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Do you have nearsightedness? Perhaps you have farsightedness, double vision, glaucoma? Along with these already mentioned, crossed eyes, nightblindness, and cataracts will be defined and briefly discussed in this article.
Our eyes are our windows to the world. We surely would all agree that this is the last of the senses we would want to lose, but yet we often take our eyes and eyesight for granted.
Here are common eye and visual problems defined:
-Cataracts:
a vision impairing condition that usually occurs in older people. Diabetes and eye infections can also cause them. The protiens in our lens thicken and cause the lens to become cloudy. They aren't painful. Vision becomes blurry until the person is virtually blind if not taken care of. Eye exams show cataracts. They can be removed surgically for sight to be fully restored.
-Crossed eyes
babies may seem to have crossed eyes at birth but in actuality their eye muscles aren't strong enough to focus yet. This corrects itself quickly in most cases. If the muscle of the eye doesn't strengthen, the child stays with crossed eyes, called strabismus or lazy eye. The brain will turn off the message from the crossed eye and just read the strong eye's vision, so the lazy eye will stay weak and lazy. Special tests can be done and should be done as soon as the problem is recognized. The doctor may have the child wear a patch over the good eyeto make the lazy eye work to focus and strengthen. Also special glasses are used and in some cases surgery can correct the problem.
-Nightblindness
Nightblindness is not being able to see well at night, even seeing images that aren't there, like your eyes are playing tricks on you. Nightblindness can be an inherited visual defect, sign of an eye disease, or deficiency of Vitamin A. Vitamin A is needed to produce a pigment in the eye that allows you to see in dim light and at night. Vitamin A is found in liver, and yellow, orange and green vegetables.
-Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a serious eye disorder that can cause blindness. The symptoms include: blurred vision, seeing "halos" around lights, and pain and redness in the eye. What happens is your eye has its own circulatory system within it and with glaucoma the fluid in the eye cannot drain correctly and pressure builds up, pressing on the retina(is where images of what you see are focused) and optic nerve in the eye. It usually develops slowly; peripheral vision goes first. It is preventable if treated early enough. The test for it is that uncomfortable puff of air in your eye at the eye doctor. Treatment includes oral medication, eye drops and possibly surgery. Prevention is regular eye exams and testing.
-Nearsightedness
Simply means that you have trouble seeing things far away. This is when there is too much distance between the lens and the retina to focus a clear image. glasses or contacts correct this problem. There is also now a new surgery that can correct the problem. This is the type of visual problem most people have.
-Farsightedness
This is when objects close up are blurry but you can see objects far away just fine. This occurs when the is too little distance between the lens and the retina. As light comes through the cornea(the clear coating the covers the iris and pupil and it focuses light through the lens to the retina.)and lens, light is focused on the retina. Farsighted people need a strong lens in front of the eye to help focus things that are close up, like in reading. Glasses or contacts are the treatment.
-Double Vision
Double vision, also medically termed diplopia, is when one of the eyes doesn't focus on the same thing as the other eye. It can occur in people with crossed eyes, and also with vision problems such and nearsightedness and farsightedness, which have already been discussed. It can also be a symptom of a disease of the eye, affecting the nerve or the muscles of the eye, or by an injury. Double vision should always be checked by a doctor immediately.
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