Myopia (Nearsightedness)
Myopia occurs when the cornea and lens focus light in front of the retina instead of right on it. The resulting image is blurry, and vision correction with glasses or contacts is necessary.
Causes
- Cornea is too steep
- Lens is too powerful
Symptoms
- Blurry vision at distance
- Typically clear vision up close
Diagnosis
A comprehensive eye exam with refraction will help to detect myopia in children and adults at any age.
Treatment
Once the exact prescription is determined, myopia can be corrected in a variety of ways including:
- Glasses
- Soft and hard contact lenses
- Refractive surgery
- PRELEX
Hyperopia (Farsightedness)
Hyperopia occurs when the cornea and lens focus light behind the retina instead of right on it. The resulting image is blurry, and vision correction with glasses or contacts is necessary.
Causes
- Cornea is too flat
- Lens is too weak
Symptoms
- Blurry vision at near
- Typically clear vision at a distance
Diagnosis
A comprehensive eye exam with refraction will help to detect hyperopia in children and adults at any age.
Treatment
Once the exact prescription is determined, hyperopia can be corrected in a variety of ways including.
- Glasses
- Soft and hard contact lenses
- Refractive surgery
Astigmatism
Astigmatism occurs when the cornea is more oval or football shaped instead of being a perfect sphere. The resulting vision is often blurry and distorted. Mild forms of astigmatism my not need correction, but the stronger the prescription gets, the more patients become dependent on glasses to see.
Causes
- Natural shape of the cornea or lens
- Trauma, scarring
- Infections
- History of eye surgery
Symptoms
- Distorted vision at distance or near.
Diagnosis
A comprehensive eye exam with refraction will help to detect astigmatism in children and adults at any age.
Treatment
Once the exact amount of astigmatism is determined, it is corrected based on severity.
- Mild astigmatism may not be noticeable by the patient and can be left uncorrected.
- Moderate to severe astigmatism can be corrected with special toric soft contacts or might require rigid gas permeable lenses.
- Refractive surgery can be used arcuate incisions can be used.
- Acrysof Toric IOL can be used.
Presbyopia
The human lens has a natural ability to change its shape or accommodate in order to focus on objects up close. In our 20’s and 30’s, we are able to accommodate without difficulty. Presbyopia occurs when the lens no longer has the ability to change shape, thereby requiring the use of reading glasses to compensate.
Symptoms
- loss of ability to read or focus on the computer
- preserved distance vision
- eye strain or headache after prolonged concentration up close
- difficulty changing focus from distance to near
Diagnosis
A comprehensive eye exam with attention to vision at distance and near will help diagnose presbyopia; exact prescription needed to correct vision for near will also be calculated.
Treatment
- Over-the-counter reading glasses are adequate for those who still have good vision without correction for distance; otherwise bifocal correction is needed and can be achieved through glasses or contacts
- PRELEX
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