Common eye problems and prevention

Common eye problems and how to prevent them

Sight, when combined with our other senses, allows us to understand and navigate the world around us. It’s important to take good care of our eyes so they work properly well into the future.

Most people experience eye problems from time to time, and vision problems tend to increase with age. Many of these problems are minor and don’t last too long. But there are some serious eye problems that can cause major damage to the eyes, including permanent loss of vision.

Refractive errors:

When light isn’t focused properly, it causes blurred vision. Glasses, contacts, or surgery can usually correct refractive errors, which include:

Myopia (nearsightedness): faraway objects appear blurred
Hyperopia (farsightedness): close-up objects appear blurred
Astigmatism: resulting in blurred vision because the cornea is not perfectly shaped to direct light into the eye
Presbyopia: farsightedness caused by loss of elasticity of the eye’s lens due to aging

Glaucoma:

Glaucoma is a group of eye diseases that affect the optic nerve, which connects the eye to the brain. It often affects both eyes to varying degrees. As most cases won’t have any symptoms, one of the best ways to detect glaucoma is during a routine eye test. Glaucoma develops when increased pressure damages the optic nerve and the nerve fibres from the retina.

There are various types of glaucoma:

Chronic: is the most common type of glaucoma and develops very slowly. It can take a long time before you realise you have a problem with your eyesight because chronic glaucoma is painless and usually damages the outer edge of the vision and works slowly inwards.

Acute: this is rare and may develop rapidly with a sudden, painful build-up of pressure in the eye. Other symptoms may include blurred vision and haloes around lights.

Did you know?

Chronic glaucoma affects up to two in every 100 people over 40 and around five in every 100 people over 80.

Cataracts:

A cataract is a clouding of the lens, causing blurred or color-tinted vision. People with cataracts often report “haloes” surrounding objects they’re looking at, particularly at night. This condition is most common in older adults.

Cataracts can be removed by surgery that replaces the damaged lens with an artificial lens.

Did you know?

Cataracts are very common and are the main cause of impaired vision worldwide.

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD):

Macular degeneration isn’t painful. You may not even notice you have the condition until you experience a loss of vision. AMD affects activities requiring detail, such as reading and writing.

Dry AMD: the most common form of the condition, it affects your ability to see fine detail. You may find it difficult to read, use your computer, watch the television, drive, etc. Some people may not realise the change in vision, as the deterioration is slow.

Wet AMD: a sudden and sometimes dramatic decline in your central vision, usually in one eye. Typically, wet AMD develops in people who have already had dry AMD. It is very important that anyone who has unusual symptoms, such as straight lines appearing to be wavy or blurring of the central vision, contacts an optometrist as soon as possible.

There are also several risk factors associated with macular degeneration:

Age
Smoking
Gender
Family history
Race
Obesity

Did you know?

Age-related macular degeneration is one of the leading causes of sight impairment for over-50s.

Lazy eye:

A lazy eye, also known as amblyopia, is quite a common condition in children and happens when vision hasn’t fully developed, usually in one eye.

Early diagnosis and treatment are important in order to treat the condition successfully. Children should have their first eye examination from around the age of four to look out for any signs.

Symptoms include:

An eye that wanders inward or outward
Poor depth perception
Squinting or shutting an eye
Tilting of the head

It can be difficult without an eye test to tell if a child has a lazy eye, particularly if they’re too little to tell you what their vision is like. One way to tell is to cover one eye at a time – you may find that they’re quite happy having one covered but might push your hand away if you cover their ‘good’ eye.

Diabetic retinopathy:

Diabetic retinopathy is damage to the blood vessels of the retina caused by diabetes.

It causes blurred or dark spots in the field of vision and can eventually lead to blindness.

In its early stages, diabetic retinopathy does not usually cause any noticeable symptoms, so you may not even know you have it.

The best way to avoid these vision problems is to keep blood sugars under control and see your eye doctor every year for a dilated eye exam. Proper care can lessen complications.

Retinal detachment or tear:

Although this is a more serious eye condition, it can be treated in its varying stages. It’s usually related to changes in the eye as we age, so regular eye tests are essential for early detection and prevention.

Symptoms include:

Flashes of light in the eye
A cobweb across your vision
Appearance of a curtain coming across your vision

Without early treatment, retinal detachment could lead to permanent vision loss in the affected eye.

Dry eye syndrome:

Symptoms include:

Feelings of dryness, grittiness or soreness that get worse during the day
Red eyes
Eyelids that stick together when you wake up
Temporarily blurred vision, which usually improves when you blink

More severe symptoms of dry eye syndrome include extreme sensitivity to light (photophobia), very red and painful eyes, and deterioration in your vision.

Did you know?

Up to one in every three people over the age of 65 experiences dry eye syndrome. It’s also more common in women than men.