Eye dilation refers to when the pupil, the black center part of our eye, enlarges or becomes wider. Our eyes naturally dilate throughout the day, depending on lighting and other factors. This dilation and subsequent constriction of the pupil helps us focus and is primarily a safety mechanism that prevents dangerous levels of light from reaching the back of our eye.
Eye exams can often use drops to dilate the eyes for imaging the retina. It is one of the more uncomfortable parts of visiting the eye doctor, but it can also leave you wondering; If too much light can potentially damage our eyes, why would we want or need to have our eyes dilated?
The hormonal shifts experienced during menopause cause many changes in your body. While hot flashes and mood changes tend to get the most discussion, one of the lesser-known but no less impactful symptoms can be dry eyes. Tear production decreases naturally as everyone ages, but the hormone changes associated with menopause make the problem even more acute.
Due to environmental factors or as a general course of aging, most of us will experience dry eyes at some point in our lives. Dry eyes caused by the environment might just be a nuisance.
Dry eye disease that is experienced as a chronic condition can lead to more significant impairment, infections, and reduction in your visual acuity. Scratchy sensations can give way to difficulty focusing or eye fatigue.
It is essential to address dry eye concerns quickly and speak to an optometrist if you haven’t been able to mitigate symptoms of dry eyes on your own.
We have all heard it at some point in our lives. We need to eat our carrots or risk losing our eyesight. Sure, a lot of that is just parents trying to get kids to eat vegetables, but there is a hint of truth to the statement. Carrots and other foods are packed with vitamins and nutrients that can help promote healthy vision.
The hormonal changes caused during pregnancy affect many aspects of your body. While most of these changes are temporary and return to normal after the pregnancy's conclusion, they can be pretty significant. It is essential to know what changes to expect, how to cope with the impacts, and when you might need to seek further medical advice.
Characterized by the body's inability to use and store sugar properly, diabetes is a chronic condition that affects the entirety of the body. Over time it can cause severe damage throughout the body, including damaging small blood vessels and capillaries.
When this damage to blood vessels affects the retina (tissue at the back of the eye that senses light), it can cause blood and other fluids to leak out, leading to swelling of the eye called diabetic retinopathy.
No two eyes are the same. They are a literal visual fingerprint for our unique look and how we look at the world. Affected by a host of genetic markers, hormonal changes, and environmental factors, their development and health can vary widely from individual to individual.
A large share of those differences comes down to your biological sex. In other words, men and women do quite literally see the world differently.
While some individuals develop vision issues early in life, either due to genetics, environmental factors or eye injuries, pretty much every adult will begin to develop some degree of visual loss beginning around age forty. This gradual loss of near vision is called presbyopia and occurs due to the natural hardening of the eye’s lens.
This hardening means the eye cannot easily focus on things close up or far away as easily, narrowing our clear visual scope.
Symptoms progress gradually but are marked by needing to hold reading material further away and developing headaches when focusing on objects close up for extended periods. One of the most common fixes is the use of corrective lenses, especially in the absence of any other visual problems.
And the go-to for many people is to grab a pair of reading glasses from the drugstore or supermarket. But are they safe, and do they work?
Glaucoma is one of the most common eye diseases among adults. Three million Americans have the disease, and it is the second leading cause of blindness.
It encompasses a range of conditions that cause damage to the optic nerve due to increased pressure in the fluid of the eye. This fluid drains typically where the iris and cornea meet through mesh-like tissue. When the body overproduces fluid or drainage is inhibited, pressure builds up.
The gradual damage to the nerve is painless, with vision problems developing very slowly. With little to no symptoms at the onset of the disease, nearly half of the people affected do not know they have the disease.
Nearsighted or farsighted, corrective lenses can easily manage most vision problems.
However, contact lenses require direct contact with the eye and can cause serious eye injuries if not used and treated correctly. For this reason, glasses are considered ideal for patients of younger ages rather than contact lenses. The first step in selecting an appropriate pair is determining if your child does need glasses.