Podcast Transcript
Introduction
Adam Torres (00:00):
Hey, I’d like to welcome you to another episode of the Mission Matters Business podcast, your source for all things business. My name is Adam Torres. You can follow me on Instagram at askadamtorres, keep up with my book releases, book tour, schedule signings, all that other good stuff. Always love to connect with you there. And as always, if you’d like to apply to become a co-author of one of my upcoming books, just head on over the website, missionmatters.com and click on become an author to apply. All right, so today I have Steven Tersigni on the line and he’s a vision correction surgeon over at Brinton Vision. Steven, welcome to the show.
Dr. Steven Tersigni (00:32):
Thanks for having me on Adam.
Brinton Vision
Adam Torres (00:35):
All right, so excited to get into a little bit more about what you’re doing as a correction surgeon. But before we do that, let’s get a little bit further into Brinton Vision. So tell us a little bit more about the company, please.
Dr. Steven Tersigni (00:47):
Yeah, so Brinton Vision, you know, we are a full spectrum vision correction, specialty clinic in St. Louis, Missouri. What that means is we focused on what’s called refractive surgery. That’s just the fancy term for vision correction surgery that includes LASIK but not just LASIK, but there’s whole kind of spectrum of procedures that are available and approved these days to correct people’s vision similar to the way LASIK does. We focus on basically what procedure is best for the patients based on their age, the shape of their eye, and their prescription. It’s really catered and focused around exactly what they need and what the best fit for them is. And make sure we provide that to the patient. And so we, that’s kind of our goal and our mission is to be the provider that really you can go to, to have all of the options available to you, that we have these days.
Current Technology
Adam Torres (01:56):
Alright, Steven. Yeah. So here goes my confession. I wanted you on the show cause I need some consultation now. I’m one of those people that have wanted to get, you know, LASIK or some type of procedure done for many years. And I have that minor astigmatism slash football eye very small. My prescription has not changed in I don’t know, over 10 years. So it’s kind of stabilized, they say. So my question for you is, you know, trends in the industry overall. I guess in my mind, the reason I’ve been putting it off because I’m like, as soon as I get it, they’re going to come out with something better. What are your thoughts on that? On my nonsensical approach to it? Because obviously you’re not being, not being qualified.
Dr. Steven Tersigni (02:40):
Yeah. I get where you’re coming from. That’s a concern with a lot of patients have, you know, but it’s never been a better time to have vision correction, surgery, you know, for a patient who for whom it’s a, you know, you’re a good candidate and it’d be a safe option for you. You know, there are so many options you have these days where you know, we can feel very confident that you can have a good, long-lasting vision. And I, there’s no, nothing on the horizon where I would tell a patient would come in and I’d say, you know what, this other technology is just about to get approved. The technology we have is so good these days, and things do get better all the time, but there’s a technology that we have today is so good it’s not at the point where I would feel like I was doing the patient a disservice by saying, Oh yeah, do this now. Uh, but you know, and in the back of my mind thinking, Oh, but now if they were to wait a little bit, they would get something so much better. It’s just the technology’s so good. And yet technology continues to be better, but it’s the, the changes are so incremental and small right now that, if, you would not be doing yourself a disservice to look into it and mix, know you’d want to make sure you’re a good candidate and it’s safe and it’s the right thing for you. But, as long as you were, I, I, I wouldn’t hold back just because you think maybe things will get better down the road.
Candidates
Adam Torres (04:09):
Yeah. Again, it’s totally, I’m probably just making excuses, to be honest. I hadn’t had to throw that one out there for you. Um, so let’s talk a little bit more about, and again, not, not asking you to give medical advice, and I know each patient is asked as their own thing and they have to do their own checkup and other things like that, but, or typically, like, so some of the people listening right now, they’re curious, like they’ve heard about it. They’re tired of wearing contacts, they’re tired of glasses and they may be, and obviously I have to go to their, their local person and see what and see if they’re the right candidate. But what are some of the, some of the things that somebody should think about to where they might be a good fit for, for a corrective procedure?
Dr. Steven Tersigni (04:47):
Yeah, so there are a lot of things that we, that we think about, you know, age is one of them and folks who are kind of over 40, and thinking about vision correction and started to need reading glasses or bifocals, you know, sometime in your 40s. That’s kind of the point that everybody gets to usually. Um, there’s, there’s always some tradeoffs that we have to consider then because your eye is changing and going into an aging process. And so we always, you know, talk about those considerations with patients. You know, there are risks with any procedures, but there are also risks of wearing contacts, the risks of driving down the road, your freeway to work. And so you have to be comfortable with the risks. The nice thing is that these days, you know, LASIK and vision correction procedures have become some of the safest procedures performed in the world.
Dr. Steven Tersigni (05:36):
You know, the risks of complications are very low. But it’s extremely risk-averse and that might be of reasons for that person to not, you know, maybe not have something done, but, um, just, it’s good to know that this is, I understand that there’s not, it’s not magic that we’re doing. It is a procedure. It is surgery, but, um, it’s safe. But that’s another consideration to think about. And a lot of the other things you know, are very patient to patient. You know, certain- certain abnormalities your eye may have that maybe you weren’t aware of. A lot of people come to us and they say, Hey, I want LASIK. But we look at their scans and everything and say, you know, what, LASIK probably isn’t the best option for you. Maybe it wouldn’t give you the best quality of vision or it wouldn’t be safe long term, but Hey, there’s this, these two other options you have.
Dr. Steven Tersigni (06:26):
That would be great for you, to give you. We think it would give you great vision. They will long-term, you know, good for the overall health of your eyes. And so it’s important to get a, you know, a, a full evaluation from, you know, I, I think the best evaluation always comes from a surgeon who will be doing the procedure. They know, you know, they’re the ones that are doing it day in and day out and see the patients over the long term. And know, kind of just by experience with what’s best for each patient and unique, unique eye and circumstances. And so, getting that full evaluation and, and understanding that they’re, you know, you may be surprised about what your options might be, might be something maybe you haven’t heard of before. Um, but the knowing that at least, and I’m sure with most surgeons, but at least the Briton Vision, we’re going to be, looking out for your, your best interests and, want to make sure we’re doing the safest thing for you. And you know, the best thing for your vision long-term for a lifetime. You’re, you’re going to have your eyes and your vision for a lifetime. We want to kind of put together a plan, that helps you have your best vision for the rest of your life.
Lens Technology
Adam Torres (07:32):
Let’s talk a little bit more about lenses and lens technology specifically like in context and other things like that. So any, anything interesting in that space? That’s you’re, that you’re kind of thing.
Dr. Steven Tersigni (07:44):
So, you know, a lot of the procedures we do are to get people out of contact lenses, uh, you know, contact lenses are, they work really well, you know, they’re, they’re safe. They’re not, they’re kind of outside of the spectrum of things that we kind of prescribe and deal with for the most part. In terms of talking about lenses though, there are a couple of different vision correction options that we have that involve lenses. They’re not lenses that go on the surface of your eye. They’re lens implants actually, um, that correct the vision from the inside. One of them is refractive lens exchange. It’s similar in a lot of the technical aspects to like a cataract surgery where we replaced that internal lens in your eye with another lens that focuses- focuses the light better to correct your prescription. And also there’s a technology called phaco interocular lenses, or one of them is called ICL or implantable Collamer lens or implantable contact lens is basically a lens that gets inserted underneath the surface of your eye, that corrects the prescription from the inside. So those are some, some of the technologies that, that we have and we use fairly frequently to help correct people’s vision.
Adam Torres (08:58):
Wow. That’s amazing. I love it. This is good. I mean, cause like ultimately, and for people that, correct me if I’m wrong, so for some people that, as you mentioned, so somebody may come in thinking that Lasik’s like the route and then it may be completely different, and they may not have understood or knew that this lens technology existed, but it just opens up the pool of people that are able to benefit from really corrective surgery in general. Am I off on that, or am I kind of correct?
Dr. Steven Tersigni (09:27):
No, that’s, that’s exactly right. Now there are plenty of people who come to us and you know, who come to us and have been told other places that maybe that other places were just, just does LASIK, you know, comes up and say, Hey, I was told they couldn’t have LASIK and that you have all these other options. And you know, oftentimes we were able to tell them, yeah, we have this option. I think it works well for you. And we correct their, their vision and they are able to live their life. So, you know, free from glasses and contacts.
Contact Information
Adam Torres (09:55):
Man, that’s awesome. I love it. So Steven, if somebody is listening to this and they want more information on, Brinton Vision, I mean, what’s the best way for them to reach out and learn more?
Dr. Steven Tersigni (10:07):
Yeah, so one way you know that you can, one way that’s really easy is just to go to our website. It’s Brintonvision.com. You know, there’s a whole lot of information about all the vision correction options we offer for patients. Um, you know, from LASIK to ICL to refractive lens exchange. Just all the different things. If you’re just kind of curious at what there is these days, we, we, you can also call us our phone number is (314) 375-2020. You know, those are probably the best two ways to get in contact with us. You can also email us at [email protected]. We always have folks who are very responsive, you know, answering phone calls or emails and you know, we try to get back to you usually within the same day.
Adam Torres (11:00):
Awesome. Well, hey, Steven, I really appreciate you coming on the show today and sharing more about your background and all the great stuff you’re doing over at Brinton Vision to help people correct their eyesight. And to the audience says always, thank you for tuning in. I hope you got a lot of value out of this. If you did, don’t forget to subscribe to the podcast, leave your deal on the Apple iTunes store. If you’re watching this on our YouTube channel, Mission Matters Money, definitely give us a subscribe there. But also I’ll leave us some comments on the video. Love to know what kind of things you’re working on. And Steven, thanks again for coming on the show.