Personal Responsibility for Your Health

Take some, haha. I have so, so many patients who have NO IDEA what their prescription is. They don't know what brand of contacts they wear, or which eye is their "far" eye or "near" eye in monovision, or even if they are nearsighted or farsighted or have astigmatism. They know NOTHING. They tell me their last doctor found some problem that they wanted to monitor but they have NO IDEA what it was. Cataract, retinal problem, glaucoma, they literally don't know ANYTHING about their eye health. That's not only kind of...uh..."not smart", it's also just irresponsible. If you take pills I think you need to know what they are and what they are for, and if you wear contacts you need to know what brand and approx what Rx. I don't think too many docs would be upset if you don't know exactly what the dosage in milligrams your heart medication is, but you should absolutely know the NAME of it and what it's for. Your life may depend on it! By the same token I will not even ask you what your exact diopter measurement of your contacts are (I'll probably change it anyway), but I would like to know if you're wearing Acuvue or Air Optix or Ultra or Biomedics, etc. Obviously I don't absolutely have to have that info in order to perform an exam and Rx you some good contacts, but if you have a preference for a brand/size/Rx then you need to know what it is so I can help you get closer to repeating it!