Life revolves around being able to see things. Although individuals who are blind can lead a full and happy life, someone with excellent vision who suddenly loses theirs or notices a decrease in their visual acuity over time may find it difficult to adapt. Thankfully, with the help of an optometrist, individuals can actively work to preserve their vision for as long as possible. Phoenix Eye Care must be a priority for all, as advanced technology allows threats to the eyes to be detected as the earliest stage. The right treatment can help to slow or stop the progression before major issues develop. For this reason, every individual needs to undergo routine eye exams.
What Do Optometrists Do?
An optometrist exams the eye to detect any health issues. He or she looks
Myopia and hyperopia are two such conditions. Myopia is more commonly referred to as nearsightedness and leaves the person with the ability to see objects that are close up clearly, but those that are far away are out of focus. Hyperopia, in contrast, involve the inability to see objects that are near clearly and is often referred to as farsightedness. Objects that are far away, however, can easily be seen.
As humans age, they frequently develop a condition known as presbyopia. This condition decreases the person's ability to focus sharply on those object which are nearby and is the result of the lens of the eye hardening. In addition, astigmatism requires a person wear prescription eyeglasses and/or contact lenses. Astigmatism arises when the curvature of the eye is irregular. The eye is normally shaped liked a soccer ball or basketball. With astigmatism, it takes on a more oval shape and resembles a football. Due to the irregular curvature, the eye processes light differently and leads to blurred vision. The degree of blurriness is determined by the degree of
Optometrists have accepted vision therapy, which is a medical treatment for optical muscle disabilities, as a feasible treatment used for eye related problems; claiming the treatment can strengthen vision and give the patient the opportunity to understand visuals quicker and clearer (Press). Vision therapy originated in the 1950s and over the past 25 years, has gained popularity, mainly because of new technological innovations in the field of treatment. Generally, vision therapy is prescribed as a measure mainly for people between the ages of 3 and 18. With the results from a comprehensive series of eye tests, the optometrist can work with the patient using special instruments—prisms, filters, occluders, and eye lenses—and strengthen the eye muscles, thus improving sight. According to optometrists in favor of vision therapy, these methods of treatment using these instruments function as safer routes to repair eye disabilities. Although vision therapy can yield favorable results, the practice as a treatment for innate eye disabilities has been in hot debate lately; as it can exceed $8000 and insurance companies do not cover the treatment. For decades, insurance companies have refused to accept vision therapy as a legitimate method for repairing eyesight (Boink). Concomitant with lack of insurance, the cost for a full treatment can exceed $8000, and doctors cannot guarantee a successful outcome. Recently, parents of children with eye related disabilities, such as amblyopia (lazy eye) and strabismus (cross-eye), and doctors have attempted to cooperate with public schools to allow families access to school-funded doctors to practice vision therapy. With a tight budget, most schools cannot afford to supply vision therapy, and a...
For an eye to focus correctly on an object, it must be placed in a certain position in front of the eye. The primary focal point is the point along the optical axis where an object can be placed for parallel rays to come from the lens. The secondary focal point is the point along the optical axis where in coming parallel rays are brought into focus. The primary focal point has the object's image at infinity, where as the secondary focal point has the object at infinity. For people who have myopic eyes, the secondary focal point is anterior to the retina in the vitreous. Thus, the object must be moved forward from infinity, in order to be focused on the retina. The far point is determined by the object's distance where light rays focus on the retina while the eye is not accommodating. The far point in the myopic eye is between the cornea and infinity. The near point is determined by which an object will be in focus on the retina when the eye is accommodating. Thus, moving an object closer will cause the perception of the object to blur. The measurement of these refractive errors are in standard units called diopters (D). A diopter is the reciprocal of a distance of the far point in meters (Vander & Gault, 1998). The myopic condition manipulates these variables in order to ultimately make a nearsighted individual.
My father made a successful recovery and I became inspired. I realized that having the gift of sight is something people take for granted. Therefore, when I embarked on my undergraduate journey, I partook in several activities to help foster my thirst for knowledge about optometry. For instance, I became the treasurer of the pre-optometry club at the University of Florida. As an executive board member, I opened doors for others to find their passion for optometry through managing our budget and finances to sponsor trips and activities. Meanwhile, I also worked as a secretary and shadowed at the Eye Associates of Orlando, where I gained practical knowledge. I also volunteered for the KidSight Vision Screening Program where I entered data of visio...
Results suggested that subjects who were hyperopic had the most limited lateral peripheral vision. Their average range was 20.25 degrees less than the average 20/20 control of 150 degrees. (Figure 1). Myopic subjects also had less range but not to the same extent. The average range was 12 degrees less than the control. This indicates that myopic and hyperopic subjects do not have the same range of peripheral vision as the average 20/20 vision human, hyperopia most significantly.
Myopia is a condition in which visual images come into focus in front of the retina of the eye. This condition causes objects at a distance to appear blurry, while objects nearby are seen clearly. If not severe, myopia can be treated with contacts or glasses. Other treatments for myopia include photoreactive keratectomy (PRK), LASIK, and orthokeratology. Degenerative myopia is a quick progression of myopia and leads to complete loss of vision. The treatment for degenerative myopia is a combination of medication and laser surgery.
Glaucoma is a common and important health problem. It is one of the leading causes of blindness in Western Society (Hoskins & Kass, 1989). It is responsible for ten percent of all blindness in the United States and continues to be the second or third most common cause of blindness in the world (Bunce, Fraser, & Wormald, 1999). It is estimated that two million people in the United States have been diagnosed as having glaucoma. Glaucoma is known to affect about two percent of Caucasians beginning at the age of 40 with an increasing risk for those over the age of 60. This risk is especially high if a member of the family has glaucoma or diabetes. Further, there is a higher risk of a glaucoma diagnosis for African Americans over the age of 40.
Eyeglasses have two main lenses. This includes a convex lens for nearsightedness, and a concave lens which is for farsightedness. With both lenses the light hits the glasses and bends inward or outward (depending on your circumstances; nearsightedness or farsightedness) According to LL. Woodward, many people say that contact lenses fulfill both nearsightedness and farsightedness. “Thanks to the advent of multifocal contact lenses, people with both vision conditions-presbyopia and myopia-now have the option, and the freedom, to choose to wear contact lenses only to improve their vision” - LL. Woodward. From my recent questioning to students with contacts, there are two different types of contacts; one is to sleep with and you can see the rest of the day without them and ones that you wear throughout the day.
Robert, a 65 year-old male, has trouble reading fine detail, especially out of his central vision. He complains that his vision is blurred and that it is harder to see while operating a motor vehicle. In addition, sometimes objects appear wavy or crooked, which impairs his vision. His worst symptoms were that he occasionally lost the ability to distinguish between the features of familiar faces and he had a localized blind spot. Robert is not alone; many people suffer from symptoms related to loss and distortion of the visual field. He suffers from macular degeneration, the leading cause of decreased vision loss in the United States, especially for people over the age of 50 (Philippi, 2000).
There are several types of amblyopia. Researchers must be aware of the various types of amblyopia because the effects for each are not always consistent. Strabismic amblyopia is caused when the two eyes are out of alignment due to weak musculature. Anisometropic amblyopia is a result of a large difference in refractive power of an individual's eyes. Another form of amblyopia results when visual information does not reach the retina. This is called stimulus deprivation amblyopia. Meridional amblyopia is a result of the diffused images caused by astigmatism. Researchers often discover that there are differences between groups of amblyopes based on type. For example, Levi and his colleagues (1994) discovered differences in vernier acuity between anisomet...
Imagine yourself in a museum. You are standing in front of a masterpiece and it draws you ever close until your nose is almost touching it. When you’re too near the painting and you’re too focused, you don’t see the overall beauty of the painting itself. In fact, it becomes blurry when your eyes get too near. Life is the same way. You can’t get too focused on any one detail because your vision becomes impaired and everything else around you becomes blurry.
Open-angle glaucoma - With this form of glaucoma, the loss of vision occurs so gradually it is rarely noticed. However, as eye damage increases, you will eventually find that you have lost a lot of areas of your peripheral vision, especially the field of vision near your nose. As larger areas of your peripheral vision fade, you may develop tunnel vision -- vision that has narrowed so you see only what is directly in front of you. If glaucoma is not treated, even this narrowed vision disappears into blindness. Once gone, areas of lost vision canno...
What makes a good person good? According to WikiHow, "We should learn to define our own morals ourselves. One of the simplest ways to do so is to love others, and treat them as you would like to be treated. Try to think of others before yourself. Even doing small things daily will greatly enrich and improve your life, and the lives of others around you." This quote shows us what we need to do in order to be what society thinks as, “good". In order to be a good person, you have to do good and moral things in your society consistently. However people might think that by doing one good thing once in a while will automatically make you a “good person”, but in reality it doesn’t.
The cornea of the eye is transparent, curved that acts as the cap of the eye which protects the eye from dirt, microorganisms and other harmful substances.(2) It is also important for about 75% of the eyesight. Its clarity and the curvature will affects the eye by how greatly it can focus on an object and produce an image. However, 10% of the incident light will be blocked in normal human cornea. (1)
LASIK is a surgical procedure intended to reduce a person's dependency on glasses or contact lenses. LASIK surgery is a type of refractive eye surgery. Normally, the rays of light entering the eye are brought to a precise focus on the retina – the light sensitive layer lining the back of the eye. When such a focus is not achieved, a refractive error results and vision is not clear. These imperfections in the focusing power of the eye are called refractive errors. The common refractive errors are Myopia, or Nearsightedness (Close objects look clear, but distant objects appear blurred), Hyperopia, or Farsightedness (People with hyperopia can usually see distant objects well, but have trouble focusing on nearby objects) and Astigmatism
...he cornea is deformed so that its surface is oval instead of spherical. Light rays are distorted at the entrance of the eye. This produces a blurred image and is known as astigmatism. To correct it, glasses are given a nonspherical or cylindrical curvature. Cross-eyes and walleyes are produced when both eyes do not work together because of weakness of the eye muscles.