Astigmatism

Astigmatism is a refractive condition that occurs when the front surface of your eye, the cornea, is slightly irregular in shape. The cornea is similar in shape to a football as opposed to round like a basketball. This irregular shape prevents light from focusing properly on the retina as a result, two focus points occur and your vision may be blurred at all distances. People with severe astigmatism will usually have blurred or distorted vision, while those with mild astigmatism may experience headaches, eye strain, or blurred vision at certain distances.

Eyeglasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery can be prescribe or performed to correct astigmatism by altering the way the light images enter your eyes.

Floaters are small strands or particles within the vitreous (jelly-like fluid) that fills the inside of your eyes. They are often various shapes and sizes, thread-like strands or cobwebs. Since they are inside your eyes, they move as your eyes move and seem to dart away when you try to look at them directly. Floaters are often caused by protein or other matter trapped during the formation of your eyes before birth. They can also result from the natural aging of the vitreous fluid, which causes it to liquefy resulting in the bag that contains the vitreous(jelly-like fluid) to pull away from the retina. This bag will clump together and can cause sudden large floaters that can be very annoying. There is no treatment for floaters, but can indicate more serious problems if they are associated with sudden flashes of lights.

Hyperopia is a refractive condition of the eye, in which the light rays are focused behind the retina, resulting in distance objects appearing clear and near object not coming into proper focus. This condition occurs if the eyeball is to short or the curvature of the cornea is not steep enough. Common signs of farsightedness include difficulty in concentrating and maintaining a clear focus on near objects, aching or burning eyes and/or headaches after close work. In minimal prescriptions of farsightedness, your eyes may be able to compensate without corrective lenses if not, eyeglasses or contact lenses can be prescribe to correct farsightedness by altering the way the light images enter your eyes.

 

Lazy eye, or amblyopia, is the lack of development of the visual pathways to the brain resulting in poor central vision in one eye. It does not affect side vision and is not correctable with lenses unless caught at an early age and treated. Lazy eye is often associated with failure to use both eyes together or a large difference in the prescription between the two eyes. Symptoms may include noticeably favoring one eye or a tendency to bump into objects due to poor depth perception. Symptoms of Amblyopia are not always obvious. The American Optometric Association recommends that children have a comprehensive optometric examination by the age of six months and again at age three. Treatment for lazy eye may include a combination of surgery, prescription lenses, eye patching, prisms, and vision therapy. Early diagnosis increases the chance for a complete recovery.

 

Near Sighted (Myopia)

Myopia is a refractive condition of the eye, in which the light rays are focused in front of the retina, resulting in near objects appearing clear and distance object not coming into proper focus. This condition occurs if the eyeball is to long or the curvature of the cornea is to steep. Nearsightedness generally develops before age 20. It normally first occurs in school age children and increases as the eye continues to grow during childhood. Some evidence supports the theory that nearsightedness is hereditary, and there is also growing evidence that nearsightedness may be caused by the stress of too much close vision work. Eyeglasses, contact lenses, or refractive surgery (laser) can be prescribe or performed to correct nearsightedness by altering the way the light images enter your eyes.

Presbyopia is a vision condition in which the crystalline lens of your eye loses its flexibility, which makes it difficult for you to focus on close objects. Presbyopia usually becomes noticeable in the early to mid-forties. It is a natural part of the aging process of the eye and affects everyone. Signs of presbyopia include the tendency to push reading materials further away, eye fatigue and headaches when doing close work.

Reading glasses, bifocals, trifocals, or contact lenses may be prescribed to compensate for presbyopia. You may only need to wear your glasses for near work like reading, but you may find that wearing them all the time is more convenient and beneficial for your vision needs.

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