Cataracts occur when there is a clouding of the clear lens, located directly behind the iris leading to clouded and misty vision. This mostly occurs in older people, but it may develop in infants and kids too. Some people can even be born with a cataract.
Let’s understand more about childhood cataracts.
Continue reading Childhood Cataracts: Causes, Symptoms, and Treatment Options
There are a number of people suffering from glaucoma. Unfortunately there is no cure for this eye disease, but the good news is that it can be controlled through medication. The glaucoma treatment primarily focuses on lowering the IOP (intraocular pressure) to a level that doesn’t cause optic nerve damage. Elevated IOP damages the optic nerve significantly, which is why containing the pressure is critical. The pressure to be achieved is known as the ‘target pressure’ or ‘goal pressure.’ This varies from one person to the other, and it may change during the course of treatment.
The ophthalmologist will study your glaucoma symptoms and prescribe the medication accordingly to lower the pressure on your eye. In the recent years, there has been an increase in the choices for topical treatment of glaucoma – prostaglandin analogs and prostamides being two of them. A prostaglandin analog medication is a preferred choice of many doctors for treating any kind of glaucoma, including congenital glaucoma.
These medicines increase the outflow of aqueous humor, thus lowering the intraocular pressure. Aqueous humor is a fluid that the eye continually makes and is crucial for proper functioning of eye. These medications should be taken once a day.
These medications comprises of:
Though most medications, including eye-drops, are safe to use – some may have side-effects. People may experience the following symptoms as side-effects:
It is advised that people with a history of eye problems such as uveitis, history of retinal swelling or ocular herpes infection use these medications with caution. If you suffer or have suffered from any kind of eye ailments, discuss with your doctor before proceeding with any kind of treatment for glaucoma treatment. It is important that you take your glaucoma medications regularly as prescribed for them to show the desired results.
Before you start taking any medication that your ophthalmologist prescribes, you should understand certain things.
How will these medications react with the medication of a different treatment you might be on. It is of utmost importance that your doctors know about the different medications that are prescribed to you. Include the non-prescription medications as well. This will help them in planning the appropriate treatment plan for you, without any risk of threatening medical problems or side effects.
If you or a loved one is suffering from glaucoma, then it is advisable to visit a doctor immediately to control the condition before it worsens any further. Even if you don’t have glaucoma right now but your family has a history of this ailment, you should get regular check-ups to detect it in the early stages. Once you are on medications, you have to be disciplined about taking them without fail. Request an appointment with InSight Vision Center and get a consultation today.
When the shape of the eye prevents the light rays from focusing directly on the retina and rather focuses on the front or back of the retina, refractive error occurs. Factors such as the length of the eyeball, aging of the lens, and change in the shape of the cornea contribute to refractive errors.
Continue reading Refractive Errors of Eyes – All You Need to Know
People in certain professions are at a constant risk of injury. However, while their chances of hurting their eyes are higher than others, almost everyone else is also equally prone to an eye injury. Accidents around the house, such as a flying object or hitting the head against something, can hurt your eye.
Continue reading 10 Best Tips to Prevent Eye Injuries and Protect Your Vision
Contact lenses can significantly affect lifestyle choices of those with weak vision. This area of eye-wear has seen technological improvement in terms of materials used and designs of contact lenses, allowing greater flexibility to all the users.
Smoking is one vice that is more harmful than it looks. It is linked to numerous health problems and is a leading cause of a high number of deaths across the world. It affects nearly every organ in the body. It’s common knowledge that it causes cancer and heart diseases, but not many know that smoking greatly affects the eyes and vision as well.
Eyelid surgery is a surgical procedure to improve the appearance of eyelids by removing the skin from the eyelid or adding/removing fat from it. Also called blepharoplasty, it can be performed on either the upper or lower lid or both.
It is done to either improve the facial appearance or to cater to any functional problems caused by the eyelids. People in good health are good candidates for eyelid surgery. At the same time, it is crucial to have realistic expectations from blepharoplasty.
Continue reading Blepharoplasty Procedure: What to Do Before and After
As you age, the lens of your eyes also age. As it grows old, a few of its cells die and accumulate, thus turning the lens cloudy and yellow. This results in problems like blurry vision, and fuzzy images of yellowed or fading colors. This condition is known as cataract. Anyone can be at risk of cataracts. Let’s understand more about this condition and its various types.
There are three kinds of people: those who love flaunting their quirky and cool glasses, second who swear by contact lenses, and the third group consists of those who can’t wait to get rid of glasses/contact lenses. If you fall in the third category, then LASIK is your savior.
LASIK, which stands for Laser in-situ Keratomileusis, is a corrective surgery used to fix common vision problems such as near-sightedness, far-sightedness, or astigmatism. It uses a specialized laser known as an ‘excimer’ laser, which reshapes the cornea to give better, clearer, and focused vision. Excimer laser precisely removes extremely tiny amounts of tissue without disturbing adjacent tissues.
Continue reading Which LASIK Eye Surgery Is Right for Me and How Much Would it Cost?
Glaucoma is a fatal disease that strikes the optic nerve, causing irreversible damage to eyesight that eventually leads to blindness.Roughly, 2.7 million people in the U.S.A have glaucoma and it is estimated that these figures would go up to 4.2 million by 2030. Owing to the serious damage it may cause to the eyes, it is advised that you get a comprehensive dilated eye test done every 1-2 years.Your ophthalmologist may prescribe drops or pills to prevent permanent impairment. However, if medications do not achieve the desired results, you might have to get surgically operated.
Generally, glaucoma can occur to anyone, irrespective of age and gender. However, there are certain factors that increase the chances. These are:
Glaucoma develops slowly over time. It does not carry any symptoms or any noticeable vision loss. Almost 40 percent of your vision can be lost without you noticing it. Blind spots start developing gradually in the peripheral or side vision, as the disease progresses. By the time these spots come to your notice, the optic nerve has already been damaged significantly and the worst part is; this damage is irreparable!
For this very reason, early detection and treatment are the only defense systems to control the disease and prevent any loss in vision. The most common treatment of glaucoma is the administration of medicated eye drops to lower eye pressure and enhance vision. By controlling the eye pressure, continued damage to the optic nerve can be slowed down and further vision loss can be prevented.
An early diagnosis and treatment can save your eyesight! Since the year 1980, advances in treatment have reduced the possibility of eventual blindness by nearly half. Despite the advanced treatments available today, there is no sure shot guarantee. 15 percent of the people diagnosed with this disease still progress to blindness. Do not ignore the risk factors of glaucoma if you do not want to fall in that 15 percent. Instead, visit InSight Vision Center to get your eyes checked regularly and if diagnosed with this disease, visit the nearest eye care center in Fresno, CA to get your treatment initiated at the earliest.
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