Eye S H Harrold

		Dispensing Opticians Banbury, Beaconsfield, Biggleswade, Blandford Forum, Buckingham, Flitwick, Gerrards Cross, Hayes, Huntingdon, Kinson, Northwood Hills, Poole, Shaftesbury, St Ives, St Neots, Uxbridge, West Drayton.

WHAT ARE THE MOST COMMON EYE DEFECTS ?

ASTIGMATISM

This indicates unequal curvatures in the eyes. It produces a somewhat distorted image which can cause visual discomfort and in cases of greater severity blurred vision will result. The correcting lens will make images distort as the lens is turned. The angle of the distortion is set into the lens and may be combined with other lens forms.

PRESBYOPIA

This is the technical term for the reduced ability to focus near objects. This usually occurs in the forty plus age group and is a result of reduced flexibility in the focusing lens in the eye. This is purely an age related process and results in the majority of people in this age group requiring help from reading spectacles. Correcting lenses are as for long sight.

SQUINTS AND LAZY EYES

A squint means a turn in the eye. These are often present from birth or in very young children and if untreated will result in the eye becoming lazy. A lazy eye is one that is unable to achieve a normal level of vision even with spectacles and may also occur without a squint being present. If a sight defect is present in one eye only and from a young age, that eye will become lazy if left uncorrected because the good eye only is used.

GLAUCOMA

Glaucoma is a condition in which the optic nerve, which carries the images we see to the brain, is damaged. The optic nerve is like an electric cable containing about 1.2 million wires. Glaucoma can damage nerve fibers, causing blind spots to develop. Many people know that glaucoma has something to do with pressure inside the eye -- the intraocular pressure (IOP).

DIABETES

This condition results when the body is unable to properly use and store sugar. High levels of sugar or glucose in the blood damage the delicate blood vessels in the retina. This condition is referred to as diabetic retinopathy. Approximately one-quarter of all diabetics have some degree of retinopathy. The prevalence of diabetic retinopathy increases with the duration of diabetes. More than 90% of diabetics will develop retinopathy at some point during their lives.

Fortunately, effective treatment is available and loss of vision is preventable in the vast majority of cases. For those that do develop retinopathy effective treatment is available. Laser surgery, usually done in your doctor’s office, is used to seal leaky blood vessels or prevent growth of new vessels. Scar tissue causing retinal detachment or hemorrhage which does not clear spontaneously may require outpatient surgery.