IPL on the West Coast

[pythonidler]

I just got meibomian gland probing done by my Boston doctor about a month ago, and as a followup he wants me to find someone local to me (Seattle) that can do IPL on a regular basis. I've spent the last couple days trying to find someone out here that can do it, but with no luck. A couple offices have the machine, but the staff isn't trained to do it yet.

Does anyone know of any doctors who can do IPL on the West Coast? I would prefer a doctor in Seattle or Portland (2.5 hour drive from Seattle), but I could also fly to the Bay Area because I could stay at a relative's house.

As a last resort, I COULD fly to my old doctor in Phoenix who does it, but I would have to pay for a hotel out of pocket.

[pythonidler]

Found something from calling Dr. Toyos' general appointment line:
http://dryeyenews.com/centers-of-excellence/

Nothing in Washington or Oregon, but there are a few doctors in California.

Kerry Assil - Beverly Hills
Michael K Tracy - Carlsbad
Craig J Helm - Santa Clarita
Albert Milauskas - Palm Springs
Thomas Tooma - Newport Beach
Keith Liang - Sacramento

[pythonidler]

After a week of searching, I found three offices up here that have an IPL machine. Two of them don't have staff trained for it yet, so I made an appointment with the third office for early February. I'll let everyone know how it turns out.

[jynxie]

I would love to hear your outcome. Did you find a Dr. in Washington because I haven't found anyone in Oregon who does IPL. My current Dr. has no interest in the IPL procedure at all and has not researched the procedure. The West Coast seems about a decade behind the times. I also can't find anyone who does probing of the glands. The Dr. I see does Lipiflow and that is all he has done for me and has no other options. At $1600 per treatment, I can't possibly do frequent treatments that don't last. It is so frustrating being on the west coast.

[neilw]

Hi pythonidler
Can you give the name of the practice in Seattle that you are going to? We are in Australia but are planning to come to Washington and/or British Columbia this year for some time and my wife will need IPL treatment while we are there. She has it every 6 weeks here in Australia. I do know of a place in Vancouver call Lyn Valley Optometry who have a Lumeinis IPL device for dry eye.
Thanks.

[pythonidler]

All,

I decided to post the list of doctors I found while researching IPL on the west coast. You can find it here, in the MG Advanced Treatments subforum.

[jynxie]

Thank you Pythondiler! This is so very helpful

[pythonidler]

Hi all,

I wanted to give everyone an update of the IPL I've had in the Seattle area.

I've been seeing Dr. Silvia McKevitt of Eye Plastics Northwest for my IPL. I just had my third IPL treatment today, but I noticed a day or two after having the second IPL that it's helped me. At my appointment today Dr. McKevitt said most of my glands are producing clear liquidy oils, but about 20% are still producing a thicker substance. I'm hopeful with this most recent treatment and with the final monthly treatment next month that I can be producing fully liquid oil again.

Dr. McKevitt has been great so far. A month ago when I asked if she could perform manual expression with forceps instead of using a q-tip, she happily obliged. And today when I came in, she asked if I was able to submit a claim for the IPL to my insurance. When I told her that the insurance sent me back my claims because they required diagnosis and procedure codes on the invoice (which her office doesn't include by default), she talked to the assistants and made sure that I would be able to get a copy of one that included it.

I would highly recommend her to anyone in Washington or Oregon who needs IPL and doesn't want to fly to California or Utah to get it done.