People seeking eye care can be baffled by the options available to them—all of which start, in fact, with the prefix “op-.” A search for local eye doctors will turn up optometrists and ophthalmologists, not to mention opticians, who are not doctors at all. Patients want to know the differences between these eye doctors in … Continue reading Optometrist vs. Ophthalmologist: What’s the Difference?
For as long as optometry has existed, we’ve attempted to treat vision loss due to cataracts. As the eye’s natural lens ages, it becomes cloudy. This makes it difficult to see at night and in the presence of bright light sources, which makes driving and other activities prohibitively dangerous. The damage to a natural lens … Continue reading What Are the Benefits and Disadvantages of Laser Cataract Surgery?
Where there are fluids, there’s pressure affecting them. We’re concerned with our blood pressure and the air pressure in our tires. Sometimes less apparent to eye patients is the pressure of the intraocular fluid in their eyes. When intraocular pressure exceeds acceptable parameters, optic nerve damage can cause glaucoma and ensuing permanent vision loss. While … Continue reading What Is Considered Normal Eye Pressure?
Among the most important instruments in an ophthalmologist’s office is the tonometer, which measures the pressure of fluid within the eye. Most tonometers measure intraocular fluid pressure through applanation or direct contact with the cornea. Others simply rely on delivering a puff of air to the cornea and remotely measuring the depression that air puff … Continue reading How To Disinfect and Calibrate Your Tonometer
With sustainability as a global watchword in 2021, it may come as a surprise that disposable editions of ophthalmic instruments are gaining popularity in the field. After all, shouldn’t we be trying to conserve and reuse what we already have? In general, yes. In the specific area of ophthalmology, however, with its exacting requirements for … Continue reading The Rise of Disposable Ophthalmic Instruments
Like so many important parts of the human body, the optic nerve is a fragile thing. The nerve that relays signals from the eye to the brain is integral to our sense of sight, but damage to the optic nerve can permanently reduce our vision. Glaucoma, the progressive damage to the optic nerve, is one … Continue reading How To Reduce Intraocular Pressure
Taking a reading of a patient’s intraocular pressure is the first step in identifying the onset of glaucoma. High pressure in the eyes leads to high pressure upon the optic nerve, which damages the cells of those nerves and impedes the eyes’ ability to communicate with the rest of the brain. The necessity and sensitivity … Continue reading Methods of Measuring Eye Pressure
One of the most important tasks any eye doctor has is to screen for glaucoma—the gradual loss of vision due to pressure on the optic nerve. Most of this pressure comes from an inability of the eye to drain intraocular fluid. Measuring intraocular pressure, or IOP, using an instrument known as the tonometer has been … Continue reading Factors Affecting IOP Measurements
The idea that numbers never lie is a lie unto itself. Numbers can obfuscate, they can mislead, and they can be the results of faulty equations—garbage in, garbage out, as they say in the computer science field. In the field of ophthalmology, one of the most evident instances of numbers’ less-than-truthfulness lies in the measurement … Continue reading Ways To Improve Intraocular Pressure Measurement Accuracy
Ophthalmology, the study of the eye, is one of the most important specialties in medical science. Though we have always understood the importance of the eye, progress in this specialty has come in quantum leaps thanks to new technologies. In this brief history of ophthalmology, you’ll learn how the study of the eye became the … Continue reading A Brief History of Ophthalmology