Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease that damages the optic nerve of your eye’s. Usually, it occurs when fluid builds up in the front part of your eye. That extra fluid accumulate in the front of your eyes, increases the pressure of eye, damaging the optic nerve. Glaucoma is a number one cause of blindness for people over 60 years old. But blindness from glaucoma can often be prevented with early treatment.
Types of glaucoma
There are two types of glaucoma.
- Open Angle Glaucoma
- Angle Closure Glaucoma
Open-Angle Glaucoma
Open angle is the most common type of glaucoma. This type of Glaucome happens slowly, where the eye does not drain fluid as well as it should and eye pressure builds up and starts damaging the optic nerve. This type of glaucoma is pain free and causes no vision changes at the beginning.
Regular eye examinations are very important to find early signs of damage to their optic nerve.
Angle-closure glaucoma
Angle closure glaucoma happens when patient’s iris is very close to the drainage angle in their eye. As a result iris can block the drainage angle. It is like when a piece of tissue or paper covers a sink drain. When the drainage angle gets completely blocked, eye pressure rises quickly. This is called an Acute Attack. It is very painful and It is a true eye emergency. In this case you should call your optometrist or ophthalmologist right away or you might go blind.
Here are the signs of an acute angle-closure glaucoma attack:
1. Blurry Vision
2. Severe eye pain
3. Headache
4. Nausea
5. Vomit
6. You see rainbow-colored rings or halos around lights
Fast facts on glaucoma:
1. Glaucoma has been called the silent thief of sight.
2. The main types of glaucoma are open-angle and closed-angle.
3. Age and thyroid problems increase the risk of glaucoma.
4. Symptoms can include severe eye pain.
5. Treatment includes surgery and medications.
Many people with angle-closure glaucoma develop it gradually and slowly. This is called chronic angle-closure glaucoma. There are no symptoms at first, so they don’t know they have it until the damage is severe or they have an attack.
Angle-closure glaucoma can cause blindness if not treated right away.
Having yearly eye examination is very important to detect any abnormality in your eyes.
To book an appointment, please call 905-832-6262 or send us an email to eyesoneyesoptical@yahoo.ca
Please click here for more info.
Lazy Eye
Lazy eye is an early childhood condition in which a child's eyesight does not develop as it should in one eye. Lazy eye is also known as Amblyopia.
When a child has lazy eye, the brain only focuses on a good eye more than the other, practically ignoring the lazy eye. If that eye is not activated properly, the nerve cells responsible for vision do not mature normally.
Lazy eye affects approximately %2 of all children in north of America. Lazy eye is the most common cause of partial or total blindness in one eye.
- Lazy eye is not a problem with the eye. The term "lazy eye" is misleading because the eye is not lazy. In fact, it is a developmental problem in the nerve connecting the eye to the brain, not a problem in the eye itself. Lazy eye can be caused by a number of factors, including a muscle imbalance or eye disease. Cure can be effective if it begins earlier when child is younger.
- Symptoms of lazy eye includes blurred vision and poor depth perception. After child is 8 years of age, vision improvement drops somewhat but still can be effective.
- Many children who have unequal vision, or an isometropia, do not know they have an eye problem because the stronger eye and the brain compensate for the shortfall. The weaker eye gets progressively worse, and amblyopia develops.
- A child with near-sightedness, far-sightedness, or astigmatism will be prescribed glasses. The child with Lazy eye have to wear spectacle at all the time so that the specialist can monitor how effective they are at improving the vision problems. Spectacles may also correct an eye turn. Sometimes, glasses can solve the lazy eye, and no more treatment is required.
How to Fix Lazy Eye or Amblyopia
Early treatment of lazy eye is usually easy with wearing eyeglasses, vision therapy, Atropine drops, eye patching. Detection and correction before the age of two or at younger age is considered to get the best result. Neuroscience has proven that the human brain can change at any age, so lazy eye is treatable at any age. Studies on neuroplasticity of the brain in adults are now showing that therapies can improve the vision in lazy eye conditions in older children and adults.
Treatment of amblyopia after the age of 17 is not dependent upon age but requires more effort including vision therapy. Every patient with lazy eye deserves an attempt at treatment.
Exercises help to correct vision. Usually the stronger eye may be patched, and the weaker eye stimulated with a range of vision-intensive activities, such as coloring, dot-to-dot drawing, word games, or building Lego, depending on the age of the child. People with Lazy eye, recommend to do an eye exam every year with optometrist or Ophthomologist. Eye examination for people with lazy eye is covered by Ohip.
