It is never too early to visit an ophthalmologist

In the initial stages of the development of a person, all that a person learns is associated with what you see. An ophthalmologist would suggest an eye exam at least once in a few years for kids under the age of six. Sadly, just like many suggestions, this advice goes unnoticed. Regular checkups by the family doctor may be the rule, but the value of visiting an eye care specialist should never be underestimated.

Understanding disabilities

Many kids have learning disabilities due to dyslexia or ADHD. At least 33% of these are diagnosed with visual impairments. One reason for this is that kids with ADHD and the ones with visibility issues frequently display same type of behaviour. Another reason is some of the preschoolers go through visual screenings that in turn might lead to revocation of these learning disorders.

Chronic problems

Sight issues in kids may be a serious issue that only impacts their ability to learn. Other types of visual impairments may impede the depth of a perception of the kid, leading to inferior eye coordination or a physical deficiency. Muscular imbalances in the eye may create conditions that might commonly be known as lazy eye or cross eyed. In this kind of situation, you should visit an eye specialist.

Commencing a routine

Kids are not only vulnerable to macular degeneration. Taking them to an eye physician will set up a routine at an early age. For those who have same type of conditions continuing from childhood, returning to the medical amenity could relieve them from their diseases. Eye related situations can develop at any age of life and may sometimes go unnoticed. That is why it is vital to commence a routine in the initial stage. Regular visit to a specialized eye doctor are important to address problems that can impact the development of a kid.

When you should visit an Ophthalmologist?

As our bodies age and we get older, our muscles and organs to joints and skin also. When we are young and we have lenses in our eyes, known as the natural crystalline lens, are flexible and clear, and can focus conveniently from near to far.

People of all ages might require the utilization of glasses to assist them see closer or distance, buy when we are young this is generally due to the shape of the eye.

Around the age of 40, the natural crystalline lens starts getting cloudy and quite rigid; this implies that the lens can’t focus as good as it used to be. This situation is known as presbyopia. The eyes of everyone age at different ages, but the older we get, the more the lenses cloud and it becomes less flexible, and the possibility of requiring assistance reading or the vision of the things near becomes more evident, and for several older people, cataracts start developing.

When it is time to visit an Ophthalmologist?

While most of the population wears glass from a young age and will regularly visit an eye clinic or see an Ophthalmologist, there are signs you can look out for as you get older to imply that you have to visit a specialist near vision or reading solutions.

1. Finding it difficult to read or do other chores and experiencing that you have to move things further to read or check detail
2. You start getting headache while doing closer chores or reading
3. Finding it hard to read small print in less light
4. Developing tired eyes while reading r doing close chores

The above signs could imply that you should have a comprehensive exam and discuss near vision or reading solutions.

Near vision and reading solutions

1. Bifocal or Trifocal Glasses- These glasses are for people that require glasses for distance, near and intermediate vision. Some people don’t like using more than a pair of glasses and having bifocal glasses will rectify distance and ear vision, and trifocal glasses rectify near vision, distance vision, and intermediate vision. Both options are completely personalized for you and your eyes.
2. Prescription Reading glasses- These are e glasses that have been personalized by an optician or an eye specialist to fit with your near/reading vision prescription. They will consider any differences in astigmatism, eye strength and will properly fit on your face.
3. Off the shelf reading glasses- These are reading glasses that you can purchase at most of the pharmacies and supermarkets, and even other shops also. They are usually cheaper and might be the first quick fixes you purchase while first noticing you require assistance with near vision. While they might be a good option to commence with, specifically if you are waiting for an appointment to get your macular degeneration issue treated.

If you are considering surgical options, get an appointment with a reliable ophthalmologist, who will go through risks, advantages, and other options are recommended.

Everything you should know about refractive cataract surgery

A cataract is basically a clouding of the lens of the eye that may affect vision to a certain extent, depending on its seriousness. As it is considered to be a normal effect of aging, cataracts mainly affect older adults, although a family hereditary might put younger people at stake also. Your lifestyle frequently changes drastically if you start developing cataracts.

Refractive cataract surgery

Cataract surgery is here for quite some time now, and some things haven’t changed like the facts and there is no way of removing cataract from the lens without removing the lens itself. Therefore, during any surgery for cataracts, the natural lens of the patient will be replaced with a new clear lens. The refractive version of this surgery is meant to eradicate the cataract while also enhancing the overall vision of the patient.

Selecting IOLs

There are various versions of IOL available for the patients these days:

• Technologies like ReSTOR, comes with concentric rings for multiple distance viewing. It can also be folded, thereby enabling the surgeon to insert it through a small incision.

• ReSTOR lenses come with concentric circles that enable the dry eye to see images clearly that are both far away and close.

Other advantages of the surgery

Eliminating the cloudiness associated with cataracts is, obviously the main goal of the surgery. But with the contemporary IOLs, refractive cataract surgery can also assist with farsightedness, nearsightedness, Glaucoma and also these conditions: 

• Astigmatism: This condition is the main reason people used to require contact lenses or glasses after surgery. Lenses called toric IOLS are now available to cure astigmatism during surgery.

Presbyopia: This is a condition impacting everyone entering the middle age, makes it harder to focus on objects closely. All the lenses mentioned above provide presbyopia treatment.

Eye Laser surgery-Feasible treatment option for vision

One of the most popular types of eye laser surgery is LASIK, which stands for laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis. This type of eye surgery changes the shape of the cornea. The cornea is the clear membrane that stretches over the iris and your pupil. After the surgery, the cornea should focus the light in the ideal way it should on your retina rather than on a point at behind or in front of the retina. This is what causes the farsightedness and nearsightedness.

If you want to think about eye surgery, your ophthalmologist will discuss various types of laser surgery with you apart from regarding multifocal lens implants. One of the types is the PRK, in which the top layer of the cornea, known as the epithelium, is scraped away.

Other types of laser eye rectification are LASIK, which utilizes a microkeratome metal blade to make a physical cut to the cornea and thereby creating a flap. The excimer laser then reshapes the eye. After the reshaping, the flap is put back into its position. This doesn’t create pain in most of the patients. The best benefit is that vision is rectified instantly.

Your eye specialist will possibly suggest that you discover other types of vision treatments for ailments caused by a diabetic eye disease before you go for a laser eye correction process. Obviously conventional optometry methods like contact lenses or glasses, which will cost much less than surgery is one option. Unlike the disease of the eye, cornea shape is not a progressive issue hence it shouldn’t get worse. Sometimes they actually get better as we age. Cataracts are never removed with laser eye surgery of any type. Though the operation just takes just a few minutes, it is not done through laser procedures. Discuss all the alternatives before determining any one vision rectification process.

 

Yes, Laser Cataract is the best possible remedy

Do you know how to treat cataracts? Regardless, cataracts are liquefied, extracted or zapped by a beam of radiation; laser cataract is one of the safest processes available with a high rate of success. Nonetheless, with the latest range of laser methods, surgeons might soon have to think twice about carrying out a surgery.

It’s true that the emergence of femtosecond lasers has brought a new level of consistency, precision, and safety to the vital aspects of cataract surgery after a routine eye exam. Still, latest studies showed that the laser photolysis with femtosecond surgery can postpone cataract surgery by decolourizing the lenses.

 

Yes, you heard it right. It is not the same process like decolourizing your hair, skin, teeth and clothes. In case of cataracts, the lenses are leached with light. The process of photobleaching includes utilizing a pulsed laser in the infrared spectrum to bleach the chromophores that accumulate within the natural human lens. By bringing the transparency to the yellow lenses caused by age through photobleaching, the requirement for cataract surgery may be postponed for 3 to 7 years.

There are various options to laser treatment, though it actually depends on the current eye condition. Nonetheless, laser cataract surgery is the most feasible option and a highly successful refractive lens exchange process.

As a matter of fact, by integrating the concept of photobleaching by the eye surgeon, nillions of visually impaired people can be saved in developing countries, where the option of surgery is still not available. However, more research is required to determine the effect of photobleaching on the refractive index of the lenses and whether it can create an asymmetric astigmatism. The future is waiting for wider concepts that will enhance the way surgeons handle cataracts these days, and eradicate surgery in the near future if possible.

Getting the ideal solution to cataracts

Do you experience the negative impacts of blurry vision? A cataract is a clouding of the lens of the eye, but having a cataract in one or both the eyes doesn’t condemn you to a lifetime blurry vision. With technological developments in eye surgery, we can fix cataracts in a manner that was not possible just a few years ago.

While carrying out the daily activities like working at a computer, reading and watching television, our eyes are constantly emphasizing on objects at different distances. As we age, we sadly begin to lose this ability and become more dependent on glasses. Multifocal lens implants rectifies both presbyopia and cataracts simultaneously. For most patients, this surgery eradicates the requirement for glasses. AS a matter of fact, most of the patients who got this lens never needed glasses again.

 

The implantation of lens also helps in case of diabetic eye disease. These are basically surgically implanted lens that is designed to enable the optic to move back and forth as you keep on changing focus on images across you. It emphasizes on only one image to the back of the eye, unlike a multi focal lens that projects on multiple images, needing your brain to adjust the differences.

For patients suffering from glaucoma and cataracts, having just a cataract surgery will only solve half the issue. To truly improve your vision by solving both the issues, implantation of lens is the best option. This surgery is a blended solution that replaces your cataract clouded natural lens for clear vision and rectifies the corneal astigmatism, so you can see while focussing. If you can’t decide which surgery will be the best for you, contact an eye specialist and they can assist you with sufficient information to take the right decision.

The benefits and drawbacks of cataract surgery

Do you have cataract in or both of your eyes? Are you not experiencing right vision which is affecting the quality of your life? Then you no longer have to live with vision affected due to cataracts, with the advent of cataract surgery.

Anybody thinking about cataract surgery should first realize what is cataract.

Glaucoma

The best definition for cataract is that it affects your natural lens, also known as crystalline lens, in the eye which impacts your regular activities and your ability to read or drive and ultimately leading to loss of vision.

The best way to repair a cataract or Glaucoma is by having a surgery. People should blurred vision should make their mind to have this surgery when the condition of the natural lens of the eye is bad enough and the vision can’t be bettered with contact lens or glasses.

The removal of cataract through surgery is also suggested to prevent other types of eye ailments, like diabetic retinopathy- one of the main causes of blindness, and the macular degeneration and deterioration of the center part of the retina which may cause loss of central vision. Cataract surgery, also called phacoemulsification, is carried out with minimal sedation and generally takes almost 20 minutes to complete.

With the utilization of a microscope, the surgeon makes a minor incision of almost 3mm width on the surface of the eye or near the cornea. The affected lens is then painlessly treated using a fine needle with ultrasound waves. After the small fragmented parts are removed, a folded artificial lens made of plastic is placed on the thin capsular bag. This artificial lens unfolds naturally within the eye.

Benefits

• Cataract surgery is quite simple and painless
• It is usually the safest and the best way to restore vision with no severe complications
• It assists you to get rid of blurry vision and have a better vision
• The recovery time of this surgery is quite short. The small incision enables the eye to recover better
• With proper vision, you will be able to climb stairs, walk, drive car and do domestic tasks more actively

Drawbacks

• Just like any other surgery, sudden complications may happen during or after cataract surgery in rare cases
• Just like any other major surgery, the surgery might cause loss of blood
• Adverse reaction to the anesthesia like itchiness or stickiness in the eye is possible
• There is also possibility of infection to the eye
• If the lens capsule gets torn during surgery, it may cause reduced vision
• If the cataract fragments are left in the eye, you will need a second operation
• It is quite possible that the retina may get dislocated or damaged during the eye surgery process

It is never too late to visit an ophthalmologist

In the initial stages of a person’s development, most of the things that a person learns is mainly attributed to the visual stimuli. An ophthalmologist would suggest an eye test at least once a year for kids under the age of six. Sadly, just like many suggestions, people pay less attention to this advice. Regular checkups might be a norm, but the value of visiting an eye care specialist should never be undermined.

 

cataract surgery

 

In most kids, disabilities are mainly caused by dyslexia or ADHD. 33% of such patients suffer from visual impairments. Most of the kids suffering from these ailments display same type of behaviour. Just 20% of the preschoolers undergo visual screenings due to the symptoms noticed regarding visual disorder. It is very important to visit an eye specialist in this situation.

Chronic problems

Sight problems in kids may also impact their ability to learn. Other type of visual impairments may affect a child’s perception, leading to poor eye and hand coordination. Imbalances in muscularity in the eye may promote some more complications. In some of the rare situations, glaucoma affects the vision of a person. In such situation, a cataract surgery may be required.

Starting a Schedule

Kids should not only be mere beneficiaries for the ophthalmologist consultation. Taking them to the eye specialist sets a routine at an early age. For people with similar conditions from childhood, returning to the medical amenity could relief their ailments. Eye-related conditions may develop at an early stage and may sometimes go unidentified. This is why it is vital to commence a routine early. Sometimes migraines or headaches might be caused during the initial stages of glaucoma, even if no abnormalities are noticed.

Why you should visit an eye specialist?

Most of us neglect our eyesight and never visit an eye specialist until we start facing issues. Most of us are fortunate enough to face issues only when we start getting older. Some people start experiencing issues early in life.

Blurry vision is a common issue for people suffering from diabetes and it is always prudent to visit an eye specialist to discuss about this situation in advance. There are various types of eye specialists. Some are called optometrists as this is what they specialize in recommending glasses and treating eye issues.

Opthalmologists are medical physicians who specialize in eye surgery and ailments. Visiting an eye specialist on a daily basis is suggested. Therefore, you can monitor your eye condition and learn how to handle the situation in the best way possible. An eye specialist may also suggest exercise for your eyes. All the parts of our body needs regular exercise to stay fit and our eyes are no different. Eye exercises are incredible to assist in lessening eye strain as our eyes are one of the most neglected body parts and this is what may lead to cataract surgery.

What you eat will also matter and assist in ensuring strong and healthy vision. Leafy and green vegetables are also incredible sources of nutrition for your eye requirements. Other vegetables rich in carotenoids are those that come in yellow, orange or red colour.

An eye specialist can suggest what you should eat and other supplements you may take. Some of these may also help in preventing glaucoma. It is ideal for people who are not able to reach the necessary daily intake required to ensure proper eye health. It is wise to take good care of every part of your body. If you love your eyes, do try to figure more about the ideal food for proper eye health and visit an eye specialist regularly.

There are various eye specialists and it will assist if you know what the functionality of each specialist is. An ophthalmologist is basically a medially physician specializing in the eyes. It may take years to complete medical education and almost 3 years of residency to become an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist has an in-depth knowledge to cure eye diseases such as glaucoma.

It might appear awkward to know about the various eye specialists, but it is vital to know who can actually assist you with a specific issue. Severe eye issues will need the proficiency of ophthalmologists as they are eye physicians who can recommend medication and can also carry out cataract surgery.

Optometrists, then again, are also considered as physicians. They don’t study in medical school, but they are trained to analyze all the aspects of the eyes. The difference between the optometrists and ophthalmologists are that optometrists don’t carry out surgery. They just know how to treat vision issues like astigmatism.

Glaucoma symptoms differ in different types of the disorder. Thus, proper diagnosis is necessary to check which type is causing these symptoms. The glaucoma is categorized based on following parameters-

• Glaucoma is primary (occurs due to fluid pressure in eye – idiopathic) or Secondary (associated with other systemic or ocular conditions)
• State of angle of anterior chamber of eye closure in glaucoma- open or closed
• Severity- acute or chronic

Symptoms that you might have Glaucoma

The biggest issue with glaucoma isn’t the fact that it ultimately causes blindness. But glaucoma is very hard to detect. Most people having glaucoma don’t even understand that they have it until it is too late to do anything about it. Glaucoma is quite hard to diagnose as it doesn’t have any side effects other than gradual vision loss. Unless you develop a rare case of closed angle glaucoma, you won’t experience any pain ever.

Closed angle glaucoma happens out of nowhere and causes rapid vision loss and extreme pain. But people generally develop open angle glaucoma, which happens gradually with the passage of time. If you wear glasses on a daily basis, it is difficult to figure out if you are simply losing vision due to old age or if there is something a more severe going on, which may cause eye laser surgery.

Lately, you might have noticed a radical change in vision. If your vision is changing every year, which it generally does, then it is certainly not a big deal. However, if you have noticed a substantial change in your vision, you should get your eye checked instantly.

Once diagnosed with macular degeneration or glaucoma, you might discuss feasible treatment options with your eye specialist. There are various was to treat glaucoma efficiently, comprising of laser eye surgery, eye drops, eye transplantations and so on. The most vital concern with glaucoma is its detection. The sooner it gets detected, the faster you will be able to treat it. When glaucoma is treated properly, it is less detrimental. If you experience any other symptoms, book an appointment with your eye specialist. He will properly analyze your eye and let you know if you have glaucoma.