Blepharitis is a common condition that causes inflammation of the eyelids. It is characterized by redness, swelling, styes, cysts, and flaky crusts at the eyelid margin and along the lash line. Symptoms also include scratchy, swollen, tender, and irritated eyes.

Types of Blepharitis

There are various types of this condition. Anterior blepharitis occurs on the outside of the eye. You may see redness, swelling, and possibly crust near the line of the eyelashes. Both forms of blepharitis require treatment to maintain appearance and eye comfort.

Blepharitis Treatment

There are many treatment options. They include over-the-counter remedies and prescription eyedrops and ointments. Occasionally, minor eyelid surgery is necessary to remove cysts when topical treatments are unsuccessful. In rare cases, ongoing treatment may be required to keep the eyes comfortable and symptom-free. Eyelid hygiene can help maintain eye comfort and appearance. Routine care includes frequent face washing, cleaning the scalp, eyelid scrubs, and sometimes doing a soak or warm compress.

A cataract is a clouding of the lens inside the eye that leads to a decrease in vision. Left untreated, it is the most common cause of blindness and is conventionally treated with surgery. Vision loss occurs because opacification of the lens obstructs light from passing through and being focused on to the retina at the back of the eye.

What Causes Cataracts?

The most common cause of cataracts is biological aging and overexposure to ultraviolet light. The lens lies behind the iris and pupil and works to focus light onto the retina at the back of the eye. The rest of our eye structures work together to adjust and transmit images to the brain, which allows us to see objects and colors.

The lens is made of mostly water and proteins. The protein stays aligned in a way that the lens remains clear. As we age, this protein can clump together and become opaque. Much like trying to look through a foggy window, the clouding is what causes blurriness and difficulty seeing and is called a cataract.

While there is no guaranteed way to avoid cataracts, wearing eyewear and sun wear that block 100% of UVA and UVB rays can slow the onset as well as decrease the exposure to direct sunlight. People with cataracts commonly experience difficulty in appreciating colors and changes in contrast, driving, reading, recognizing faces, and coping with glare from bright lights.

Treatment Options

Treatment for cataracts is safe and effective. The most common form of treatment is surgery. In fact, by age 80, more than half of all Americans either have a cataract, or have cataract surgery. Cataract surgery replaces the lens inside an affected eye and restores your clear vision. Other treatment may be possible, but cataract surgery is common and very helpful for many people.

Conjunctivitis is a swelling and irritation of the membrane that covers the white part of the eye and eyelid lining. It is often referred to as “pink eye” due to the pink color of inflamed blood vessels.

Many irritants can cause temporary conjunctivitis. Seasonal or indoor allergens, pollutants in the air, eye makeup, contact lenses, or other kinds of debris may cause irritation and inflammation.

Infection Conjunctivitis

Infection conjunctivitis may be viral or bacterial. The viral type may accompany a cold, fever, sore throat, or flu. Eye redness and watery discharge are common symptoms. Staph or strep bacteria may cause bacterial conjunctivitis. It can include eye redness and discharging mucus.

Bacterial and viral pinkeye can be highly contagious and can easily be passed between people. This is often seen in children as they can contract it during play in schools or daycares. The symptoms are generally mild and do not pose a serious threat to eye health. However, it should be treated by an eye doctor. A doctor should also see newborns with symptoms as it’s important to diagnose and treat symptoms in young babies to ensure no vision loss occurs.

Conjunctivitis is a common condition. Some eye diseases are similar, so it’s important for patients to have a professional evaluation by an eye doctor to determine their specific needs and proper treatment. Treatment is different depending on the cause, but all forms of conjunctivitis need professional evaluation to ensure good eye health. In most cases, it can be successfully treated with antibiotics, eye drops, or ointments.

Diabetic retinopathy is an ocular manifestation of diabetes, a systemic disease, which affects up to 80 percent of all patients who have had diabetes for 10 years or more. The longer a person has diabetes, the higher his or her chances are of developing diabetic retinopathy. Despite these intimidating statistics, research indicates that at least 90 percent of new cases could be reduced. Education on diabetic eye disease and retinopathy is especially important because it is often preventable or treatable. Unfortunately, this means it can go unnoticed in the early stages. As the disease progresses, permanent vision loss is a real possibility if the patient does not receive treatment.

There are multiple forms of diabetic retinopathy, and only your doctor can determine your particular form. With one form, blood vessels may swell and leak fluid. In another, abnormal new blood vessels grow on the surface of the retina.

Stages of Diabetic Retinopathy

In the early stages of diabetic retinopathy, many do not notice a change to their vision because there are little to no symptoms. If an eye doctor does not catch diabetic retinopathy early, one could sustain mild blurriness at near or far distances, as well as floaters. In severe cases, a sudden loss of vision may occur.

Unfortunately, diabetic retinopathy can result in permanent damage that cannot be reversed. However, if caught in time, prescribed treatments may slow development and prevent vision loss.

Dry eye syndrome is a condition in which the eye does not produce enough tears, or the tears are too thin to lubricate and nourish the eye. Tears are necessary for maintaining the health of the front surface of the eye and for providing clear vision. Dry eye syndrome is a common and often chronic problem, particularly in older adults.

Tears provide lubrication and reduce the risk of eye infection. They wash away foreign matter in the eye as well as keep the surface of the eye smooth and clear. With each blink of the eyelids, tears are spread across the front surface of the eye known as the cornea. Excess tears in the eyes flow into small drainage ducts in the inner corners of the eyelids, which drain in the back of the nose.

When our eyes are not properly lubricated, our vision and comfort can suffer greatly. Thankfully, there are treatments and alternatives to help address the problem.

Causes & Symptoms of Dry Eye

Dry eye can result from an improper balance of tear production and drainage. Advanced dry eyes may even damage the front surface of the eye and impair vision. Elderly people frequently experience dry eye, but it can happen to anyone. Medications, other diseases, obstructions of glands, hormone changes, and many various medical situations can create dry eye symptoms.

People with dry eye syndrome may experience:

~Irritated, scratchy, gritty or burning eyes

~A feeling of something in their eyes

~Excess watering

~Blurred vision

Treatment of Dry Eye

While dry eye can be a chronic condition, Dr. Fowler can prescribe treatment. This will keep your eyes healthy, more comfortable, and prevent your vision from being affected. Specific treatments aim to restore or maintain the normal amount of tears in the eye to minimize dryness or related discomfort and to maintain eye health.

Glaucoma is a complicated disease in which damage to the optic nerve leads to progressive, irreversible vision loss. It is the second leading cause of blindness.

The most common form of the disease occurs when the ocular drainage canals become clogged over time. The inner eye pressure (also called intraocular pressure, or IOP) rises when the correct amount of fluid can’t drain out of the eye. With the most common form of glaucoma, the entrances to the drainage canals are clear, and should be working correctly. However, the clogging problem occurs farther inside the drainage canals. This is like a clogged pipe below the drain of a sink.

Glaucoma Symptoms & Risks

Most people will not experience symptoms, nor will they have any early warning signs. Open-angle glaucoma can cause a gradual loss of vision if it is not diagnosed and treated. The disease develops slowly and sometimes without visible vision loss for many years. It usually responds well to medication, especially if caught early and treated.

While anyone at any age can develop glaucoma, these conditions pose a higher risk:

~A family history of glaucoma

~Individuals over 40 years of age

~Diabetics

~Individuals of African or Mediterranean descent

~People who’ve experienced an eye injury or trauma

People of all ages are at risk for developing glaucoma, and only an eye doctor can make a diagnosis. Routine eye examinations are important to detect and identify symptoms.

Age-related macular degeneration, often referred to as ARMD, is a medical condition that usually affects older adults. This vision-stealing disease is the result of degeneration to the macula. It results in a loss of vision in the center of the visual field because of the damage to the retina. It occurs in dry and wet forms and is the leading cause of blindness and visual impairment in adults over the age of 50.

Types of Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration can make it difficult or impossible to read or recognize faces, although enough peripheral vision remains to allow other activities of daily life. The dry form of advanced ARMD results from atrophy of the retinal pigment epithelial layer below the retina. This causes vision loss due to the damage of photoreceptors, also known as rods and cones, in the central part of the eye.

The wet form of advanced ARMD causes vision loss due to abnormal blood vessel growth. This ultimately leads to blood and protein leakage below the macula. Bleeding, leaking, and scarring from these blood vessels eventually causes irreversible damage to the photoreceptors and rapid vision loss if left untreated. Fortunately, only about 10 percent of patients suffering from macular degeneration have the “wet” type.

Macular degeneration is not painful, which may allow it to go unnoticed for some time. For this reason, regular eye examinations are important. While approximately 10 percent of patients age 66 to 74 will have findings of macular degeneration, the prevalence increases to 30 percent for patients age 75 to 85 years of age. Family history may also play a factor. The good news is that regular eye exams, early detection, and new treatment options enable doctors to maintain (and in some cases increase) visual acuity in patients.

Retinal Tears and Detachments

Retinal tears and detachments happen when the retina (the inner lining of the eye) is damaged. The retina is a layer of tissue that’s light-sensitive and sends visual information through the optic nerve to the brain. Without it, we are unable to see.

A retinal tear is a small break in this inner lining. Retinal tears can have many causes and can happen at any age. Aging, eye trauma, eye surgery, or being drastically nearsighted may cause retinal tears or detachments.

Treating Retinal Damage

Tears and detachments can be treated with laser surgery or an advanced “freezing” process. Both of these treatment options attempt to keep the retina in place and keep it from fully detaching. If tears are not treated quickly, this layer of tissue can eventually detach from the inside of the eye. Detachment causes permanent vision loss.

Retinal detachment describes a much larger separation of the retina tissues. Although it is not exclusive to older people, it’s more common in those over age 40. If detected early enough, retinal detachment can be treated with the procedures used for some tears. More intricate surgery may be necessary. This procedure uses gas to push the retina together with the wall of the eye to allow for reattachment.