By James Wilson, OD, Bond Eye Associates
How much do you know about your eyes? I mean, really know about them? I will try to give you a broad overview without boring you to death. It may save you or a family member from going blind, literally! Your eyes are more than just the windows to your soul. They are windows to your body’s health.
To start, can you see well? If yes, no need to go to the eye doctor, right? Wrong!
Your children, for example, they seem to see well, but do they see well out of both eyes? They may be 20/20 out of one eye and be amblyopic (weak/lazy eye) out of the other, and you wouldn’t even know it. Children don’t check their eyes individually. If they have not complained, have you checked them? Probably not because they seem to be seeing pretty well (makes sense). Not so fast! If you don’t catch this weak eye early, by age seven or eight, they will be visually handicapped out of that eye for the rest of their life. Patches and diligent therapy are the only treatments, along with glasses that will improve a weak eye. After age eight or so, the lazy eye is pretty much done improving and the vision will lock in forever, it’s a brain thing. That might possibly change their life and career path. Many important jobs and careers need both eyes seeing 20/20.
Myopia, hyperopia, astigmatism, irregular astigmatism, and presbyopia are different refractive states. Let’s say you are one of these unfortunate kids that grew up seeing well out of one eye and the other is weak or you had an injury to one of your eyes early in life. You now depend heavily on only one eye. Now steps in vanity: you have a high prescription with one or more refractive states, and you hate glasses. So, of course, you want contacts. Your whole life, job, and being depends on your one good eye; you should take steps to protect it. Glasses have two functions. They help correct your vision, and they protect your eyes from dangerous flying objects and debris.
With one well-functioning eye, you are playing Russian Roulette everyday with your entire visual health. Lose the good eye, and you would be permanently disabled!
The most proactive thing you can do to protect your self is wear a pair of unbreakable lenses in a frame over your contacts for protection or as sunglasses. You will still look cute!
The second, you have an accident involving your good eye, you will curse yourself forever because you will be forever impeded. Dumb accidents happen all the time. This is all common-sense stuff.
So, again: protection. Protection in the form fo safety glasses if you work with power tools or outside equipment. High-speed projectiles of any kind can embed into the cornea and penetrate your eye, entering the inside of your eye (intraocular foreign body). This can lead to blindness or the loss of the eye. It can happen in a split second. Metal impact on metal (even a hammer on nail) is very dangerous. Other examples would be high-speed particles from a lathe or grinders. Metal in any form must be removed from the eye with an in-office procedure or, in severe cases, a surgery center with a retinal surgeon. Be careful and always wear safety glasses.
Strangely enough, really bad things that will blind you forever do not typically hurt at all! The simple, yet very painful and awful-looking eye conditions usually heal easily and quickly. Blood on your sclera (white part/conjunctiva) look terrible, but is no big deal as it fades away quickly. Corneal scratches or abrasions that will put you on your knees in pain heal in a few days. However, Glaucoma (pressure), Retinal Detachment (flashing lights), Macular Degeneration, Diabetes, TIA (Transient Ischemic Attack/Stroke) will blind you, and you won’t even know it until it is too late. Some diseases show subtle signs of visual change, but some don’t. By getting your eyes checked annually by your eye doctor, we can pick up on subtle or sudden big changes in your ocular health and vision.
Did you know that we can even detect brain tumors from looking at your eyes? Tumors can produce a visual field loss (blind spot), which can tell us where in the brain the tumor may be located (like a road map basically). Although visual field loss is invisible to you neurologically, we can pick it up on testing. Your pupil size and reactivity to light can also tell us if you have a retinal detachment or a possible tumor. It is called an APD (Afferent Pupil Defect).
Pupils should always be equal round and reactive. Anisocoria is an unequally sized pupil but can be considered normal. When the pupil is suddenly different in size, then it becomes a concern. A chemical in your eye can also cause it to change, but your pupil will go back to normal within a day or two. Any of the above symptoms should be investigated and followed.
Now, let’s say you had a problem, red eye, painful, etc. and you saw the doctor. If everything has been examined and you have been given meds, you should start to improve in about three to four days on average. If not, something is wrong, and you will need to change meds or increase dosage to address your case. This is a standard rule, and you should be followed closely by your eye doctor until you are better.
We’ll discuss contact lens patients next month.
Dr. James Wilson works for Bond Eye Associates. They are accepting new patients in all three of their locations: Peoria, Pekin, and Canton. Please call 309-692-2020 to schedule an appointment or visit our website at www.bondeye.com.