Each February is Macular Degeneration Awareness Month, a designation that’s deeply important to us here at Kirman Eye. To honor that distinction, this month’s blog seeks to educate visitors on the facts about that condition, its causes, stages, and various treatments. Read on to learn more about what it is, and how you can combat it.
Unfortunately, a traumatic brain injury is as bad as it sounds. Occurring due to a violent blow to the head or body, it can also result from an object penetrating brain tissue, which happens with gunshots or when a skull is shattered. While various symptoms follow, some are directly related to a person’s vision. Here are five common symptoms of TBI that your eye doctor in Hummelstown, PA will look for.
After even what is considered to be a mild traumatic brain injury occurs, blurred vision is a common symptom. Affecting one or both eyes, this symptom can display itself immediately following the injury, or perhaps not until days or weeks later.
Also common after a mild TBI, a person may start to experience extreme sensitivity when their eyes are exposed to sunlight, fluorescent lighting, or simply standard lighting inside their home. When this symptom appears, wearing sunglasses can be of some help until additional medical treatment is given.
When one or both pupils are dilated, there is no doubt whatsoever the person has suffered a moderate to severe traumatic brain injury. A very common symptom following concussions, it is imperative medical treatment be sought as soon as possible, since this symptom is often a precursor to more serious issues.
With any type of TBI, most victims suffer persistent and sometimes very painful headaches, especially above their eyes. However, this can be mistaken for a tension headache or a headache associated with eye strain. Therefore, if a person has suffered a violent blow to the head or body and begins exhibiting such symptoms, a visit to the doctor is urgently needed.
In rare situations, a blow to the head can result in blindness that is usually temporary. This can occur more with younger children than adults, since children’s skulls are more fragile and still developing.
If you have a family member who begins to display these symptoms or you yourself are having these symptoms, seek medical help at once. By getting help from your physician as well as your eye doctor in Hummelstown, PA, the effects of a traumatic brain injury may be curtailed so that they impact your life as little as possible.
The connection between diabetes and loss of vision has been well-established over the years. Diabetes is a disease that affects millions of people world-wide. It develops when blood sugar levels are chronically high. Diabetes is a serious condition that causes vision loss as well as other health problems. If you have diabetes, talk to your eye doctor in Hummelstown, PA so that your eye doctor can be aware of the condition and be on the lookout for specific problems with your vision such as the following.
Many people suffer with blurry vision at distances or close-up. This kind of blurry vision is caused by focus problems that can typically be corrected with eyeglasses or contact lenses. But if you have diabetes and you notice that your vision is getting more blurry, book an eye doctor appointment. This could be a sign that your vision is deteriorating due to diabetes.
Diabetes is the main cause of blindness in adults aged between 20 and 74. One way that diabetes leads to blindness is from cataracts. Cataracts are growths that occur on the lens of the eyes. They cause the lens to become cloudy, impairing vision. Cataract removal in Hummelstown, PA is available. But if you have diabetes, make sure your eye doctor knows it, so they can give you information about the correlation between diabetes and cataracts.
Glaucoma is another serious eye problem that is much more prevalent in those who have diabetes. Glaucoma is a condition where pressure builds up within the eye, disrupting the brain’s signals from the optic nerve. Glaucoma almost always leads to blindness if it is left untreated. Every eye exam you receive at Kirman Eye in Hummelstown, PA will include a glaucoma test. The earlier this condition is diagnosed, the better the possible outcome.
Diabetic retinopathy is a condition that is specifically related to diabetes. People without diabetes would not develop this condition. With this condition, blindness will almost always happen eventually. Thankfully, diabetic retinopathy can be stopped, but the symptoms may not always be able to be reversed, depending on how much nerve damage has already occurred.
Always inform your eye doctor of any underlying medical problems, especially diabetes. The more your eye doctor knows about your health, the better able they will be to protect your vision.
With a diabetes diagnosis, you will face a few new health concerns as you get older. Diabetes is notorious for affecting the eyes, and may even lead to diabetic retinopathy. Within 20 years of having diabetes, over 60 percent of patients with type 2 diabetes have retinopathy. By getting proactive about your diagnosis and your visual health with diabetic eye exams in Hummelstown, you may be able to lower your risks. Here are a few tips to keep in mind.
When you are diagnosed with diabetes, your general practitioner will go over your care plan and how you should keep tabs on your blood sugar levels. Most will recommend testing your blood sugar at least once daily, and usually more often. This gives you a good idea of how your body is processing sugar. When you see that your levels are too high, you will know that you need to adjust your diet.
Once diagnosed with diabetes, your doctor may recommend that you start seeing an eye doctor annually for a diabetic eye exam. This is to closely monitor any changes in your visual health, but also to point out problems that are just beginning that could be better addressed. If an eye doctor does see that you have signs of retinopathy, they may offer suggestions on how you can slow the progression of the condition.
Changes in your vision can be a sign that either your blood sugar levels are unstable or some form of retinopathy has already begun. If you notice even slight changes in your vision, be sure to consult an eye doctor right away for medical advice. By catching issues early, you may be able to lower your risks of the condition either forming or progressing.
An experienced Hummelstown eye doctor is the link between you and your diabetes and protecting visual health. If you have diabetes and are concerned about your vision, please reach out to us at Kirman Eye to schedule an appointment with our eye doctor.
Concussions are typically associated with sports injuries, vehicular accidents. As far as symptoms go, most people know that concussions can cause cognitive issues like loss of memory or even behavioral changes. But did you know that concussion can also impact vision? Learn more about the connection between concussion and vision.
A concussion is physical trauma to the brain. It’s caused by a physical impact that causes the brain to unnaturally move within the head. It may come about from a fall, blow to the head, bump or sudden back and forth movement, such as what occurs during a vehicle accident. Inside, the physical trauma may damage brain cells or cause a chain reaction of chemical changes that affect the vision or other bodily processes. Note that concussion is a serious injury that always requires emergency eye services in Hummelstown, PA.
If you or someone you know has incurred a head injury with concussion, it’s essential that you seek medical attention right away. Concussion can lead to vision loss on a mild or serious basis. The worst concussions can even cause permanent blindness. The optic nerve is responsible for sending vision signals to the brain for interpretation. When the brain is damaged due to concussion, the signals received from the eyes through the optic nerve may be hindered or stopped.
Your eye doctor in Hummelstown, PA will be able to diagnose any vision problems that you may have after experiencing a concussion. Primarily, the symptoms you experience may include:
If you have any difficulties with your vision after suffering a head trauma, contact your Hummelstown, PA eye doctor for immediate attention.
It’s important to note that concussion may affect different people in different ways. If you do experience head trauma, you may not have symptoms for several days, or you may have immediate symptoms. Either way, if your vision is impacted, see your Hummelstown, PA eye doctor right away.
Please feel free to contact us with any vision questions following a diagnosed concussion or head trauma. We offer emergency eye care services in Hummelstown, PA.
A cataract is a relatively common condition, but it’s not unusual for it to be mixed up with disorders like glaucoma or macular degeneration. Cataracts affect the lens of the eye and despite their proliferation, there’s still a lot that experts don’t understand about them. See how cataracts interfere with the signals our brains receive and how we perceive color.
Crisp to cloudy is essentially how you can think of a cataract affecting eyesight. When you’re young, the lens is clean, allowing you to see details and distinguish the color tones of nearly everything you see. It’s unclear what causes cataracts, but it’s been linked to anything from genetic history to smoking.
By the time people are in their 80s, more than half will have developed cataracts in one or both eyes. These are caused when the natural lens begins to cloud over and blur. With cataracts, the lens of the eye can no longer concentrate the light source in the retina due to protein loss. You might experience anything from tinted colors to poor night vision to double vision. Colors can also look faded, and light can sometimes appear as bursts (similar to a blinding bright lamp in the middle of darkness).
There are eyewear solutions for cataracts, which may include anything from a magnifying lens to antiglare sunglasses. However, these can only delay the onset of cataracts. The most common way to treat this condition is to perform cataract surgery on the eye. While no procedure is without risk, it’s one of the most routine operations a doctor can do. Usually lasting less than a half-hour, the doctor will make a very tiny cut into the lens of your eye and use a probe to break up the cloudy lens. From there, your lens can be removed and an artificial one can take its place.
The severity of cataracts may start off as barely noticeable, but it’s important to recognize the problem in its earliest stages before it compromises your well-being. Cataract surgery will help more than 90% of people have clear vision, which will inevitably allow them to maintain their independence and ensure their safety.
Vision is one of the most complex senses that we possess as humans. Many years of medical research have given new insight into just how much the brain can affect how we see. When you know this, it is easier to understand why individuals who sustained any type of brain injury may have problems with their vision. After a traumatic brain injury, it is critical that you are properly evaluated for visual issues. Here is a quick overview of how the traumatic brain injury visual assessment takes place.
The very first thing your eye doctor will want to do when you come in for a traumatic brain injury visual assessment is a questionnaire. This questionnaire will generally ask you about:
The answers given will determine how the eye doctor will proceed with further testing.
A visual integrity screening includes using the Snellen Chart or Lea Symbol Test. These tests are similar to ordinary tests given during a typical visual exam and determine how well you are seeing specific objects at different distances or in different types of lighting.
Brain injuries are commonly related to problems with visual efficiency and skills. Each individual can have a unique set of symptoms in these areas, and a series of unique tests may be used to evaluate the symptoms. A few things the eye doctor will be examining during visual efficiency and skills tests include:
Any time an individual has sustained a brain injury, it is imperative that they do get the proper evaluation by an optometrist. At Kirman Eye, we offer a full visual assessment for people who may have had their vision affected by a brain injury. Please reach out to us today to schedule an appointment if you need a qualified eye doctor in Hummelstown, PA.
Around the planet, there are nearly 200 million individuals thought to be living with macular degeneration. This common age-related eye disease can lead to problems with your vision and blindness in the most severe cases. Here is a look at some of what you may want to know about macular degeneration.
Primarily, macular degeneration is considered an age-related condition. The breakdown of the optic nerve can be the result of the aging process for some individuals, especially those over 50 years old. However, there are a number of other risks associated with macular degeneration, including:
It is good to be screened for macular degeneration if you believe you are at risk or if you are over the age of 50. However, speaking to the eye doctor is also important if you believe you have symptoms of macular degeneration no matter what your risks may be. Some symptoms include:
A number of tests may be performed by your eye doctor in order to test you for macular degeneration. The initial test may involve dilating your pupils with special drops and then looking into the back of the eye for drusen, which can be more prevalent in the eyes of someone with macular degeneration. However, the eye doctor will likely perform a series of vision tests and tests using various instruments before making a proper diagnosis.
Macular degeneration is a worrisome condition because it can affect your visual performance. However, with an early diagnosis and the proper attention from an eye doctor in Hummelstown, PA, the progression of the condition could potentially be slowed. If you believe you are at risk for macular degeneration, reach out to us at Kirman Eye to schedule an appointment.
While many people think a concussion is only a minor injury, it is classified as a traumatic brain injury and should be taken seriously. Often occurring in contact sports or when people suffer auto accidents or falls, a concussion involves the brain actually moving around inside your skull. While this will likely result in you having a headache and possibly some nausea, few people realize a concussion can also affect their eyesight. As for how, here are some common ways.
If you have persistent visual problems following a concussion, doctors may diagnose you with post-trauma vision syndrome. Happening in people who suffer even mild concussions, PTVS involves various issues that may alter your eyesight temporarily. However, when a concussion is very severe, people can experience total blindness for a period of time.
Most common with severe concussions, double vision is often a sign that a brain injury may be worse than originally thought, and thus should always be taken very seriously. An extremely disorienting condition, double vision results in dizziness, reduced hand-eye coordination, and difficulty walking, reading, and balancing.
Referring to a person having difficulty switching their focus from nearby objects to those located at a distance, accommodative dysfunction is something you may experience following any type of concussion. Hard to diagnose because your eyes will otherwise appear healthy, it will often dissipate on its own over time. Caused by an injury to the part of the brain stem that controls focusing, it rarely shows itself on an MRI.
If you are diagnosed with this, it means your eyes will have difficulty establishing and maintaining binocular vision that is most often used when reading or working at a computer. In essence, your eyes do not want to work together and are often tired and achy when trying to do these tasks.
Finally, your eyes may be very sensitive to light after a concussion. When the brain suffers a blow, it becomes much harder for it to adjust to different levels of brightness, though researchers are now quite sure why.
Should you suffer these or other problems with your eyesight following a blow to the head, always seek medical treatment as soon as possible.
Glaucoma is a well-known eye disease that has a detrimental effect on the optic nerve in the eyes. While common, the eye disease is also one that many people do not understand or fully know about. Here are a few fast facts about glaucoma from us here at Kirman Eye in Hummelstown, PA.
According to the Glaucoma Research Foundation, glaucoma is the leading cause of blindness in the world. While treatment can greatly reduce the risks of blindness, as much as 10 percent of those who are diagnosed and properly treated can also lose their vision. The earlier a patient is diagnosed and the earlier treatment begins, the better chance they will have of retaining their vision.
About three million people have glaucoma at any given time, but as many as half of those individuals are not diagnosed and probably have no symptoms that point to glaucoma as a problem. Unfortunately, when the condition initially begins to develop, many people do not have any symptoms to spur them to seek treatment or testing. Some patients may experience pain and pressure in the eyes, but this may not show up until the optic nerve has been affected for a while.
Glaucoma does not only affect men, women, or certain ethnic groups, even though it is more common among women and African Americans. Everyone could potentially be at risk, but it is a common misconception that most people are not at risk.
As of now, there is no cure for glaucoma. However, there are treatments that may help slow the progression of the disease and help to deter some of the pressure on the optic nerve. When you are initially diagnosed, your eye doctor will discuss the treatment methods available for you and your specific condition.
Being vigilant about the health of your eyes means taking the time to familiarize yourself with the risks of certain eye health conditions, and glaucoma is one of them. If you suspect you could be at a higher risk of glaucoma or simply want to schedule an exam, reach out to us at Kirman Eye in Hummelstown, PA to make an appointment.
