Common Eye Health Conditions and Solutions
A variety of eye health conditions can affect us throughout life. Most can be treated or managed successfully, especially when diagnosed early. The most common include:
Myopia – ‘short-sightedness’ or ‘ I can’t see what’s on the TV’.
A very common condition where close objects are seen clearly but distant objects are blurry. You may find it hard to read road signs, see the TV or cinema screen clearly, recognise people in the distance or play ball games. Often people don’t realise they aren’t seeing clearly until they have an eye test. It’s often discovered when children have trouble seeing the blackboard clearly at school.
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Hyperopia – ‘long-sightedness’ or ‘ I read the newspaper with outstretched arms’.
Also quite common. If you’re long-sighted, typically (but not always) things in the distance are clear while close objects appear blurry. Other signs include: difficulty concentrating and keeping a clear focus on close objects, eye fatigue and/or headaches, aching or burning eyes.
In mild cases, your eyes may be able to compensate without corrective lenses. If not, your optometrist can prescribe glasses or contact lenses that allow the light to focus properly on the retina.
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Astigmatism – or ‘things look a little bit blurry’.
Astigmatism is not an eye disease, and doesn’t mean you have ‘bad eyes’, just that in most instances you have a different shaped cornea. It’s very common and most people have, at the very least, slight astigmatism.
A slight degree of astigmatism may not require corrective lenses. However, if it’s great enough to cause things like blurry vision or headaches, you’ll need prescription glasses and/or contact lenses.
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Presbyopia – or ‘pass me my reading glasses, dear’.
Another common condition. As you get older, the muscle in the eye changes so it can get harder to focus clearly on close objects. Typical signs include: needing to stretch your arms out to focus on newspapers or books, and if you’re over 40, experiencing eye strain or headaches when reading or doing close work.
These changes can often be corrected by glasses or contact lenses which will help give clear vision depending on age, lifestyle, occupation and hobbies.
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Some other eye conditions you should know about
Dry eyes
Dry eyes occur when not enough tears are produced, or there’s a problem with the chemical makeup of the tears. This can lead to one or more of the following symptoms: irritated, scratchy, itchy, dry or uncomfortable eyes; red, ‘burning’ or sore eyes; the feeling that something’s in your eyes; watery eyes and blurred vision.
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Spots or floaters
These are small specks or particles in the fluid of the eye (vitreous) that become noticeable when they move in the line of sight. They’re especially noticeable when looking at bright backgrounds. Almost everyone will see a few spots at some point in their life. They tend to be more common as you grow older. If you notice a sudden and immediate change, then best to contact your OPSM optometrist.
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Pterygium
A pterygium (pronounced te-ri-gi-um) is a raised spot of tissue that grows from the white part of the eye. It will often appear on both eyes (usually on the part of the eye closest to the nose) and is not dangerous. Wearing sunglasses and lenses with UV protection will often stabilise and slow down any further growth.
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Cataract
A cataract is a clouding of the lens that gets progressively worse over time and impacts vision. Symptoms include any of the following: haziness, blurred or distorted vision, colours that appear yellowed, dark spots or shadows that seem to move when the eye moves, and the need for more light to see clearly. For most people, cataracts are a natural result of ageing.
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Glaucoma
Glaucoma is an eye disease in which the nerve fibres at the back of the eye slowly die, leading to vision loss and blindness. It is often linked to a build-up of pressure inside the eye. Symptoms are minimal but in most cases, peripheral vision is slowly lost and may not become noticeable until quite advanced.
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Age-related macular degeneration
ARMD is the leading cause of blindness and occurs as a result of ageing. It can occur two ways: dry macular degeneration and wet macular degeneration. Most people with ARMD have dry ARMD, which is where waste accumulates at the back of your eye and causes central vision to gradually decrease.
Wet ARMD is more severe, causing new blood vessels to grow at the back of the eye. These newly formed vessels are fragile and often leak blood into the retina. The blood causes scarring, which can block out your central vision. There are also some other forms of macular degeneration that are inherited and not associated with ageing.
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Talk to your OPSM optometrist for more information and advice about any of these conditions.
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* This information is for general education only and may not be suitable for everyone. It is not intended to be optometric advice and if any of the issues raised effect you, we recommend you seek specific advice from your OPSM optometrist.