Video Transcript:
Hi. I'm Charlie from Chadwick Optical, and today we are going to answer a question. “I was just diagnosed with macular degeneration, and my doctor says there's nothing I can do - Is that true?”
Well, to your doctor, perhaps it is. But to you, it does not need to be.
I always like to think of it as what tools the person that you're working with has available to them. If my roof is leaking and I call a plumber, they're probably going to say there's nothing they can do.
So similarly, when you go to an ophthalmologist and you have macular degeneration, they look at what their scope is, right? So if you're coming to them with a leaky roof and they consider themselves a plumber, it's not really going to work. But when they say there's nothing they can do, essentially what they're saying is that macular degeneration is not reversible, right? Like you can't cure it. And perhaps there's no drugs or anything that they can give, you know, surgeries that they can give you that will undo or halt your macular degeneration. And it's stuck in its tracks. So that is a classic case of them answering a question based on their expertise rather than based on your needs.
So what are your needs? What brought you to the doctor in the first place? Chances are, you were having some kind of vision issues, and a lot of doctors don't see themselves as vision doctors. They see themselves as eye doctors, as in the anatomical thing that is the eye. But what you're concerned about is vision. You want to be able to see.
So what can we do if you want to see when you have macular degeneration? There's a lot of opportunities there. Usually when you have macular degeneration what's happening is a loss of visual acuity. Visual acuity is the clarity of central vision. So what you'll notice is it's harder to read. It's harder to see details on things. The easy answer to helping with those kinds of problems is to make things bigger. So making things bigger, there's a whole suite of different ways to deal with that. Another thing is to look at your lighting options. If there are circumstances where you're bothered in the sun, that kind of thing, there's options there.
But ultimately, what you want to do is consider the tasks that are difficult for you. Then once you kind of have a list of those, there's a whole bunch of people that can help. So the internet is potentially helpful. But there are optometrists or optometrists that specialize in low vision. There are occupational therapists that work in low vision, and there are all kinds of people - but probably not your ophthalmologist and probably not your primary care optometrist, because their toolbox is definitely limited.
And for them, there's nothing they can do for you. But that's not to say there's nothing that can be done for you.
Got a question you'd like answered on our "Ask Chadwick" video series?
Just fill out the linked form to send it to us.
Disclaimer: The information provided in this video is for educational purposes only and is based on our experience in optical solutions. We are not medical doctors. Consult with your ophthalmologist, neurologist, or other qualified healthcare professional before making any changes to your treatment plan. The solutions discussed are intended to support, not replace, professional medical advice.