Optometry Offers Variety of Services

The Journal: The Optometry Department at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center (WRNMMC) is a comprehensive eye clinic that service members, their families, and retirees can rely on for all their vision needs.

“Currently we provide services for primary care, pediatrics, Traumatic Brain Injury services, a diabetic screening clinic, medical contact lenses, low vision and vision therapy based on diagnosis and/or availability,” says Dr. Geeta Girdher, WRNMMC Optometry Clinic optometrist.

The ability to self-refer to the specialty clinic and for patients to walk-in for acute urgent care (based on provider availability) makes the Optometry Clinic unique and services are being added in the near future, explains Girdher.

“We are going to be starting an ocular surface disease and dry eye clinic in the near future,” Girdher said. “The dry eye service will address chronic dry eye symptoms in many of our patients. We just acquired an instrument that allows for visualization of the Meibomian glands, which are partly responsible for producing tears in the eyes. With this new equipment, we can better diagnose and create treatment plans in accordance with the patient’s findings.”

According to the National Institutes of Health, Ocular surface disease (OSD) is a multifactorial ocular condition that results from inadequate tear film production and/or increased tear evaporation, and may involve tear film degradation as well as damage to the ocular surface.

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