Common Eye Problems

CHICAGO, IL, September 15, 2012 (Press-News.org) Few of us are born with perfect eyesight. Even if you have no major eye conditions at a young age, you may develop certain disorders or diseases as you grow older. Understanding these common eye problems and learning how to recognize the signs of their onset can help you keep them at bay with the help of your ophthalmologist in the future.

Eye Disorders

Most people have some form of the following eye disorders:

- Myopia (nearsightedness) - You can clearly see objects up close, but objects at a distance are blurry.
- Hyperopia (farsightedness) - You find objects up close are blurry.
- Astigmatism - Both near and far objects are blurry.

These three eye disorders are typically corrected with glasses and contact lenses. However, dependence on eyewear can limit a person's daily activities, which is why more and more people are choosing to correct their eyesight with LASIK eye surgery and other forms of Laser Vision Correction. One of the great benefits of Laser Vision Correction is an increase in peripheral vision when no longer dependent on glasses. Also, the risk of blindness is much lower with LASIK than that from wearing contact lenses. Less than one in one million people who have LASIK go blind, while about one in 40,000 people wearing contact lenses go blind.

Eye Diseases

Eye diseases differ from eye disorders in that they can threaten not only your eyesight, but your eye health, as well. You will become more susceptible to the following eye diseases as you age:

- Glaucoma - The second most common cause of blindness in the United States. Glaucoma involves the buildup of too much fluid in the eye, causing pressure that damages your optic nerve.
- Cataracts - A clouding of the eye that occurs over time, reducing the transparency of your eye's natural lens. This leads to a slow decrease in vision and many have significant glare issues as the cataracts start to grow.
- Macular degeneration - A disease of the retina that results in loss of vision in the center of your eye's visual field (called the macula). People with macular degeneration maintain their central vision, but lose the ability to read and identify faces.
- Diabetic retinopathy - If you have diabetes, oxygen may have a hard time getting to certain areas of your retina which can lead to the growth of new blood vessels on the retina. These new blood vessels are not as strong as normal vessels and can leak, bleed, or leave fatty deposits on the retina, resulting in loss of vision.

Eye infections are also possible if your eye is scratched or injured in any way. In order to treat eye diseases, or prevent the onset of serious problems, you should have your eyes regularly examined by an experienced ophthalmologist. By taking precautions now, you can help preserve your eyesight later in life.

Dr. Golden suggests that children be examined before they start school. Those that need glasses should be seen every year until they stop growing. Other children can be seen every two to three years as long as they have no visual complaints. Dr. Golden suggest eye examinations every two years for adults without eye problems and encourages everyone over the age of 45 to be seen on a yearly basis.

If you have further questions about eye conditions and diseases, please visit the website of experienced Chicago eye doctor Dr. Mark Golden at Doctors For Visual Freedom today at www.doctorsforvisualfreedom.com.