severe eye pain

Corneal Disease: Explanation, Symptoms, and Treatment

October 10, 2017 by Anne Arundel Eye Center

Your cornea – the clear, protective outer layer of the eye – not only protects your eye from dirt and germs, but also plays a key role in your vision. As light enters the eye, it is focused or refracted by the shape of the cornea. If your cornea sustains damage through disease, infection or injury, the resulting scar tissue can interfere with your vision by blocking or distorting light as it enters your eye.

There are several different conditions including infections, degenerations and other disorders that affect the cornea. These include:

Astigmatism: Caused by an irregularly shaped cornea, astigmatism is a refractive error in which the eye has trouble focusing light. Astigmatism is the most common form of corneal problem. Treatment typically involves the use of glasses or contacts.

Corneal Abrasion: Caused by trauma to the eye, a corneal abrasion refers to a scratch on the outer layer of the eye. It is the second most common form of corneal distress. Treatment traditionally involves patching of the eye, though newer bandage contact lenses are beginning to see more use. These allow people to stay functional during the healing process.

Keratits: This form of corneal disease is an inflammation of the cornea that occurs with viral, bacteria or fungal infection. Symptoms of keratitis include severe eye pain, reduced visual clarity, and discharge.

Ocular Herpes (Herpes of the Eye): Similar to cold sores on the lip, this reoccurring viral infection produces sores on the surface of the cornea that, in time, can spread deeper into the cornea and eye. There is no cure for ocular herpes, but it can often be controlled with the use of antiviral drugs. You can also try using Valtrex. Valtrex (Valacyclovir) is an antiviral medication used to treat infections caused by certain viruses. It helps the body fight infection by slowing the growth and spread of the herpes virus. It is used to treat shingles (caused by herpes zoster), genital herpes, and cold sores around the mouth. Valtrex is also a treatment for cold sores in children over the age of 12 years old and as a chickenpox medication in children who are over the age of 2 years. Read the full article here: anti-viral-meds.com

Herpes Zoster (Shingles): This is actually a recurrence of the chickenpox virus, since most of us have already had the disease. Symptoms of Herpes Zoster include blisters or lesions on the cornea, fever, and pain from inflamed nerve fibers.

Corneal Dystrophies

There are over 20 of these diseases that cause structural problems with the cornea. The most common forms include:

Keratoconus: This is a progressive disease in which the cornea thins and even changes shape, creating either mild or severe distortion (astigmatism) and nearsightedness (myopia).

Map-Dot-Fingerprint Dystrophy: As the basement membrane of the epithelium of the cornea grows irregularly, abnormalities resembling maps, dots and fingerprints form in the cornea. While this form of corneal disease is mostly painless and causes no vision loss, epithelial erosion may occur, exposing the nerves lining the cornea and causing severe eye pain.

Fuchs’ Dystrophy: Seemingly happening for no apparent reason – although you may have a genetic predisposition to the disease – Fuch’s Dystrophy involves the gradual deterioration of endothelial cells. As these cells thin, they can no longer remove water from the corneal stroma. This causes the stroma to swell and distort vision.

Lattice Dystrophy: This disease is characterized by the presence of abnormal protein fibers throughout the stroma. This can result in the clouding of the cornea and reduced vision and in rare cases, epithelial erosion.

Symptoms of Corneal Disease

The cornea has the ability to quickly repair itself after most injuries or diseases. However, more serious situations may result in a much more prolonged healing process. If this is the case, the following symptoms should serve as an immediate indicator of a deeper medical issue:

Eye pain
Blurred/blurry vision
Tearing
Redness
Extreme sensitivity to light
Corneal scarring

If you feel you may be experiencing any of these symptoms, schedule an appointment with your eye doctor immediately. Any sudden change in your vision is a serious medical condition that requires prompt medical attention from your optometrist or ophthalmologist.

Although corneal disease resulting from hereditary factors cannot be prevented, infectious corneal disease caused from bacteria and viruses can be avoided. You should never share eye makeup, contact solution, lens cases, and eye drops with anyone as this may increase the risk of infection.

However, if you do contract some form of corneal disease, vision can be preserved through early detection and treatment. This is just another reason why regular eye exams are so important.

If you have any questions about what you have just read, please contact board certified ophthalmologist Samuel Boles and the eye care specialists at Anne Arundel Eye Center by calling 410-224-2010.

Led by Dr. Boles, the Anne Arundel Eye Center offers complete ophthalmic exams as well as diagnostic pre and post-surgical eye care. Specializing in glaucoma and cataracts, Dr. Boles has helped restore and preserve thousands of patients’ vision.

For more eye care advice and information, please take a look at our previous blog posts.

Sources:

Your Cornea: Conditions, Symptoms and Treatments

An Overview of the Different Types of Glaucoma

October 11, 2016 by Anne Arundel Eye Center

The term Glaucoma actually refers to a group of eye conditions that lead to intraocular pressure (IOP) and damage the optic nerve, the nerve that carries visual information from the eye to the brain. This pressure comes from a buildup of normal fluid called the aqueous humor, which is naturally and continuously produced in the front of your eye.

The different types of glaucoma include:

Primary Open-Angle Glaucoma: Affecting around one percent of all Americans (mainly those individuals age 50 or older), it is the most common form of glaucoma. And because this form of glaucoma develops slowly, it rarely ever presents any symptoms and often goes undetected without regular screenings.
Normal Tension Glaucoma: Also known as Low-Tension Glaucoma, this form is characterized by progressive optic nerve damage and visual field loss with a statistically normal IOP. The lack of blood flow and the decrease in oxygen to the optic nerve is directly related to this form of glaucoma.
Angle-Closure Glaucoma: This form of glaucoma is related to narrow angles. And with several subcategories – including Intermittent and chronic Acute Angle-Closure or Narrow Angle-Closure – this form affects nearly 500,000 Americans, but is most common in people of Asian descent or those individuals with farsightedness (hyperopia). Unlike POAG where the IOP increases gradually, Angle-Closure Glaucoma is characterized by a sudden increase in IOP, often in only a matter of hours. This dramatic increase in IOP can cause severe eye pain, nausea, vomiting, blurry vision and headache. An acute attack is an emergency condition. Long-term effects of Angle-Closure Glaucoma include: scarring of the trabecular meshwork, resulting in chronic glaucoma; cataracts; damage to the optic nerve; permanent vision loss.
Pigmentary Glaucoma: This form is a type of inherited open-angle glaucoma, which develops more frequently in men than in women and is most prevalent in individuals in their twenties and thirties. Pigmentary Glaucoma is associated with near-sightedness (myopia).
Trauma-Related Glaucoma: A blow to the eye, chemical burn, or penetrating injury may lead to the development of either acute or chronic glaucoma.
Childhood Glaucoma: Also referred to as Pediatric Glaucoma, the approach to treatment is slightly different than with glaucoma in adults and almost always requires immediate surgery to relieve IOP. Approximately 80-90 percent of babies who receive prompt surgical treatment, long-term care, and monitoring of their visual development will do well, and may have normal or nearly normal vision for their lifetime. However, if the disease is not caught early more permanent vision loss will result.

The most common symptoms of glaucoma include:

Vision loss (most commonly tunnel vision – the gradual loss of peripheral or side vision)
Severe eye pain
Nausea and vomiting
Sudden onset of visual disturbance
Blurred or blurry vision
Halos around lights
Reddening of the eye

If you feel you may be experiencing any of these symptoms, schedule an appointment with your eye doctor immediately. These symptoms are serious and require prompt medical attention from your optometrist or ophthalmologist.

However, many people do not experience any symptoms until they begin to lose their vision. At this point, the damage is irreversible. This is why regular eye exams are so important. While there is no cure for glaucoma, early detection and treatment are your best options to slow or even prevent further vision loss brought on by the disease. Without treatment, glaucoma can lead to permanent vision loss.

Glaucoma is the second-leading cause of vision loss in the United States behind only cataracts.

If you have any questions about what you have just read, please contact board certified ophthalmologist Samuel Boles and the eye care specialists at Anne Arundel Eye Center by calling 410-224-2010 or click here to visit AnneArundelEyeCenter.com today!

For more eye care advice and information, please take a look at our previous blog posts.

Sources:
Types of Glaucoma GlaucomaFoundation.org

Early Glaucoma Detection:: Anne Arundel Eye Center

September 23, 2011 by Anne Arundel Eye Center

Glaucoma is the second leading cause of vision loss in the United States behind only cataracts. Currently affecting more than 3 million Americans – though half are unaware they even have the eye disease – glaucoma refers to a group of eye conditions that lead to intraocular pressure and damage to the optic nerve, the nerve that carries visual information from the eye to the brain. This pressure comes from a buildup of normal fluid called the aqueous humor, which is naturally and continuously produced in the front of your eye.

Everyone is at risk of glaucoma. However, certain factors can increase that risk, including: if you are over 60 years of age, if you are African American, if you have high myopia (nearsightedness), diabetes, hypertension, or if you need steroids.

To make the situation worse, many people will not experience any symptoms of glaucoma until they begin to lose their vision. The most common type of glaucoma induced vision loss is tunnel vision, the gradual loss of peripheral (side) vision. Other signs and symptoms include: severe eye pain, nausea and vomiting, sudden onset of visual disturbance (often in low light), blurred/blurry vision, halos around lights, and reddening of the eye.

Without treatment, glaucoma can lead to permanent vision loss. While there is currently no cure for glaucoma, regularly scheduled eye exams, early detection, and treatment (medication and possibly surgery) can help slow or even prevent further vision loss brought on by this disease.

Since glaucoma damage begins well before conventional tests can identify it, we are increasingly thankful for the ability to identify early, subtle nerve damage. Doctors are able to utilize advanced imaging devices – special cameras – to create a three dimensional image of the optic nerve, the part of the eye where the eye pressure does its damage. These tests use infra red light or laser light to create a sophisticated computer aided image of the central portion of the optic nerve called the optic cup, and the retinal layer around the nerve, the nerve fiber later, to help predict who might be at risk for vision loss.

These sophisticated early detection devices are helping doctors “predict the future” of glaucoma and intervene long before you have any perceptible loss of visual function.

Besides, Early detection equals earlier, simpler and more effective treatment.

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Sources:

Glaucoma MayoClinic.com