Is there something you love about your doctor's technique?
I've realized that even in my office of six or so specialists, they all have their own procedures for injections. I went to one doctor for a year or two, and then was switched me to current doc. I, along with most of her patients, am totally besotted with her. I just wanted to share some details about why.
Dr. D. waits to swab my eyelid with betadine, as before when the technicians did it, sometimes my eye would get too dry before I saw her, and the injection would hurt. Just mentioning that as it's nice to have someone pay attention to details, and want me to be as comfortable as possible.
I can't remember if she does this before or after the speculum is inserted, but my doctor goes behind me, tells me to look down at the floor, left or right, and then gives me a tiny shot of lidocaine. After that while she's waiting for it to take effect, she'll dictate information about my scans, or tell me an anecdote about her kids. (Ha.)
Again, when she's ready to do the injection, Dr. D. will go behind me, instruct me to look down at the floor in a specific direction, and even reach around and wiggle her fingers to direct my eye position if needed. I love that I get a shot from behind, and never even see the needle. Plus, in all the years (probably eight or so), that I've been going to her, I've never had a broken blood vessel, which used to be fairly common for me.
She's also the doctor that started the step that they all do now, which is rinsing the eye afterwards. Initially she did that herself, but now the technician handles that. Having my eyeball rinsed with cool water is so soothing, and I'm sure helps alleviate the betadine irritation.
Not part of her procedure, but one I've just found helpful for me through the years is having a gauze eye patch put on my eye, and also getting a steroid shot. The eye patch stops my tears from running, and helps my eye settle down. I remove it within an hour or two.
Is there something that your doctor does that you find helpful physically or in relieving some of the stress?
thank you for sharing this with us. It helps others, especially those who are new to this, to have some idea of the injection procedure. It is interesting that the doctors in your office have slightly different procedures. My doctor does some things similarly to yours, and some differently. I don't have a lidocaine shot, just numbing drops. Do you get any numbing drops before your lidocaine shot? Can you feel that shot? How long does it take to have effect? My RS applies the Betadine himself, too. Some on each eyelid and then some on a Q-tip on one spot on my eye. He does the injection straight after that. He gets his nurse, who has given me the numbing drops, to wiggle her hand down low to my left side, and that is where I look. He doesn't use a speculum. Is the speculum uncomfortable for you? Many people have said it is. There's no rinsing for me. My RS uses a diluted form of Betadine and absolutely nothing is done to the eye, or goes in it, after the injection. We don't talk at all during this period. I talk with the nurse, but when the doctor comes in it is "all business". I'm so glad you've found a doctor you "love". Best wishes, Wendy, Patient Leader. Wendy, sorry that I missed your response until now. I was hoping that describing it wouldn't be scary for a newbie, but helpful. The lidocaine shot is something that only my RS does, with the exception that when she was once on maternity leave, the other RS followed her procedure. However, they didn't wait for the lidocaine to take effect, but gave the injection immediately after. I will have several numbing drops before my RS comes in and gives me a "tiny" shot of lidocaine, as she puts it. I'm surprised you don't have to use a speculum! For a long time I really disliked that part of the procedure, as it was uncomfortable going in. However, I'm guessing they might have bought some new ones, as these seem much gentler on the eye. Once she inserts it, I don't feel it at all.
The other doctors I've had there (just a couple others in their team of 6-8 docs), were more of the "all business" type, where my younger, female doctor is friendlier and always has an anecdote about her children to share while she waits a couple of minutes for the lidocaine to take effect. My first RS used to have a nurse/technician in the room with him during the procedure, but my current RS never does. They must lurk pretty closely outside the door, though, because as soon as my doc is done and walks out, they're walking in to do the rinsing, drops and patching. Thanks so much for sharing your experience as well!
All the best,
Annehi Anne. Thanks for replying. It's amazing how many little differences there can be in the injection procedure. I'm glad to hear you have some numbing drops before the lidocaine shot. I hope we don't scare anyone 😀 What I think we do is empower people because they know the full range of steps their doctor may take. I was glad to learn from this site quite a while ago that the time between numbing drops was important, and that the injection shouldn't be too long after the last numbing drop. Now I keep an "eye" on what they're doing. The nurse is in the room all the time before and after my shot. She gives the numbing drops and sets up the tray of syringe and Betadine and swabs (although I can't quite see what's on it because it is just above my line of sight.) When the doctor comes in he swabs my top and bottom eyelid, puts a Betadine q-tip on the injection spot, puts on his gloves, holds my eye open and injects! Then he turns and leaves the room. There is no talking with him at that stage, it is like a mini-operation. I have already had a consultation and a chat, though, so that is reasonable. The nurse wipes the extra Betadine off my eyelids and erases the cross over the injected eye! Because the nurse is with me for at least 20 minutes, I can ask her lots of general questions, and I do! It wasn't until my previous visit that I noticed the sign on the wall that said, "This is a quiet area. No talking please." That was a bit embarrassing! Best wishes, Wendy, Patient Leader.
Thanks for sharing. My doctor has me look up for the injection not down which is the only thing that's really different
that's interesting. As you say, it's only a small difference. Do you have rinsing afterwards? Everyone else seems to, but not me. Wendy, Patient Leader.
like you I have a beloved retinal specialist. My clinic has 4 retinal specialist that are MD’s. One doctor is a DO rather than an MD. He filled in for my regular doctor for an appointment. The difference was amazing. For those not familiar with a DO, they practice medicine with a holistic approach. He see’s me as a person not just another injection patient. He’s never too busy to answer questions. His injection technique is painless. He is the busiest doctor in the clinic. All the patients want him to provide their care. Warm regards, Sharon Moore patient leader I'm so glad you have an RS that you love too! I thought we had one doc who was a DO, but just checked and she's listed as OD, Doctor of Optometry. I love that you feel like a whole person with your doctor's holistic approach as a DO. For a long time I kind of felt like I was in some strange injection factory, where it was a quick wham/bam you're done, with hardly any interaction. I understand that they're busy, my experience just wasn't nearly as pleasant as it is now. What I hope that is that other doctors are curious enough about these extremely popular specialists that they want to at least observe their techniques, and perhaps adopt one or two. I know in my line of work as a graphic designer, I was continuously looking at other artists' designs in order to learn and grow. Hopefully that's true in their field as well - or becomes more common.
Take care!
AnneI share your hope that other doctors will develop the same willingness to answer questions and take steps to make the patient feel seen as an individual. One things I do is take the time to grade my doctors on health grades.com. You would hope the doctors care about the reviews enough to address any negative feedback. Warm regards, Sharon Moore patient leader
