Your eyes provide you with one of the most important senses of all. In just one glance, your eyes can give your brain crucial information. It’s important to keep them healthy to protect your sight.
According to Naper Grove Vision Care’s Downers Grove eye center, there are many common eye conditions that you should never ignore. If it’s been a while since you visited the eye doctor, you should make an appointment right away. Your optometrist can detect these conditions in their early stages, making them much easier to treat and save your vision.
Cataracts
Cataracts form a milky-white lens over the eye, usually as people age. Left untreated, cataracts can drastically reduce your vision. This common eye problem is easily treated through a very simple surgical procedure.
Dry Eyes
Dry eyes are very uncomfortable, a result of your tear glands being unable to make enough tears. Your eyes may feel itchy or burn when you suffer from this condition. However, the good news is that your optometrist can treat it with special eye drops or using plugs in your tear ducts.
Keratoconus
The cornea of your eye is dome-shaped, but when the collagen that holds it in place weakens, it can form a cone shape. Known as keratoconus, it can cause you to lose your vision when you don’t treat it early enough. This is why getting your eyes examined is essential, as your doctor will start treatment with eyeglasses. You may also need rigid contact lenses to help strengthen the cornea. Ultimately, the sooner you treat keratoconus, the less likely you’ll be to need a cornea transplant.
Diabetic Retinopathy
If you have diabetes, prolonged levels of high blood sugar can cause blindness when left untreated. Anyone who has prediabetes or has been diagnosed with type 1 or type 2 diabetes should make sure they visit their eye doctor to maintain proper vision. Treatment is available through laser surgery, which can help correct diabetic retinopathy.
Macular Degeneration
Macular degeneration is the leading cause of blindness in the area of the retina that perceives light. Women are most at risk, though aging and smoking can also cause the macula to degenerate. Fortunately, there are many ways to treat this eye condition when it is caught early, ranging from anti-angiogenic injections to laser therapy.
Glaucoma
This eye condition is caused by damage to the eye’s optic nerve. As it worsens over time and pressure builds up in the eye, the damage becomes worse. Your optic nerve is responsible for sending images to your brain, and damage to it will lead to permanent vision loss. There are no early symptoms and it doesn’t cause pain, which is why you must have your eyes checked at proper intervals to watch for glaucoma.
Refractive Errors
Perhaps the most common vision problems are caused by refractive errors. These happen when changes occur in the shape of the cornea or from the natural aging of the lens. Astigmatism, nearsightedness, and farsightedness are all caused by these errors and are commonly treated with prescription eyeglasses, contact lenses, or surgery.
Floaters
If you see tiny spots or specks that float through your field of vision, these are known as floaters. They are created by a protein deposit that drifts in front of the eye without blocking vision.
While floaters are usually benign, they can indicate more serious eye problems, particularly if you see light flashes along with them. These are more common for people over the age of 50, but if you start seeing more floaters, it’s a good idea to make an appointment with your optometrist to check for more serious issues.
