[00:00:05] Speaker A: The Michael Hatfield Re Max team presents real estate and more.
[00:00:10] Speaker B: Bay Area real estate is different than in all of America. And why? What's up with homebuyers? What's on sellers minds? How is the market and much, much more.
[00:00:22] Speaker C: Now here's your home buyers. Michael Hatfield, welcome back to the real estate and more show, and thank you for listening in. Our next guest is a practicing, incredibly knowledgeable doctor of optometry who helps many of us with the challenge of good vision. Doctor Michael de Wong of the optometric center and eyewear Galleria based in San Ramon brings his wealth of experience to the show today. And we're going to learn a bunch about the relatively new cornea shaping eye correction called Ortho keratology. Doctor Michael Dewong, welcome to the show.
[00:01:02] Speaker A: It's a pleasure to be here, Michael.
You know, thank you for inviting me on the show, and I look forward to sharing my knowledge in the field of optometry today with you all.
[00:01:12] Speaker C: Oh, it's great. It is great. So, Doctor Dewong, how did you get started in that field? I mean, some people choose this, some people choose cardiology, and then some people choose optometry. What happened?
[00:01:23] Speaker A: When I was a child, believe it or not, I had a lazy eye. So I had an eye turn, and my uncle had noticed it and pointed out to my mother and told her he needs to get his eyes checked. So I went to the optometrist, and I did have a lazy eye or an eye turn, and it was able to be fixed with special glasses to align my eyes because when I was in, when I was straight after then I wanted to help kids and also the general public with their eyes.
[00:01:57] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:01:57] Speaker A: That's how I got started.
[00:01:58] Speaker C: Wow. Did you grow up in the bay area like the rest of us people and have to put up with beautiful things of the ocean and the bay and the skiing and all of this other stuff.
[00:02:11] Speaker A: Oh, man. We're fortunate to have all the sceneries and sights and sounds, the bay Area, and also the great sporting teams here. Of course, I was born in San Jose, raised in Santa Clara, so I did my undergrad at San Jose State, and then after that I went to optometry school in Philadelphia.
[00:02:29] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:02:30] Speaker A: And then I came back to practice.
[00:02:33] Speaker C: Better here in the Bay Area where temperatures are more moderate and if you want the snow, you can drive up to the hills and so forth. Yeah. Now, one thing that I've always thought about with doctors, and we have several doctors, doctor friends, is that they tend to be busy all the time. The phone rings all the time. You know, when you chose your field, did you have that in mind, that, you know, maybe you don't have to answer the phone, you know, at 08:00 and 09:00 at night unless there's an emergency, a real emergency or not.
That seemed to be a really big deal for me if I were choosing a field of medicine.
[00:03:14] Speaker A: Yeah. So my profession allows me a lot of flexibility.
You know, my hours are very good. Monday through Friday. I'm available for emergencies anytime. So there's an answering service that we have patients can call after hours, and I am available. And every month I'll get a couple calls here and there. But I like to make myself available because I like to help people see. So at the end of the day, if your mission is to help people see and improve their quality of life, then everything comes together.
[00:03:47] Speaker C: Yeah. Rangram Chandran, he's an eye surgeon, a retinal eye surgeon, and he says the same thing. He said, you know, I didn't want to be constantly in the middle of the night. I wanted to have a home life so I could raise my children. And he said, does that sound selfish? I mean, he's really a character. And I said, oh, yeah, but if you were a cardiologist, the phone is ringing all the time. You know, it just seemed like it wouldn't be the best for someone like me.
[00:04:18] Speaker A: Yeah, for sure. But to me, the balance between the two and, you know, if you have help from, you know, you have other doctors in your office, that helps, too. So at our office, we have two of us, so it helps out.
[00:04:29] Speaker C: Absolutely. You know, every time I go to my ichecks, I find that your equipment seems to have grown.
There's always something new in there to. I want to check you with this and check you with that. And, you know, these things puff in your eyes and, you know, it's not the first time I've seen it, being a former airline pilot, but you do see it. And your office is extremely well equipped at the optometric center and eyewear Galleria in San Ramon. Doctor de Wong is just amazing, has an amazing facility there. So is there any new equipment that you'd like to share with us?
[00:05:05] Speaker A: We do have the latest imaging technology to evaluate the back of the eye. It's called the optmap. It's been around for 20 plus years, but the latest iteration of it allows us to look at the surface of the retina as well as image of the layers of the retina. So it does a couple images in one time. If we have the latest technology. I firmly believe we'll provide better care if we're not up to date in technology, things change very quickly. As you know, we live in the Bay Area, and technology changes by the minute. So with eye care, things change all the time. As the software gets better, as the computing power gets better, we want to be on top of that. If we're not on top of that, we're falling behind or not being able to help our patients the best that we can. So the optum abdominal imaging is a game changer. I recommend it to all my patients. It's a great screening tool to pick up glaucoma, macular degeneration, cataracts, and a.
[00:06:04] Speaker C: Host of other diseases, you know, as a correlation. When I first started flying airplanes, all of the instruments were what we call steam gauges. They were round gauges, and they were arranged a specific way to where you would use those to fly the airplanes in the event that you got into the clouds and so forth. And then it changed to the glass cockpits. And I recall where it really became challenging is when the Boeing's changed from the steam gauges to the technology gauges, and it is better after you learn the tricks in the ins and outs of glass, we call it a glass cockpit. You find that you're better serving your passengers, and in your case, new technology has got to be great. So that's the primary thing we're going to do today. We're going to talk about orthok, which is orthokeratology perfect.
[00:06:58] Speaker A: You said it perfectly.
[00:07:00] Speaker C: I almost put an n in there, but it's called orthocarcotic. Ortho k, and tell me about it.
[00:07:07] Speaker A: So ortho k has been around for. Since the 1960s, believe it or not. So orthok, if you think about orthodontia. So when getting braces, the orthodontist is reshaping your teeth to line them, to straighten them. Orthok is a process of reshaping your eyes at night. Special Contact lens. It's a Rigid lens that you put on. You sleep for 8 hours, you take the lens off, and you see clearly all day without glasses and contacts.
[00:07:39] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:07:39] Speaker A: I mean, that's unbelievable. The only way that you can do that is with surgery, with Lasik. But this is a retainer for your eyes instead of for your teeth. It's specially designed for your eyes, for your cornea. It sits on the front surface of your eye. So we take detailed measurements of the front surface to customize the lens and to manufacture the lens in a special lab.
[00:08:03] Speaker C: Wow. I know this guy. I know this guy who's a coach, and he had his son do this, and his son went out there and he was just whacking the heck out of the ball. And he never used to be very good at baseball, but it really made a difference. And you do this at your.
[00:08:22] Speaker A: At our practice.
[00:08:22] Speaker C: At your practice in San Ramon?
[00:08:24] Speaker A: Yes.
[00:08:25] Speaker C: Wow. Wow. So kids, can most kids do this? Can you have it?
[00:08:29] Speaker A: Yes, most kids do it. It was FDA approved in 2002 before ortho K, kind of like history. In the 1960s, it was done during the day to reshape the eye. But now with the special lens designs, we can have the lens worn at night and so that you can remove the lens. If you can remove the lens, you're seeing through your own eyes. It works particularly well with kids because they get 8 hours of sleep. So usually my youngest patient that I did the procedure on was six years old. And it's very safe. It's effective with parental supervision just as long as the child's responsible. And my true test is brushing their teeth at night. Do you brush your teeth at night?
[00:09:11] Speaker C: Okay.
[00:09:12] Speaker A: You're a good candidate. You're responsible. You can handle a lens going into your eye it and cleaning it because it takes cleaning and management. We can go into that.
[00:09:21] Speaker C: Light contacts.
[00:09:22] Speaker A: Pretty much, yeah, exactly. So age six and up. And then there's prescription parameters as well.
[00:09:28] Speaker C: Wow. Sounds like a major improvement for children, at least.
So, folks, if your kids are playing sports, see doctor Michael de Wong at upometric center and eyewear Galleria in San Ramona. He can help them to do the best that they can do. So let's talk more about it.
You say that it's like someone getting orthodontics for their teeth, but it's actually for your eyes. What is the alternate to ortho k?
[00:09:59] Speaker A: The alternate to ortho k is wearing regular glasses and contacts. So if a child comes to our office and is nearsighted, so when people are nearsighted, they can't see far away. So ortho k works particularly well when people are nearsighted. Prescription parameters are from minus one to minus six diopters of myopia. So someone that's at that level of nearsightedness needs glasses to see far. So if you can't see far and you're in class, that means you can't learn, right?
[00:10:31] Speaker C: Yeah.
[00:10:31] Speaker A: If the teacher is pointing to the board and your child can't see the board, that means they can't learn. They'll fall behind, they'll get frustrated. We don't want that for our children. We want them to be the best they can be. So I urge you know when your child's three, four years of age to get your eyes checked. First of all, that's the basic thing to do. And then if we uncover that the child has nearsightedness, ortho k becomes an option. So the other side of it is if we don't do ortho k, we do regular glasses or contact lenses. However, that doesn't slow down the prescription. So get this, orthok helps the child see without glasses and contacts.
In addition, it slows down their prescription from getting worse.
[00:11:15] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:11:15] Speaker A: So that's incredible. That's two things in one, we're going.
[00:11:18] Speaker C: To take a short break. We'll be right back.
[00:11:24] Speaker D: Welcome to the real estate minute with re Max expert Michael Hatfield. Michael, what traits should we look for in selecting an agent?
[00:11:31] Speaker C: Look for a deal maker with a positive attitude who will work tirelessly for you. An agent who is adept in multiple offer situations, drafting contracts, marketing and advertising. A client's home is familiar with multiple cultures, experienced in mortgage financing, inspections and escrow is a huge asset to his client.
[00:11:51] Speaker D: What can you do as a plus for clients?
[00:11:53] Speaker C: Your agent is your eyes and your ears, one who works behind the scenes on your behalf, a great attitude, working well with others and keeping clients priorities. Number one is a given for us.
[00:12:04] Speaker D: Call 925-32-2775 now to schedule an appointment or complimentary home analysis. For excellence in real estate. Call the Michael Hatfield remax team at 925-32-2775 or go to michaelhatfieldhomes.com dot now.
[00:12:22] Speaker C: Let'S get back to real estate and more with your host, Michael Hatfield.
Two things in one now, Lasix people talked about LAsix for the last couple decades. Why is Lasix not part of a good program? Or do you see it not part of a good program as opposed to orthok?
[00:12:42] Speaker A: So very good question. LAsik is an amazing procedure. I refer patients for Lasik all the time.
LAsiK is good for adults that have a stable prescription, I would say the age of 21 and over. So LasiK is good in that it allows you to see without glasses, contacts and even the nighttime lenses. So the nighttime lenses are more for children, and LasiK isn't good for children because they're growing. Their eyes are changing. You don't want to do Lasik on an eye that's changing. You want to do LaSik that eye that's stable. So if you invest in LASIK. You don't want to do it again. You just want to do surgery once. I don't know about you, but if I get back surgery or knee surgery, you want to do it once, especially with your eyes. It's the most, most important sense. So you want to do it once. And that's what Lasik is more reserved for older adults.
Ortho k fits in. If you're nervous about, like, cutting your eye with the laser and doing that, then ortho k becomes an option for you. As long as you get the 8 hours of sleep every single night.
[00:13:49] Speaker C: It takes 8 hours.
[00:13:50] Speaker A: Correct.
[00:13:50] Speaker C: What happens if you only get six and a half hours, like some of us?
[00:13:54] Speaker A: Yeah, it's funny that you say that. So if you, your vision isn't quite as sharp as it could be with the ortho k. So the main thing is getting the seven to 8 hours I would say would be the best.
[00:14:07] Speaker C: Sounds great. Can you see with those lenses in your eyes? You can. So if you have to get up and use the little boys room, you know, you can still see. You're not. You can.
[00:14:18] Speaker A: You can see. Yep.
[00:14:19] Speaker C: No problem.
[00:14:19] Speaker A: No problem.
[00:14:20] Speaker C: Wow. Sounds like a really a perfect solution for children.
[00:14:23] Speaker A: It's great. Yeah, it's great.
[00:14:24] Speaker C: Yeah. And so you've been involved doing this for a long time.
[00:14:27] Speaker A: Yeah. So I started fitting the lenses in 2007. I was at a practice in Santa Clara and I learned the ins and outs of fitting the lens. It was FDA approved in 2002. So five years later, I was, you know, getting myself acquainted with the designs and, you know, it was when I fit my first patient, it was unbelievable because we do a one day follow up of one week and one month the day after, before they were in glasses, you know, the day you saw, the day before you saw them and the day after, like, oh, my God, I can see. I don't have anything in my eye. I mean, that's just, that just makes you feel good because you're changing the whole outlook of the child. It's not even the vision, it's, imagine if you don't have glasses in your scene, the confidence level is sky high. If they're playing sports, swimming, baseball, basketball, golf, I mean, they're seeing without glasses and it's an incredible feeling.
[00:15:24] Speaker C: Wow. But if you're going to take a trip to, say, Europe, you probably, in case you lost your corrective lenses, you still want to have your glasses.
[00:15:33] Speaker A: Absolutely.
[00:15:34] Speaker C: So it works for the whole day after you've done the corrective nighttime.
[00:15:39] Speaker A: Yes. So 8 hours of sleep. You sleep in the lenses for 8 hours. In the morning, you take them off and they'll last the whole day, 1012 hours. At night, you put on the lenses again and the cycle repeats itself.
[00:15:51] Speaker C: So I would just assume or presume that if you only had them in for like, four and a half hours, that it would only last for maybe six or 7 hours. Kind of like that.
[00:16:01] Speaker A: Exactly.
[00:16:02] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:16:03] Speaker A: So if you go to. So with children that need to go camping or they go to Europe, like you were saying, like on the plane, I encourage them to bring their glasses with them, because if they miss a day, their. Their vision will regress.
The good thing about ortho k is it's reversible. So if you're nervous about doing something permanent to your eyes, this is a great option, because your cornea goes back to its normal shape. I keep saying cornea. The cornea is the front windshield of the eye, so it's the surface of the eye. So you look at the color part of your eye, that's the pupil. So in front of the pupil is the cornea. It's the clear windshield. If you ever get something in your eye or you scratch your eye, it hurts like heck because you have the most corneal nerve endings. That's the most corneal nerve endings that you have in your whole body is in your eye, because, you know, you need to protect your eye from anything, because that's your most important sense.
Probably taste is like, important as far as eating and things like that. But, you know, it's just, you just have to take care of the lens and make sure that you're good with it.
[00:17:01] Speaker C: So do people ever use the ortho k to prepare themselves for Lasix as they get older?
[00:17:09] Speaker A: So they use them? Yes. So basically, very good question, because I had mentioned before that it slows down the prescription. So if your child is a minus one at the age of twelve, at the age of 17, the child might be a minus three or four, depending on genetics of the parents and environmental factors, screen time, etcetera. Now, if we can hold that prescription to the lowest possible level, instead of him being a -350 maybe he's a minus two. So when you're 21 and over, that's when I recommend Lasik.
If your power is lower, we have to remove less tissue, and that in that way it will be better, because the less tissue is removed, the better it is for the eye. So doing laser on someone that's minus two versus minus three, four or five is less is more successful. So the lower the power, the more successful Lasik would be.
[00:18:13] Speaker C: I understand. I remember back when Lasix came in, the FAA would not allow pilots to have Lasix, but it's been a long time. I don't know if that's the case now.
[00:18:25] Speaker A: They do allow it.
[00:18:26] Speaker C: They do now. So they've changed in a good way. How is, if, you know, how do the medical examiners, the FAA medical examiners for pilots, how do they regard ortho K?
[00:18:40] Speaker A: As long as the pilot can see adequately uncorrected, then it's allowed for. I do have a pilot. That's funny that you say that. That is doing orthok. And he's been with me for several years, like, I think seven years now. And he's able to see and fly with, with the ortho K lenses. He gets that right amount of sleep, because I believe when they test you, they test you with, with or without your correction. And if you can see well without your correction, then everything's good.
[00:19:10] Speaker C: That's just amazing. So can you walk us through all of our listeners out there from start to finish, what it takes to get set up with a ortho K? Well, first of all, they got to go to see you at the optometric center in San Ramon. First see doctor Michael de Wong, and he's going to tell us what happens.
[00:19:28] Speaker A: Absolutely. So you come in, if you haven't had an eye exam yet, say, for example, what you're interested in, ortho k, and you had an eye exam already at a different office. So we would need all the records from that office. Otherwise, we would perform a comprehensive assessment for the eyes to make sure that the, the eye is totally healthy. So we do scans of the front surface of the eye, the back surface of the eye, to make sure that the patient is a good candidate.
Number one thing is we don't want the force because a lot of the ortho k patients that have are children, and the parents are very, they want the child to do it, which you want the best for your child, but the child has to be on board. So before, you know, we bring the child in and like, hey, I'm gonna. When they do these lenses, when I put them on your eye, you're going to sleep in them. It's like, whoa, whoa, what's going on? You know, it's best to have that conversation with the child. Like, hey, look, what do you think about this? You know? And I always talk to the child, no matter how old. They're from the ages of six to, like, twelve to 13 to 14, like, hey, this is really going to help your eyes. This is going to help slow down your prescription. You can see without glasses or contact lenses. What do you think about it? You know, because most of the time the parents are on board, the child has to be on board, too, because they're the one wearing the lenses. So we do all the scans that we can of the cornea because we want to make sure that there's no weakness or weak points on the cornea. If a patient has corneal thinning, a disease called keratoconus causes the cornea to become thin.
We don't do ortho k, so we measure the thickness of the cornea. We measure the prescription to make sure it falls in certain parameters from minus one to minus six. And 1.75 diopters of astigmatism is the cutoff to fit with.
[00:21:08] Speaker C: Okay, wow. So that's the procedure and that's all there is to it. Just make sure that you get that right eye exam at the very beginning so that your physician, you, knows exactly the condition and where to go from there. Well, I've had really good luck with doctor dewong as well as nancy, so we have nothing but great things to say.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, you've been listening to the real estate and more show today, and we have doctor michael Dewong, optometrist of the optometric center and eyewear galleria in San ramon. We are talking about ortho k or orthokeratology and its use today. And thank you for listening. So I got a couple other questions. What are the traditional vision correction methods ranking? So, like, if I wasn't an adult, you know, I definitely would have Lasix if I was a stable, if my eyes were stable. And then the second thing would be orthok, or it might number one. You just need to choose.
[00:22:11] Speaker A: Exactly. So I basically depend it upon the lifestyle of the patient. So for a patient that, say, I want to see clearly without glasses and contacts, Lasik becomes the number one option. And if you're an adult, it becomes the number one option.
Also, if you're an adult and you're kind of leery of lasik, you don't want any complications, because with Lasik, there could be complications like dry eye irritation, glare, halos at night. Now, if you're on the fence about doing Lasik, ortho k becomes a great option because you know why it's reversible once we remove the lens, in a week's time, the eye goes back to its normal shape. If you do Lasik, it's permanently reshaped. So the laser reshapes the front surface of the cornea and that shape is permanent.
And Lasik is amazing. I send several patients a month for LasIK. I'm a big proponent of Lasik. As long as you're a good candidate.
Orthok is great for children because again, the prescription isn't stable. We're trying to stabilize the prescription and prevent it from increasing year after year. And orthok slows down the prescription by 50% if the child is in sports, if they're in dance, they want to see without glasses or contacts, and they don't want their prescription to go up. Ortho K is the number one choice for children and adolescents.
[00:23:36] Speaker C: Doctor de Wong, are there any downsides to Ortho k?
[00:23:40] Speaker A: The downsides of ortho k is increased confidence. I'm just kidding.
[00:23:45] Speaker C: Well, that's a good one.
[00:23:47] Speaker A: The downsides is, like any other lens, there is a risk of infection because it is a contact lens. It's a rigid contact lens that sits on the front surface of the eye.
So there is a risk of infection. Now I haven't had any serious infections in the past 15 years of practice because at our practice we have very strict protocols. My staff is amazing at training our patients how to take care of the lenses. So there's a very specific cleaning regimen of the lenses to make sure that there's. The infection rate is very low. So if you wear any contact lens, there's always a risk of infection. That's why, listen to your optometrist. If it's a daily lens throw away every day, don't wear it longer than a day. As far as conventional lenses, if it's a monthly throw away every month, if it's a two week throw away every two weeks. So the risk of infection is the only drawback of ortho K. But the good thing about our office is both doctors are readily available should an issue arise. Even after hours, we come in, we see what's going on. If there's an infection or there's a problem, we prescribe eye drops, antibiotics, anti inflammatories. But that's very few and far in between because we have great patients that follow what we say.
[00:25:08] Speaker C: You're supposed to say I'm a great patient. No, probably not the best.
[00:25:12] Speaker A: You're one of the best to follow what we say and just, you know, just let us know there's a problem at the end of the day, you know, it's about communication. Hey, there's a problem. This lens isn't feeling well. Come on in. We modify the parameters of the lenses.
[00:25:25] Speaker C: Absolutely. Well, in summary, what would you like to tell our listeners out there? What would you like them to know most?
[00:25:32] Speaker A: In conclusion, I like them to know to make sure that they get their eyes checked. So number one thing, the best thing that you can do is get your eye exam once a year with your optometrist, because that can uncover so many things.
We're talking about ortho K today, which is great, especially for your children. You should have your children's eye exam at least once a year. So starting at the age of six months, you can get your children's eyes checked as well. And then starting the age of three, four, five, to make sure, especially with both parents wear glasses, the child's most likely to wear glasses.
[00:26:11] Speaker C: Wow.
[00:26:11] Speaker A: So if both parents wear glasses, the child's 70% likely wear glasses. If it's one parent, it's 40%, and no parents is 25%. So you just have to think, if the child is struggling at school, it's most likely an eye problem because 80% of what you learn is through your eyes.
[00:26:30] Speaker C: So important. Really good to know. Really, really good to know. So most of us struggle with our eyesight, and now there's another great option, especially for our children, that's ortho K. And now you know where you can get ortho K and have a professional tend to this type of treatment. The optometric center and eyewear galleria in San Ramon. See doctor Michael Duong. Really a great guy. Thank you for being on the show. Doctor Duong my pleasure.
[00:27:00] Speaker A: Thank you so much for having me.
[00:27:01] Speaker C: You've been listening to the real estate and more show.
You can find the archive
[email protected] radio or you can find it archived shows on any of the major podcast directories. I'd like to thank you for tuning in today and listening and hope to tune in next week. And in the meantime, just have a very blessed week.
[00:27:33] Speaker B: Views and opinions expressed are based on current economic and market conditions and are subject to change. Information on the show provided for illustrator purposes only and does not constitute professional or legal advice. Information from sources deemed reliable, but accuracy and completeness not guaranteed. Michael Hatfield and the Michael Hatfield Remax team have no liability for information discussed on the show. Consult with qualified professionals prior to taking action.
