Ophthalmologist – Why You Should Visit One

Taking care of your eyes is essential if you want to enjoy years of great vision. It’s good to see an ophthalmologist at some point to ensure your eyes are healthy.

An ophthalmologist is a doctor that specializes in treating eye diseases as well as performing operations to correct vision or other issues. While they can also prescribe eye glasses and contact prescriptions, they focus on more in-depth eye issues that require more than just a general eye exam. Explore common reasons why you should see this type of physician.

You want Lasik refractive surgery

If you’ve been wearing contacts or glasses for some time and want to be free of them, then you will need to see an ophthalmologist to find out if this procedure is right for you. This surgeon will examine your eyes and decide if you’re a candidate or not. If you are a candidate, you may need to stop wearing your contacts for a few weeks or months in order to allow your eyes to rest before the procedure. Once you’re ready, your surgeon will make sure that your eye is numb, then make an incision to flip back your cornea and use a laser to get rid of excess eye tissue. Getting rid of this excess tissue is what helps improve your vision. Once the excess is removed, the surgeon places the flap back over your cornea and you’re done.

You have glaucoma

Glaucoma is a serious disease that can result in total vision loss if it’s not treated by an ophthalmologist. Glaucoma affects millions of people every year and thousands will become blind from it. As we grow in age, our chances for the disease appearing also increase. Sadly, there are no sure warning signs of the disease. Often times, people visit their doctor because of their field of vision is obstructed. This obstruction is usually due to an increase in pressure built up in the eye. This buildup affects your sight and can negatively affect your optic nerve, which explains the potential for vision loss. One of the best things to do to help detect the disease early on is to see an ophthalmologist regularly and let him or her know if you have any history of the disease in your family. If so, then your doctor will know to conduct tests that specifically check for red flags of glaucoma such as high eye pressure, or any type of damage to your optic nerve.

You have conjunctivitis

Often known as pink eye, conjunctivitis is an issue that causes the inner eyelids to become inflamed as well as itchy. Many times, this happens as a result of wearing contact lenses and will result in the inability to wear lenses for a period of time. As a result of this affliction, your eyes are not only red and itchy, but they may also produce mucus. In addition, some conjunctivitis sufferers will experience blurry vision. It’s essential that you see an ophthalmologist as soon as possible to help treat your eyes to prevent spreading it to anyone else. Your doctor will usually prescribe eye drops and suggest that you don’t wear your contact lenses for a while. Unfortunately some people experience conjunctivitis again after inserting contact lenses, so in the long run, they will need to wear glasses to keep from getting a repeat conjunctivitis issue.

Source: http://www.articlesfactory.com/articles/health/ophthalmologist-why-you-should-visit-one.html