FILE PHOTO BY JUSTIN FALLS
Special Sections Editor
With over 50 years of combined experience, Albemarle Eye Center is committed to providing the best care for your eyes. They offer many services from routine eye care for the entire family, advanced surgical care for cataracts, glaucoma, diabetic eye disease and macular degeneration, as well a full service optical shop for contact lenses and glasses.
Dr. Jitendra Swarup at Albemarle Eye Center says that there are a number of different eye diseases that have no apparent symptoms, and that having regular eye exams can help identify problems before they become damaging to the eye. Dr. Swarup was recently featured for cataract and LASIK surgery in a national journal Cataract and Refractive Surgery Today. He was also featured in "A Guide to America's Top Ophthalmologists," by the Consumers Research Council of America 2007 edition.
Regular eye exams are also very important for students; sometimes lower academic performance may simply be a result of the child needing corrective lenses. "Young people should get checked once every couple of years, older patients at least once a year. (A person) with any macular degeneration, cataracts, or diabetes, should be once a year, or more often," Dr. Swarup says. "The number of patients with macular degeneration is increasing, and we're staying on top of the advances. The Preferential Hyper-Acuity Perimetry Test (PHP) has turned out to be a vital tool in diagnosing and following our macular degeneration patients. I believe we are the only Ophthalmology practice in the area with this technology."
One of the most exciting services at Albemarle Eye Center is for patients with cataracts and astigmatism. A cataract is a clouding of the natural lens inside your eye, which greatly restricts your vision making images blurry and colors seem dull. Although there is no way to prevent a cataract from developing, there is a surgery that removes the old clouded lens and replaces it with an artificial one.
Only Albemarle Eye Center offers InstaVisionTM micro-incision cataract surgery which may eliminate the need for reading glasses or bifocals. With the InstaVisionTM cataract surgery and the ReSTOR® implants, over 90% of patients have little or no dependence on bifocals. Similarly, with the new technology AcrySof® Toric astigmatism correcting implant, the overwhelming majority of patients eliminate their dependence on glasses for distance.
Although recovery time can vary greatly, most patients can begin driving again in a short amount of time. "We're constantly trying to stay on the forefront of eye care, always changing and growing. Here at Albemarle Eye Center, we're very careful as far as providing the absolute best care to the people in the Albemarle area. We attend meetings and conferences and see what's available to patients. People in our area deserve the same or better eye care that is available in larger areas," Dr. Swarup said.
The Regenesis Center at Albemarle Eye Center continues to offer Botox treatments, Restylane, facial peels and skin care. Also available are a number of plastic surgery and cosmetic procedures for the upper and lower eyelids. Most of the procedures can be performed in the operating room at Albemarle Eye Center, for convenience of the patients.
Albemarle Eye Center continues to be in the forefront of both LASIK and PRK (Photorefractive keratectomy) procedures for vision correction. Also new this year are services for the citizens of Ahoskie N.C. After noticing that many patients were coming to Elizabeth City from Ahoskie for treatment, Albemarle Eye Center decided to open an office there to serve patients. Surgery is done at Roanoke Chowan Hospital. Dr. Barry Mandell, a premier Retina Specialist in the Tidewater area continues to provide care to patients with retinal diseases twice a month at the Elizabeth City office. At Albemarle Eye Center, patients receive the most advanced eye care available. For eye care ranging from routine eye glasses, to treatment of diabetes, glaucoma and cataracts, call Albemarle Eye Center at 335-5446.
