Eye doctors and skin doctors work together

Eye doctors and skin doctors work together

At Clinica London, the eye doctors and skin doctors work together. These are the dermatologists and the ophthalmologists.
We work together particularly for problems that affect the front or the surface of the eye, such as allergies in children and adults, inflammation such as blepharitis, Meibomian gland dysfunction and dry eyes. We also work as a team on problems that affect the cornea – infective keratitis and entropion and trichiasis of the eyelashes, and conditions of the eyebrows such as folliculitis and alopecia.
At Clinica London, Dr Jennifer Crawley is the dermatologist. Dr Jennifer Crawley works as a consultant dermatologist for the NHS looking after patients with skin conditions, and she does private practice here at Clinica London. Some of the many disorders she treats are skin tags; keloid scars; moles; pre-cancerous lesions; skin cancers; ageing, sun damaged skin and conditions such as acne, rosacea, eczema and psoriasis.
At Clinica London, the ophthalmologist who looks after patients with ocular allergy is Mr Sajjad Ahmad. Mr Ahmad is the ocular surface ophthalmologist, and he looks after children with vernal catarrh and hay fever and adults who get ocular allergy either to substances such as creams, lotions and chemicals or pollens, plants and dust. He works closely with Dr Jennifer Crawley to help the patient with an allergy, particularly if it is affecting the skin on their eyelids, their face or any other part of the body.
When treating the skin conditions rosacea and acne, there is a significant overlap between the ophthalmologists and the dermatologists, as there is when treating dry eyes and the eye condition blepharitis. Again, Mr Sajjad Ahmad, myself and Dr Jennifer Crawley often share patients with sensitive red skin and eye dryness or irritation, working together to optimise the medical and topical therapy.
Very often, Mr Ahmad or I will see a patient with extremely bad blepharitis that is seemingly resistant to treatment, and they will also have skin problems. They may require antibiotics and, although myself and Mr Ahmad often will put them on this type of treatment, we may well seek further advice from the dermatologists.  They can advise on whether any stronger drugs are available that are more effective in treating a skin problem such as rosacea or acne, which may be the underlying cause of their blepharitis.
Many patients who also suffer from acne are very worried about their appearance and concerned about the discomfort their skin condition causes, particularly adolescents who do not have a significant eye problem. They may only have had a chalazion or suffered from styes, but they are troubled by severe acne on their face and their back, and this is where our dermatologists can step in to help them.
Dr Jennifer Crawley sees adolescents and adults with skin problems and helps many young people to control their troublesome acne.