Healthy Eyes, Healthy You

Ophthalmologists treat a wide variety of eye-related medical conditions. Here are some of the more common diseases that they see in patients and how each of the diseases is treated.

Astigmatisms Require Corrective Lenses

The eye is intended to be a perfect sphere, but many people's eyes aren't perfectly round. Astigmatism occurs when the eye isn't entirely spherical, and the change in the eye's round shape affects how the eye refracts light. When the change is substantial enough, refraction interferes with vision.

The vision interference results in either nearsightedness or farsightedness. In nearsightedness, objects close to you appear clear but those far away are blurry. Farsightedness results in the opposite effect, with distant objects appearing clear but those near to you being blurred.

Both forms of vision interference are treated with corrective lenses, which can be either glasses or contacts. If you have an astigmatism in one or both eyes, an ophthalmologist can determine what prescription you need for corrective lenses and order them for you.

Cataracts Are Cured With Surgery

Cataracts are cloudy formations that form in the eye, and they result in cloudy vision. In severe cases that go untreated, cataracts can result in blindness. If they're treated, however, the impairment that's caused can usually be fully cured.

Ophthalmologists treat cataracts with surgery. The process is a fairly simple outpatient procedure, although it leaves the eyes extremely sensitive to light for a few days. Keeping lights dim and wearing special sunglasses can help with the light sensitivity that follow surgery, and the eyes will return to normal after a little while.

Conjunctivitis Is Treated With Medicine

Conjunctivitis is a highly contagious eye infection. Because it's contagious, the disease is most common in children. Adults can also get the disease, though. 

Conjunctivitis usually affects the white of the eye and the eyelid tissue. The disease actually doesn't cause vision impairment itself, but it makes the eyes extremely irritable and itchy for several days.

Ophthalmologists treat conjunctivitis with medication that's given via eyedrops. Usually, the disease resolves shortly after drops are administered a few times.

Macular Degeneration Is Mitigated With Ongoing Care

Macular degeneration is an irreversible condition in which the macula, which is the portion of the eye that's responsible for looking directly forward, degrades. The condition is frequently age-related.

Although there is no cure for macular degeneration, the condition can be mitigated if treated by an ophthalmologist. An ophthalmologist will provide ongoing care in order to delay degradation as much as possible.