Eye Conditions
Normal "Perfect" vision ("emmetropia")
The eye’s surface is convex, and light rays that hit it bend toward its center. In an eye that has a normally curved cornea and the correct shape, an image focuses exactly on the retina.
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Myopia ("nearsightedness")
When the eyeball is too long from front to back, light rays focus in front of, rather than on, the retina. Under these circumstances, near objects are perceived clearly but distant objects are not.
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Your options:
- Glasses
- Contact lenses
- Bladeless iLASIK vision correction
- Implantable lenses
Hyperopia ("farsightedness")
When the eyeball is too short from front to back, light rays entering the eye focus behind the retina. Distant objects are seen clearly but near objects are not.
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Your options:
- Glasses
- Contact lenses
- Bladeless iLASIK vision correction
Astigmatism
Vision becomes distorted when the surface of the cornea has an uneven curvature; sometimes, it is the eye’s lens that is irregularly shaped. This type of irregularity causes light to focus on more than one spot in the back of the eye, resulting in blurred vision.
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Your options:
- Glasses
- Contact lenses
- Bladeless iLASIK vision correction
- Premium Replacement Toric Lens Implants
Presbyopia
Over time, the eye’s lens gradually loses its elasticity and its ability to change shape to see close objects. Bifocals or reading glasses are the traditional prescription for remedying this presbyopic loss of accommodation, but recent technology makes it possible to exchange the inflexible lens for one designed to compensate for changes in the eye and improve functional vision at all distances.
Your options:
- Reading glasses
- Bifocals
- Contact lenses
- Bladeless iLASIK vision correction
- Premium Replacement Lens Implants
Cataracts
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Like the lens of a camera, the eye’s lens focuses to keep the images of both close and distant objects clear. Over time, the lens becomes less transparent; studies suggest accumulated exposure to ultraviolet light causes the natural lens to cloud. Most often, this clouding takes place slowly as proteins within the lens degenerate.
What causes the lens to cloud? In most cases, the culprit is the normal aging process. If you are age 65 or older, you probably have cataracts, but they may not have progressed to the point that they affect your vision. Certain lifestyle choices and relatively common health conditions, like diabetes, may hasten cataract development. Nutrition may play at least a limited role. Heavy salt consumption, for example, appears to increase the risk of significant cataract development. Some research suggests that antioxidant vitamins, like vitamin A (beta-carotene), vitamins C and E, and selenium, may slow cataract development. All of these are available in common multivitamin formulas. Beyond that, the use of nutritional supplements carries its own risks; you should consult your physician before adding them to your diet.
Cataracts do NOT generally cause pain, discomfort, redness, discharge, or sudden, alarming vision changes that would lead you to seek immediate help. The changes caused by cataracts generally develop so slowly that you don’t notice them until they are serious enough to affect normal lifestyles.
Only a professional can determine if cataracts are the cause of your symptoms. If you answered “yes” to any of these questions, it is time to call MUSC Storm Eye Ambulatory Procedure Center for an evaluation.
Note: Even if you think you do not have cataracts, you should seek medical attention if you are having troublesome eye symptoms.
Your options:
Macular Degeneration
Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) affects the area of the retina called the macula. This small area is responsible for producing sharp, central vision required for "straight ahead" activities such as driving, reading, recognizing faces, and performing close-up work.
While scientists are uncertain of its cause, AMD destroys cells in the area of the macula in two different forms, "dry" and "wet." Dry AMD can advance so slowly that people hardly notice it, or it can rapidly progress to the "wet" type with vision loss in one or both eyes.
"Dry" AMD
Dry AMD is associated with the slow deterioration of retinal cells in the macula, occurring in one eye or both eyes at the same time. The presence of drusen, tiny yellow deposits in the retina, is one of the earliest signs of AMD. Drusen can block necessary nutrition that is needed in the eye. Over time, the retinal tissue can waste away causing spotty vision or even a moth-eaten appearance that leads to a progressive visual loss. Although the presence of drusen alone is not indicative of the disease, it may indicate the eye is at risk for developing more severe AMD.
"Wet" AMD
Within the retina are layers of photoreceptors that are highly active and very sensitive. These photoreceptors require a lot of energy and a constant rich supply of nutrients. Anything that interferes with the flow of these nutrients can cause the macula to malfunction. In "wet" AMD, new blood vessels may form underneath the retina and cause the macula to malfunction. This can quickly destroy vision. In the beginning stages, straight lines appear wavy and fine details fade. It becomes hard to focus on just one word and faces start to blur. People gradually lose the ability to read or drive and may progress to legal blindness. Wet AMD occurs in only 10 percent of all cases, but it is responsible for 90 percent of decreased vision resulting from AMD.
Every year, more than 500,000 people worldwide lose their sight because of ‘wet’ AMD. In the United States alone, more than 1.6 million people are affected. There are more than 200,000 new cases each year, and experts expect that number to rise significantly as the baby boom generation ages and overall life expectancy increases. Fortunately, new medications are available to treat the problem and prevent vision loss.
Diabetic Retinopathy
Diabetes affects the blood vessels throughout the body, particularly in the kidney and in the eye. Diabetic retinopathy is the name we give to diabetes’ adverse affects on the blood vessels in the eye. In the United States, diabetic retinopathy is the leading cause of blindness among adults. Risk of developing diabetic retinopathy increases over time. An adult who has had diabetes for 15 years or longer stands an 80 percent chance of experiencing damage to retinal blood vessels.
The retina, the multiple layers of tissue located at the back of the eye, detects visual stimuli and transmits signals to the brain. When diabetes affects the ocular blood vessels, they may develop leaks or contribute to the formation of scar tissue; these problems reduce the retina’s ability to detect and transmit images.
There are two main types of diabetic retinopathy: background (BDR) and proliferative (PDR). Treatment is available for both of these problems.
Glaucoma
Glaucoma is a disease that can slowly destroy the delicate nerve fibers that carry signals from the back of the eye to the brain. Generally, high pressure within the eye is responsible for the damage, but even patients with normal pressure can experience loss of this important nerve function due to glaucoma.
Patients do not always feel if eye pressure is elevated and slowly robbing them of their sight. That is why it is important to be checked yearly to be sure that glaucoma is not present. Because it can be inherited, if one family member has glaucoma, other family members should be checked.
While glaucoma typically affects people age 40 and older, it can strike at any age. Glaucoma is called “the silent thief” because there is no pain or noticeable change in vision during the early stages of the disease.
During a laser trabeculoplasty (SLT) treatment for glaucoma, the doctor enhances drainage of aqueous humor by creating small holes at the angle where the cornea and the iris meet. Your doctor may perform an argon laser trabeculoplasty (ALT) to increase drainage and lower the pressure within the eye, either alone, or in combination with medications.
Both SLT and ALT are in-office procedures. While these these procedures do not cure glaucoma, they often work as well as certain medications, without the side-effects.
