adult to teen. Great care and professionalism. Highly recommend!

Immediately after  cataract surgery, I can see my husband’s face accross the room for the first time in 40 years! No more glasses since childhood, both distance and close up. If you are thinking, should you spend the big bucks to see everything both near and far?  I can tell you it’s so worth it! Thank you Dr. Benjamin and all the wonderful people in your office! I appreciate your efficiency, attentiveness, professionalism and welcoming space! Please feel free to use me as a reference any time!

I can’t ever express my deep gratitude for Dr . Benjamin and his entire extraordinary team at the Benjamin Eye Institute.I was nervous as eyes are so sensitive,  but his incredibly kind receptionists and nurses make you feel at ease and diminish all fears right away . He offers impeccable medical knowledge and state of the art technology to heal . My son and I have both experienced his phenomenal treatment and have had all our eye issues resolved . I am so thankful and can’t recommend him and the Benjamin Eye Institute highly enough 🙏

Dr.Benjamin is the best of the best.Very personable, knowledgeable and kind.I had a stye and in a bad shape.He  took me right in.His staff polite , kind and very professional.Highly recommended.

My 18-year-old son has been under Dr. Benjamin's care, and we were truly impressed by the level of service we received at Benjamin Eye Institute. From the moment we stepped into the clinic, the staff was incredibly helpful and accommodating.Dr. Benjamin conducted a comprehensive eye exam for my son, and his expertise and professionalism were evident throughout the entire process. He took the time to explain everything clearly, making sure my son understood his eye health and any potential concerns. His patience and attentiveness were truly appreciated.We highly recommend Dr. Benjamin to anyone seeking exceptional eye care. He and his team exceeded our expectations, and we are grateful for the outstanding service we received. Thank you, Dr. Benjamin!

Dr Benjamin and Alba were great. He is very professional, kind and with clear explanations. I had an eyelid quick surgery and I’m just missing the glasses prescription, I left the office and forgot to ask for it. But he and his team were amazing!

I was referred to Dr. Benjamin from both my eye doctor and a very close friend of mine who also had her LASIK performed there. My experience was exceptional. Every single person that you meet in the office is a joy to work with. Whether it was the constant and clear communication, or the fact that they were always listening to feedback and answering my questions and concerns, they went out of their way to make me feel comfortable trusting my vision to them. They were very kind and never once pressured me into anything (including when I had to push my surgery back after I broke my leg).I would recommend this place to anyone who has eye problems because they have the most advanced equipment and Dr. Benjamin is caring, thorough and knowledgeable.

Top notch service and staff! By far the best experience I’ve had at a doctors office in 20 years. I wish every office was as well trained, friendly, and professional as Benjamin Eye Institute. Seriously if you have eye problems you won’t find a better doctor.

More than everything I value professional people. Dr. Arthur Benjamin is one of them. He is taking care of me and my husband for pretty long time. All I can say we are very thankful to the doctor and people who work as a team to make us healthy and happy !

LASIK Eye Surgery- The short is go see Dr. Benjamin!I visited Dr. Benjamin Eye Institute after deciding I wanted to learn more about Lasik eye surgery and what the process would look like. I stare at computer screens for very long periods of time so I was nervous to make this life change but ready to ditch my glasses for good! The entire team from day 1 of my consultation made me feel very comfortable. The office is clean the staff are extremely welcoming, friendly and all took the time to answer any questions I had about the procedure - which was very quick and painless the day of. They also have awesome social content for educational purposes and just to make you laugh!I am about a month post procedure and it has been life changing and a freedom restored. Your eyes are important so make sure you consult with the best.Thank you Dr. Benjamin and team!!!

Dr. Benjamin is an exceptional doctor and eye surgeon. He is innovative, and anticipates a patient’s needs. Above all Dr. Benjamin is kind and caring. My results are outstanding. I can thank him for changing my life. Thank you.

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