Comprehensive Ophthalmology
Cataract
About Cataracts
- A film over the eye
- Caused by overuse of your eyes
- Spread from eye to another
Symptoms
- Blurred vision
- Sensitivity to light
- Frequent changes in your eyeglass prescription
- Changes in your color vision (yellow, orange and red may appear brighter; blue appears duller)
- Double vision in one eye
- Needing brighter light to read
- Trouble driving at night
Detection and Prevention
Treatment
Prescription Glasses If a cataract is mild, a new prescription for eyeglasses may be all you need.
Cataract Extraction Surgery When glasses are no longer able to improve your vision, surgery is the only way to restore it. During cataract surgery, the cloudy lens is removed and often replaced with a permanent lens implant.
Cornea and External Disease
About the Cornea
FUNCTION OF THE CORNEA
- It helps to shield the rest of the eye from germs, dust, and other harmful matter. The cornea shares this protective task with the eyelids, the eye socket, tears, and the white part of the eye (sclera).
- The cornea acts as the eye’s outermost lens. It functions like a window that controls and focuses the entry of light into the eye. The cornea contributes between 65-75 percent of the eye’s total focusing power.
INJURIES, DISEASES AND DISORDERS
- Allergies
- Conjunctivitis (Pink Eye)
- Corneal Infections
- Dry Eye
- Fuchs’ Dystrophy
- Corneal Dystrophies
- Herpes Zoster (Shingles)
- Iridocorneal Endothelial Syndrome
- Keratoconus
- Lattice Dystrophy
- Map-Dot-Fingerprint Dystrophy
- Ocular Herpes
- Pterygium
- Refractive Errors
- Stevens-Johnson Syndrome
TREATMENT
DIAGNOSTIC IMAGING & TESTING
ELECTROPHYSIOLOGY
- Electroretinography (ERG)
- Visually Evoked Potential (VEP)
- Electrooculography (EOG)
- Electroretinography (ERG)
PHOTOGRAPHY/ANGIOGRAPHY
- Fundus photography
- Fluorescein and indo-cyanine green (ICG) angiography
- Slit-lamp photography
- OR photography
- HD Digital video imaging
- Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT)
- Scanning laser ophthalmoscope (SLO)
ULTRASOUND
GLAUCOMA
About Glaucoma
- African Americans over age 40
- Anyone over age 60
- People with a family history of glaucoma
Detection and Prevention
Treatment
- Eye drops
- Oral medications
- Laser surgery
- Conventional surgery
Types of Glaucoma
NEURO-OPHTHALMOLOGY
OPHTHALMIC PLASTIC SURGERY
Eyelid and Orbital Tumors
- Basal cell carcinoma
- Squamous cell carcinoma
- Sebaceous carcinoma
- Melanoma
Thyroid Eye Disease
Tearing Eye Problems
Eyelid Malpositions
Blepharoptosis (or Ptosis) is a drooping of the upper eyelid that can affect an individual’s line of sight. Common causes include age, detachment or stretching of the eyelid muscle (levator muscle) nerve damage, and trauma. This condition can occur in children and adults and is treated with surgical lift of the eyelid.
Dermatochalasis is excessive skin in the eyelid, and may involve upper or lower eyelids. When excessive in the upper lids, it may affect an individual’s line of sight.
Ectropion is the outward turning of an eyelid, usually the lower lid. The out-turning of the eyelid exposes part of the inner lid and the eye to the air causing dry eyes, blurred vision, tired burning eyes, red eyes and eyelids and sometimes tearing.
Entropion is the inward turning of the eyelid, usually the lower lid, resulting in eyelashes and skin to rub against the eye’s surface. Irritation, pain and damage to the surface of the eye may occur. Left untreated, permanent scarring and loss of vision is possible.
Eyelid retraction may be caused by several conditions including Graves’ disease, scar tissue and previous surgery. This condition shortens the eyelids vertically, exposes the eye to the air thereby causing decreased vision and irritation.
OPHTHALMIC TRAUMA
Pediatric Ophthalmology & Adult Strabismus
Vision Correction Surgery
LASIK
PRK
LASEK
VITREORETINAL DISEASES & SURGERY
Diabetic Retinopathy
Macular Degeneration
Retinal Vascular Occlusions
Detached Retinas
Macular Holes
Optometry
Low Vision
- Magnifying spectacles are stronger than ordinary glasses. They require that reading material be held very close otherwise the print is out of focus. This position may feel awkward at first, but the awkwardness can be overcome with some initial effort. Designed for close work, magnifying spectacles leave both hands free to hold reading material.
- Hand magnifiers are familiar to most people. They allow you to hold reading material at a normal distance.
- Stand magnifiers rest on the reading material and are used with a near spectacle correction (for example, the bottom part of bifocal glasses). Some have a self-contained light source.
- Telescopes are used for distance magnification. They may be handheld for viewing distant objects such as street signs, or mounted in spectacles.
- Closed circuit television produces an enlarged image on a television screen. With the added advantage of adjustable magnification and contrast, a closed circuit television is often easier to use and less fatiguing than other aids.
- Large print books, newspapers and magazines
- Check writing guides
- Large playing card
- Enlarged telephone dials and high contrast watch faces
- Auditory aids, such as machines that talk (timers, clocks, computers) and even machines that scan print and read aloud, are also available.
- Your local State Commission for the Blind and Visually Impaired
- Commission for the Blind 1-800-292-4200
- American Foundation for the Blind, New York, NY, 1-800-AFB-BLIND
- National Association for Visually Handicapped
- National Library Service for the Blind and Physically Handicapped, Library of Congress, Washington, DC
- National Center for Vision and Aging, The Lighthouse, New York, NY 1-800-334-5497
- Dialogue Publications, Berwyn, IL