Preventative Eye Health Procedures

A vast majority of people today experience eye problems from time to time. While some of these conditions are minor, some require specialized eye procedures to prevent further damage to the eyes.

After all, your eyes are the gateways to your soul. 

Whether this is right or not, it’s no secret that losing your eyesight can be quite devastating. Not only will you have to change your way of living, but going blind can have devastating emotional impacts on your life. 

The good news is that an optician can help you get your eye health back on track. This article will review some of the common preventive procedures that are aimed at improving eye health. Read on to find out. 

Corneal Crosslinking

The cornea is among the most important parts of the eye. Whenever the cornea is weakened, the chances are that you can easily turn blind. Therefore, it’s imperative to ensure that your cornea remains in good shape by ensuring it’s always strong. Whenever your cornea weakens, an optician can always perform a procedure known as Corneal crosslinking. 

But what is Corneal cross-linking?

Well, Corneal cross-linking is a surgical procedure that strengthens the cornea to prevent astigmatism’s worsening. Keep this procedure in mind when your doctor is explaining your options are moving forward.

LASIK

Walking around today, you cannot go a few yards from your house or office without spotting someone wearing glasses. There’s a high probability that you know a handful of people who wear glasses or contact lenses. The truth is that contact lenses and glasses are corrective measures that help ensure that lenses in your eye perform optimally. 

But what happens if you don’t want to walk around darning glasses or contact lenses? LASIK surgery is the best option.

LASIK stands for laser-assisted situ keratomileusis. This is a medical procedure aimed at improving eye health without necessarily wearing glasses or eye contact. In fact, when it comes to refractive surgery, LASIK is considered to be the most common eye procedure. 

As you would expect, LASIK utilizes laser technology to remove tissues from under your cornea, thus reshaping the cornea. Although this procedure is mostly used to treat astigmatism, it can be used to manage nearsightedness and farsightedness as well. 

Cataract Surgery

Though cataracts are less common in young people, they are considered the main cause of blindness among the elderly. Cataracts often affect the lens, making it cloudy, thus making your vision dull and blurry. 

If left untreated, cataracts can lead to total blindness. However, cataracts surgery is effective in eradicating the effects of cataracts within one hour. 

Normally, this procedure works by replacing your cloudy lens with artificial ones. As expected, you’ll experience blurry vision for a couple of days once the procedure is over. After that, be assured that you will have a better vision with time. At the same time, your eyes might be itchy and uncomfortable as they heal. So, don’t panic once you notice these symptoms. 

PRK

PRK, also known as photorefractive Keratectomy, is a procedure closely similar to LASIK in so many ways. For starters, PRk is essentially a refractive surgery procedure just like LASIK. Secondly, just like LASIK, PRK is used to treat long-sightedness, short-sightedness, and astigmatism. However, the difference comes in on the actual procedure. 

Unlike LASIK, where tissues are removed from the Cornes, PRK works by removing specific cells from the eye’s cornea. By doing this, PRK doesn’t reshape the cornea by creating a flap on its surface. 

The best thing about this procedure is that it lasts for an average of ten minutes, and like any other procedure, you can expect to experience some discomfort and pain once the procedure is done. Even so, you will have close to 100% vision restoration after 12 weeks. 

Macular Degeneration Surgery

Another essential part of the eye is the macula, the part that helps you to see things in more detail. As you would expect, the macular tends to break down as you grow old. This particular type of macula is known as age-related macular degeneration (ARMD). In more severe cases, patients with macular degeneration conditions can go blind due to leaky blood vessels in the eye. 

The good news is that macular degeneration patients can prevent complete blindness by undergoing the macular degeneration procedure. Since leaky blood vessels bar light from reaching the cornea, your doctor can use laser lights to completely do away with damaged blood vessels that cause the bleeding.