Kevin Tan, M.D.

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO PATIENTS Due to the threat of Coronavirus (COVID-19) spread in the Bay Area, the County of San Francisco has issued a Shelter-In-Place order and that all non-essential businesses be closed. In order to keep our eye care staff and patients safe, we will close our offices effective March 17, 2020 until April 5, 2020 and are rescheduling routine appointments and elective surgeries until further notice. Our optical dispensary will also be closed but will be fu...lfilling existing eyeglasses and contact lens orders. Although our offices are temporarily closed, we are here to help you and will continue to provide essential ophthalmology and eye care services in the safest manner possible until we can re-open our clinic for regular visits. Patients with ocular emergencies and urgent symptoms will continue to be treated on a case-by-case basis. We will begin to offer limited virtual tele-medicine consultations with our doctors for new, referred or existing patients through our electronic health record system on March 25, 2020. Please call our office at (415) 982-2020 during normal business hours (9am - 5pm) if you have an eye emergency or need to check on the status of your eyeglasses/contact lens order. We appreciate your patience and understanding during this difficult time for all of us. Regards, The Staff and Doctors at Eyecare Associates of San Francisco

Featuring our new Team photo this year! We love our Eyecare team and hope our patients continue to receive excellent care from our highly trained staff and doctors.

Photo credit: Hieu Tan-Tran at Project Wonderlust. www.projectwonderlust.com

Wishing all my dear patients, friends, referring providers, and colleagues a very happy holidays, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from our practice family to yours here at Eyecare Associates of San Francisco!!

Our practice has just acquired an advanced corneal tomographer called the Oculus Pentacam. This advanced diagnostic device allows us to visualize and quantify both the anterior and posterior surfaces of the cornea. We are one of only two private practices in San Francisco with this type of device! Read more about the differences between a topographer and a tomographer on our practice's website news feed here: https://www.eyecaresf.com/newsfeed/ We at Eyecare Associates of San Francisco are excited to offer this technology now for all of our patients who see us at our downtown Union Square office!

I am excited to announce that our downtown San Francisco office will be moving locations (just one block away) to 360 Post Street, Suite #1005 in the Tiffany's building in Union Square, as of October 30, 2017. Please be aware that if you have an appointment with us on or after this date to see us at our new location! Our new suite will be more contemporary, state-of-the-art and efficient in order to give our patients the highest quality ophthalmic care in the city and Bay Area. We will continue to offer laser and surgical eye services on-site. We are also pleased to feature a new Optical Boutique in the space offering the latest in fashion eyewear and designer sunglasses. More pictures to come!

Great and funny educational video on the science of tears and the various types of tearing (or crying). Next time you cry when chopping an onion or cry as a result of something sad in your life, you're bound to remember the animated characters in this video!

Chalazia (or colloquially referred to as "styes") are one of the commonest complaints of patients I see in the office on an urgent basis. These lumps can appear on the inside or the outside of the eyelid from a meibomian gland (oil producing structures) that has become congested, blocked, or inflamed. Contrary to popular belief, they are not eye infections. When chalazia get large, they can also cause adjacent tissue inflammation, swelling, and discomfort. If large enough, ...they can even push on the cornea and cause astigmatism or obstruction of vision. In young kids, amblyopia (lazy eye) can develop if not treated expediently. Patients frequently come in to my office and want to know what their options are. If it is early on, I highly recommend hot compresses either with a washcloth, tea bags, or a dry heat pack applied for 5-10 minutes once or twice a day for 2-3 weeks. Occasionally, doctors will prescribe an eye ointment to help reduce the bacterial load, but I often find these to not be of great help. If the chalazion persists for more than 2-3 weeks and does not go away with regular hot compresses and/or ointment, then coming to see me may help. Depending on the appearance and chronicity, I may suggest either injecting it with Kenalog (a highly concentrated steroid medication) or doing an incision and curettage procedure in the office. The latter surgical procedure can be done internally or externally, depending on the location of the gland that has become inflamed. Typically, this procedure leaves no scar behind if done carefully. Steroid injections are generally safe and effective, but has a small risk of causing hypopigmentation of the eyelid. Unfortunately, these annoying and unsightly meibomian maladies can recur, but with good eyelid hygiene, education, and regular visits with your ophthalmologist, you can help lower the chances that they come back.

I achieved a milestone last week in my professional career by becoming a Board Certified ophthalmologist! Celebrations were definitely in order for getting through this stressful, expensive, and arduous process. Thank you to my partner and family for their enduring support and love. Cheers and best of health to all of you and your families this holiday season.

Very privileged to have been invited this weekend to speak to over 400 doctors on Corneal diseases at an event with such distinguished leaders in my field. #ocularsymposium2016 #SF