Thursday, November 27, 2008

Eye Diseases That Should Be Detected With Yearly Check ups

Would it not be great if everyone had healthy, strong eyes? No one would need corrective lenses or have to worry about certain eye diseases. But this is not a perfect world and many people do not have perfect eyes. This is why it is imperative to visit an eye care professional at least once a year to have your visual acuity checked and to determine if you are at risk for certain eye diseases or disorder.

Eye diseases can forever change your way of life. It is far more than just having an astigmatism, myopia or hyperopia. Certain diseases can end your eyesight for good. Most slowly creep up on a person until their vision is so distorted they can no longer see correctly. A simple eye examination can uncover whether or not you have an eye disease and the eye doctor can give you options on how soon it can be treated.

There are a variety of diseases that affect the eye. These range from ocular herpes to macular degeneration. Ocular herpes occurs when the herpes virus makes its way to the surface of the eye. This condition could lead to clouded and scarred lenses or severe eye discomfort. It is generally treated by oral and topical, antiviral medications. Macular degeneration is another disease that affects eyesight. It is where the center of the eye thins, suffers atrophy or bleeding. This disease is treated with injections.

Eye examinations may also show whether or not you have glaucoma, cataracts, retinal detachment or diabetic retinopathy. If you have glaucoma, then the pressure of the inner eye increases and can lead to blindness. The only way to correct this problem is through surgery to eliminate the pressure. Cataracts develop when the lens becomes cloudy and you can no longer distinguish shapes from backgrounds. It can lead to blindness as well. The treatment for this disease involves an eye care professional removing the clouded lens and replacing it with a plastic lens.

Retinal detachment and diabetic retinopathy are diseases discovered through an in-depth eye examination. Retinal detachment occurs when the retina has detached from the rest of the eye. This condition is corrected by making a bridge so that the retina can heal. Diabetic retinopathy occurs when blood vessels are present in large numbers on the surface of the eye. Treatment by an eye care professional involves shrinking the blood vessels to help improve vision.

Having any one of the above eye diseases can mean a diminished quality of life. These are serious conditions that could mean the difference between seeing clearly and not seeing at all. Far too many people ignore their vision problems and do not have yearly checkups. You do not want to be one of these people. Make an appointment with an optical eye care doctor as soon as possible to have your eyes checked out. You will be glad you did.

Eye care is relatively simple. You make yearly check-up visits with your vision care specialist and you purchase the recommended eye glasses or more likely, contact lenses. However, are you aware that you can buy contact lenses online far cheaper than offered to you by your eye care specialist?

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