Patient Education Flashcards
Myopia
also commonly known as nearsightedness, is a condition someone might have when you can see things more clearly when they are up close and have difficulty seeing things in the distance. This can happen because the eyeball is too long or because the front surface of the eye known as the cornea is more curved than usual. Some risk factors for this condition are genetics or excessive near work. We can treat this condition with either glasses or contact lenses, or refractive surgery such as LASIK to allow you to see clearly in the distance as well as up close. Myopia may or may not be progressive depending on the patient so we recommend that you return to the clinic every year for a comprehensive eye exam so that we can re-evaluate and update any changes to your prescription and have you continuing to see as clearly as possible. Do you have any further questions for me?
Hyperopia
also commonly known as farsightedness, is a condition someone might have when you can see things more clearly when they are farther away and may have more difficulty seeing things up close. Some amounts of hyperopia may cause blurry vision at distance also, but symptoms at near such as blurry vision, headaches, and eye strain are more common. This condition can occur due to the eyeball being too short or the front surface of the eye known as the cornea is flatter than normal. We can treat this condition with either glasses or contact lenses which will allow you to see things clearly both far away and up close. It is recommended that you return to the clinic every year for a comprehensive eye exam so that we can re-evaluate your farsightedness and update your glasses prescription to have you continue to see as clearly as possible. Do you have any further questions for me?
Astigmatism
is a condition that affects your vision due to the shape of the front of your eye being more like an oval or football shape than a perfect circle. This can cause light to bend differently at different parts of your eye and create blur at both distance and near. It can be treated with glasses or contact lenses or possibly refractive surgery depending on the amount. We recommend that you return to the clinic every year for a comprehensive eye exam so that we can re-evaluate and update any changes to your prescription and have you continue to see as clearly as possible. Do you have any further questions for me?
Presbyopia
is a condition that happens to us all as we reach a certain age, for most people it happens around early to mid-40s. What happens is that the natural lens inside your eye begins to lose flexibility and has difficulty focusing on objects up close. That’s why you are noticing blur when you look up close now when you might not have before, and why moving an object further from you seems to help. We can treat this condition with glasses such as reading glasses, bifocals, trifocals, progressive lenses, or with contact lenses. This condition is normal, and it is progressive until about age 60. We recommend that you return to the clinic every year for a comprehensive eye exam so that we can re-evaluate and update any changes to your prescription and have you continue to see as clearly as possible. Do you have any further questions for me?
Amblyopia
is a condition that happens when one or both eyes do not receive sufficient clear vision during the critical early years of life. As a result, the brain ignores the affected eye(s) causing a decrease in vision due to impaired development. There can be several causes for this, including uncorrected high refractive errors, eye turns, or a large difference in prescriptions between the two eyes. The best way to prevent amblyopia from progressing is with early intervention in the form of a full eye examination during early childhood, ideally before age 5. The first treatment is to correct any refractive error or eye turns with appropriate glasses. Other treatments include vision therapy, patching the better seeing eye, or blurring the better seeing eye with atropine eye drops to try and force the brain to learn to use the weaker eye and strengthen those connections. We will follow up in 4-6 weeks to re-evaluate how the glasses are working and document any visual improvements and go onto the next steps if needed from there. Do you have any further questions for me?
Floaters
are seen when clumps form in the gelatinous fluid in the back of the eye as it slowly liquefies as a part of normal aging. They can also be increased by certain conditions such as trauma or retinal detachment and in this case would be associated with flashes of light. You may see these floaters as grey, clear, or black strings or may resemble little bugs that float and move in your vision. There is nothing that we can do to prevent floaters and for most cases, treatment is not indicated. If more serious, surgery can be done to remove all the liquified jelly and replaced with sterile solution. Often the brain learns to ignore small floaters and in most cases, surgery carries more risk than benefit. We will ask you to self-monitor these floaters and seek immediate care if there is ever a sudden increase in the number of floaters seen as this could potentially be a sign for a sight-threatening retinal detachment. Otherwise, we will follow up with you at your annual comprehensive eye exam. Do you have any further questions for me?
Dry Eye Disease
CI
is a condition where your eyes have trouble looking up close due to poor ability to turn the eyes inwards like we do for near focusing. This can cause symptoms of double vision, blur, eye strain, headaches, and losing place while reading. Along with ensuring proper refractive error correction, we can treat this condition with weekly vision therapy exercises in the clinic with reinforcement at home to strengthen this ability. For older patients, prisms can be added to the glasses to help relieve these symptoms without vision therapy exercises. We would like to see you again for a vision therapy evaluation where we will do more specific tests to confirm this diagnosis and exact treatment plan. The prognosis is good, and the condition often resolves in about three months with vision therapy, however we will plan to follow-up 6 months after to monitor for any regression. Do you have any further questions for me?
AI
Strabismus
Cataracts
Retinal detachment/holes/tears
Retinitis pigmentosa
AMD
Glaucoma
