About Your Eyes

Dry Eye Syndrome (Keratoconjunctivitis Sicca)

Dry Eye SyndromeThe tears your eyes produce are necessary for overall eye health and clear vision. However, more than 10 million people in the USA suffer from moderate to severe dry eye syndrome, and an estimated 15 to 20 million have a milder form of the condition. Nearly 5 million people are unable to wear contact lenses because of dry eye.

Dry eye can affect men and women of any age. At particular risk are those who:

Symptoms may include irritated, scratchy, dry, uncomfortable, or red eyes, a burning sensation, light sensitivity, blurred vision or feeling of something foreign in your eyes. Excessive dry eyes may damage eye tissue, scar your cornea (the front covering of your eyes) and impair vision and make contact lens wear difficult.

Dry Eye Syndrome has many causes. Dry eye can be part of the natural aging process; however, it can also be caused by blinking or eyelid problems; medications like antihistamines, oral contraceptives and antidepressants; a dry climate; wind and dust. Other causes of dry eyes can also be the result of an inflammatory process affecting both the lacrimal gland (the gland that produces tears) and the surface of the eye or other general health problems like arthritis or Sjogren’s syndrome.

If you have symptoms of dry eye, see our optometrists for a comprehensive examination. Although there is currently no cure for dry eye, treatments include:

Diabetes

Normal VisionDiabetic retinopathy is a condition in which the small blood vessels in the eye’s retina weaken as a result of poorly managed Diabetes. These vessels may begin to swell, bleed, or develop abnormal brush-like branches. In the early stages, this may cause blurred vision, or they may produce no visual symptoms at all. As the disease progresses, you may notice a cloudiness of vision, blind spots, or floaters.

Diabetic RetinopathyIf left untreated, diabetic retinopathy can cause blindness, which is one reason why it is important to have your eyes examined regularly by your doctor of optometry. This is especially true if you are a diabetic or if you have a family history of diabetes. For more information, please visit http://www.aoa.org/diabetic-retinopathy.xml.

Cataracts

Cataracts occur as the lens becomes cloudy and slowly over time, causes your vision to dim. Cataracts are most often found in persons over the age of 55. Early symptoms experience may be glare and/or difficulty driving at night. As this condition continues, it may require a corrective lens change through surgical removal.

Macular Degeneration

Macular Degeneration is a disease that obscures a person's central field of vision. It is the leading cause of vision loss and blindness for seniors in North America. Early detection is key in managing this disease.

Computer Vision Syndrome

American Optometric Association Check Yearly. See Clearly.

Computer Vision SyndromeComputer Vision Syndrome (CVS) is "the complex problem of eye and vision problems related to near work which are experienced during or related to computer use." We will assess your workplace environment (ergonomics) as well as conduct a number of tests to determine visual efficiency. Complaints associated with computer use comprise Eye, Vision, Behavioral and Physical components, each of which will be examined.

If you are interested in a CVS work-up, please specify this when setting up your appointment.

Your Child's Eyes

Studies have shown that 80% of learning takes place through vision! Studies have shown that 80% of learning takes place through vision!
Good vision is critical to learning, yet studies indicate that more than 20 percent of kindergarten children have vision problems, and this number climbs to between 30 and 40 percent by the time these children reach high school graduation. Vision problems may keep many children from graduating from high school, as more than 70 percent of juvenile delinquents and 60 percent of adults in literacy programs have vision problems (Section on learning courtesy of the Eye Care Council).

Children as young as six months can be checked and accurately diagnosed. At six months old, our optometrist will test eye movement ability as well as eye health problems. By age 3, your child should have their second thorough eye exam. Our optometrist will reassess your child's visual system to confirm the absence of any eye disease, as well as monitor the continued growth and efficiency of their visual skill development. The next exam should take place before their first day of school and then continue annually. Keep in mind that with early detection and treatment, many vision problems are reversible and in some cases preventable.

Amblyopia

Amblyopia, commonly known as lazy eye, is the eye condition in which reduced vision is not correctable by glasses or contact lenses and is not due to any eye disease. The brain, for some reason, does not fully acknowledge the images seen by the amblyopic eye. This almost always affects only one eye but may manifest with reduction of vision in both eyes. It is estimated that three percent of children under six have some form of amblyopia.

Causes of Lazy Eye
Anything that interferes with clear vision in either eye during the critical period (birth to 6 years of age) can cause amblyopia. The most common causes of amblyopia are constant strabismus (constant turn of one eye), anisometropia (different vision/prescriptions in each eye), and/or blockage of an eye due to cataract, trauma, lid droop, etc.

Amblyopia is a neurologically active process. In other words, the loss of vision takes place in the brain. If one eye sees clearly and the other sees a blur, the brain can ignore the use of the eye with the blur. The brain can also suppress one eye to avoid double vision. The inhibition process (suppression) is dangerous because it can result in permanent vision loss and loss of depth perception that can not be corrected with glasses, lenses, or lasik surgery.

Detection and Diagnosis of Lazy Eye
An eye exam by a pediatrician or the 20/20 eye chart screening is not adequate for the detection of amblyopia (and other visual conditions). The most important diagnostic tools are the special visual acuity tests other than the 20/20 letter charts currently used by schools, pediatricians, and eye doctors. Examination with dilation can be necessary to detect this condition in the young.

Since amblyopia usually occurs in one eye only, many parents and children are unaware of the condition. Many children go undiagnosed until they have their eyes examined at the eye doctor's office at a later age.

Treatment of Amblyopia (Lazy Eye)
Treatment involves glasses, drops, vision therapy and/or patching. Recent medical research has proven that amblyopia is successfully treated up to the age of 17. The ideal age of treatment is as early as possible. Although improvements are possible at any age with proper treatment, early detection and treatment still offer the best outcome.
The older a child becomes, more effort and time is required in the treatment.

Convergence Insufficiency

People who have convergence insufficiency may have the following symptoms while doing close work (i.e., reading, computer work, deskwork, playing handheld video games, doing crafts, etc.):

It is not unusual for people with convergence insufficiency to cover or close one eye while reading to relieve the blurring or double vision. Symptoms may worsen with tiredness, illness, anxiety, and/or prolonged close work.

Furthermore, many people who have convergence insufficiency may not complain of double vision or the other symptoms listed above because vision in one eye has shut down. In other words, even though both eyes are open, healthy and capable of sight, the person's brain ignores one eye to avoid double vision.

When one of your eyes is suppressed, there will be a lack of depth perception. Poor binocular vision can have a negative impact on many areas of life, such as coordination, sports, and judgment of distances. They may show the following:

A regular eye exam involving only the 20/20 eye chart screening is not adequate for the detection of convergence insufficiency (and many other visual conditions). The most important diagnostic tools are comprehensive eye exams involving a binocular vision evaluation. A person can pass the 20/20 eye chart test and still have convergence insufficiency. If you are concerned about this condition, please schedule an appointment with our binocular vision specialist, Dr. Nancy Truong.

The best treatment for convergence insufficiency is vision therapy, which re-establishes the reflexes of convergence. Treatment usually consists of both in-office and home exercises.

Mountain View Eye Associates :: 1786 Oak Road SW, Ste A :: Snellville, GA 30078 :: Phone: 770-979-3456 :: Fax: 770-979-7476 :: Email us
Office Hours: 8:30am - 5:30pm Monday, Tuesday, Friday; 7:30am - 5:00pm Wednesday & Thursday 9:30am - 7:00pm; Saturday by appointment only.
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