What You Need to Know About Eye Surgery
If you are experiencing eye symptoms like blurry vision, blindness, eye pain, cloudy vision and long or short-sightedness, visit an optometrist as soon as possible. Don't wait to see whether the symptoms will go away on their own; a delay might mean that your condition may worsen and require extensive and expensive treatment. It could also mean that you might become permanently blind, so the sooner you visit your optometrist, the better. Here's what an optometrist can do for you and when you might need eye surgery?
Visiting The Optometrist
Your optometrist asks you different questions to try and get details about your eye symptoms and your general health. He or she then proceeds to examine your eyes with the help of a Snellen chart, retina camera and an ophthalmoscope.
- A Snellen chart – This is a chart with letters and numbers. You are asked to read them while standing at different distances from the chart.
- A Retinal Camera or an Ophthalmoscope – These are pieces of equipment used to examine the interior surfaces of your eye.
From the examination, the optometrist can arrive at three diagnoses:
- You require prescription glasses to correct your long or short-sightedness.
- You have a minor eye disease that can be treated with medication, changes in diet or changes in behaviour.
- You have a serious eye condition that needs surgery.
Eye Surgery
If the optometrist finds that you have a serious eye condition that needs surgery, you are referred to an ophthalmologist, who is an eye doctor trained to carry out eye surgery.
Conditions that may require eye surgery include:
- Cataracts
Cataracts occur when your eye lens becomes clouded by protein deposits. They block light from entering your eye, meaning you might experience foggy or cloudy vision, which can lead to blindness if left untreated. Treatment is achieved through surgery, where the cataract surgeon replaces your natural lens with an artificial lens.
- Diabetic retinopathy that can lead to glaucoma and diabetic macular edema
Diabetic retinopathy occurs when excess blood sugar is deposited in the tiny vessels in your eye, causing a build-up in pressure that can damage the vessels.
If a blockage sits for too long, your eye is deprived of nutrients and starts to die slowly; you can even go blind. The condition is known as glaucoma. Surgery is required to unblock the vessels.
Sometimes, pressure build-up can tear or damage vessels, which can cause leakage. This leads to a condition known as diabetic macular edema. Surgery is required to repair the torn or damaged vessels.
For more information, reach out to a local eye surgeon.
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