Meet Our Keratoconus Specialist in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina
Dr. Cynthia R. Collins graduated from the University of Colorado Boulder in 2011 with a degree in Anthropology. She then went on to obtain her Doctorate at the University of California Berkeley School of Optometry and graduated with honors in 2015. While attending Optometry school, she was inducted into Beta Sigma Kappa Honor Society for academic excellence. Her optometric training included rotations throughout the United States with emphasis in ocular disease, specialty contact lens fittings, surgery co-management, and traumatic brain injuries.
Prior to moving to Myrtle Beach, Dr. Collins practiced full scope optometry in Colorado with emphasis in dry eye disease, glaucoma, diabetes management, special needs and pediatrics as well as refractive and cataract surgery co-management. In Colorado, she held various board member roles for her local Optometric Society. She and her husband Michael, own and operate a real estate investment business servicing the Grand Strand. In her free time, she enjoys outdoor activities such as mountain biking and wake boarding as well as supporting Hope Bilingial Academy in Nicaragua, a faith-based school encouraging low income students to become the leaders of tomorrow.
"As a Doctor of Optometry, part of my commitment to my patients is ongoing professional education. As technology and the world around us changes, I have to keep up-to-date, because I am committed to providing the best care possible for your eyes."
Dr. Thomas J. Weshefsky graduated from Biscayne College in 1976 with a degree in Biology. He obtained a B.Sc. degree in physiological optics in 1985 , and then went on to earn his Doctor of Optometry degree, graduating with honors from the Pennsylvania College of Optometry in 1987. He began his specialty contact lens practice while working with the original patent holder for soft contact lenses, Dr. Robert Morrison of Harrisburg, Pennsylvania in 1986. In 1997 he was among a handful of optometrists from New Jersey who studied with Dr. Jim Day, the developer of one of the early orthokeratology lens designs.
Dr. Weshefsky addressing an optometry conference in China
Dr. Weshefsky participated in the first ever Global Orthokeratology Symposium in Toronto in 2002 and joined the Orthokeratology Academy of America at its inception. In 2009 he completed his credentialing and earned his Fellowship in the Orthokeratology Academy of America one of less than fifty doctors in the world to have earned this distinction. Dr. Weshefsky was elected to the Board of Directors of the Academy in 2010 and due to his long history of teaching other doctors, he was appointed as Co-Chair of the Academy’s mentor program and was selected to co-host the annual Vision By Design Conference Bootcamp.
Dr. Weshefsky has been featured in several WMBF News stories about Orthokeratology and children’s vision, authored many articles and has lectured extensively to other doctors at continuing education events around the country.
Dr. Weshefsky began his private practice in New Jersey in 1987 and practiced there until relocating to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina where he opened Carolina Forest Family Eyecare in 2006.
Our Doctor Can Diagnosis and Treat Keratoconus
Your cornea is the transparent, outer lens of your eye, and it typically has a smooth dome shape. Keratoconus describes a condition in which the corneal structure isn’t strong enough to maintain a healthy ball shape.
Meet with our Keratoconus Specialist in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina to define your eye's condition and ways for treatment.
As a result, the cornea bulges outward into more of a cone. Our professional optometric team at our eye care clinic is knowledgeable about how to diagnose and treat keratoconus.
Keratoconus is rare, with an estimated one person out of every 2,000 having the condition. It generally appears in the teenage years and can progress slowly or rapidly.
Keratoconus also runs in families, so if you or your children are at risk, it’s advised to contact us for a thorough eye exam.
Causes of Keratoconus
Your cornea is held in place by very small collagen fibers. When they are weakened and too fragile, they aren’t able to preserve the round shape of your cornea.
A reduction in the protective antioxidants of your cornea, which act to destroy damaging by-products made naturally by corneal cells, is what causes keratoconus.
In addition to genetics, some types of eye injuries may increase your chance of being diagnosed with keratoconus.
Specific ocular diseases, such as retinitis pigmentosa, vernal keratoconjunctivitis and retinopathy of prematurity, as well as some systemic conditions (Down syndrome, Ehlers-Danlos syndrome, Leber's congenital amaurosis and osteogenesis imperfecta) are also associated with this corneal abnormality.
Our Keratoconus Specialist in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina has years of experience identifying the various levels of keratoconus and other corneal conditions.
Symptoms of Keratoconus
When the shape of your cornea begins to bulge, it alters your eyesight in two different ways. As the cone shape forms, your normally smooth corneal surface becomes wavy, called irregular astigmatism. Additionally, as your cornea expands, vision becomes increasingly nearsighted. Focusing becomes impossible without eyeglasses or contact lenses. Usually, the problems begin in one eye and develop later in the other eye too.
Typically, patient’s eyeglass prescription will change often as the vision becomes worse and contact lenses will be difficult to wear due to discomfort and improper fit.
When keratoconus become more severe (which usually takes a long time however on occasion can happen rather quickly), the cornea can begin to swell and form scar tissue. This scar tissue can result in even further visual distortion and blurred vision.
Altogether, these changes can create the following symptoms:
- Blurred vision
- Streaking of lights
- Halos around bright lights at night; glare
- Sudden change of vision in only one eye
- Objects appear distorted, both near and distant
- Double vision from just one eye
- Triple ghost images
How We Diagnose Keratoconus
Our eye doctors will inspect carefully for the signs of keratoconus during your comprehensive eye exam. It’s critical to inform us of any symptoms that you’ve been experiencing. To diagnose the condition, we’ll measure the shape of your cornea. Computerized Corneal Topography is used for this procedure, which takes a picture of your cornea and analyzes it instantly.