Can You Improve Your Eyesight With Low Vision Aids

Technology isn't the only tool you can use to help you see better. Other available materials and devices are simple and easy to use. They include:

• Large-print books, newspapers and magazines 
• Check-writing guides
• Large playing cards 
• Enlarged telephone dials 
• Watches with high-contrast faces 
• Machines that talk, for example, timers and clocks 

Can You Improve Your Eyesight With Low Vision Aids

And don't forget one of the most important aids of all - adequate lighting. Even if you don't have a vision-limiting eye disorder, as you age you need more light to comfortably see than you did when you were younger. Here are some lighting tips:

How Do You Improve Your Vision - Low Vision Aids

An array of low-vision aids is available, including everything from magnifying devices and enlarged telephone dials to closed-circuit television and machines that talk. A low-vision specialist will help you find the device, or perhaps several devices, tailored to your specific vision problem. These devices are generally affordable and easy to use.
 

How Do You Improve Your Vision

Optical devices
 
These low-vision aids can help you use your remaining vision more effectively. They're frequently used in conjunction with regular prescription glasses. They include magnifiers for close-up work and telescopes for distance vision.

How To Improve Your Eyesight Naturally Fast

Living With Low Vision

Several of the preceding posts in this blog explain how various eye diseases are diagnosed and treated. Although prompt treatment can stop or minimize further damage to your eyes, it doesn't always recover vision that was damaged in the early stages of the disease, before the disease was diagnosed. In some cases this damage can be extensive. With glaucoma, for example, your peripheral vision can be almost completely lost before you realize something is wrong.

How To Improve Your Eyesight Naturally Fast

This vision loss may prevent you from doing many everyday tasks or participating in activities you enjoy. You may not be able to read print, see the numbers on your telephone clearly, perform necessary tasks at your job or move around the house safely. Your eyes may not be able to adjust to contrast or glare. You may not be able to distinguish colors. Your vision loss may be owing to a single problem or several problems in combination. The effects can range from mild to severe.

Preventing Age Related Macular Degeneration

Nothing you do can change your race or genetic makeup or keep you from getting older - all major risk factors for macular degeneration. But preliminary evidence suggests that any of the following measures may help prevent or delay the development of macular degeneration. These measures are best started before macular degeneration develops and your vision starts to decrease:

Preventing Age Related Macular Degeneration

 

• Research indicates that people at high risk of the advanced stages of macular degeneration were able to lower that risk with a dietary supplement of antioxidants, zinc and copper. Antioxidants are substances that prevent oxidative damage to tissue such as the retina. Foods with antioxidants are those rich in vitamins A, C and E. And it helps to eat a nutritionally balanced, low-fat diet containing five or more servings of fruits and vegetables every day.

Screen And Diagnosis Of Age Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is diagnosed with a thorough eye examination. If you notice any changes in your central vision or your ability to see colors and fine detail, particularly if you're over age 50, it's advisable to see your eye doctor. One of the things he or she looks for while examining the inside of your eye is the presence of drusen and mottled pigmentation in the macula.
 

Screen And Diagnosis Of Age Related Macular Degeneration

The eye examination includes a simple test of your central vision using an Amsler grid. If you have macular degeneration, when you look at the grid some of the straight lines may seem faded, broken or distorted. By noting where the break or distortion occurs - usually on or near the center of the grid - your eye doctor can better determine the location and extent of your macular damage.

Signs And Symptoms Of Age Related Macular Degeneration

Macular degeneration usually develops gradually and painlessly. The signs and symptoms of the disease may vary, depending on the type of macular degeneration you have.

Signs And Symptoms Of Age Related Macular Degeneration

With dry macular degeneration you may notice the following symptoms:

• The need for increasingly bright illumination when reading or doing close work
• Printed words that appear increasingly blurry
• Colors that seem washed out and dull 
• A gradual increase in the haziness of your overall vision 
• A blind spot in the center of your visual field combined with a profound drop in your central vision 

What Is Age-Related Macular Degeneration

Age-related macular degeneration (AMD) is a chronic disease that occurs when tissue in the macula, the part of your retina that's responsible for central vision, deteriorates. The result is blurred central vision or a blind spot in the center of your visual field. This condition tends to develop as you get older, hence the "age-related" part of its name. Macular degeneration is the leading cause of severe vision loss in people age 50 and older.

What Is Age-Related Macular Degeneration

The first sign of AMD may be a need for more light when you do close-up work. Fine newsprint may become harder to read and street signs more difficult to recognize. Eventually you may notice that when you're looking at an object, what should be a smooth, straight line appears distorted or crooked. Gray or blank spots may mask the center of your visual field. The condition may progress rapidly, leading to severe vision loss in one or both eyes.

Repairing Retinal Detachment Through Scleral Buckling

Reparing retinal detachment with scleral buckling works more than 80 percent of the time with one operation. But a reattached retina doesn't guarantee normal vision. How well you see following surgery depends in part on whether the macula was affected by the detachment before surgery, and if it was, for how long. Your sight isn't likely to return to normal if the macula was detached.

Repairing Retinal Detachment Through Scleral Buckling

Even if the macula wasn't affected and scleral buckling successfully repairs your retina, you have a 10 percent chance of losing some vision due to wrinkling, or puckering, of the macula.

Surgery For Retinal Detachment

Three different surgical procedures are commonly used to repair a retinal detachment: pneumatic retinopexy, scleral buckling and vitrectomy. Some of these procedures are done in conjunction with cryopexy. The purpose of these treatments is to close any retinal holes or tears and to reduce the tug on the retina from a shrinking vitreous. The severity and complexity of your condition will determine which procedure your eye surgeon recommends.

Surgery For Retinal Detachment

Pneumatic retinopexy. Pneumatic retinopexy is a surgical technique used for an uncomplicated detachment when the tear is located in the upper half of the retina. It's done on an outpatient basis using local anesthesia. First the surgeon performs cryopexy around the retinal tear. Then he or she withdraws a small amount of fluid from the anterior chamber to soften the eye and injects a bubble of expandable gas into the vitreous cavity. Over the next several days, the gas bubble expands, sealing the retinal tear by pushing against it and the detached area that surrounds the tear.

Retinal Detachment Treatment

Risk Factors
 
Your risk of developing a detached retina generally increases with age simply because the vitreous changes as you grow older. You're also at greater risk if you have had a previous retinal detachment in one eye or a family history of retinal detachment or are:

• Nearsighted (myopic)
• Male
• White 

Retinal Detachment Treatment

The following factors can cause the vitreous to pull at and tear the retina, so they also increase your risk of retinal detachment:

• Previous eye surgery (for example, cataract removal)
• Previous severe eye injury
• Weak areas in the periphery of your retina

Signs And Symptoms Of Retinal Detachment

Retinal detachment is a serious eye condition that almost always leads to blindness if not treated promptly. Each year the condition affects about 30,000 people in the United States. The good news is that warning signs often appear before retinal detachment occurs. If these signs are heeded, early diagnosis of the condition and treatment by an ophthalmologist can save your vision.

Signs And Symptoms Of Retinal Detachment

What is retinal detachment? The retina is the light-sensitive tissue that lies smoothly against the inside back wall of your eye. Underneath the retina is the choroid, a thin layer of blood vessels that supplies oxygen and nutrients to the retina. Retinal detachment occurs when the retina separates from this underlying layer of blood vessels. Unless the detached retina is surgically reattached, you may permanently lose your vision in the affected eye.

Treatment Of Diabetic Retinopathy

If you have mild NPDR, you may not require treatment right away. However, your eye doctor will need to closely monitor your retina. More advanced forms of retinopathy often require prompt surgical treatment. The two main treatments for diabetic retinopathy are photocoagulation and vitrectomy. In a majority of cases, these treatments are effective and slow or stop the progression of the disease for some time. But they're not a cure. Because diabetes continues to affect your body, you may experience further retinal damage and vision loss at a later time.

Treatment Of Diabetic Retinopathy

Photocoagulation

The goal of photocoagulation is to stop the leakage of blood and fluid in the retina and thus slow the progression of diabetic retinopathy. The decision to use the procedure will depend on the type of diabetic retinopathy you have, its severity and how well it may respond to treatment. Photocoagulation may be recommended if you have: