Our top five most popular stories of 2014

1. Best and worst cities in the U.S. to practice

Our most popular story of the whole year goes to a roundup of the best and worst cities in the U.S. to practice, according to a list published by Medscape. The list was complied based on lifestyle, climate, practice conditions, and amenities available in the community.

The list also took into account:

 •State-level data, such as tax burden data

• Malpractice claims information

• Medical board disciplinary actions

• Cities and towns within the most favorable states that offered the best opportunities for physicians, as recommended by doctors and recruiters

• Market-specific data from the U.S. Census Bureau, Coldwell banker Real Estate, Sperling’s Best Places, Bureau of Labor Statistics to assess economics, demographics, housing costs, and quality of life.

The best and worst cities were divided into six regions-West and Northwest, Great Lakes and North Central, Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast, and Southwest and South Central.

Did your city make the list?

Find out here.

2. A different approach to treating demodex blepharitis

 Demodex was a hot topic in 2014. In this article, Scott Schachter, OD, takes a look at treating demodex blepharitis using tea tree oil.

“While new treatments under consideration include topical or oral ivermectin and Greenbug for People cedar oil, a new treatment paradigm is taking shape, and tea tree oil is at the heart of it,” writes Dr. Schachter.

Read Dr. Schachter’s advice for treating demodex here.

3. How to manage adenoviral conjunctivitis

This story was a big hit with our readers when we published it shortly after NBC broadcaster Bob Costas suffered an embarrassing case of conjunctivitis while anchoring the 2014 Winter Olympics. Tammy Than, MS, OD, FAAO; Andrew Hartwick, OD, PhD, FAAO; Ellen Shorter, OD, FAAO; Spencer Johnson, OD; Blair Lonsberry, OD, MS; Med; FAAO; Mae Gordon, PhD; Thomas Freddo, OD, PhD, FAAO, shared their advice for treating the condition.

“Members of the RAPID (Reducing Adenoviral Patient-Infected Days) research group, along with many other optometrists, sat helplessly staring at our television screens, wishing we could send him a bottle of Betadine!” they wrote. “So why didn’t he get that treatment? Why aren’t more patients correctly diagnosed with Ad-CS and treated with Betadine?”

Check out their advice for treating adenoviral conjunctivitis.

4. Vision therapy: A top 10 must-have list

In this story, Marc Taub, OD, FAAO, FCOVD, shared his list of must-have tools for vision therapy.

“Over my 10-plus years in practice I have developed a core set of equipment that I cannot live without,” Dr. Taub writes. “While some would be considered basic, others are more complicated. It is this mixture of high and low tech that keeps patients interested and enables the uploading and downloading of activities to meet therapeutic needs.”

Check out the list here.

5. Bausch + Lomb introduces Ultra contact lens

In this editorial, our Chief Optometric Editor Ernie Bowling, OD, FAAO, shares his first impressions of the new Ultra silicone hydrogel contact lenses from Bausch + Lomb after he tried them out first-hand at the new brand’s launch.

“The final payoff, though, is feeling the lens on the eye. Or should I say not feeling the lens on the eye, which was my experience,” Dr. Bowling writes.  

Read Dr. Bowling’s thoughts on Ultra.