Eye Doctor Helps Legally Blind To See
High Technology For Low Vision Patients Allows Many To Drive Again
The devasting loss of independence is often the most cited negative outcome of Low Vision. which comes about due to vision diseases such as glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and other vision conditions.
Southern Illinois optometrist, Dr. Marianne McDaniel, is using the latest technology to help his patients regain everyday independence and vision function, allowing them to do the things they love.
Using miniaturized telescopes that are mounted in glasses to help people who 
have lost vision from macular degeneration and other eye conditions.
“Some of my patients consider me the last stop for people who have vision loss,” said Dr. McDaniel, one of only a few doctors in the world, and the only one in the state, who specialize in fitting bioptic telescopes to help those who have lost vision due to macular degeneration, diabetic retinopathy, and other debilitating eye diseases. Imagine a pair of glasses that can improve your vision enough to change your life. If you’re a low vision patient, you’ve probably not only imagined them, but have been searching for them.”
Bioptic telescopes may be the breakthrough in optical technology that will give you the independence you’ve been looking for.
Patients with vision in the 20/200 range can many times be improved to 20/50 or better.
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness and vision loss in people over 50. Despite this, most adults are not familiar with the condition. Macular degeneration accounts for 90% of new legal blindness in the U.S. As many as 25% of those over the age of 50 have some degree of macular degeneration.
While there is currently no cure, promising research is being done on many fronts. “My job is to figure out everything and anything possible to keep a person functioning, especially driving,” says Dr. McDaniel.
The macula is only one small part of the retina; however, it is the most sensitive and gives us sharp central vision. When it degenerates, macular degeneration leaves a blind spot right in the center of vision, making it difficult or impossible to recognize faces, read a book, or pass the driver’s vision test.
When Elaine, 57, of Mascoutah, IL, came to see Dr. McDaniel, she wanted to keep her driver’s license and was prescribed bioptic telescopic glasses to read signs and see traffic lights farther away. Dr. McDaniel also prescribed microscope glasses for reading newspapers and menus in restaurants. As Elaine puts it,
“My regular glasses didn’t help too much – it was like looking through a fog. These new telescopic glasses not only allow me to read signs from a farther distance, but make driving much easier. I’ve also used them to watch television so I don’t have to sit so close. I don’t know why I waited to do this; I should have come sooner.”
“Bioptic telescopes can cost over $2,000,” said Dr. McDaniel, “especially if we build them with an automatic sunglass. The major benefit of the bioptic telescope is that the lens automatically focuses on whatever you’re looking at,” said Dr. McDaniel. “It’s like a self-focusing camera, but much more precise.”
To learn more about bioptic telescopes or to schedule a FREE phone consultation for you or your loved one with Dr. McDaniel, give us a call, toll-free, at 618-505-4392. You can also learn more about low vision and bioptic telescopes on our website.
Dr. McDaniel is a member of the International Academy of Low Vision Specialists and provides groundbreaking low vision care for Southern Illinois at her office at 100 E. Main St, Mascoutah, IL, 62258.
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