Fulfilling Career

There are many ways individuals define success, especially with regard to their job or career.  I was on YouTube this weekend listening to various motivational speakers.  What they stated that most impressed me was you can really only consider yourself a success if you feel fulfilled in what you’re doing.  Do you feel you’re really doing something that will not only benefit yourself, but more importantly, benefit someone else?

I've been practicing optometry for about 31 years.  I can definitely say I've chosen the right profession for me.  The love I have for the profession as well as my patients is very fulfilling.  I frequently look over the testimonial section of my website, www.ranchoeyedoctor.com, and it gives me such a great feeling.  When my patients say they love coming to the office, it makes me feel really wonderful.

I certainly feel optometry is a calling for me.  I am so thankful.

-Dr. Robert Rothbard 

Community Events

Our office participated in a health fair sponsored by Lewis Homes.  The age of the attendees ranged from young kids to individuals in their 80′s.  One of the nurses whom I was stationed next to discussed with me the importance of drinking enough water, especially if you work out a lot.  She was going over with me how this could even affect one’s blood pressure.

We've participated in various community events.  It’s so enjoyable getting out into the community.  I’ve also become a reading buddy for Dona Merced Elementary School here in Rancho Cucamonga.  The enthusiasm of the first through third graders was wonderful.

If you have a group who would like to have an enthusiastic presentation on vision, please call our office at (909) 980-3535.

-Dr. Robert Rothbard 

Continuing Education

Optometry is such an expansive field.  When I go to continuing education seminars, it amazes me the developments that are occurring within the eye and vision fields.  New contact lenses and lenses for glasses have come a long way over the last few years.

Medical advancements in refractive surgery (lasik for example), cataract surgery and being able to treat macular degeneration  has also grown by leaps and bounds.  It’s great to be witness to the patients receiving the benefits of these developments.

Also, the fact that almost everyone is in front of a hand-held device, tablet or monitor will help insure the needs for my services will only grow. The effects of viewing extensive close up work, for some, affects one’s vision. To be honest, this area alone is a very exciting area for me.

-Dr. Robert Rothbard 

Good Vision Is More Than 20/20

A number of individuals feel they don’t need to have their eyes examined because they see clearly.  When examining the eyes, of course we want to the patient to have clear sight.  But we also want to know how well their eyes work together, if they have depth perception or even if they’re straining their eyes when working close up, particularly on a monitor.  You can have clear sight and still have problems visually.

The other side of the examination deals with how healthy the eyes are.  You can have 20/20 and still manifest a sight-threatening or life threatening disease such as glaucoma, cancer of the eye or even a detachment of structures of the eyes and not be aware of them.  You can be losing peripheral vision and not even be aware of it.  I've had patients who were diagnosed to have a brain aneurysm or a tumor through examination of the eyes.

For more information, please visit my website, www.ranchoeyedoctor.com.

-Dr. Robert Rothbard 

College Major

I  had an 18-year-old patient starting college as a patient.  I asked him what his major was.  He said he was combining a psychology and a business major together.  I thought what a great idea.  His advisor at school couldn't figure out why he wanted to combine the two.

Owning my own business, so many psychological factors enter into how successful a business is.  Of course one is how well the staff gets along with each other as well as the patients.

I thought this patient was quite insightful, especially for being so young.  It will be interesting to follow his progress.

- Dr. Robert Rothbard 

Patient Comfort

There are times when we give patients a prescription which they could see clearly with but are not comfortable.  Their eyes may feel tired with them or they may get headaches.

Sometimes we have to look at the old prescription and modify the change we gave them.  Sometimes there is a correction for astigmatism that makes the patient see clearly but causes a warpage in their vision.  In that case, we either reduce or remove the correction for astigmatism.

There are a host of other types of prescriptions which we measure on the patient during the examination that the patient can’t tolerate. We also find that when the patient has been wearing contact lenses only for a long time and wants to get spectacles, there could be trouble adjusting to the glasses. 

- Dr. Robert Rothbard 

The Importance of Frame Adjustment

When a patient receives their glasses, sometimes they have trouble seeing.  Assuming the prescription in correct, the next thing we look at is the way the frame is fitting on the patient.  If the frame is sitting far away from the patient’s eyes, this could cause a problem of distortion, especially on high prescriptions, particularly bifocals.

Speaking of bifocals, a poor adjustment of the frame could put the bifocal in the wrong position leading to patient discomfort.  Another area of adjustment that’s important is how the frames are tilted on the patient.  We generally try to match the tilt of the frame to the tilt of the patient’s old frames.  If it’s the first time the patient is receiving glasses, we have a good idea on how we want the glasses to fit and adjust the frames accordingly.

Lastly and just as important, if the frame is not adjusted for the patient correctly,  this could discomfort of the ears or nose. 

- Dr. Robert Rothbard