The Most Common Types of Eye Disorders That Are Diagnosed Today

Did you know that more than 2 billion people worldwide have some vision impairment? Vision impairment can come from various types of eye disorders and conditions. Some are serious enough to cause blindness, affecting around 1 million Americans. Just like how you would get gum surgery by a Dentist in Rockefeller center if you have gum disease, you should visit an optometrist if you are experiencing any problems with your vision.

However, what is the most common eye disorder diagnosed today? What should you do if you think you might have a severe eye condition? As long as you keep reading this article, you’ll find the answers to all these questions.

To start, let’s take a look at one of the most common eye disorders of all time: refractive disorders.

Refractive Disorders

The most common refractive conditions include:

• Myopia or nearsightedness
• Hyperopia or farsightedness
• Astigmatism, where your vision distorts at all distances
• Presbyopia, which commonly occurs in middle-aged people who have trouble focusing on nearby objects

Refractive disorders happen when light filters improperly through the lens of the eye. As a result, the light bends or refracts in a way it’s not supposed to. This distorts what the eye sees.

Luckily, refractive disorders are no longer a serious problem since they can get treated with eyeglasses. Simply visit the best ophthalmologist in your area for a prescription and purchase your glasses in-store or online.

Some people are born with refractive disorders and need to start wearing glasses as children. The eye lens did not develop properly, and the person has a distorted lens or eyeball. Other people develop refractive disorders later in life due to the aging of the lens.

To treat refractive disorders, most people opt for eyeglasses. However, contacts are also an option. If your refractive condition is severe or you don’t like wearing glasses or contacts, surgery may be an option.

Dry Eyes

The causes of dry eye disease remain a mystery to eye doctors—even today.

Dry eyes are prevalent and, in most cases, nothing more than a nuisance. But for some people, this eye disorder can be debilitating.

What Causes Dry Eyes?

Dry eyes occur when your tear ducts cannot lubricate your eyeballs properly. They can also occur if your tear ducts produce low-quality tears.

When this happens, your eyes may feel uncomfortable, itchy, or like they are burning. This is because your eyelids cannot glide smoothly over the surface of your eyes. This can cause irritation and inflammation to the surface of your eyeballs.

If you have untreated chronic dry eyes, this condition can damage your eyeballs over time. Some people may only get dry eyes in certain situations, such as staring at a computer screen for too long or in an airplane. Those with chronic dry eyes may have dysfunctional tear ducts or tears.

Luckily, lubricating eye drops can soothe the symptoms of most forms of dry eyes. These eyedrops take the place of your tears and can help to keep your eyes moisturized and relieve any inflammation.

Treating Severe Dry Eyes

For more severe dry eyes, you may need to take certain medications or use eye inserts that work to lubricate your eyes. You may also need to make lifestyle changes to accommodate your dry eyes.

For example, putting warm compresses over your eyes every day for a few minutes can help unblock your eye’s oil glands. This can help your eyes produce more lubricant so your eyes might not feel so dry. If this doesn’t work, you can still try other options.

For example, an eyelid massage is an easy treatment that you can try at home. Gently roll your fingers over the surface of your eyelids and against your tear ducts. This will help improve blood flow in the area and might help to stimulate your tear ducts as well.

You can also try newer, more experimental treatments, such as intense pulsed light therapy.

Age-Related Macular Degeneration

As the name suggests, age-related macular degeneration (AMD) involves vision loss associated with age.

Not every older person gets this kind of eye disorder, but it is widespread in later age groups. It involves the loss of central vision, meaning that objects on the periphery of your vision are sharper and more precise than objects in the center of your vision.

This can be debilitating since we rely more on our central vision than our peripheral vision. It is also impossible to read or drive without good central vision.

This disorder has two causes.

Wet AMD begins when blood vessels start to grow where they shouldn’t, namely under the eye’s macula. When this happens, bleeding and scarring occur, damaging the eye and reducing central vision quality.

Dry AMD is when the macula is damaged and grows thin with age. It is much more common than wet AMD. Many people who have dry AMD may not realize they have problems with their vision since dry AMD progresses much more slowly than wet AMD.

There is no cure for age-related macular degeneration, but a few treatment options are available that can slow the progress of this condition. For example, your doctor may inject certain drugs into your eyes for wet AMD. This will help to slow blood vessel growth.

This treatment usually needs to be repeated several times. Laser therapy is also an option to target abnormal blood vessels in the eye. If you have the dry form of AMD, you should be careful since some forms of dry AMD can progress to the wet form.

Most Common Types of Eye Disorders

Now know all about the most common types of eye disorders diagnosed today. And you have some insight into what to do if you think you might have one of these disorders.

To learn more, don’t hesitate to explore the other articles published in the health section of our website.