Medical Services
A comprehensive eye exam determines the physical health of your eyes. That’s separate from a vision exam, though they are often done in the same visit. An eye exam is performed by either a clinician called an optometrist or a medical doctor called an ophthalmologist, and can find problems before they become severe, potentially saving your vision.
An eye examination is a series of tests performed by an ophthalmologist (medical doctor), optometrist, or orthoptist assessing vision and ability to focus on and discern objects, as well as other tests and examinations pertaining to the eyes.
Do I need an exam by an optometrist or ophthalmologist?
Ophthalmologists are medical doctors who prescribe eyeglasses and contacts and treat medical conditions that affect the eyes, including performing surgery. Optometrists can offer most of the same services as an ophthalmologist, but typically don’t perform surgery, with some exceptions.
While ophthalmologists attend medical school and then receive specialized training related to the eyes, an optometrist typically attends a four-year optometry school after college and receives a Doctor of Optometry (OD) degree.
Who Should Have Surgery?
If you have a cataract, that doesn’t always mean you need surgery. You may not even notice any change in your vision. Some people who have this condition see just fine if they wear prescription glasses, use a magnifying lens, or rely on brighter lighting.
But as cataracts grow, they can cause more symptoms and cause problems in everyday life.
“Eye muscle repair surgery helps realign the eyes so that both point in the same direction. This procedure is most often performed on children with strabismus, but it may also be done to help adults with eye muscle problems.”
Eye muscle surgery involves either weakening or strengthening the muscles that control eye movement. There are 6 eye muscles that control the movement of each eyes. Four of these muscles are called rectus muscles and their functions are straightforward. The superior rectus muscle attaches to the top of the eye and pulls the eye up. The inferior rectus muscle attaches to the bottom of the eye and pulls the eye down. The medial rectus muscle attaches to the side of the eye, closest to the nose and pulls the eye in. The lateral rectus muscle attaches to the outside of the eye closest to the ear and pulls the eye out.
SURGICAL PROCEDURES
Strabismus surgery consists of 2 general types of operations. One is a weakening procedure of the muscle which is called a recession, and the other is a strengthening procedure which is called a resection.
Eyelid surgery (also called an eye lift or blepharoplasty), reduces bagginess from lower eyelids and removes excess skin from the upper eyelids. This surgery is usually done for cosmetic reasons. It’s also an effective way to improve sight in older people whose sagging upper eyelids get in the way of their vision.
What is eyelid surgery?
Eyelid surgery, or blepharoplasty, is a surgical procedure to improve the appearance of the eyelids.
Surgery can be performed on either the upper or lower lids, or both.
Whether you want to improve your appearance or are experiencing functional problems with your eyelids, eyelid surgery can rejuvenate the area surrounding your eyes.
Specifically, eyelid surgery can treat:
- Loose or sagging skin that creates folds or disturbs the natural contour of the upper eyelid, sometimes impairing vision
- Excess fatty deposits that appear as puffiness in the eyelids
- Bags under the eyes
- Drooping lower eyelids that reveal white below the iris
- Excess skin and fine wrinkles of the lower eyelid
LASIK is a surgical procedure that uses a laser to correctnearsightedness, farsightedness, and/or astigmatism. In LASIK, a thin flap in the cornea is created using either a microkeratome blade or a femtosecond laser. The surgeon folds back the flap, then removes some corneal tissue underneath using an excimer laser.
LASIK Risks And Complications
LASIK and other types of laser eye surgery, such as PRK and LASEK, have excellent safety profiles and very high success rates. They are designed to treat myopia (nearsightedness), hyperopia (farsightedness) and astigmatism, and can allow you to live without glasses or contacts.
Sight-threatening complications such as significant loss of vision from LASIK surgery are extremely rare, and many side effects and laser eye surgery complications can be resolved with additional surgery or medical treatment.
LASIK Eye Surgery Risk Factors And Limitations
Not everyone is a suitable candidate for LASIK eye surgery. Certain conditions and anatomical factors can increase your risk of an undesirable outcome or limit optimal LASIK results. These include:
- Too thin or irregular corneas
- Large pupils
- High refractive error
- Unstable vision
- Dry eyes
- Your age
- If you are pregnant
- If you have certain degenerative or active autoimmune disorders
Oculoplastic surgery is a general term used to represent a variety of procedures that involve the orbit, eyelids, tear ducts, and the face. Ocular reconstructive surgery, aesthetic eyelid surgery, facial plastic surgery, and cosmetic procedures fall into this category.
What is Oculoplastic Surgery?
Oculoplastic surgery refers to any surgery involving the eyelids, tear ducts and orbital region.
Why use an Oculoplastic surgeon?
An Oculoplastic surgeon is an ophthalmologist who has undertaken further specialist training in plastic surgery specifically in these areas. Your oculoplastic surgeon’s primary focus is the health and safety of your eyes but they also have unique skills as plastic surgeons.
What are some of the conditions treated by an Oculoplastic Surgeon?
These may either be unsightly benign lesions causing cosmetic concerns or more suspicious changes that may require a biopsy. Often, minor operative procedures can be completed on the same day as a consultation.
Oculoplastics, or oculoplastic surgery, includes a wide variety of surgical procedures that deal with the orbit (eye socket), eyelids, tear ducts, and the face. It also deals with the reconstruction of the eye and associated structures.
An oculoplastic procedure is a type of surgery done around the eyes. You may have this procedure to correct a medical problem or for cosmetic reasons.
Oculoplastic procedures are done by eye doctors (ophthalmologists) who have special training in plastic or reconstructive surgery.
Conditions Treated
Oculoplastic procedures may be done on the:
- Eyelids
- Eye sockets
- Eyebrows
- Cheeks
- Tear ducts
- Face or forehead
These procedures treat many conditions. These include:
- Droopy upper eyelids (ptosis)
- Eyelids that turn inward (entropion) or outward (ectropion)
- Eye problems caused by thyroid disease, such as Graves disease
- Skin cancers or other growths in or around the eyes
- Weakness around the eyes or eyelids caused by Bell palsy
- Tear duct problems
- Injuries to the eye or eye area
- Birth defects of the eyes or orbit (the bone around the eyeball)
- Cosmetic surgery, such as an eyelid lift or forehead lift
Blurry Vision Causes And Treatment. Myopia.Blurry vision in one eye or both eyes may be a symptom of myopia (nearsightedness), along with squinting, eye strain and headaches. … Eyeglasses, contact lenses and refractive surgery such as LASIK and PRK are the most common ways to correct nearsightedness.
Low Vision Diagnosis and Treatment
To help diagnose low vision, the complete eye exam usually begins with questions about your medical history and any vision problems you might be experiencing. It also involves a number of tests designed to evaluate your vision and check for eye diseases. Your doctor may use a variety of instruments, aim bright lights directly at your eyes, and ask you to look through an array of lenses.
refractive surgery is a method for correcting or improving your vision. There are various surgical procedures for correcting or adjusting your eye’s focusing ability by reshaping the cornea, or clear, round dome at the front of your eye. Other procedures involve implanting a lens inside your eye. The most widely performed type of refractive surgery is LASIK (laser-assisted in situ keratomileusis), where a laser is used to reshape the cornea.
For people who are nearsighted, certain refractive surgery techniques will reduce the curvature of a cornea that is too steep so that the eye’s focusing power is lessened. Images that are focused in front of the retina, due to a longer eye or steep corneal curve, are pushed closer to or directly onto the retina following surgery.
Refractive surgery might be a good option for you if you:
- Want to decrease your dependence on glasses or contact lenses;
- Are free of eye disease;
- Accept the inherent risks and potential side effects of the procedure;
- Understand that you could still need glasses or contacts after the procedure to achieve your best vision;
- Have an appropriate refractive error.
What are the effects of Lasik on the retina and can it cause the retina to detach again?
Lasik eye surgery causes pressure on the vitreous base. The rings of femtosecond laser, epikeratome and microkeratome induce forces as they stabilize the cornea, prior to flap making. This circular force may cause shearing forces on the retina. It is best to avoid such trauma. While performing Lasek there is minimal vertical pressure of the chemical well. In PRK there is scraping done with minimal pressure.
Squint (also known as strabismus) is a condition that arises because of an incorrect balance of the muscles that move the eye, faulty nerve signals to the eye muscles and focusing faults (usually long sight). If these are out of balance, the eye may turn in (converge), turn out (diverge) or sometimes turn up or down, preventing the eyes from working properly together.
Squint can occur at any age. A baby can be born with a squint or develop one soon after birth. Around five to eight per cent of children are affected by a squint or a squint-related condition, which means one or two in every group of 30 children.
What causes a squint?
There are many causes. It may be due to a disorder of a part of the brain controlling eye movements or it may be caused by weak eye muscles, heredity, cataract, and nerve conditions. Also, any eye with poor sight tends to squint.
