There are many types of ailments that will impair perfect vision. In this article we will review several of the most common.
- A refractive error is one of the most common forms of eye disorders. It is the result of the eye being unable to clearly focus on images. The types of refractive errors include nearsightedness or myopia, farsightedness or hyperopia and astigmatism which causes distorted vision at certain distances. Nearsightedness is better understood as being unable to see things clearly that are far away. Farsightedness is the opposite and results in the inability to see things clearly that are up close. Often, these vision problems can be corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses or some form of laser surgery.
- Age-related Macular Degeneration (AMD) is a serious vision disorder. This vision problem generally appears during the aging process. The symptoms include an inability to see things clearly and can negatively impact daily activities such as driving and reading. It is called ‘macular degeneration’ because it affects the central part of your retina called the macula. This is the component of your retina that sharpens your vision and allows you to see things in detail. AMD may be ‘wet’ or ‘dry’. Wet AMD occurs when a blood vessel grows behind the macula. Dry AMD is caused by the thinning of the macula due to the normal aging process. Medications, shots and surgery are all forms of treatment.
- Diabetic retinopathy is one complication of diabetes. It affects vision by damaging the blood vessels in the eye. Diagnosis does not require lab tests and there are a number of treatment options but no cure. Several things to keep in mind include the fact that it may be a family trait with an average age of its presentation of 50. If you have diabetes it is important to keep tabs on your vision.
- A cataract is a medical condition of the eye where the lens becomes increasingly opaque which blurs vision. Cataracts must be treated or vision will continue to decline. It generally requires surgery and should not be allowed to linger as the cataract can become harder to remove.
There are other vision problems that can cause you to struggle to see clearly. One way to approach this is to be proactive in visiting your optometrist who is trained to identify or diagnose vision problems and provide interventions and treatments.
For more information contact Island Eyecare.