Pay My Bill
Patient Portal
Schedule Appointment
Contact Us
There are many conditions and diseases that can affect the eyes and your vision. Here are some of the more common eye conditions we treat at The Eye Center:
Glaucoma is a disease that causes damage to the optic nerve. Fluid buildup in the front of the eye from overproduction, insufficient drainage, or a combination, increases the pressure in your eye damaging the sensitive fibers of the optic nerve. Without careful monitoring and treatment, this damage leads to irreversible loss of peripheral vision. Glaucoma is a leading cause of blindness for people over 60 years old. But blindness from glaucoma can often be prevented with early treatment. Regular dilated eye exams are important to find early signs of damage to their optic nerve.
Diabetes is a disease that affects your body’s ability to produce or use insulin to control blood sugar levels. Uncontrolled, or poorly controlled blood sugar can cause damage to your body, including your eyes. Diabetes can cause, or worsen many eye problems including diabetic retinopathy, diabetic macular edema, cataracts, and glaucoma. Regular dilated eye exams along with good diabetic management are important to prevent vision loss from diabetic eye disease.
There are a number of conditions that can affect the retina, one of the most common is age-related macular degeneration, or AMD. AMD is a condition where the macula, which is responsible for your fine detail and central vision is damaged. AMD is very common in people over the age of 50, so it is important to have regular dilated eye exams to check for early signs.
The shape of your eye and its structures play a large role in how light is refracted, or bent, which in turn determines how sharply you can see without corrective lenses. If the light rays are not focused perfectly onto the retina, corrective lenses may be used to help bend the light properly. This is known as a refractive error. There are four types of refractive errors:
Myopia (nearsightedness) is where the eye is longer than normal, and therefore the light lands in front of the retina. Myopia causes blurry vision at a distance.
Hyperopia (farsightedness) is where the eye is shorter than normal, and therefore the light lands in behind of the retina. Hyperopia causes blurry vision at near, and sometimes also at a distance.
Astigmatism is where the eye is not perfectly round, this causes there to be two separate areas of power ninety degrees apart. If you have astigmatism the light rays scatter and not focus on the retina. Astigmatism causes blurry or distorted vision at all distances.
Presbyopia is where the lens becomes less flexible and therefore cannot change shape from distance to near like it once could, causing blurry vision at near. Presbyopia affects most people after the age of 40-45 and may be in addition to another refractive error.
Refractive errors affect the way you see the world, but they are not diseases or disorders and can be corrected with glasses, contact lenses, or even by surgical solutions such as LASIK or PRK. Whatever your refractive error, The Eye Center has a solution for you!
A corneal abrasion is a scratch or scrape on the surface of your cornea. Corneal abrasions are often caused by fingernails, makeup brushes, foreign materials, torn contact lenses, and even tree branches. Corneal abrasions are painful and can cause excessive watering, redness, and light sensitivity. It is important to have your eye examined after a corneal abrasion to evaluate if antibiotics or other treatment may be needed to prevent infection, or scarring.
Millions of people wear contact lenses safely every day but contact lens wear does come with risks. Contact lens related infections can cause serious vision loss or even blindness.
There are a number of things that can cause a contact lens-related infection. Some causes of infection may include over wearing your contacts, sleeping in your contacts, improper cleaning, poorly fitting contacts, wearing contacts in an infected or compromised eye, bacteria, fungi, or parasites, wearing non-prescribed or non-FDA approved costume lenses.
Proper contact lens cleaning, replacement, and regular eye exams are important to prevent contact lens related infections. If you experience any discomfort, redness, or other symptoms during or after contact lens wear it is important to discontinue wear and see an eye doctor as soon as possible.
Conjunctivitis, often called “pink eye” is when the conjunctiva becomes inflamed by a virus, bacteria, or allergies. Your eyes may become red, swollen, itchy, irritated, and may produce a mucus discharge. You can have conjunctivitis in one or both eyes. Bacterial and viral conjunctivitis can be easily spread from person to person. Allergic conjunctivitis is not contagious. Children are often the most likely to get conjunctivitis from bacteria or viruses due to poor hygiene, and close contact with other children at school or day care. For this reason, children are often sent home from school if they show any potential signs of conjunctivitis.
PRP, or Panretinal Photocoagulation, is an extensive laser treatment used to treat abnormal blood vessel growth in the retina caused by advanced Diabetic eye disease or retinal vein occlusions. If left untreated, these conditions can cause severe and sometimes permanent vision loss or even blindness. PRP may also be ordered in conjunction with other ocular procedures as well as increased diabetic control and lifestyle changes. PRP is intended to reduce the risk of further progression of vision loss and does not change your need for glasses.
Intravitreal injections are injections of a medication into the vitreous, or jelly-like substance, inside of your eye. Intravitreal injections are one of the most common in-office procedures performed yearly and are the gold standard for treating many retinal diseases including macular degeneration, Diabetic retinopathy, and retinal vein occlusions. Some commonly injected medications include Avastin (Bevacizumab), and Eylea (Aflibercept). Most patients require injections in intervals as short as 4 weeks and may be extended in frequency once they are stable. Patients receiving intravitreal injections will be monitored at each injection with OCT testing to monitor the progress.
