General Eye Care
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Eye Care for Our Patients
At Desert Vision Center, we provide general eye care for patients within our cataract care program, including those preparing for surgery or managing vision-threatening conditions. Dr. Tokuhara specializes in complex diseases of the eye and does not perform routine eye screening examinations for healthy eyes. Unlike many practices, Dr. Tokuhara offers lifelong support for his surgery patients, ensuring continued care whenever vision-threatening conditions arise. Post-operative and general eye care is reserved exclusively for our surgical patients.
Vision in Action
The Amazing Human Eye
The human eye works much like a camera, focusing light to create images that the brain interprets as vision. Constantly adapting, the eye adjusts to different lighting conditions and focuses on objects at varying distances. This seamless process allows us to perceive detail, depth, and motion, making clear vision essential to experiencing life fully.
Trusted Vision Care for Life
Experience advanced cataract and eye disease care with lifelong support from Dr. Tokuhara, dedicated to your vision’s long-term health.
Retinal Conditions & Diseases
What Are the Structures of the Eye?
Cornea: This clear outer lens provides two-thirds of the focusing power of the eye. The cornea is made up of transparent tissue, which allows light to pass through. The cornea focuses the light by bending it so the light rays form an image on the retina. Since the cornea has the greatest bending (focusing) power, it is the cornea’s shape that determines a great deal of quality of your vision.
Iris & Pupil: The colored part of the eye is called the iris and functions much like the iris of a camera, opening, and closing, to control the amount of light entering through the pupil (that dark opening in the center the iris).
Crystalline lens: The crystalline lens is located behind the iris and provides one third of the focusing power of the eye. The crystalline lens works to further bend light rays as they pass through the eye to form an image on the retina.
Retina: Located in the lining at the back of the eye, the retina acts as an electrical system to send impulses to your brain via the optic nerve. The retina contains photoreceptor cells that collect information from light as it passes through the cornea and crystalline lens to the back of the eye. Your brain interprets the retina’s electrical response into what you experience as images.
Fovea: The focal point at the center of the retina is called the fovea. Light-focused here produces the sharpest vision.
Understanding Vision
The eye focuses by bending incoming light rays to meet at a single point. Ideally, this single point lands directly on the fovea, the central point of the retina. If the light rays reach this perfect placement, you experience clear, sharp images.
However, if the focal point is behind the retina or in front of the retina, the image on the retina will not be fully formed and will be interpreted by your brain as blurred. This is very much like focusing a projector onto a blank movie screen. If the projection is too close or too far from the screen, the images are blurred. Set at the correct distance, you may enjoy the show!
Dr. Tokuhara will determine whether you are nearsighted, farsighted, astigmatic, and/or presbyopic by measuring where your eye focuses light. Depending on your refraction and anatomy, he will discuss different treatment options with you.
Nearsightedness (myopia)
Nearsighted individuals typically have problems seeing well at a distance and are forced to wear glasses or contact lenses. The nearsighted eye is usually longer than a normal eye, and its cornea may also be steeper. Therefore, when light passes through the cornea and lens, it is focused in front of the retina. This will make distant images appear blurred.
Farsightedness (hyperopia)
Farsighted individuals typically develop problems reading up close before the age of 40. The farsighted eye is usually slightly shorter than a normal eye and may have a flatter cornea. Thus, the light of distant objects focuses behind the retina unless the natural lens can compensate fully. Near objects require even greater focusing power to be seen clearly and therefore, blur more easily.
Astigmatism
Asymmetric steepening of the cornea or natural lens causes light to be focused unevenly, which is the main optical problem in astigmatism. To individuals with uncorrected astigmatism, images may look blurry or shadowed. Astigmatism can accompany any form of refractive error and is very common. Astigmatism can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, corneal relaxing incisions, and special implant lenses.
Color Blindness
The most common form of color blindness is red-green color deficiency. Eight percent of men and 0.6% of women have the red-green form of color blindness because of X-linked genetic inheritance. Colored tablets or diagrams (such as the Ishihara Test) are used to test for color vision blindness.
At Desert Vision Center, we offer new solutions for color blindness with EnChroma Color Blind Glasses. The glasses help people with color vision see the beautiful world the way it is meant to be seen.We’ve had fantastic results and stories from patients trying on the new glasses for the first time in our office. Do you have color blindness? Take the two minute Online Color Vision test. and find out here.
Routine Eye Care
At Desert Vision Center, we do not accept new patients for routine eye care. Dr. Tokuhara specializes in complex eye diseases and advanced cataract surgery, not healthy eye screenings. Our practice is focused on delivering highly specialized care when vision is at risk.
Ongoing Care for Surgical Patients When you choose Dr. Tokuhara for your cataract surgery, you gain more than a surgeon—you gain a lifelong eye doctor. We provide routine and general eye care for our surgical patients after their procedure, ensuring continuity of care for optimal long-term outcomes.
Focused on Vision-Threatening Disease For patients who are developing serious eye conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, or retinal disease, Desert Vision Center offers advanced diagnostic and treatment options. Routine eye care for individuals who have had surgery elsewhere is not available. Our commitment is to protect and preserve vision for patients directly under our care.
Eye Examination
An eye examination includes a review of your medical history, an analysis of your visual acuity, which may or may not include a prescription for glasses, an examination of the eye’s physical well-being, content and surrounding tissue, and an evaluation of the eye’s connection with the visual system inside your brain
Who Needs an Eye Examination?
An adult examination may require eyeglass measurement (refraction) for optimal visual acuity, screening for glaucoma, analysis of eye structures and surrounding tissues, and recommendations for treatment as necessary. Adult examinations look for diseases that can be treated or prevented so that sight can be restored or protected from further or future loss of vision.
How Often Should I Have My Eyes Checked?
Adults with normal findings on an initial examination should have their eyes checked every two to four years, depending on age.
| Age | Eye Exam |
|---|---|
| 20-39 | Every 3-5 years |
| 40-64 | Every 2-4 years |
| 65 or older | Every 1-2 years |
Adults who are being treated for specific eye conditions will need to return for follow up more frequently and we will provide you with a specific time interval when you should return. We will schedule this appointment for you if you wish, or can provide you with a reminder card that will be mailed to you prior to when you should be seen again.
How Is an Eye Examination Performed?
Dr. Tokuhara uses the most modern testing equipment that allows us to carefully screen for refraction. Before an eyeglass prescription is written, this screening information is retested by one of the doctors to make sure it is correct. Glaucoma testing includes a measurement of eye pressure. Ocular alignment is evaluated for cross-eyed or other eyestrain caused by strabismus (eyes are not aligned and there is a stress in the ability of the two eyes to view the same target). A careful analysis of the external structures around the eyes is performed, including the eyelid, lashes, tear drainage, and eye moisture. A careful analysis of the internal structures of the eye includes the cornea, iris, pupil, lens, vitreous, retina, optic nerve, and blood vessels.
As necessary, further testing is performed, which may include measurement of actual tear production, cell thickness and condition of the cornea, an analysis of risk of glaucoma (gonioscopy), a detailed evaluation of peripheral vision or visual field, a quantitative and qualitative measurements of the optic disc and retina, and wavefront analysis of internal and external ocular tissue
Is a Refraction (measurement for eyeglass prescription) a Part of Every Examination?
Our job is to evaluate and care for people’s eyes. As part of this, we must know how well you see. To accomplish this, we must do enough of a refraction to score a person’s visual acuity. Knowing how well a person sees and obtaining a basic knowledge of a person’s general refraction is done on nearly every patient who comes to our office except in an emergency, or a few other situations when we may not be initially able to obtain this information.
What Will Happen to My Eyes During My Examination?
Most adult patients will be given eye drops that allow us to check for glaucoma. These anesthetic eye drops sting a little for a few moments and then quickly wear off.
Patients will be given “dilating drops” that open the pupils widely so that we can evaluate the back of the eye and so that we can measure the eyeglass refraction most precisely. These dilating drops may cause some loss of near vision/reading vision for a few hours. Dilating drops may also cause significant difficulty in bright sunlight.
Why Do You Have to Do All of This?
In order to take care of you to the best of our ability, and in order to be as thorough as possible in examining you, all of the tests and eye drops are necessary. Should you have any question about this, please ask one of our fine ophthalmic technologists or Dr. Tokuhara. Your sight is precious; we want to do the best job possible taking care of you.
Our Eye Care Promise
Dr. Tokuhara performs advanced technology diagnostic testing and treatment, as well as taking the time necessary to provide each patient with information needed to fully understand his or her condition and to achieve the best possible visual outcome.
Frequently Asked Questions:
General Eye Care
No. Dr. Tokuhara does not provide routine eye exams or screenings for new patients with healthy eyes. His practice is focused on complex eye diseases and advanced surgical care. General eye care is reserved for patients who have undergone cataract surgery with Dr. Tokuhara or those developing vision-threatening conditions requiring specialized management.
Dr. Tokuhara diagnoses and manages complex conditions such as cataracts, glaucoma, macular degeneration, diabetic eye disease, dry eye disease, and other vision-threatening problems.
No. Desert Vision Center does not provide general or post-operative eye care for patients who had surgery performed by another provider.
When you choose Dr. Tokuhara for your cataract surgery, you gain an eye doctor for life. Ensuring continuity, expertise, and patient-first care.
Attention Patients
Dear Valued Patients of Desert Vision Center,
Dr. Tokuhara is a highly skilled cataract surgeon, specializing in advanced anterior segment surgeries, including complex glaucoma and cataract procedures. He focuses on patients who need surgical intervention or are at risk of severe vision loss.
While Dr. Tokuhara offers comprehensive eye care for his own surgical patients, he does not provide general eye care or post-operative care for patients of other surgeons. When you choose Dr. Tokuhara, he becomes your trusted eye doctor for life. A Note About Ethical Care
In our community, some providers engage in illegal financial kickbacks accepting payments for cataract surgery referrals. Desert Vision Center firmly rejects this unethical practice. We follow the highest ethical standards, complying with the Anti-Kickback Statute and Stark Law, ensuring that your care in never influenced by financial incentives.
We believe referrals should always be based on what’s best for the patient—not financial gain. If you’re being evaluated for cataract surgery, we encourage you to ask questions and be mindful of these referral arrangements.
Choose the surgeon who prioritizes your vision and your well-being—not one chosen for someone else’s profit.
Sincerely,
Desert Vision Center