General Eye Care

Eye allergies are a common condition that affects up to 50 million Americans, causing redness, tearing and many other symptoms that can impair a patient’s vision and affect their overall quality of life.

Patients with eye allergies often experience:

These symptoms are caused by triggers in the air, such as pollen, mold, dust or pet dander; or by certain foods or medications, which can cause a different type of allergy. 

These triggers affect the conjunctiva, the clear layer of skin over the eyes that is similar to the area of skin on the inside surface of the nose, another common source of allergy symptoms. 

Treating eye allergies can most effectively be done by avoiding the specific triggers that cause your symptoms. If avoidance is not possible, patients can apply cold compresses to the eyes or use artificial tears or over-the-counter medication to relieve symptoms. Prescription eye drops or oral medications may also be recommended to relieve symptoms of eye allergies.

Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, is an eye condition that results in reduced vision in one eye. This condition affects two to three percent of the population as a result of genetic causes, related conditions or trauma. When this condition occurs, the unaffected eye usually becomes stronger and suppresses the amblyopic eye, often rendering it useless.

Patients with amblyopia may experience eye strain, squinting, headaches and overall poor vision. This condition usually develops in children before the age of six, and can significantly affect central vision if left untreated. While many cases are caused by a misalignment of the eyes, such as strabismus or crossed eyes, amblyopia can also be caused by trauma to the eye or a very strong refractive error (the need for glasses).

Effective treatment for amblyopia depends on the underlying cause of the condition. Eye drops and patching may also be prescribed. More serious cases or those that do not respond to conservative treatment may need surgery to straighten the eyes so that they can focus together and see properly.

Astigmatism occurs when the cornea, the front surface of the eye, is more curved in one direction and causes blurred vision. The cornea refracts (bends) light so it focuses on the retina in the back of the eye. With astigmatism, some of that light focuses in front of or behind the retina, so your vision may be blurry for nearby (hyperopia), far-away (myopia) or all objects. 

Indications of astigmatism can include headaches, eye strain, fatigue, and blurred or distorted vision. The severity of symptoms depends on the degree of astigmatism in your eyes.

Routine eye exams include testing for astigmatism, which affects many people. Once diagnosed, astigmatism can usually be corrected with prescription eyeglasses or contact lenses. Corneal modification techniques such as LASIK (laser vision correction) are also useful treatment options. 

Blepharitis is a chronic inflammation of the eyelids and eyelash follicles. It may be caused by seborrheic dermatitis, acne, bacterial infection, allergic reaction or poor eyelid hygiene. The eyes may become swollen, red, blurry or tear frequently. The eyelids crust, flake, scale or redden, and the smooth inside lining of the lids may become rough. In more serious cases, sores can form when the crusting skin is removed, the eyelashes may fall out, the eyelids can deform, the infection can spread to the cornea, and patients often suffer from excessive tearing. Blepharitis can also cause styes, chalazions and problems with the tear film.

Treatment and preventative care for blepharitis involves thorough but gentle cleaning of the eyelids. Warm compresses can be applied to loosen crust and baby shampoo can help keep the eyelids clear. This may be combined with antibiotics if a bacterial infection is causing or contributing to the problems. 

Dacryostenosis, commonly known as a blocked tear duct, is a result of an improperly formed tear duct that obstructs the tear drainage system. The tear duct, or nasolacrimal duct, drains tears from the eye to the inside of the nose. When the duct cannot drain the tears, they have nowhere to go and may collect in the eye and cause irritation. This common condition affects up to 20 percent of newborn babies.

Tear ducts that are blocked from birth usually clear up on their own within a year. Symptoms may not be noticeable until after a few weeks, but can include tears pooling in the eyes or draining down the eyelid and cheeks, discharge from the eye or reddening of the skin around the area. These symptoms may only be noticeable when tears are stimulated, such as while crying or in cold or windy weather.

Treatment for a blocked tear duct is usually simple and may include massaging the tear duct or antibiotics if an infection is present. Most blockages will be cleared on their own by the time the child is a year old. Surgery may be required, but is rare.

Blocked tear ducts occasionally occur in adults, due to inflammation, infection, scarring, etc. This may be treated by probing and dilation of the duct or, sometimes, by surgery.

Conjunctivitis, more commonly known as pink eye, is an infection and inflammation of the conjunctiva, the membrane that lines the eyelid and eyeball. The inflammation affects the blood vessels and gives the eye a pink or red appearance.

Pink eye is caused by a bacterial or viral infection and can be contagious, so diagnosis and proper treatment are important. It can also be caused by an allergic reaction or a foreign object in the eye. Symptoms of pink eye include redness and itchiness in one or both eyes, along with a discharge that may turn into a crust overnight. Excess tearing can also occur.

Treatment for pink eye depends on the cause. Your doctor may prescribe antibiotic eye drops or recommend over-the-counter drugs.

When patients decide to get contact lenses for the first time, they are faced with a wide range of choices and responsibilities. Contacts offer patients an improved field of vision and eliminate wet or foggy lenses as they move with your eyes. There are many different types of contacts, including rigid and flexible, extended wear, disposable and planned replacement lenses. Some can be made as bifocals or in different colors. After a comprehensive eye exam and discussion of your eye condition, your doctor will help you decide which type of contacts is right for you.

Fitting

As each person’s eye is a different size and shape, so are the contact lenses that cover it. In order to achieve optimal levels of vision correction and comfort, patients must be fitted for contact lenses so that your doctor can prescribe the right kind for your individual eyes.

Contact lens fitting is done by measuring the corneal diameter and curvature to ensure centered and stable vision. This is done with an instrument called a keratometer, which is a machine like a digital camera that measures the curvature of the cornea and produces K-readings. Additional measurements, known as corneal topography, are sometimes taken to create a map of the eye and determine the best fit.

Cleaning and Care

Along with their many advantages, contact lenses also come with many responsibilities, as patients must regularly clean and care for their lenses to ensure the highest level of vision and to protect the eye from disease or infection. This is done by cleaning and disinfecting your contacts once a day, and changing the contacts as dictated by what type of lenses you are wearing. Cleaning and care can be significantly reduced by wearing disposable lenses that are thrown out at the end of the day.

Although tears are necessary to lubricate the eyes and wash away foreign bodies and other particles, some people produce too many tears or cannot drain them properly, leading to excess tearing or watery eyes.

Tearing of the eyes can be caused by several different factors, including:

Treatment for watery eyes depends on the underlying cause of the condition, but can often be treated at home. Artificial tears or anti-histamines may be recommended to treat dry eyes or allergies, while other causes may require antibiotics or even surgery to relieve symptoms.

Farsightedness, or hyperopia, is the condition in which the eye focuses on distant objects better than on objects closer to the eye, so nearby objects appear blurry. This happens when light rays refract, or bend, incorrectly in the eye. The eye is designed to focus images directly on the surface of the retina; when the cornea is incorrectly curved, light rays focus behind the surface of the retina, producing a blurry image.

Hyperopia can be treated in a variety of ways. The most common is a pair of reading glasses or contact lenses. Hyperopia can also be treated with invasive or non-invasive medical procedures, including the laser surgeries PRK (photorefractive keratectomy) and LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis). 

Myopia, or nearsightedness, is a vision condition affecting nearly a third of people in the United States. The eye focuses properly on nearby objects, while distant objects appear blurry. This imbalance typically occurs either because the eye has an oblong shape (astigmatism) or the cornea is excessively curved, so that only some of the light entering the eye focuses on the retina.

Nearsightedness may be hereditary. The most telling symptom is difficulty seeing objects in the distance, for example a chalkboard or television screen. Nearsightedness usually develops before the age of 20.

Eye exams test the degree of nearsightedness so your ophthalmologist can prescribe glasses or contact lenses, which help to properly bend light entering the eye. Other procedures, such as refractive or laser surgery, may also be helpful.

Presbyopia is a natural change in our eyes' ability to focus. It occurs when the soft crystalline lens of the eye starts to harden. This loss of flexibility affects the lens' ability to focus light in the eye, causing nearby objects to look blurry. Presbyopia happens to everyone starting in about our 40s or 50s -- even in patients who have had laser vision correction.

The effects of presbyopia can be corrected with glasses or contact lenses, including bifocals and multifocals; multifocal lens implantation, including Crystalens™, ReZoom® and ReSTOR®; conventional surgery; and monovision LASIK. Laser surgeries such as conventional LASIK, PRK and LASIK cannot correct presbyopia because they reshape the cornea rather than treat the lens. 

Strabismus, or crossed eyes, is the term for when a person cannot align both eyes on an object at the same time. The condition occurs in about 5% of children, and many adults suffer from it as well. Strabismus can be congenital (present from birth) or acquired from eye injury, diabetes, stroke and other conditions. Strabismus may manifest at first as double vision. If left untreated, it can lead to visual impairment, loss of binocular vision, and blindness in the weaker eye. For children, early treatment is best, preferably before the age of six. Older patients can be helped as well; it's never too late to seek treatment. Strabismus treatment often includes prescribing glasses and exercising the eye muscles.

Eye injuries refer to any type of trauma that occurs in or near the eye, and may be a result of an accident, scratch, puncture or contamination. An eye injury can be a traumatic event for patients of all ages, and may cause swelling, redness, bleeding, pain and other troubling symptoms.

Depending on the type and severity of the injury, treatment may include ice, antibiotics, anti-inflammatory medication or surgery. Treatment should be sought as soon as possible, as severe eye injuries can sometimes lead to permanent damage. The best treatment against eye injuries is to prevent them from occurring in the first place by protecting your eyes and taking safety precautions whenever necessary.