Should H see an ophthalmologist

[july]

Last year, he was diagnosed with map.dot.finger.print.dystrophy at a routine eye appointment. The OD prescribed him some drops and he stayed out of contacts for a bit. He went back to contacts, but his eyes started to bother him again. He has it again with this appointment. 
He was prescribed a different eye drop to use for a week and will follow up. He might be out of contacts, but the eye doctor wasn't committing to that. He also said he could have surgery combined with LASIK, but that is a huge investment.


Is this something that an ophthalmologist (MD) would be better at treating than an OD since he has been having a recurring eye issue. 

[orangeblossom]

I would, just for a second, more thorough opinion. Plus, it'd be good to have a baseline, should the problem worsen beyond what an OD can do.

I've been very fortunate to have good health insurance my whole life, so my parents always went to Ophthalmologist, and I have followed suit, though they do/did have cataracts and glaucoma issues, but went long before those were diagnosed.

[tacocat]

Seeing an MD is not always necessary, there are some awesome ODs out there. He would need to see an MD for Lasik though and if he isn't noticing improvement a second opinion never hurts.

[tacocat]

I was thinking about this again and I don't think LASIK would be good for anyone with corneal dystrophy. I have been out of refractive for awhile but I think that he would have an increased chance for complications. Maybe they were talking about a procedure called a superficial keratectomy? Some people can have vision improvement after but it is not the main goal.

I am totally happy to be corrected, since it has been a couple of years, just be careful who you go to!